Getting Around Hong Kong

But survive we did.  The first morning we asked the concierge whose name was Mickey Lan where we could get some good dim sum.  He directed us to a restaurant about ten minutes walk called Choi Fook, an enormous cavernous room on the third floor of an office building with the potential to feed hundreds of diners.  This seems to be the norm for Honk Kong restaurants.  If you want small and intimate you must eat standing up in one of the thousands of tiny little holes-in-the-wall which have the food on display in the window or in small deli counters. Otherwise the restaurants tend not to be on the ground level and often comprise two or more floors of a large building.  Luckily Choi Fook wasn't packed since it was only about ten in the morning and we were seated immediately.  We chose several items from the picture menu and all were delicious.  We were the only non-Chinese in the place.

Then we took a taxi to the Central area of the city--this was before our new friend Mickey was able to educate us about the Metro--and found a Hop On Hop Off sightseeing bus which we have begun using to get our initial bearings in cities.  We sat on the top deck and several times had to crouch down to avoid having our heads removed by tree branches that the bus drove under.  We saw some green patches amid the concrete--lots of concrete--and the ever-present teeming humanity.  In general though we didn't find the buildings especially inspiring.  

 After that we walked and walked looking for an area called the Lanes--two narrow streets loaded with shops selling all kinds of wares--the usual junk purses, luggage, electronics, cheap clothing, Asian souvenirs, toys, keychains.  We found the Lanes but we weren't tempted to buy anything.  

One of the interesting things about walking in Hong Kong is that while you have a map in hand, the streets don't always correspond to it because there will be a pedestrian walkway which goes above the street, or an undergound passage which cuts through the car traffic, or sometimes you simply have to pass through a huge building to reach the other side.  It all works seamlessly if you know how to do it.  At one point we were in a huge building full of shops, offices, restaurants, escalators thinking we could just walk on through to the opposite street entrance, but it was so huge that one is immediately turned around with no idea which way is which.  We quickly learned that if we just stood there looking puzzled, mere seconds would pass before someone would approach to ask if they could help.  These would mostly be English speaking Chinese or sometimes a Western ex-pat living in Hong Kong.  One old gentleman walked us to the exit we needed and while chatting him up we found that he was a Brit who had come to Hong Kong 22 years ago and never left.  But still, the Caucasians are a very small minority from what we could see.

One lady in the building directed us to a "tea house" where we could have lunch.  It sounded charming and we followed her directions, past the Coach store, the Mandarin Oriental, the McDonalds, etc. but still couldn't find it.  Finally we asked at a different restaurant and they pointed directly across the street.  We had been looking for our Americanized version of what a tea house should look like, but the recommended place was just another huge restaurant with picture menus and hundreds of tables.  Still, we ate there and had a pretty good meal.