MAY 23, 13 .. OFF TO HONG KONG AIRPORT ON MAY 20TH ..

In this short Post I am going to show you a few photographs of the YMCA in Kowloon and of some views from-the-train out to Hong Kong International Airport on Monday .. May 20th.

YES IT WAS FOGGY.  It is NOT my camera!

The first photo below looks out across Victoria Harbor at Hong Kong Island from the 9th Floor of the YMCA on Salisbury Road in Kowloon.  Oh the hours over the years that I have stood at this window looking at the below view as I talk on the telephone long distance to the U.S.

A photo of the exterior of the YMCA as I left.

The below photos were taken from the train originating in Kowloon Station and going to Hong Kong Int'l Airport.

We are NOT talking about 'The Projects' here.  We are talking about nice high-rise living.

In addition to the train there is also bus service out to Hong Kong Int'l Airport.

The above photos just give you a feeling for the area of Hong Kong en route to the airport. Nice and green and modern.  This is a very beautiful area! 

Cap

Now fun. Click onto the below link and go back into the future May 23, 2026.

https://babakaps.net/?p=79520

MAY 22, 13 .. HAVE FAITH ..

I have a lot of photos I want to post from Hong Kong. HAVE FAITH that I will actually get them uploaded here onto Blogspot using Patti's computer here in Anchorage and the system for photo-uploading Patti's computer utilizes that I will have to learn.  

Today I did a post over at Dot Net in case you are interested.

Smiles .. Cap

IF you really HAVE FAITH .. do NOT stop here .. but keep scrolling down.  I pulled the below Tea Plantation photos up from my Blogspot photo history. This was A FIRST for me!  Now I must see IF I can upload photos from my camera into Patti's computer THEN get them onto Blogspot here .. 

Tea Plantations in Southern India .. weren't they something!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR FAITH IN ME !  Now please 'scroll-down' to the below Post!

MAY 21, 13 .. THE TRIP IS OVER ..

It is a 'tad' difficult to pen .. THE TRIP IS OVER .. but .. THE TRIP IS OVER!

I have just published two posts at Dot Net with some details of my flight Monday 20 May from Hong Kong to Chicago and today from Chicago North to Anchorage in Alaska.  You may want to look them over.

As I write I am now in Anchorage in Alaska and I am 'feeling' more than a little bit 'tired out'. 

When Patti picked me up at Anchorage International Airport the first thing that we two did was to go to the Cattle Company .. one of our favorite restaurants .. and we shared a Steak and two Caesar Salads.  They sure tasted great!

Now I plan .. now I hope .. to post some of the photos that I took in Hong Kong but was unable to post because I could not find a computer with USB Ports!

I am really tired .. so before I drop-over-onto-the-floor here at Patti's computer .. I think I will sign off.

Much Joy!  THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR INTEREST in this trip!  I can hardly believe that it is over ..

Cap .. 

MAY 20, 13 .. HONG KONG HIGHRISE APARTMENT LIVING ..

As most of you know .. I meet a lot of people in my day-to-day travels .. and here in Hong Kong it is no different .. and let me tell you .. God of Abraham seems to put in-front-of-me some very exceptional people !

I met 'Mull' in a meeting here in Hong Kong .. after the meeting ..  'Mull' and I got to visiting .. and we discovered we both were going back across Victoria Harbor on the Star Ferry .. and so off we two went .. we rode the Number 9 Mini-Bus down from Borrett Road to Hong Kong Central .. and we two got onto the Star Ferry for Kowloon ..

As we crossed Victoria Harbor .. 'Mull' said to me .. "My wife and I live in THAT (and he pointed it out) building" .. and I exclaimed .. "WOW !" .. below .. in the center .. is 'Mull's' apartment building .. the wide one between the tall one on the left .. and the red one on the right ..

I asked him and he said .. "I pay 38,000 HK Dollars a MONTH on a lease" .. friends .. that translates to Five Thousand One Hundred and Thirty Five U.S. Dollars and Thirteen Cents each and every MONTH .. got it .. it translates to Sixty One Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty One U.S. Dollars and Sixty Two Cents per YEAR .. on a lease .. NOT purchasing the apartment ..
So 'Mull' said to me .. "Would you like to see our apartment !" .. and I said .. "YES SIR !" .. you all have-to-be-proud of me ! .. when he asked me .. I did NOT .. jump up on the seat of the Star Ferry and start tap-dancing ! .. I wanted to do that but I did NOT .. in the below photo .. 'Mull's' apartment building is the one in the center .. there are ONE THOUSAND APARTMENTS in the building !
Good Lord ! .. How many people are invited into a building of this class and stature to have a 'look-around' .. am I lucky or am I lucky .. we two visited and then I screwed-up-my-nerve .. took a deep-breath .. and I stepped out onto his balcony .. and looked to my left .. see below ..
Then I turned a tad to my right and saw the below view ..

And I turned another 'notch' to my right and saw the below view ..

And finally .. a last 'notch-to-my-right' .. and this last view ..

