I was struck today by an advertisement when I was searching for airfares on the airline we use most often for travel the U.S. and within Asia - Cathay Pacific. As Hong Kong's airline, they have a lot of direct flights from Hong Kong to places around the world.
What struck me so much was their advertisement for "Exclusive Labour Fares to Manila" and "Exclusive Labour Fares to Jakarta / Surabaya." These are discount tickets for the maids that live in and support so many Hong Kong families. The fares are to be purchased by employers for Filipino / Indonesian labour working in Hong Kong and are open only to maids.
The "labour" lines are often apparent here, but I can't imagine a company in the U.S. offering a fare that was only for service-employees. Perhaps I am wrong. Also, these flights must be subsidized either by the airline who receives a great deal of business trafffic from the employers of the maids or the government, as these prices are very reasonable by Hong Kong standards. Also, notice that they make a special point of allowing extra luggage.
http://www.cathaypacific.com/hk/offers/online/0,,41094-70048,00.html?WAcampid=HKO_Offers_LabourfaresJan
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Monday, September 05, 2005
Thailand – Friday AM
Friday we woke slowly and took a nice breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant. It was a magical setting with tall ceilings and big shuttered windows framing a pond below with lotus flowers. I have to note for my nephew the honey they had for breakfast. It was straight off a real honeycomb. They set the honeycomb on a stand and let the honey drip onto a plate where you could scoop it up. Pretty cool.
We decided to start the day off with a good walk so that I could observe and absorb, but after about 20 minutes, we realized that the distance we had set out on was much further than we expected. Crossing one of the busy Bangkok streets, we were met by a “journalist” who recommended that we alter our path and take a tuk tuk. I use quotes here as we learned later that day that few people in Bangkok were completely who they presented themselves as. This gentleman was very nice and helpful to us, so I believe he was telling the truth. On his advice, we took off on a tuk tuk motorcycle taxi for the Royal Temple which is most famously home to a solid gold Buddha statue – one of the few in Thailand. Interestingly, the Thais didn’t realize they had a solid gold Buddha until they were moving was they thought was concrete Buddha statue and the concrete cracked and the gold Buddha inside dropped straight out. They suspect that during a time of unrest that a town’s people encased the Buddha in concrete for safe keeping but the owner’s of that secret must have passed away before divulging it to the world. Who knows how many other hidden treasures are out there?
Our tuk tuk and driver.
The streets of Bangkok were a blur to us on the fast-moving tuk tuk.
Acting on perhaps our only honest advice of the weekend, we entered the Royal Temple which was comprised by three large buildings that we could see and was largely absent of visitors. While inside the temple with the Golden Buddha, we met a very nice gentleman who was living Australia but home visiting and purchasing goods for a Thai restaurant he ran there. After a long and insightful conversation, including great detail about a gem and jewelry outlet that he and the journalist both recommended, we set about exploring the rest of the site and met our first reclining Buddha statue.
The temple with the Golden Buddha.
The Golden Buddha.
I have seen now it seems so many Buddha statues, but am each time amazed at the variety of interpretations. In the West, it was always my impression that there was one Buddha icon – chubby and happy – but in reality, there are many, many Buddha representations, each representing a historical interpretation and adaptation of the local culture and society. In Thailand, the Buddhas were skinny, but I will go into that more later. The reclining Buddha is a very popular pose for the Thai, and one that for some reason was often represented in larger than life fashion. Meant to capture the Buddha just before he reached enlightenment, the reclining figure portrayed for me a bit more relaxed satisfaction that I am used to in icons like it.
After taking off our shoes at the door, we entered the doorway of a building that may have been built around the figure with which we were met. At a height of more than 12 feet and a length that I can only guess must have been 50 yards, this reclining Buddha was massive. An elderly gentleman held watch over the place and asked us for a donation and to my surprise proceeded to hand us back a basket full of small coins. He had apparently just broken our donation into smaller denominations and was asking us to participate in the rituals appropriate. The coins were meant to be placed one or two in each of the metal bowls that lined the “bed” of the reclining Buddha, and we think these bowls represented the monks that were associated with the Royal Temple. The sound of metal was soft and entrancing was we made our deposits and slowly worked from mid-section to feet. The next ritual was that of offering gold. This was perhaps my favorite as it really makes you feel like you are forever a part of a place. Our elderly guide provided us each with a piece of gold leaf paper which we could step forward and actually place onto a Buddha statue. A hard press and moment of disbelief later and our marks were apparent. It is an amazing thing to be included in a ritual, especially one as participatory as this once.
