Hong Kong: Chinese, Chinese and more Chinese - part II

by Bobo

          Hong Kong…another kind of city with other kinds of people and a totally different culture and civilization from what I have encountered until now. A city mixing the old and the new, the wealth and the poverty, the tradition and the kitsch… a city of extremely powerful contrasts.

          The first impression given by Hong Kong is a… foggy one. The whole city seems to be covered by a thick dense haze, keeping you from enjoying the otherwise fabulous panorama. Pollution is a serious problem, explained indeed by the extremely crowded harbor and the huge number of cars (however with no traffic jams, anxious drivers and tiresome klaxons).

The second impression was of crowdness. If the buildings seem too close to in Bucharest, in Hong Kong they are really squeezed into each other. There is no such thing as urban development concept, which is actually understandable for an island inhabited by millions. Old houses, Buddhist temples, corner stores in two-three storey buildings are standing next to glass and iron mammoths. The old apartment buildings (those too with plenty of levels) look like after the war: worn, dirty, with iron grids (I still cannot understand why anyone would use grids for the 23^rd level) each more bizarre, with laundry hanging on rope lines at the windows and pipes exposed on the facades (so that whoever complains of our

apartment buildings should know there can be worse… if there’s any consolation). The streets, although quite large, seemed crushed by the urban landscape making the place not highly recommended for those suffering from claustrophobia.

          But all this mixture of glass and steel blending with the old iron is fascinating and you cannot help from walking with your eyes staring at the sky. And this is actually a dangerous as driving in Hong Kong is on the left side and this thing might seem a little difficult for the European used to looking ‘left’ and then ‘right’ when crossing, at least in the beginning.  Good thing there caution signs exist at the vast majority of pedestrian crossings.

          A good advice for journeys to non-Euro countries is tied to the money. We had and Euro credit card that helped us in many situations. It is easy to find an exchange office but you should be careful to the currency rate of exchange. Before leaving for Hong Kong, be careful to check the currency rate for Euro (or US Dollar) against the HK Dollar. The exchange offices in the airport practice pretty bad exchange rates (it happens to other places, too, but in HK the difference is of about 30%) and all sorts of commissions, so that a credit card is most welcome. For credit card transactions no fees are charged (or this was at least for ING – which have by the way no ATM’s in Hong Kong). Another bank (which has ATM machines in HK and is to be found in Romania, too) is Citibank, but I am not sure about the conditions applying to their credit cards. There’s no need to present an ID so whatever amount you change, remains changed.

          And since we were speaking about the money… in HK shopping is highly practiced, just like hanging out on a terrace bar is in Romania. The Chinese are crazy with brands so that long streets and malls are filled with names like Chanel, Prada, and Vuitton… HK is the first (and the only one I think) city where I could see people queing to enter stores with names like those mentioned above. And I am not talking about two-three people in a row… but tens of people waiting at the doors (and buying). And the products are not cheap at all. Maybe cheaper than in Europe but… Seeing such madness to get inside a store I thought of some major discounts or super prices, so I decided to adventure inside an Hugo Boss shop… 900 Euro for a winter coat (reduced price!) and 250 for a scarf immediately cut my desire so I went on for a walk. Fare to say Zara and H&M are also to be found but since you can encounter them in Europe, too it makes no point to go such long way only for those (my opinion). However, if you can afford it… Hong Kong is the best shopping destination, considering you get to see a totally different world. 

          But the stores are not the only thing. Let us not forget that HK is part of China, mother country to all the fakers. There are plenty of markets and small shops wherefrom you can purchase handbags for as much as 10 Euro or suitcases for 20 Euro, t-shirts and jeans, all bearing brands of the most famous… and counterfeit. Great stores are also full of ‘made in China’ products, but probably of no such poor quality as the ones to be found in the markets. And although there are over one billion Chinese in this world, it appears that some Indian mafia still exists, selling you Rolex watches at street corners (and this in Tsim Sha Tsui, where we have been assaulted by 15 such sellers – the best thing is to ignore them, and even so they would not leave you easily.

