I'm On Top of the World!

So last Saturday started the first part of a series of outings that my summer class has organized for the students. The first field trip was go to The Peak on Hong Kong Island. For those of you who are not aware, The Peak is a tourist attraction that sits on a large mountain on the island and overlooks the city, Victoria Harbour, and the Kowloon side of the harbour (or harbor, I'm starting to mix up British and American spelling). Anyways, it's probably the largest tourist attraction in Hong Kong. When I first heard about it, I though it was going to be kinda lame. After all, there is only so much you can do at the top of a mountain. Maybe look out at the city for a few minutes, snap a couple of pictures of the scenery, and then go home. In addition to that, our smaller IBCE group was planning on going, but decided that the fare to get to the island and the ticket to get to the top of The Peak was too expensive. All in all, I thought it was going to be a wonderful Saturday wasted, especially since I had to go as a part of a large tour group and wear a group shirt (not cool). However, it turned out to be an awesome day, and I recommend The Peak to anyone visiting Hong Kong.

The Peak Tower

The Peak Tram with Hong Kong in the backgroud. This is what I saw on the trip up and down



Cost ceased to be an issue because it turns out that the cost of these trips were included in the fee for my summer classes. So in a way, I was obliged to go. The day before the trip, we had this huge group meeting to talk about how the field trips were organized and what we should expect. If I haven't mentioned it already, my summer classes are no longer limited to the 20 people in my IBCE group from USC. Now, we are in classes with other students from various countries (mostly Japan, but some are from the UK or other countries in Europe). The larger group was split into 23 smaller sections, each with 5-7 students in it. Of course, they ended up splitting people up so that we can get to know everyone. But it was OK because I ended up being with some of my USC friends as well as several really cool Japanese students. Our group leader was also great. She is local graduate student who made a cute panda out of paper and placed it on a stick so that we could find her throughout the day. Just another example of how cuteness is a strong part of modern Hong Kong culture. The day of the trip, I had to be up and at the train station by 8:00 am. A ridiculous time for anyone to be ready to go anywhere. We took the MTR to TST and walked around, looking at the skyline of Hong Kong before boarding a ferry to get to the island. Afterwards, we took a bus to the bottom of the mountain on which The Peak is located. By this time, we were all dying and fighting off dehydration with gallons of water that we brought with us. The temperature must have been around 35 degrees Celsius (or 95 degrees Fahrenheit). Luckily, we got to stand in a covered platform to wait to go up the mountain. To get to The Peak, you have to take a tram that sort of looks like one of the San Francisco trolleys. The incline that the trolley has to take to get up the mountain is so steep that deep grooves have to be placed in the floor for those people who have to stand up in the car. Even then, it looked like some people were going to fall. Luckily for me, I've adopted the local mentality towards lining (or queueing) up, which is basically ignoring the concept altogether, so I got a seat. I didn't realize just how far up The Peak was. My ears ended up popping on our way up the mountain.

Once we reached the top, I was surprised by what I saw. I was expecting an observatory deck so that we could look out at the city below, but it was much more than that. I should have expected the many restaurants, ranging from Burger King to a really nice, upscale restaurant at the top of the tower. I should have expected the many, many gift shops and other stores like jewelry stores or nice clothing stores. This is, after all, Hong Kong. Life doesn't get much more capitalist than it does here. I would say the materialism in Hong Kong beats out anything that I've ever seen in the United States. There are stores absolutely EVERYWHERE. But that is a rant for a different day.

We stopped to eat at a restaurant as soon as we got up the mountain because we all were starving. We then went on the first part of the tour which was......Madame Tussauds wax museum. I had never been to a wax museum before and my first impression was, "wow, this is really creepy. It looks like they can just come alive and kill me." This was quickly followed by the question, "Who decides that their life's work is to make wax statues of famous people?" After deciding that Madame Tussauds was probably crazy, I started to enjoy myself and take picture with the rich and famous, both dead and alive. I got my picture with Princess Dianna and the rest of the royal family. I was also able to take a snap shot of me with President Obama. My friends and I had fun as Madonna's background dancers, and I played a round of golf with Tiger Woods right after beating Yao Ming in basketball. It was an exciting tour to say the least. All I have to say about wax museums is that you have to go with friends who have a good sense of humour and can take creative pictures, because that's really all you can do. Here's some pictures of my adventure in wax.

David Beckham!

We're Obama's real daughters

I'm a part of the royal family too!

Backup dancers!

The Top of The Peak

Afterwards, we went up to the top of the building to look out at the city from the observatory deck. It was a spectacular view of Hong Kong. I'm really starting to enjoy myself in this city and have become accustomed to living here. Taking pictures of the skyline only took about 15 minutes, and afterwards my group decided to head back to campus. I was ready to crash in my bed because I was tired and sun drunk, but my day wasn't over yet. I had set up a meeting to meet a contact I have in the Hong Kong City ballet. I had been trying to meet him for weeks now, and he inviting a friend and I to have dinner with him later that night. We went, and with was really cool talking to him. He is even trying to get us two tickets to see their production of Swan Lake. I'm super excited have and excuse to dress up and do something cultural. Besides, I love ballet and have never had a chance to see Swan Lake before. I hope it all works out.

Tomorrow is part two of the field trips and we are all going to Macau, the Las Vegas of Asia. No worries though, we are not allowed to gamble on this trip although it is legal. We are going to see the remnants of the Portuguese colonization and to eat what I suspect will be amazing Portuguese food and pastries. I'm very excited.