Eric making a deposit with the reclining Buddha in the background.
Eric placing his leaf on the small Buddha statue in front of the reclining Buddha.
This temple is closed to non-Thais most of the year, and it was only our luck that we were able to enter and explore. In the space of the morning, I had met more random people on the street than I have met in all of our time in Hong Kong. It was very striking.
We decided to start the day off with a good walk so that I could observe and absorb, but after about 20 minutes, we realized that the distance we had set out on was much further than we expected. Crossing one of the busy Bangkok streets, we were met by a “journalist” who recommended that we alter our path and take a tuk tuk. I use quotes here as we learned later that day that few people in Bangkok were completely who they presented themselves as. This gentleman was very nice and helpful to us, so I believe he was telling the truth. On his advice, we took off on a tuk tuk motorcycle taxi for the Royal Temple which is most famously home to a solid gold Buddha statue – one of the few in Thailand. Interestingly, the Thais didn’t realize they had a solid gold Buddha until they were moving was they thought was concrete Buddha statue and the concrete cracked and the gold Buddha inside dropped straight out. They suspect that during a time of unrest that a town’s people encased the Buddha in concrete for safe keeping but the owner’s of that secret must have passed away before divulging it to the world. Who knows how many other hidden treasures are out there?
Our tuk tuk and driver.
The streets of Bangkok were a blur to us on the fast-moving tuk tuk.
Acting on perhaps our only honest advice of the weekend, we entered the Royal Temple which was comprised by three large buildings that we could see and was largely absent of visitors. While inside the temple with the Golden Buddha, we met a very nice gentleman who was living Australia but home visiting and purchasing goods for a Thai restaurant he ran there. After a long and insightful conversation, including great detail about a gem and jewelry outlet that he and the journalist both recommended, we set about exploring the rest of the site and met our first reclining Buddha statue.
The temple with the Golden Buddha.
The Golden Buddha.
I have seen now it seems so many Buddha statues, but am each time amazed at the variety of interpretations. In the West, it was always my impression that there was one Buddha icon – chubby and happy – but in reality, there are many, many Buddha representations, each representing a historical interpretation and adaptation of the local culture and society. In Thailand, the Buddhas were skinny, but I will go into that more later. The reclining Buddha is a very popular pose for the Thai, and one that for some reason was often represented in larger than life fashion. Meant to capture the Buddha just before he reached enlightenment, the reclining figure portrayed for me a bit more relaxed satisfaction that I am used to in icons like it.
After taking off our shoes at the door, we entered the doorway of a building that may have been built around the figure with which we were met. At a height of more than 12 feet and a length that I can only guess must have been 50 yards, this reclining Buddha was massive. An elderly gentleman held watch over the place and asked us for a donation and to my surprise proceeded to hand us back a basket full of small coins. He had apparently just broken our donation into smaller denominations and was asking us to participate in the rituals appropriate. The coins were meant to be placed one or two in each of the metal bowls that lined the “bed” of the reclining Buddha, and we think these bowls represented the monks that were associated with the Royal Temple. The sound of metal was soft and entrancing was we made our deposits and slowly worked from mid-section to feet. The next ritual was that of offering gold. This was perhaps my favorite as it really makes you feel like you are forever a part of a place. Our elderly guide provided us each with a piece of gold leaf paper which we could step forward and actually place onto a Buddha statue. A hard press and moment of disbelief later and our marks were apparent. It is an amazing thing to be included in a ritual, especially one as participatory as this once.
Eric making a deposit with the reclining Buddha in the background.
Eric placing his leaf on the small Buddha statue in front of the reclining Buddha.
This temple is closed to non-Thais most of the year, and it was only our luck that we were able to enter and explore. In the space of the morning, I had met more random people on the street than I have met in all of our time in Hong Kong. It was very striking.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Many a Moon, Many a Festival
The festivals and traditions of Hong Kong (and China) are only just beginning to actually come into some context for us. Their holidays are many in comparison to the U.S. calendar, but their work weeks are very long. We are about to celebrate the Mid-autumn Moon Festival.