         

          The Chinese are probably tired with so much shopping, so that they fall asleep anywhere they can. And when I do not mean some short nap saying ‘sleep’. They sleep and they snore. Anywhere. On banks in the parks, in the buses, in the subway, on the ferryboat, in the stores. Anywhere. Although there is a clear notice at the subway entrance advising to wait for passengers to alight before getting on the trains (which is also announced at train arrival), no one seems to care about that. If there is some spare spot, everybody runs for it maybe they get lucky and catch a nap. After 8 days in HK I jumped to the conclusion that there would be no wonder for the inhabitants of China to be fighting Matusalem in terms of setting records. I believe they are the calmest people and the ones that care the less about others. If someone knocks you down the street and you expect some apologies… you might wait till getting old and never hear that. As it is a crowded city, pedestrian accidents might (and do) happen. But I have heard no one saying “sorry”. Fare to say they are not the greatest English speakers, but at least you would know by their face expression whether they are apologizing or sending you back to your ancestors through the place you came into this world. But they neither curse you nor apologize. All that matters to them (a least at a glance… as I had no time to make profound observations) is shopping. The rest is of no great importance to them. But beware when they catch the store fever. For people like us, used to Bucharest politeness at least on the surface, walking down the streets sided by shops had become and ordeal in the last days. No one stays out of the way, no one hurries, everyone just keeps staring at the glamorous windows of the eye (and money) catching shops.

          For the person not used to Chinese cuisine, a meal in town (and I am not talking of Wu Xing here) is a real test. I have eaten in no place where I could not see pictures of the dishes on the menu (and an English menu, as it was kind of difficult to find someone knowing to explain you what you were ordering… and in such a busy city, no one wastes time telling you of the things on your plate). The food names… some known… some unknown. Bottom line is that if there was no “pork” or “chicken” or at least “beef” in the description, we didn’t even consider those dishes. Even so you could not be entirely sure of what you were eating, but you were missing at leas to possibility of tasting some delicious dog or oyster sauce cat (or at least that’s what I like to think…). However, like any other big city, McDonald’s and KFC are to be found about everywhere (my advice: if passing by KFC and feel like grabbing a bite… keep walking – it resembles to nothing I’ve seen at KFC anywhere else and not in a good sense). In the last days at least, McDonalds was a rescuer from starvation. And speaking of restaurants… the tip is usually included in the price and is of 10, 20%... depending on the place you’re eating. At Pizza Hut (which is not a simple fast-food – is truly a restaurant with snail pasta, truffles and all sorts of specialties, including pizza), the tip was of 15%.

          A pretty peculiar habit is the passing of leisure time by the ones less rich. In the central areas of the island, there are plenty of pedestrian catwalks connecting various buildings (to be read ‘malls’). During week-ends (or legal holidays) women (ok, I’ve also seen a man but he does not count) gather on these catwalks like for some sort of fair. First I had thought they’re something like our homeless gathering in front of the city hall and standing there waiting… for what, as they get nothing anyway. But no. No way. They come prepared for a day on a fair. With cardboards (they wouldn’t sit on the ground, would they?!), with raffia bags (like the ones to be found in Obor¹), with playing cards, laptops, phones (not any book, God help us!) and bags of food. And they stay there for hours. Like an outing in our world, only they only get out on the catwalk and bring their food and drinks from home – or from some Chinese food spooky restaurant.

          But with all its inconveniences, Hong Kong remains a fascinating city a place where it is impossible to get bored. You might get angry, become excited, spend much more than planned, get indigestion at any time but never get bored.

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¹⁾ Obor - traditional market place in Bucharest usually frequented by the lower and middle class people

The southern neighbours...without the radar detector and GPS

by Iuli

          I do not chose traveling by car too often...I do not quite chose it at all, actually. Any taken journey beyond my country’s borders is either by coach or plane, respectively the means of transportation found at destination...it’s not a principle, it’s simply a choice that appears more comfortable to me although, probably, a journey by car would save some expenses...for this reason my car is equipped by neither radar detector or GPS – though, honestly, the radar detector is also missing due to some...ethical reasons.

