April 3, 2006

Hong Kong!

            We had smooth sailing all the way to Hong Kong.  We arrived bright and early and were able to get off the ship a little before 10:00 am.  I was on a SAS trip to the Culinary Art Institute of China, so we were the first ones off the ship.  Before we got to the institute, we got to have a short city tour.  I have to tell you right from the start, I love Hong Kong!  I only wish that I could have spent more time there, but what a great city!  When we got off the ship, we had to walk through a huge mall just to get outside.  This was a very emotional moment for me.  You see, we have been in the third world for the last couple of countries, and to walk into the first world, and the whole reverse culture shock was a very strange flooding emotion.  It was exciting to see all these different shops that I recognized, as well as old favorites, like Starbucks and Hagen Daus Ice cream.  The city was so clean!  I was really surprised at how clean the ground was, and there were trash cans everywhere.  We saw more cars than bicycles and motorcycles, and not just any cars, but Lexus, and Porsche, BMW’s and more.  It was just so strange to come from places were everything was so poor and basic and dirty, to all these lavished goods.  The air was polluted, but I think everyone on the ship had an easy time over looking that compared to everything else.  It was the strangest feeling to me to walk into a bathroom, and not even worry if it would be a squatting toilet (also known as a hole in the ground that you squat over, like camping) or a western toilet.  We saw stores that actually had front doors (instead of just a cement indent of a building with no front.  They usually have like a garage door that they pull over at night to protect their “goods”).  These were so many things that we saw where we were just like “Wow!”  The reverse culture shock is one of the strangest things I have ever experienced.  I know that I experienced some reverse culture shock when I cam back from Spain, but this was surprisingly different. 

            So after our little drive, we went over to Hong Kong Island, where the culinary institute was.  I was so excited about this trip.  For those that know me even half way well, you know that I love to cook!  I was so excited about learning how to make a Chinese dish or two, and just in seeing how their institute works.  There were about 20 of us on this tour, one of which was my good friend Sam.  We had so much fun just being there! 

            When we first got there, they had all these students dressed up in some typical Hong Kong costume and they lined out walk way and greeted us as we came in.  They even had a photographer there, to take pictures of us all day.  They gave us an elaborate tour of all the different styles of cooking they do, and the different kitchens.  Our guide was very enthusiastic about every thing.  He showed us the different levels each chef goes though until they become a master Chef.  We then all got our chef coats on, and headed to the kitchen.  Sam and I were both so excited about the jackets alone, we had no idea about all the fun that was in store!

            First off, was the cooking demonstration.  The Master Chef of the school showed us how to make Szechwan Shrimp, and then Chinese chicken in a bag.  After the demonstration and taste testing, we were all assigned to a cooking student, and we each made these two dishes.  All of the Chinese students are our age (late teens, early twenties), and are trying to learn English.  They all had English names, my guy called himself Kevin.  So, Kevin showed me how to use the Wok.  Their stoves are on hydraulics, so they raise and lower according to the height of the chef (needless to say, my stove was almost all the way down.)  First, we heated the wok up, and then cleaned it.  Next we started off with the shrimp recipe.  I had quite a time trying to swing that wok around so that my shrimp would fly up in the air, do a flip and land safely back into my wok.  Those woks had to weigh around 35 pounds each, very heavy duty!  My student chef sure had some entertainment at least! 

After our cooking exhibition, we all sat down to a super good meal!  It was a seven course meal, and every corse was better than the one before it!  As finished our meal, they came out with all of the souviners that we could purchase.  So amny cool things to chose from!  Sam and I amde our selctions along with everyone else.  Before we could leave, they had a little ceremony for us all, and presented us with certificates for our hard work that afternoon.  with our arms heavy with souviners, we loaded the bus and convinced our tour guide to just drop us off at the post office as a few items that we purchaed we re illigal to bring on the ship, like our box sets of chef knives!  Sam and I ahd quite a time figureing everything out at the post office, but finally we answered all of their questions and stood i nthe right lines, and soon, we were out the door with the afternoon to our leisure. 

    Our first priority was to see waht the shopping district looked like.  We were unable to find the local markets and the Tiffany and Company was a little bit out of our price range, so we settled for browsing around the art museam for the time being.  After picking up a few small gifts, we headed to Starbucks and then Haugen Daus.  It was the first Starbucks that I have had in a long, long time, and it tasted even better than I remeber!

     We headed back to the ship to meet up with Meghan to go over to Victoria Peak where Jen, Brandy and Maria were planning on meeting us for dinner.  The three of us took the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong peak and started our trek to the top.  the whole time that we were on Hong Kong Island, Meghan was kind enough to give us a lesson on the history and facts of the surrounding buildings.  She had gone on a city tour earlier that day, so we all benifited from the knowledge she gained!  The buildings are very facinating!  Actually, all of Hong Kong is facinating!  I loved beign there, and would recommend it to anyone!  Finally we arrived at the tram station and bought our tickets to take us all the way up the peak.  Once we got up there, we looked around for Maria, Jen and Brandy, but we couldn't find them.  We wondered around for a while, enjoying the view, and then we checked back at our meeting place again, but they still were not there.  We decided to jsut go find dinner and find the girls later.  After checking around at a couple of different resturants, we settled on one and waited our turn, which only took 30 minutes.  We all had our cheese burgers and french fries, and then all agreed that dessert was necissary to top off the night.  I finally got to have my Creme Brule!  It tasted so good! 

     After dinner, we enjoyed the lights alittle longer and then rushed back down the peak to catch the last ferry back over to our ship.  We were all ready for bed since we knew tomorrow would be a busy day.  As we approached the ship, we ran into Maria, Jen, and Brandy.  They jsut didn't have time to make it up to the top, as they had been tired up somewhere else.  i stayed out a little later and made phone calls.  This was the first country that my calling card actually worked in!  it was so good to talk to my family, and of course, to Chris, my fiance.  I sure do miss everyone!!  It was a great day, even if it did mean I would only get 3 hours of sleep before my Beijing trip the next day!