To date, all that we have known about this festival is that it involves cakes. Perhaps it has been the rush of time or our glazed focuses upon hearing the word "cake", but we haven't had a chance to dig much deeper than a consumer's understanding. According to a Hong Kong tourism website, "the festival commemorates a 14th Century uprising against the Mongols. In a cunning plan, the rebels wrote the call to revolt on pieces of paper and embedded them in cakes that they smuggled to compatriots." Ah, the mooncakes. It is making more sense.
In any case, it's a festival and a time to celebrate. We are excited to try the cakes with ground lotus and sesame seed paste, egg-yolk and other ingredients, and hope to also enjoy some of the lanterns and festival offerings. Tonight in Macau (and each saturday night this month) they are hosting a fireworks competition to coincide with the festival. We hope to go, but we'll see.
For a schedule of large HK festivals:
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/heritage/festivals/index.jhtml#fest
For more information on the Mid-Autumn Festival:
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/heritage/festivals/he_fest_mida.jhtml
To date, all that we have known about this festival is that it involves cakes. Perhaps it has been the rush of time or our glazed focuses upon hearing the word "cake", but we haven't had a chance to dig much deeper than a consumer's understanding. According to a Hong Kong tourism website, "the festival commemorates a 14th Century uprising against the Mongols. In a cunning plan, the rebels wrote the call to revolt on pieces of paper and embedded them in cakes that they smuggled to compatriots." Ah, the mooncakes. It is making more sense.
In any case, it's a festival and a time to celebrate. We are excited to try the cakes with ground lotus and sesame seed paste, egg-yolk and other ingredients, and hope to also enjoy some of the lanterns and festival offerings. Tonight in Macau (and each saturday night this month) they are hosting a fireworks competition to coincide with the festival. We hope to go, but we'll see.
For a schedule of large HK festivals:
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/heritage/festivals/index.jhtml#fest
For more information on the Mid-Autumn Festival:
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/heritage/festivals/he_fest_mida.jhtml
Friday, September 02, 2005
From Grand to Grime
Thursday night last week, Eric and I flew to Bangkok, Thailand, for a weekend getaway. As my first real travel within Asia since we’ve been here full-time, I was excited for a change of scenery, especially to a place that Eric had given rave reviews from previous visits. Thailand is relatively close by Asia standards for a weekend trip (only a 2 hour flight) and is known as a place of escape in HK, offering cheap, luxurious beach packages, even in the months following the horrible tsunami. We steered towards Bangkok instead, choosing to see the city but stay in a nice five-star hotel, the Sukhothai, in the heart of the city’s new business district.
The Sukhothai
As we departed the plane, the subtle and stark differences between locales were apparent. Bangkok’s airport holds none of the striking views and vaulted ceilings of HK’s, resembling instead a plastic, molded box, with low-ceilings, Logitech digital cameras on the passport control counters, and few of the amenities that a world city offers in an airport today. I should note that from my experience, Los Angeles is the major exception to this rule as its airport is much neglected by international standards. But I digress…
Leaving the passport control, we were quickly transported to an odd world of prestige and beauty within a society and a country straddling the lines of modernity and poverty. A hotel representative met us on exit, led us to a waiting luxury sedan and driver, and before I quite realized what was happening, we were sitting, drinking cold waters, wiping our faces with the cold towels provided for cleansing, and watching the intermittent bright lights of Bangkok stream past from the above ground freeway. It was a quiet moment of contemplation and absorption for us, with the driver speeding forward as if propelled by the weight of his captain-style hat and the luxury of a Mercedes.
I have never traveled in what would be considered a developing country before. I actually suppose that I still haven’t by some definitions, but suffice it to say, Thailand was the closest that I have gotten to date. I also have never stayed at a five-star hotel before; the odd combination of both firsts on one trip is something that I am still trying to frame in my mind. Reality by day; luxury by night – that became our routine for a couple of days. I must admit, while I struggled deeply with this in the beginning, I greatly appreciated it by the end of the weekend as the exploring simply wore me out. Coming back to a safe place really helped to get through and rejuvenate for the next day’s explorations. So, our Thailand trip had us with our left feet in reality and our right in paradise.
