23 March 2016
Hong Kong

Although the weather hasn't been great today--misty rain most of the day--I still managed to spend a busy day in Hong Kong.  

Since I have been here a number of times (including three days last year), instead of re-visiting the usual sights, I use the MTR (HK's metro system) to reach a more suburban area of Kowloon (one change of line and eight stations away).  I am here to visit the Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple--a long name for a very large complex of temples shared by three religions:  Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.  The complex was built in the early 20th-century, but is modeled on more ancient temple designs.  It is very popular and busy with locals who come to offer prayers and supplications.  The detail work on the buildings, in both stone and wood, is very beautiful, and the gardens provide a little bit of quiet from the crowds (but not much).

Of course, right next door to the temple is the Temple Mall, dedicated to HK's most important religion:  shopping.  I stop for a hot latte and spend a little time exploring the mall.  One soon finds, however, that except for the really high-end malls near my hotel in Tim Sha Tsui, just as in America one mall has pretty much the same stores as another.

From the temple it is one further stop on the MTR to the Nan Lian Garden. This is a very recent addition to the sights of HK, having been constructed during the past six years.  The garden covers 35,000 square meters and is built in the style of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).  The park has been arranged to imitate nature and to follow the principles and techniques of ancient Chinese gardening, utilizing water, rocks, hills, and plants.  I follow a circular path, which takes me past most of the highlights, including several major water features (two small lakes and a Koi pond), as well as artificial hillocks built to highlight a variety of trees, primarily Buddhist pines.  Several large buildings were built using the techniques and matierals of historic wood construction.  One of the buildings houses a vegetarian restaurant, beautifully hidden behind an artifical waterfall, and another is an exhibition hall, currently showing an exhibit of Murano glass from Venice.

 

Of course, there is a mall--Hollywood Plaza--across the street from the garden, where I stop for lunch at a very nice Chinese restaurant:  Modern China, enjoying shanghai eggrolls and lightly breaded sweet and sour pork and vegetables. By the time I finish lunch and several cups of black tea, it is already after 1pm and the rain has started to fall more heavily,  I take the MTR back to Central Kowloon and the hotel.  

After a short rest, I head for the two, four-story interconnected malls--Ocean Center and Galleria--that are driectly connected to my hotel.  I chose the Hongkong Hotel because the Cruiseport where my ship is docked (it arrived today at 10am) is located in the Ocean Center Mall.  An extra perk at the hotel is a cellphone in each room; that can be carried around the city and used to make free local calls as well as free calls to the USA. (I spoke to Will for 45 minutes.)

After making sure that the ms Nautica has arrived I enjoy the luxurious splendor of the malls, filled with the most amazing high-end famous-name shopping.  It is all rather dizzying and outlandish.  So I am ready to head back to the hotel to write this blog and to think about going out for dinner.

The next blog will be from the Nautica.  If you wish to see pictures of the more traditional areas of HK, please link back (at the bottom of the page) to January 1915.