It was very nice to get back to ultramodern Hong Kong after the Philippines. I spent a few days exploring the city on my own before meeting up with Cameron for New Year (who studied in Beijing with me this past semester). We found a decent spot for fireworks at the southern end of Kowloon, which borders Victoria Harbor and has a fantastic view of Hong Kong Island. The prime locations were too crowded to even consider pushing our way into, so we ended up at a ferry dock behind a mall, surrounded by hundreds of patiently waiting Hong Kongers. We soon realized how stereotypically Chinese this New Year celebration would be. There was no countdown, and the fireworks started 13 minutes before the midnight came around. The fireworks were beautiful and incredibly well planned, but they weren't as excitingly chaotic as American fireworks displays usually are. Each spray of lights emitted from the Bank of China building was accompanied by a synchronized "waaaa" from the Chinese audience. When the fireworks were over, everyone left immediately and went back home to study/sleep. --- TIC.. (This is China.....) Either way, we found some other Westerners to enjoy some champagne with (only the Westerners were drinking), and we wandered the lively city until the wee hours of the morning.
After retracing some of my steps over the course of the next few days to explore the most interesting parts of the city with Cameron , we decided to hop on a ferry to the small island/ex-independent country/former Portuguese colony/now Chinese Special Administrative Region - Macau. We only spent a few days here, but it was definitely a great side-trip, and it offered a much-needed dose of Western food and architecture after an exhaustingly long immersion in Asian everything.
Despite being 80-something-% Chinese, all signs and announcements are still made in Portuguese, as the co-official language with Cantonese. The old city architecture is undoubtedly Portuguese, and makes for a beautiful atmosphere. And best of all, the Portuguese culinary influence is still thriving in Macanese cuisine. I can't express how much I appreciated two days of delicious chorizo, Portuguese baked chicken, and stewed pork. The food is amazing.
After this short detour, I hopped on a ferry, which brought me directly to the Hong Kong airport, where I am now waiting to board my flight to Mumbai, India (via Bangkok and Sri Lanka).. Pretty exciting!
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