THEN .. still out on the balcony .. I AGAIN screwed-up-my-nerve .. I AGAIN took-a-deep-breath .. and I very carefully 'peeked-DOWN' .. and to the left I saw the below scene ..

And to-the-right .. I saw the scene below ..

'Mull' went on to say that he has a friend who has a not-that-much-better apartment who pays 60,000 HK Dollars a MONTH .. that translates to U.S. Dollars $8,108.11 a MONTH  .. or U.S. Dollars $97,297.30 a YEAR .. on a lease ..

I feel so honored to have met 'Mull' .. and to have been invited into a piece of his world .. what more can I say .. 

Smiles and Joy to you All !   Oh So Very Very Lucky to be in Hong Kong !  .. Cap ..

P.S.  Patti has just posted this for me ... I have just touched down on the ground in Chicago, the US of A, and am going to head for a motel for over-night, then on to Anchorage tomorrow.

MAY 18, 13 .. HONG KONG FOOD ..

ED 02476 .. I had to chuckle .. it is SINGAPORE RICE NOODLES you are looking for .. NOT Shanghai Noodles. Below are two (2) photos for you showing genuine Singapore Rice Noodles!  So NICE TO HAVE YOU ALONG FOR THIS RIDE ED!

FOOD .. I want to show you a few meals I have enjoyed here in Hong Kong .. just a short post.

Below is my ONE .. and below is my ONLY .. FAVORITE RESTAURANT IN KOWLOON! Kowloon is the city on the Kowloon Peninsula which is directly across Victoria Harbor from Hong Kong which itself is on Hong Kong Island. The restaurant is VERY BASIC .. few 'Westerners' will be found in it .. and in twenty two (22) years of visiting Hong Kong .. I have NEVER gotten ill eating the food here.  OH YES ! .. they 'know' me from the years of visiting and eating here.  He is hard to see but the second man in the photo .. he is wearing a blue shirt .. is the one man that goes back in my memory to my first visit in late October of 1990 .. I think he is the owner .. behind him .. a table-for-one .. is MY FAVORITE TABLE.



Below you have a photo of my FAVORITE MEAL .. perhaps my favorite meal in all of the world .. Singapore Rice Noodles.  I have eaten Singapore Rice Noodles twice each and twice every day I have been here.  I will go up here and eat it for my morning meal. It is difficult to call it Breakfast .. but it in fact is my Breakfast!  YEP .. I have a Singapore Rice Noodle Addiction!  A serving costs 48 HK Dollars ($6.50 U.S.).  The yellow color is curry.  I seem to NEVER TIRE OF Singapore Rice Noodles !  Singapore Rice Noodles are NOT spicy hot. You add the 'heat' if you choose .. black bean sauce with garlic and hot-pepper-oil.  It has green peppers and small shrimp and eggs and green onions and BBQ sweet pork and thin rice noodles.



Here is another serving of Singapore Rice Noodle .. just in case you skipped-past the above photo .. you will notice it IS a different photo .. this dish is to-die-for-good ! ..

Sometimes I eat two dishes at a sitting.  Singapore Rice Noodles plus a second entree. Below is one of my second choices .. beef and vegetables and noodles in a soup-base-dark-gravy.  Just basic PHENOMENAL Chinese Food .. it too costs 48 HK Dollars ($6.50).

OK let's talk Pizza. When I was over on Lamma Island back in late February 2012 .. the Olinger Family from France and I ate dinner our last night together in quite a restaurant. Below is a photo of their sign .. it was too dark to get a photo of the front of the restaurant..

We ordered three Pizzas. Each were 13-inches in diameter (which is their Large size and our Medium size).  One cost 143 HK Dollars or $19.32 and two cost 158 HK Dollars or $21.35 each .. Clement had one glass of beer costing 38 HK Dollars or $5.14 .. the total cost was 497 HK Dollars ($67.16) for a MODEST dinner for three !  The top one 'looks' smaller but it was the same size as the two lower Pizzas ..

OH YES ! .. OH YES ! .. OH YES ! .. got it .. they were beyond good .. they were PHENOMENAL to put it in one word ! .. well don't they look great ..

So nice to share a few meals with you .. Smiles .. Cap

MAY 17, 13 .. MAP OF HONG KONG ..

Below is a map of the Hong Kong 'Area' .. 

Do you see in the map above that 'Hong Kong' is an AREA.  This area of China is specifically called the 'SAR'.  The 'SAR' stands for Special Administrative Region and Hong Kong is indeed a Special Administrative Region of China.

'SAR' is NOT a word.  It is pronounced as three distinct individual letters.  THE ..    S ..    A ..   R ..  

What the world thinks of as Hong Kong is properly HONG KONG ISLAND.  If you look very closely above Hong Kong Island we have MAINLAND CHINA. I am in the area known as KOWLOON or the Kowloon Peninsula .. and most specifically I am in the part of Kowloon called .. Tsim Sha Tsui ..

Studying the above map .. when I ride my beloved Star Ferries .. I ride them from Kowloon (down and to the left on the above map) from Tsim Sha Tsui to that part of Hong Kong called the 'Central District'. You can see both Tsim Sha Tsui District of Kowloon and the 'Central District' of Hong Kong Island on the above map.

