It had been 20 years since we had seen Aidi (or “Eddy”), 30 since she had stayed with us and two then-little boys as part of an exchange program when we lived in New Jersey.
For a very long time we had told ourselves we would drop in on Aidi one of these days. So, we (more precisely, Amanda) planned a trip to begin in Hong Kong.
What struck us immediately was how three dimensional the city is, with the world’s longest outdoor covered escalator run (or some such thing), spread over surprisingly mountainous terrain. Ascending the escalator piece by piece is a great way to spot interesting shops; walking down the steeply sloped streets works well for losing your way (quickly regained with Google maps).
The University Museum and Art Gallery (University of Hong Kong) was a short uphill walk from our hotel. Everywhere seems easy to get to in Hong Kong, whether on foot, by streetcar, ferry, subway, double decker bus or car (if you can find a parking space), making it a surprisingly convenient city (and, apparently, a retirement destination for people drawn to an urban lifestyle).
Off we went for a day of exploring with Aidi and Emma, crossing Victoria Harbour by ferry from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon to visit the Hong Kong Museum of Art and Kowloon Park where there’s a permanent homage to cartoon and anime characters.
Having picked Thomas up from school, we headed to the mall for something to eat (and Thomas to work on his homework) and found that a Dragon troop was performing store to store to bring a year of good fortune where their sign had been hung, a once a year event we were fortunate to see, pulling crowds along as they went.
Nikolay picked us up at our hotel and five of us drove up to Victoria Peak for a look and a walk in nature, while Thomas went to his music theory class and practiced for a recital.
We caught up with him later at the performing arts center and were astonished by his masterful performance of the Third Movement of Kabalevsky’s rather daunting Violin Concerto in C major.
On our last day in Hong Kong we rendezvoused with Aidi and her family on Lantau Island to ride a cable car up to see a giant Buddha, the Tian Tan Buddha, the world’s largest seated, bronze Buddha that’s located outdoors (well, it is pretty large and impressive) that requires climbing 300 some steps up the mountain after a 25 minute cable car ride. For such a densely populated place, 70% of Hong Kong is nonetheless rural with lots of rugged terrain, hiking trails and the like. Lantau is where you’ll find Disneyland, the stop just before ours at the end of the line. You get a good view of the airport from the cable cars and when we left the region with a transfer through Hong Kong, we looked up, saw the cable cars glistening against the mountain and knew we missed Hong Kong already.