          In the spring of 2009, more precisely in the Easter period, we have decided to take a trip to the Bulgarian seaside and we took advantage of the accommodation offers presented by travel agencies for Balchik. From my point of view, vacations can have three purposes: ‘laying around’, ‘visiting’ and ‘laying around + visiting’ (in the case of longer stays)...The week-end in Balchik was dedicated to ‘visiting’ so we did our homework and research from time considering the things we could do during our three days visit on the Bulgarian seaside. Being aware we had no GPS, we prepared ourselves with maps and sought for advice on forums and travel planners (http://www.viamichelin.com/ and www.map24.com) but we have also looked for detailed route configurations on Google Maps (http://www.maps.google.com/). Of all the recommended routes from Bucharest to Balchik:

1. Bucharest – Constanta – Vama Veche – Shabla – Balchik

2. Bucharest – Ruse – Silistra – Dobrich – Balchik

3. Bucharest – Giurgiu – Ruse -  Razgrad – Schumen – Varna – Balchik

- we have chosen the last one, which, although probably longer than the rest, offered us a road of enchanting landscapes, not crowded at all and in pretty good condition. We haven’t met, neither on our way to nor back, any radar, absurd speed limit or police officer determined to get some bribes – maybe we were luckier than others but I actually believe that the first myth was shattered – YOU ONLY NEED THE RADAR DETECTOR TO TEST YOUR POWER HORSES TIRED BY THE CROWDED TRAFFIC IN ROMANIA AND TO PASS IN GREAT SPEAD BY THE ‘DUMB’ BULGARIANS WHO FOLLOW THE RULES…this is not general practice, of course, but I have noticed it is fashionable to do so…against my opinion to follow the principle that says ‘when you’re in Rome, act like the Romans’...

          Once we got to Balchik, it has taken us a while to find our hotel, as the street linking the main road to it (or the only one we have considered), was under construction and…blocked, obviously without any present sign for the alternative route. We were lucky with the car behind of which got out a speaking (yes!) English kid who asked where we wanted to get and who offered himself to take us there. Two other myths shattered – BULGARIANS DO NOT TREAT THE ROMANIANS BADLY AND SOME OF THEM DO SPEAK ENGLISH…

The hotel, Lotos – 3* (http://www.lotos-hotel.com/indexen.htmltel.com/indexen.html), for which we have paid the travel agency approximately 100 EUR/person/3 nights + HB + Easter meal, although was not some architectural monument, impressed us pleasantly by its ingenious façade (sailings, ‘reflecting’ in some manner the neighbouring yacht port), cleanness and hospitality – regarding the accommodation conditions, I would assimilate it to a 2* hotel in Greece and the fact that it was on the shore plus the beautiful sea view we had from our rooms brought it some other stars from our side.

          As any other port-town, Balchik also has that relaxing atmosphere that summons long meditative walks on the sea front, introspection and creation, things of which we took advantage on every evening of our stay there. The scenery is delightful at any time of the day and the angles from which you can admire the quite town with its white houses are of the most interesting types, from the panorama given by the road climbing down towards the sea line to the long pontoons and quays which offer a presentation of the whole town in its entire beauty but also the occasion to a silent contemplation of the infinite sea.

          The first day of our visit there was dedicated to visiting the Queen Maria’s Castle (not very hard to find, as both main roads in Balchik lead to it) and its famous gardens – for both the entrance fee was approximately 10 Leva¹⁾/person. The very good state of the castle itself – which is in fact a superb villa, simply and austerely decorated, of its furniture and surroundings as well as the excellent organizing and administration of the gardens, were making you feel the presence of royalty in that place still alive. We have spent a whole day wandering through the botanical maze and we have admired plants of the most interesting and diverse species, from stunningly red tulips to cacti that I thought only in Mexico could exist… I recommend visiting the wine cellar with its early 20^th century atmosphere, where you can taste awesome wines made after a recipe belonging to Queen Maria herself and from where you can buy for the ladies but also for the ones back home an excellent almond wine.

