Fermata

This morning began with a tram ride up Victoria's Peak, the highest point on the island.  It gives a beautiful view out over Hong Kong, over the towering my scrapers that dominate the city.  Given how little space is available for flat foundations, the city is incredibly vertical, rising tall and thin like an inhabitable picket fence.  There is some unique architecture, which David says seem straight out of the 80s (including one that's supposed to look like koalas are climbing up the sides) and there is also clear British influence in the signage and translations.

Oddly, Hong Kong seems to be teeming with native Spanish speakers from my brief visit so far.  Our pilot on Hong Kong Airlines spoke English with a heavy Spanish accent, and we ran into a large group of Spanish tourists this morning at the top of the Peak.  A large sample size, I know, but it was enough to make me miss countries where I could speak to everyone.  The tourism here is still mostly driven by mainland Chinese, but since Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR), mainland Chinese need visas to come, making it a bit harder to visit.  Perhaps that is part of the reason why we saw so many Western tourists.  And as a bonus? Nobody was taking pictures of me anymore.

After descending the peak, we went out on a sampan, a traditional Chinese boat.  To do this, we drove down to a dock in Aberdeen, the old fishing village.  Originally, it was just a large floating boat islands - the boats lashed together - so that the inhabitants didn't have to pay Hong Kong taxes.  There was specialized boats, like a school boat, exactly the way we use buildings.  A large fire broke out one night, though, and ended Aberdeen.  Our tour ended up taking a winding route through the crowded, fishy, diesel-scented harbor and involved almost no open water at all.  We got a nice breeze, though, and saw house boats and a floating fish market (against a backdrop of yachts) as we passed by.

Lunch was dim sum at a restaurant overlooking the water.  The dim sum was mediocre, not even really dim sum at all.  No carts, no choice, very safe choices, not even great choices.  A lot of people loved it, some thought it was too adventurous, and those of us who love real dim sum kept quiet.  After all, it was a free lunch.

The afternoon was spent on a Glee tour tradition: committee.  A group of students is randomly selected in secret at the beginning of the trip, and they keep track of funny things that people do or say throughout the entire trip.  Several of us has been writing down quotes, which was key.  We managed to brainstorm ideas for every person and a plot, then broke up to wander the nearby city.  Apparently we were staying in an area filled with pet shops and the like, given that there were several dog hotels, spas, and clothing stores in the surrounding blocks.  The pet culture here is so different from what we observed in mainland China.  

The evening ended with our final concert.  It went very well, and ended in tears (not mine, but those of about every other senior girl).  There were hugs, weeping, and surreal goodbyes 36 hours before their actual departure.  It was strange to bid adieu and then board a bus together.  But people said such wonderful things that it did make me pause and get a bit nostalgic.

Spotted: The leader of Hong Kong is called the Chief Executive, which makes the island sound like a business empire rather than a home.