The view from our seat in the tuk tuk - a motorcycle tax - that is popular in Bangkok. We took several the first full day we were exploring.
The Sukhothai
As we departed the plane, the subtle and stark differences between locales were apparent. Bangkok’s airport holds none of the striking views and vaulted ceilings of HK’s, resembling instead a plastic, molded box, with low-ceilings, Logitech digital cameras on the passport control counters, and few of the amenities that a world city offers in an airport today. I should note that from my experience, Los Angeles is the major exception to this rule as its airport is much neglected by international standards. But I digress…
Leaving the passport control, we were quickly transported to an odd world of prestige and beauty within a society and a country straddling the lines of modernity and poverty. A hotel representative met us on exit, led us to a waiting luxury sedan and driver, and before I quite realized what was happening, we were sitting, drinking cold waters, wiping our faces with the cold towels provided for cleansing, and watching the intermittent bright lights of Bangkok stream past from the above ground freeway. It was a quiet moment of contemplation and absorption for us, with the driver speeding forward as if propelled by the weight of his captain-style hat and the luxury of a Mercedes.
I have never traveled in what would be considered a developing country before. I actually suppose that I still haven’t by some definitions, but suffice it to say, Thailand was the closest that I have gotten to date. I also have never stayed at a five-star hotel before; the odd combination of both firsts on one trip is something that I am still trying to frame in my mind. Reality by day; luxury by night – that became our routine for a couple of days. I must admit, while I struggled deeply with this in the beginning, I greatly appreciated it by the end of the weekend as the exploring simply wore me out. Coming back to a safe place really helped to get through and rejuvenate for the next day’s explorations. So, our Thailand trip had us with our left feet in reality and our right in paradise.
The view from our seat in the tuk tuk - a motorcycle tax - that is popular in Bangkok. We took several the first full day we were exploring.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
A Harry Potter Ride Home
I just found this on my Mac. Forgot that I started writing it for a blog entry on my trip back to HK. I kept the original title as I had been saving the new Harry Potter for the flight back. So, here is a belated entry from last July 2005...
I packed my bags Tuesday afternoon, cleaned the apartment, and had one last taste of my favorite Thai food before heading to the airport for my return flight to the Hong Kong. These last 2 months in the U.S. have been fun but draining. I must admit looking forward to a bit of quiet time in HK and sleeping in our own bed.
It is a good thing that we are not forced to be photographed getting on or while on the plane. Travelers are an odd looking bunch, surrendering fashion for faux pas, but none seems much to notice. Stranded by a delayed flight in the Kansas City airport today, I made conversation with a woman from Los Angeles who had come home to see family this week. Seeking comfort, she donned her nursing fatigues for the flight although she wasn’t headed directly to duty and looked a bit out of place in the waiting area. Add to this the Dorothy and Wizard of Oz themed sweatshirt she purchased at the airport gift shop to stave off the cold, and you had quite an unlikely combination.
But it’s not just the abandonment of normal senses that fascinates me, it’s the adoption of preemptive measures you find in travelers. You know what I mean…the way in which otherwise normal people enter a plane and immediately pass out, get drunk, or otherwise engage in seemingly hypnotic activites. These are people that outside of a travel setting seem more ADHD than non-responsive. My favorite of this group are those that come prepared with sleeping pillows. My neighbors tonight perhaps take the cake, having blown up their neck-encompassing pillows before I had entered the plane, so I was met with a row of four perfectly normal looking, wide-awake people, all with these mini-life preservers floating eerily about their neck as they conversed, and the hustle of a loading plane encompassed them. They were prepared.
Although I am not a pass out, pillow hugger, I too have my own odd traveling habits. I often laugh at myself on the plane, realizing that the assortment of snacks that I purchased for the flight will come in handy if we get stranded in the Arctic for a month. For this trip, it was a couple of candy bars, 3 waters, and some nuts.
I packed my bags Tuesday afternoon, cleaned the apartment, and had one last taste of my favorite Thai food before heading to the airport for my return flight to the Hong Kong. These last 2 months in the U.S. have been fun but draining. I must admit looking forward to a bit of quiet time in HK and sleeping in our own bed.
