Hong Kong

During our last month vacation, we, a family of four – I, my wife and two daughters arranged a trip to Hong Kong. We planned to stay there for a couple of weeks with a relative and our cousins joined us as well.

Our China Airlines flight landed at the Hong Kong airport and we began collecting our baggage. Then we realised one of our suitcases was missing. Our relative was waiting outside to receive us.

The airport staff promised us they would trace the bag and it would reach our relative’s house the same evening. To our delight, the baggage arrived — after just five hours.

The flats had small rooms with low ceilings and a few toilets. In many places, the buildings were joined with roofed bridges above the main roads so people could reach other flats or malls without having to walk on the streets.

Such construction, I was told, also helps save the buildings from damage during frequent typhoons.

The roads were neat and clean. Public transport was excellent and hefty parking fees discouraged people from using private vehicles.

The people in the escalators were so disciplined that those who wanted to walk faster could do so because the ones standing kept themselves only to the left.

Another common scene was the ‘thai chi’ exercise — a rhythmic dance to recorded slow music — on roadsides, parks, beaches and empty parking spaces.

Walking backwards as an exercise was another interesting scene.

Our cousin gave us a brief idea of Hong Kong while sharing the Japanese ‘sushi’ (small cakes of cold boiled rice wrapped in seaweed and topped with pieces of raw fish).

With its blend of English and Chinese heritage, Hong Kong offers many attractions that embrace Western culture and the Asian spirit. Most people talk in Cantonese and English is not “well-understood or spoken” by most.

We could choose between the urban hustle and bustle and the tranquillity of the countryside — be it a glimpse of the ancient Chinese deities or Mickey Mouse at Disneyland.

Despite its British colonial past, Hong Kong has always stuck to its roots and the culture beneath the glitz is Chinese. The British handed over the colony to China in 1997.

The next day, we boarded the subway metro to the Tung Chung station on our way to visit the Po Lin Buddhist monastery.

From the station we took a bus to Ngong Ping, where the Po Lin monastery is located on the beautiful Lantau Island.

Nestled between the hills, this grand monastery was founded in 1927. It is a major centre of Buddhism in the region.

The highlight of thePo Lin monastery is the Tian Tan Buddha, otherwise known as the giant Buddha, seated on a hilltop up a flight of 268 steps.

The 34-metre, 250-tonne sculpture is the world’s largest bronze statue of the Buddha seated outdoors. The view of the surrounding countryside from the base of the statue is stunning.

Next, we visited the Victoria Peak, the summit of which offered a bird’s-eye view of downtown Hong Kong, Kowloon and Victoria Harbour from a height of 552 metres.

The Peak Tram offered a spectacular view of Hong Kong. From the vantage point of Victoria Peak, overlooking the world’s busiest deep water port was like looking into a volcano at night.

Since our cousin could not accompany us on the following days because of his work, we decided to go sightseeing on our own.

Hong Kong Space Museum was our next stop. It had hundreds of displays on telecommunications, robotics, energy, computers and physics — including hands-on exhibits that had us spellbound.

Other places of interest include: the Ladies Market, famous for great bargains; Middle Kingdom — a miniature China which houses replicas of Chinese shrines, street scenes, temples and palaces; Hong Kong Disneyland — the first Disneyland in Asia; and Water World, a theme park where one can enjoy an artificial beach and water slides.

After a few days, I received a call asking me to return urgently to Sandakan for a project. Reluctantly, we had to say goodbye to this enchanting city.