On the above map .. it is on the extreme lower left .. you will see Lantau Island.

Now adjacent to and above Lantau Island you will see Hong Kong International Airport ..

So when I say that "I caught the train from HKG International into Hong Kong (or specifically for me into Kowloon) .. you can see that it is a 'bit of a train ride' .. say about twenty-five minutes.

Straight down from the letter 'H' on Hong Kong Island and quite a bit to the 'right of Lantau Island' you will see LAMMA Island.

Yesterday I took a short day-trip over to Lamma Island.  My visit was cut-very-short by rain but last February of 2012 I shot quite a few photographs of Lamma Island that I will show you in the following post.

"What's that you ask 'Zilla'?

No 'Zilla !  In Hong Kong they DO NOT HAVE PENGUINS !

My web mistress Gullible posted the above photos of her Antarctica Penguins for us all to enjoy.

OK .. scroll down to see Lamma Island .. Smiles .. Cap

MAY 17, 13 .. LAMMA ISLAND .. HONG KONG ..

DISCLAIMER !  The DARK GREY OVERCAST PHOTOS IN THIS POST ARE NOT THE FAULT OF MY CAMERA ! When I shot the below photos HONG KONG was having SOME FOGGY AND GREY AND RAINY AND DRIPPY WEATHER.

As I said in the Map of Hong Kong above .. Hong Kong is several things. It is a CITY .. the City of Hong Kong. It is also an ISLAND .. the Island of Hong Kong. It is also a GENERAL AREA .. a large area .. from 1842 until 1997 it WAS HONG KONG THE BRITISH CROWN COLONY. The general Hong Kong area encompasses some 260 + ISLANDS and some 400 Square Miles.  On the map .. above Central Hong Kong is the Kowloon Peninsula and the City of Kowloon .. I am staying in Kowloon.

To the South of Central Hong Kong and Hong Kong Island .. is an island named LAMMA ISLAND. There are two Villages on Lamma Island .. Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwu Wan.

My friends from France .. see the Post .. FWIW (HONG KONG)..  178.. February 24, 2012 .. Clement and Patricia and Merlin Ohlinger .. 'discovered' LAMMA ISLAND and got a hotel room there in the Village of Yung Shue Wan on the island after several VERY EXPENSIVE days in Hong Kong.

To get to Lamma Island you ride a Ferry. Below is a photo of the Lamma Island Ferry. It leaves from Hong Kong Central .. Pier 4 .. which is to the East of Pier 7 where the Star Ferry docks. 
The adult fare (each way) is 16 HK Dollars or $2.16.  BUT I PAID only 2 HK Dollars yesterday when I rode over to Lamma Island because I am an 'elder' holding an 'elder' Octopus Card.  Being a senior or 'elder' has some advantagesl

The ride is 25 minutes each way and the timings vary during the day .. from every 20 minutes to every 30 minutes to once-an-hour during the non-peak hours of the day .. the LAST Ferry is 11:30PM.

So here we go to Lamma Island!

The above Lamma Island Ferry is quite different from the below Star Ferry. I rode a Star Ferry from Kowloon across Victoria Harbor to get to the Lamma Island Ferry shown above.

Each and every Star Ferry has a name.  Back some years ago .. I counted 14 different active Star Ferries and knew all of their names .. ALL ARE IN THE STAR FAMILY .. Twinkling Star .. Solar Star .. Morning Star .. Evening Star .. Silver Star .. Day Star .. to name just a few I noticed on yesterday ride over.

I do NOT know what to make of the fact that .. the LADY QUEEN OF THE STAR FERRIES .. is named NIGHT STAR !  As you can see below .. NIGHT STAR is quite the Lady Queen.

OK .. after photographing the Lamma Island Ferry I went into the Pier 4 Terminal being sure to enter the correct dockage .. I was headed to Yung Shue Wan the above of the two below names. 

I did NOT get outside of the Ferry Cabin to shoot photos .. so I did not get a photo of the island as we approached it .. I think maybe you can get outside in the rear and could photograph the island as you leave the island. 

YUNG SHUE WAN AND LAMMA ISLAND IS BEAUTIFUL AND QUAINT AND A REAL JOY TO VISIT .. I hope the below photos convey this to you all !

Except for an emergency vehicle and a utility vehicle there are NO MOTORIZED cars or trucks or buses or motorcycles .. on Lamma Island ..

I LOVED SEEING THE BELOW SIGNS throughout Yung Shue Wan Village !

Two very nice 'informative' Displays for Lamma Island ..

Below is a photo looking down from the Ohlinger's Hotel back in February of 2012. Lamma Island is really quaint.

Someone has a 'sense-of-humor' ..

Will you JUST LOOK AT THESE LOBSTERS  !

Will you JUST LOOK AT THESE PIZZAS ! 

Well there you have it .. a short but an EXTREMELY SWEET visit to Lamma Island and to Yung Shue Wan and with the Olinger Family .. back in late February of 2012.  And again yesterday on my short rainy visit to Lamma Island.

Smiles .. Cap