It is a good thing that we are not forced to be photographed getting on or while on the plane. Travelers are an odd looking bunch, surrendering fashion for faux pas, but none seems much to notice. Stranded by a delayed flight in the Kansas City airport today, I made conversation with a woman from Los Angeles who had come home to see family this week. Seeking comfort, she donned her nursing fatigues for the flight although she wasn’t headed directly to duty and looked a bit out of place in the waiting area. Add to this the Dorothy and Wizard of Oz themed sweatshirt she purchased at the airport gift shop to stave off the cold, and you had quite an unlikely combination.
But it’s not just the abandonment of normal senses that fascinates me, it’s the adoption of preemptive measures you find in travelers. You know what I mean…the way in which otherwise normal people enter a plane and immediately pass out, get drunk, or otherwise engage in seemingly hypnotic activites. These are people that outside of a travel setting seem more ADHD than non-responsive. My favorite of this group are those that come prepared with sleeping pillows. My neighbors tonight perhaps take the cake, having blown up their neck-encompassing pillows before I had entered the plane, so I was met with a row of four perfectly normal looking, wide-awake people, all with these mini-life preservers floating eerily about their neck as they conversed, and the hustle of a loading plane encompassed them. They were prepared.
Although I am not a pass out, pillow hugger, I too have my own odd traveling habits. I often laugh at myself on the plane, realizing that the assortment of snacks that I purchased for the flight will come in handy if we get stranded in the Arctic for a month. For this trip, it was a couple of candy bars, 3 waters, and some nuts.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
World Records from Hong Kong
A contribution to the blog from Eric. All of these are Guinness Book of World Records that happened or are located on Hong Kong:
1.) The World’s Most Expensive Toilet
HK$38Million dollar, solid gold toilet at Hang Fung Jewlers
2.) The World’s Most Densely Populated Island
Ap Lei Chau Island, one of many islands that makes up great Hong Kong is 1.3 square kilometers and contains 80,000 people.
3.) The World’s Longest Suspension and Rail Bridge
The Tsing Ma Bridge opened in 1997 is 1,377 meters in length
4.) The World’s Highest Per-capita Ownership of Mercedes Benz and Rolls Royce Vehicles.
A local claim to fame
5.) The World’s Largest and Most Expensive Airline Terminal
It truly is magnificent – I love the airport here, it’s amazingly huge and efficient. The building is 1.3km long and covers 550,00 sq. meters taking the titles of the world’s largest single airport building. The baggage hall alone is as big as New York’s Yankee Stadium (it could hold five Boeing 747’s parked wing tip to wing tip). It has a terminal capacity to accommodate 45 million passengers a year arriving on 460 flights every day. The price tag was US$20 Billion making it the most expensive airport ever built
6.) The World’s Largest Per-capita Consumption of Cognac
100ml, per person, per year
7.) The World’s Longest Criminal Trial
398 days in 1993-1994 for the trial of fourteen South Vietnamese boat people eventually acquitted of murdering 24 North Vietnamese boat people at the Shek Kong Detention Center for Vietnamese migrants
8.) The Largest Synchronized Hula-Hoop Spin
2004 – 2,308 local students
9.) The World’s Largest Neon Advertising Sign
You’ll soon understand Hong Kong’s love of Neon – the sign was the length of a football field and included 800,000 bulbs covering 5,033 sq. meters
10.) World’s Largest Television Display
At the Sha Tin racecourse (horse racing is one of Hong Kong’s age old national pastimes). 70.4m x 8 m
11.) The World’s Smallest Fire Engines
Because of Hong Kong’s narrow, winding footpaths and roads, the fire engines in many parts of the city look like small go-carts mini-trucks
12.) The World’s Largest industrial Building
Modern terminal’s container freight station in Kwai Chung is the largest industrial building in the world.
13.) The World’s Highest Per-capita Horserace Betting Turnover
More money is gambled at one HK racecourse in one night than in the whole of United Kingdom in one year.
14.) The World’s Longest Escalator System
You’ll definitely see this, we live very close to it. Around 50,000 commuters ride this escalator to and from work every day. Completed in 1993, the escalator runs for 800 meters.
