Tourist Friendly Hong Kong

Loved, loved Hong Kong. It is has been one of the most navigable cities on this trip. The metro ticket system was slick (one of Sandy's words). All you had to do was touch the map of where you wanted to go and it told you how much. Rode the Star Ferry across the harbor, a must do. Actually, after reading the Hong Kong guide books in the library, we did/saw about 8 of the top ten things to do/see in Hong Kong. Rode the escalator up past SoHo. 

The night market was fun. I did a little haggling, got a good deal. Was quite proud of myself, I usually had Sandy do that for me. The highlight of Hong Kong was on the second day. Went out to Lantau to see the Big Buddha. And big it was. It was nice to get out of the city and see the mountains on Lantau. Way less populated, on top of the Buddha you couldn't see any other towns/villages other than the one right at the base.

We survived on a healthy diet of McDonalds. The golden arches never looked so good. They were everywhere and I was thankful. French fries and coke were so much more appetizing after seeing the markets and nameless foods. There was so much more that we could have seen, or things more in depth. I wish we had had more time, but very pleased with the day and half that we had. 

A Whirlwind 5.5 Hours

Could have done without Shanghai. We were late getting to the port (that was an hour away by bus). The tour book is a little deceiving on port hours. It said 8am to 8pm. Two days out that changed to 10am to 8pm, with the last bus from the city leaving at 6pm. It is all very misleading. So we were down to 8 hours in Shanghai. That was until the fog, oh the fog, moved in, pushing our docking to 11am. We queued up way early to be the first of the ship, which was 11:20. First bus out of the container dock, how luxurious for these Cunard people, right?

So all day, I had a ticking clock in my head. It was quite nerve wracking, trying to get our money's worth of Shanghai. Well, this turned out to be even more stressful, because of language barriers, faulty maps, and the crowds. No one spoke English, aside from "Watch? Gucci? Just look pretty lady." That got really old, really quick. I was stuck in a crowd of asian women in the Yu Gardens, "Excuse me" got no results; I basically contorted myself through them. Mom watched the whole thing go down and said that my face was priceless, should have gotten a picture. This was all down in Old Town, where the crowds were close to unbearable. I'm talking worst than Disney World in the height of summer tourism season. Nobody moved, much less moved fast. I was in agony. I am quite surprised I didn't breakdown earlier than I did (see following paragraphs). My bubble is getting a workout.

We've discovered Sandy has a much shorter stride than me while walking. And mine gets about a foot longer when I'm angry, lost, or simply flustered. So Sandy's new nickname is Short Stride Sandy, triple S. So I'm trying to navigate us through Old Town with a horrible map, while Sandy keeps asking people for directions. I kept telling her to stop, it was just wasting time because no one spoke English. And I was right. She kept entertaining street peddlers, too. I kept yelling at her to stop talking to them, I'm sure she was upset with me too for walking too fast. The only driving force I had all day was the countdown clock and the last bus to get us back to the ship. So here we were on a time crunch, Sandy is chatting it up with peddlers, who chased her across busy streets and into convenience stores. This slowed me down, making me more jittery. It was a vicious cycle. Talk about stress, I didn't want to be stuck in China.

The final straw was the trip/trek back to the buses. Getting a taxi was a feat considering the language barrier and me slightly flipping out. I knew where we picked the cab up and were we needed to be on the map, but I instantly got turned around and couldn't find where we were going. After a long while, I finally found a street and knew we were going in the right direction. But then we turned in the opposite direction, my heart sunk. I almost made us get out of the cab and run to the buses (we had five minutes to get there). The more I waited on this decision, the further we got from the buses, the more my heart sped up. In the end we got there, I have come to the conclusion that one way streets forced us that way. But honestly who knows.

So the taxi driver lets us out. I still have a little yuan to spend (actually 100 yuan/14 dollars). Convenience store=a couple of cokes. I have a one track mind, get in-get out, get on the bus. Sandy on the other hand starts haggling with yet another peddler. She is asking me for money, I'm asking her for small bills. All the while I'm picking up little snippets of their conversation and getting really frustrated with the guy. Well, I get a couple of cokes and run back outside to catch the bus. Well there was a long line of buses and it starts dawning on me that none of them are on, they don't have drivers in them, they don't have the "Cunard Shuttle" signs that we've grown accustomed to. My heart starts racing like crazy. And here is my breakdown. Guy is still talking to mom, she is saying no. I think he isn't getting the message, so I turn around while running to the front bus and yell like a crazy woman NO! I think he still followed us, but I had finally reached the door of the bus. Frantically asking "Cunard?" When I saw a bunch of old people sitting in the front seats, I praised the Lord. I heard some people chuckle, and looking back, I am sure I looked crazed. Sandy seemed pretty lax about the whole thing, but I was not going to be stuck in China. If she knew how much it would cost to get us to the next port and that we were losing the time onboard (ie food and lodging costs already paid for), I think it would have made her move a little faster. (She says she is aware, but I wasn't chancing it.) Little did I know we would be stuck in China, sitting dockside more than 24 hours later. Got very antsy.

Anyway, I did have a good time on the MagLev train. And apart from the crowds, Old Town was very authentic, neat Chinese architecture. There was a Dairy Queen there, would have gotten some ice cream if it haven't been so cold. We probably had more good times than what I'm recalling, but the horror stories just stand out more and are easier to tell. Shanghai would probably been a much better experience, if the circumstances had been different (ie longer time, not so rushed, docked closer). All this taken in to account, I probably won't be back. That was really the whole point to this trip, see the world and learn where I wanted to go back.

"No Clue"

That is the name of the trivia team we are on. Every sea day there is trivia three times, 10, 11:15, and 4:15. Our old dinner table mate, Ruby, has had a team all along, but people dropped off in Hong Kong. We said we would take their spots. Sandy and I alone would not do so well, but let me tell you we are quite an asset to the team. The first trivia after Hong Kong (where we picked up new segment cruisers) was back to mutiny on the trivia hostess. I leaned into Sandy, "The British are back." We got a good laugh out of that. The last segment was quite calm, at least during the late night trivia we had gone to. The prize for winning is a golden ticket, to later be redeemed. Before we joined Ruby's team, she had 6 tickets since SanFran. In three and half days we have won 5 quizzes, with no British people to answer the British questions. We've knocked the British team "Babettes" off their winning streak. Twice we've gone into a tie breaker and lost, one was a very British question, when did Duchess Fergy get married in 1986. Honestly!? Props to Arkansas State for helping with a question, what two colors can wolves be? Gray and red, ASU Red Wolves native to the area. Sandy knew it, I backed it up with ASU knowledge, table really wasn't sure about it. But we got the point. Also, on a quiz challenge that wasn't played for a ticket, what is added to diet coke to make a geyser? Mentos, thank you Michael Miller! 

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