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July 19, 2008 – I’ve just finally arrived in Hong Kong (香港), after a 16 hours-long flight from Newark, NJ. Can you guess where the plane flew on its way to here? It flew on the Polar Route! Yes, we flew over the North Pole, and it was a very beautiful sight, seeing the earth’s curve. I even saw the Arctic Ocean, with its cracked ice floes. It reminded me of my incredible trip to Greenland. But why did I take the Polar Route? It saved me 6 hours more of flying over the Pacific Ocean, and the airline saved more than $40,000 dollars worth of fuel!

When I arrived, I decided to start my adventure at the Bird Garden (園圃街雀鳥花園), which is a public space featuring different kinds of birds being sold, or just being displayed. Interestingly enough, the price of a bird at the garden can often be determined by how well it sings. Other items related to bird care are also sold there, too. It was an amazing sight to see the local people coming at 7 AM for their daily social. The owners will gather to socialize, and their birds will gather, too. A parrot owner surprised me by handing his parrot to me, and I put him on my shoulder. I felt like a pirate right there!

Continuing on my tour of Hong Kong, I came across the Duk Ling (鴨靈號). The Duk Ling is an ancient Chinese Junk, which is a type of fishing/shipping boat that the Chinese built over a hundred and fifty years ago. This junk, the Duk Ling, is the last of its kind in the world. What makes the junk unique are its sails, which is almost square-shaped when fully raised, and with peaked lines, in rows. It felt like I was back in the Han Dynasty, but with the modern skyline of Hong Kong behind me. The junk, which is in Victoria Harbor (維多利亞港), gave me a great view of the city. It’s definitely a must to do on your list, while you’re in Hong Kong!

I next went to the Hong Kong Jockey Club (香港賽馬會), which is one of Hong Kong’s most important sites to visit. It’s sports and social club, charity, and racehorse track all rolled into one. Much of the city’s schedule can sometimes be planned around what happens at the Jockey Club. I came by the stable at Beas River Riding School (上水雙魚河鄉村會所), where I met 5 deaf stable assistants. The stable has over 220 horses, and 80 grooms, which means caretaker in a way, including the five deaf assistants. It was a fascinating experience, meeting these five hearty and hardworking deaf groomers, and seeing where they work.

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In the evening, I came to one of Hong Kong’s many ancient Tea Houses, to socialize with some of the local deaf people, about 14 of them in all. The food was on a moving table, which meant we had to grab different types of food with only chopsticks! It was very tricky, and even a little messy, too! After eating some dinner, we were surprised with a very beautiful cake. The dessert chef, David Yu (余錫淋), whom I interviewed last year, made this cake to welcome me back. The cake was similar to a half-earth, with melting chocolate on top, and the words Joel, Welcome to Hong Kong. It was a symbol of my travels around the world, in dessert form, and it was amazing! It was some very delicious cake, and David is an awesome dessert chef.

The night ended with a trip to a local café that served us something called “hot double milk” (雙皮奶). It was very sweet and filling, and it gave me a great way to end the night here in Hong Kong. While I knew I’d miss Hong Kong, I was more than ready to leave for Taiwan (台灣).