15.) the World’s Largest Country Line Dance
Yep - in Hong Kong. Dancing to The Tractor’s “Baby Likes to Rock It”, for 7 minutes and 40 seconds, a total of 12,168 people took part
16.) The World’s Highest Ratio of Land Conserved for Parks
40% of Hong Kong territory is set aside for country parks.
17.) The World’s Largest Piece of Peeled Human Skin
16 year old Barry Kwok Tak-ming peeled this off his chest after a sunburn. It measures 23 x 11 centimeters and amazingly is shaped like China.
18.) The World’s Largest Outdoor Sitting Buddha
You’ll definitely see this. Often debated about whether it IS the largest – we’re sticking with the book on this one.
19.) The World’s Most Expensive Real Estate
Just recently, the penthouse of a new prestigious apartment building went for $168 Million (or a record breaking $31,384 per square foot).
20.) The World’s Largest Chinese Dumpling
In 1997 – it weighed in at 480kg.
1.) The World’s Most Expensive Toilet
HK$38Million dollar, solid gold toilet at Hang Fung Jewlers
2.) The World’s Most Densely Populated Island
Ap Lei Chau Island, one of many islands that makes up great Hong Kong is 1.3 square kilometers and contains 80,000 people.
3.) The World’s Longest Suspension and Rail Bridge
The Tsing Ma Bridge opened in 1997 is 1,377 meters in length
4.) The World’s Highest Per-capita Ownership of Mercedes Benz and Rolls Royce Vehicles.
A local claim to fame
5.) The World’s Largest and Most Expensive Airline Terminal
It truly is magnificent – I love the airport here, it’s amazingly huge and efficient. The building is 1.3km long and covers 550,00 sq. meters taking the titles of the world’s largest single airport building. The baggage hall alone is as big as New York’s Yankee Stadium (it could hold five Boeing 747’s parked wing tip to wing tip). It has a terminal capacity to accommodate 45 million passengers a year arriving on 460 flights every day. The price tag was US$20 Billion making it the most expensive airport ever built
6.) The World’s Largest Per-capita Consumption of Cognac
100ml, per person, per year
7.) The World’s Longest Criminal Trial
398 days in 1993-1994 for the trial of fourteen South Vietnamese boat people eventually acquitted of murdering 24 North Vietnamese boat people at the Shek Kong Detention Center for Vietnamese migrants
8.) The Largest Synchronized Hula-Hoop Spin
2004 – 2,308 local students
9.) The World’s Largest Neon Advertising Sign
You’ll soon understand Hong Kong’s love of Neon – the sign was the length of a football field and included 800,000 bulbs covering 5,033 sq. meters
10.) World’s Largest Television Display
At the Sha Tin racecourse (horse racing is one of Hong Kong’s age old national pastimes). 70.4m x 8 m
11.) The World’s Smallest Fire Engines
Because of Hong Kong’s narrow, winding footpaths and roads, the fire engines in many parts of the city look like small go-carts mini-trucks
12.) The World’s Largest industrial Building
Modern terminal’s container freight station in Kwai Chung is the largest industrial building in the world.
13.) The World’s Highest Per-capita Horserace Betting Turnover
More money is gambled at one HK racecourse in one night than in the whole of United Kingdom in one year.
14.) The World’s Longest Escalator System
You’ll definitely see this, we live very close to it. Around 50,000 commuters ride this escalator to and from work every day. Completed in 1993, the escalator runs for 800 meters.
15.) the World’s Largest Country Line Dance
Yep - in Hong Kong. Dancing to The Tractor’s “Baby Likes to Rock It”, for 7 minutes and 40 seconds, a total of 12,168 people took part
16.) The World’s Highest Ratio of Land Conserved for Parks
40% of Hong Kong territory is set aside for country parks.
17.) The World’s Largest Piece of Peeled Human Skin
16 year old Barry Kwok Tak-ming peeled this off his chest after a sunburn. It measures 23 x 11 centimeters and amazingly is shaped like China.
18.) The World’s Largest Outdoor Sitting Buddha
You’ll definitely see this. Often debated about whether it IS the largest – we’re sticking with the book on this one.
19.) The World’s Most Expensive Real Estate
Just recently, the penthouse of a new prestigious apartment building went for $168 Million (or a record breaking $31,384 per square foot).
20.) The World’s Largest Chinese Dumpling
In 1997 – it weighed in at 480kg.
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