Waking from sloth (sort of)

Last weekend was a wash (albeit a needed and welcome one) because I was so tired and still sort of ill from whatever microbes decided to attack my stomach the first week. But yesterday, when I spent 12 hours watching TV? Hm, not really justified. (But oh, SO good: Lost marathon, Supernatural, Numbers, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Discovery channel -- what's not to love?)

So this morning, I gathered up my nerve and called the trainee solicitor I'd met on Friday during lunch:

"Hi, Trainee Solicitor?"

"Er, yes," a croaky voice replied.

"It's hk, from the office."

"Ah, yes." Pause. "What can I do for you?"

Thinking, oh dear, that's not good, I said, "Well, I am going to Lantau today, and was wondering if you wanted to come."

"Oh... Oh! I'm so sorry, but ... I think I had too much to drink last night..."

"Ah, well, no problem. You go back to bed, and I'll see you on Monday."

"I'm sorry."

"Really, it's okay. Thanks."

Oof. How embarrassing.

He DID offer, on Friday, to take me around HK. But I was kind of relieved he couldn't.

So I watched a little more TV (CSI -- so good) and ate some more food (hm, not so good -- I see how people get very big very fast doing this sort of thing), and got my stuff together, and left the apartment for the first time since Friday at 2 pm.

I wasn't sure where I wanted to go, so I wandered down from my apartment, which is in the mid-level part of town (town being built up on the slopes of mountains), through some little streets and alleyways. It always amazes me how cities have such old and new things, right next to each other. For example, a tiny dry cleaners with the doors open and four men playing mahjong together, next to a sleek, air-conditioned hair salon of chic young women maintaining their chicness.


I'm not sure if you can see the cat in this picture. I saw it sitting and staring out from an alleyway. I had been coming down a steep hill where there were two elderly people separately selling clothes and other recycled objects on the street. They'd both fallen asleep sitting down, the old man while holding a cigarette, which fell from his fingers and rolled away downhill. That's how I noticed that he was sleeping.

The wealth distribution here is quite immense, and I saw that during my stroll down the mountain, and at the terminus of my stroll, which was basically my office building (also where the subway is located). Hong Kong's downtown is connected by a walkway above street level -- you can traverse several long blocks above the traffic. I thought this was pretty cool when I first got here. During the week, it's full of businesspeople and tourists rushing around. Today, I learned that the walkways are used by a different set of people on Sundays:

According to my Lonely Planet, these women (and a few men) are amahs: either a live-in maid who cooks, cleans, minds the kids, and/or feeds the dog, or someone who comes in once or twice a weeks. In the old days, amahs were usually Chinese spinsters, but now all the work is done by foreigners, mostly from the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. These are the folks who fuel a good portion of the national economies of these countries by sending money back to their families. They're on 2-year renewable Foreign Domestic Helper work visas.

Lonely Planet reports that Filipinos are by far the largest group, and on Sundays (usually their one day off), Filipino amahs take over the pavements and public square of downtown HK -- thousands come to share food, gossip, play cards, read the Bible, and to do one another's hair and nails. I'd add -- and to nap. The women covered the walkways and the sidewalks with cardboard boxes, took off their shoes, and seemed to be having a good time hanging out and relaxing.

I can't imagine this being okay in any western country, can you? (I mean, the gathering of "the help" in downtown public places on the weekends, not the phenomenon of imported domestic help. I think we prefer things to be more segregated in the U.S.) Lonely Planet points out that a contract to work in HK is an escape from the dust and poverty of the provincial Philippines, which is no doubt true. Very interesting. I've heard several people at the firm talk about their "maids," "help," or "nannies." One lawyer at Mighty Big Firm said she couldn't imagine going back to the U.S. to live, in part because of the cost and quality of child care facilities. No day care for her kid -- rather, an amah. And at lunch last weekend, another lawyer said she couldn't imagine living without her current help, who comes in 3 times a week. Interesting, eh?


Anyway, I walked around marveling at this phenomenon for half an hour or so, and then finally got on my way to see the biggest seated outdoor Buddha in Asia, on Lantau Island.

When I got out of the subway, I decided to take a cab, because it was very windy and stormy-like outside, and I didn't feel like waiting for the bus. But there were several people ahead of me, and no taxis, so I hit up the Chinese couple ahead of me for a shared ride. They turned out to be from Beijing, living in Tokyo these past 13 years because they're in the shipping industry, and just in Hong Kong for the weekend. The husband, whose English was slightly better, said of Hong Kong: "So-so." His assessment of Japan: "Bad." China? "The best."

The cab ride was longer than I thought -- about 20 minutes (but still only $18 or so), and we passed by a prison with a great view of the ocean, as well as a couple stray dogs and two cows/water buffaloes.

The couple and I stuck to each other as we climbed the 260 steps to see the largest seated Buddha in Asia. Indeed, it was a very large Buddha:

The second photo here are some bodhisattvas/handmaiden-types, set around the lower level of the structure.
The third photo (the one that's remarkably clear) is how it's supposed, to look, by the way, without the heavy fog. It's from a sign.

After wandering about for an hour or so in weather that kept threatening to thunder and storm violently, the couple and I went back in a cab to the subway station, where we parted ways -- they continued on to more sightseeing, and I had a pizza dinner (I know, very sad) in a cafe near the station. It so happened that the cafe didn't have a bathroom, and the nearest one was in the mall connected to the station. This is how I ended up doing as much shopping as sightseeing today.

I think the Js, my fashion consultants in NYC, would be proud of me -- I bought about $60 of work clothes from Esprit, but because it was an outlet, and they were having outrageous sales, that $60 bought three buttondown shirts and a slouchy cardigan. Dang, those sales are for SERIOUS. As I couldn't try on the shirts (you can't try on tops here, just like in Korea), I surreptitiously walked around the store and tried them on over my tank top, trying to avoid sales clerks and see if these shirts fit me at the same time. It was kinda funny, and somehow, very hk (but how else can you figure out if something fits?). But ultimately very rewarding. And since HK really is made of up 1 part sights to see and about 12 parts shopping and eating (even the nice Beijing couple hadn't seen much, just eaten a lot of good food), I think I had a fairly HK kind of day.

After my lovely lovely purchases, I got on the subway, where I saw this public service announcement:

We should have PSAs like this in the States.

I thought about stopping in Kowloon and walking along the harbor, but decided that it was nearly 9 pm and time to head home. I took the escalators up to the apartment, and took this shot on the way. You can see the covered escalators to the right.