          Our second day we dedicated to a road trip along the Bulgarian sea shore, having as destination Nessebar. We have configured the route prior to departing for Bulgaria and we already had in mind the towns we were supposed to cross. Traffic signs due exist (shuttering of myth no. 4 – THERE ARE TRAFFIC SIGNS IN BULGARIA AS EXPLANATORY AS THE ONES IN ROMANIA) but no one writes Nessebar on them while you are still in Balchik…which is actually a logical thing, if you come to think about it. It is enough to know you must ‘follow’ Burgas (large city, Black Sea port, 160km south from Balchik and 35km south from Nessebar) and then, when getting closer, you will be able to find directions towards Nessebar. To put it in a more simple way, follow the national road 9 (the one coming from Romania through Vama Veche and going along the sea line), although, at the exist from Varna, you may ‘take advantage’ of the A5 highway (for a short length of several of several tens of kilometers). It would not be a bad thing to have knowledge of some corresponding characters from the Cyrillic alphabet, a thing which might help you ‘guess’ the towns written on the ‘strictly Bulgarian’ traffic signs (Varna, for example, is written someway like ‘Bapha’, from where you can know how ‘Kavarna’ looks like – ‘KaBapha’, you may also know that ‘s’ is written ‘c’ and s.o.) – your visual memory will help you identify names written by Cyrillic letters once you have seen, even for one time, their correspondence in the Latin alphabet. 

          I must admit I was not highly impressed by the overdone Mediterranean architecture of the Black Sea Bulgarian hotels and what we were really interested into visiting in Nessebar was the old town, a historical monument included on the UNESCO list. A short description for it would be that it resembles a lot to a sea-side ‘Sighisoara’¹, with narrow streets hiding among medieval, but also new or refurbished houses which saved the archaic architecture and style of the place. We had the luck to ‘catch’ a bright sunny day and the privilege to enjoy a delicious lunch at one of the terraces with view to the Sunny Beach sea front (the old Nessebar is located on an island tied to the shore by a narrow road, like a neck). You can find on this island an impressive number of churches but also stores from where you can purchase souvenirs and traditional Bulgarian products, such as the famous rose perfume.

          On the way back to Balchik we took a stop-over in a less common place, which I have encountered by chance browsing pictures on Google Earth and whose images had made such an impression that we have decided not to ‘miss’ it. I am speaking about the Irakli beach, which is to be found at the mouth of Vaya river, by turning right on the first road after passing by Banya. The wild nature, the three kilometers of white sand beach and the inclusion of the area on the list of natural monuments have helped the place keep an unattained charm against the touristic construction expansion and turned it into a more than perfect destination for camping and bohemian life lovers.

          The third and our last full day on the Bulgarian side of the Black Sea was kept for visiting Cape Kaliakra, which is located approximately 35km away from Balchik, following the same no. 9 national road but in an opposite direction this time, towards Kavarna.  On this road we had the bad luck to stumble a little but also the chance to be asked “mister, mister, where?” in Romanian by a kind Bulgarian gentleman who has afterwards guided us all the way to Kavarna.

          Here, at Kaliakra, I have had the occasion to find out that Bulgarians do care for the alternative energy and have taken full advantage of the wind potential in the area by building an entire forest of wind mills.  The cape rising more that 50 meters from the sea, the ruins of the old fortress bearing the signs of its stormed history, but also an accommodated cave and the breathtaking view are all making Kaliakra a most worthy destination. A whole bunch of legends tie to the place of which the probably most famous one is the story of a group of Bulgarian girls who threw themselves into the sea in order not to be captured by the Turkish and converted to Islam. A monuments stands for the virgins at the entrance to Kaliakra, named “The Gate of the 40 Virgins”.
          You can park at the fortress entrance, where two-three stalls can also be found from which you can buy souvenirs and refreshments. The area hosts a highly appreciated restaurant serving fresh sea food brought directly from the annexed farm and also the picturesque Bolata gulf.

          Our short stay within the country south of the Danube ended on the forth day, when we returned to Bucharest following the same route but with some delay caused by trucks held in line by the Romanian border officers. We have left Bulgaria with the cards filled with pictures²⁾ and with the promise of saving some other week-ends to enjoy the hospitality of our neighbours.

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¹⁾1 Leva = 0.5 Euro = 2 Romanian Lei

²⁾pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/101807457407946514498/BulgariaBalcic_byIuli?authkey=Gv1sRgCJebmsCRus7dGg

Hong Kong: Chinese, Chinese and more Chinese - part I

by Bobo

          Some years ago (some 15 years ago) I have read James Clevell’s Shogun. Then after I went on with the entire series but Changi as I am not highly attracted by life in concentration camps. On this occasion, however, I have got to discover a world of contrasts, a world of pirates, a world completely different from all that I had known by then. I was about 15 or 16 years old back then and it all seemed to me like a story. This is how my will to see Hong Kong was born. It was never on the top of my preferences and many were ahead of it but since I had the chance I said to myself… why not? And this is how I got to see Hong Kong this winter.

          Getting there is not really difficult. It’s money that matters. First of all it’s the air ticket money. As it is really in China (or well, in a China region with a special status), the plane ticket gets to be a bit expensive. All large companies fly there and if you buy the ticket some while ahead (and if you are lucky enough to encounter also some special offer), it can get to cost you about 700, 800 euro per person. That’s life, since no low cost was invented yet for the transcontinental flights (real low-cost, not the so-called flights taken by Blue Air to Thailand)…My advice is trying to find tickets with Qatar, Turkish Airlines, China Airlines or others like these. Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, BA should be avoided. They offer impeccable services, but with a change in Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt or London. And it makes no point to fly towards west and then return. I myself flew Air France and had a shock to see that from Paris I was flying back, above Romania. This is how I managed to waste 6 hours alone only with flying. And the flight is not at all a short one: 3 hours from Bucharest to Paris, 5 hours stop-over in Paris followed by 13 hours of flight to Hong Kong. Therefore shortening the flight time duration is most welcome.

          There should be no problems with the visa for Romanian citizens, as none is needed. From the day you get there you can stay in Hong Kong for 90 days (if you exit the city for various trips, like Macao, you get another visa when entering back with 90 available days).  Be careful though, you are not allowed any type of employment during these 90 days (the employment possibility is anyway very small considering the amount of Chinese people and the ones trying to get there from China). For more information upon the visa you can visit the site of the Chinese Embassy or http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/hkvisas_4.htm (Hong Kong is part of China but has a special administrative regime as for China Romanians do need a visa).

         
          Hotels are to be found on all the roads and for all the pockets. All the times when I choose to go somewhere (not on an organized trip), the primary site I visit is http://www.booking.com/. You can find there from apartments and hostels to 5 star hotels for which you would need to pay the medium income in Romania for several months for staying just one night. Regarding the price, a bed in a hostel costs about 10, 15 euro and the cost for one night in a decent hotel in a quite central area starts from 50 euro for one person. Be careful though with each hotel’s conditions. Usually, in Hong Kong there is a 10% tax (service tax) which is not included in the price shown on the web site, but which is however mentioned. It is good to save some money for this too and carefully read all that it is written in your reservation. Another unpleasant Asian habit (which has happened to me not only in Hong Kong), is that when you are checking in with your hotel and paying by credit card, an amount larger than the room cost is blocked by the hotel. In Hong Kong that sum was about 100 euro. The hotel staff explanation was “just in case…”.  At the end of your stay, the money is ‘unblocked’. Pay attention to take into account for that supplementary sum of money, too (and it is better to be asking with your hotel if such money is held and how much).

         

          I have stayed at Butterfly on Morisson, which is in Wan Chai and the room for two people was about 100 euro per night, without breakfast. The hotel is close to Times Square (about 5 minutes walk), where there is a subway station (and a huge mall – well, the malls are actually everywhere, you only need the money). The hotel wants to be some sort of a boutique hotel, but it only remains a whish (written on all leaflets in the room). Its only big disadvantage was the bathroom, which offered not too much intimacy, as it had two sliding transparent glass doors. The hotel has 28 storeys and if you are lucky to have a room at the upper levels, you get a wonderful view of the mountains (for the lower levels the view you get is of some really old and ugly buildings – the Romanian ‘communist’ blocks are a beauty compared to those). The personnel spoke pretty good English (the Receptions guys) and were really kind, so this can be considered a plus. It is easily reachable from the airport by a shuttle (a taxi can be taken, too – for two people the shuttle is 300 HK dollars one way – about 30 euro – and the taxi costs 350 HK dollars). For the way back to the airport, the same shuttle can be chosen. It must be booked 4 hours ahead its desired arrival – be careful though, another 150 HKD per person is added. There are, as you can see, no problems with the transportation.