HONG KONG - PART 1
We arrived safe and sound in Hong Kong last Saturday. We are really enjoying it. Very different, and also very nice. Before we left people said it's climate was like New York, so we were prepared for cold. No, we found out that it is warmer than San Diego!We are staying in Tai Po, only about 20 minutes from Mainland China border...not in Central Hong Kong.
We got here and didn't seem to experience any real jet lag. Although, today I felt kinda tired. The flight over was uneventful, and even pretty groovy. Pete, my brother, was right, you do get pampered in Biz Class. I'm so glad that we ended up going that way. Sam's place is nearly an hour out of HK central where all the action is, so we must learn how to take the train, and get that down. His honey is not comfortable with him going out with us late, so we'll have to figure out how we are getting to the concert on the 4th. Mikole is setting up our plans to go to Shanghai for around the 16th.
Strange things about HK:
1. It's a pleasant temperature here, a bit warmer than San Diego. That's outside. They air-condition the hell out of the inside. So you must take extra clothing for indoors. Or should I say I MUST. I went into a restroom last night, I swear you could preserve meat in there! Iceeeee! And that's the kind of thing they do. I met a girl singer who said, "In Asia they never turn off the air conditioner, girl". Then, someone told me that they think the cold air kills germs, so there is an explanation.
2. The road signs will tell you that you are in the correct lane, then, the next thing you know you're holding up traffic in a gown with a big slit in the side begging the guy in the booth to take your money.3. There springs up, from time to time - and out of nowhere, a distinct odor...Street is clean, no one's cooking but kinda smells like old kimchi.
O.K. I haven't had a chance to discover all the strange things here. I will say that we are sooo spoiled in the States. I mean everything is so convenient.
So, we did a gig last night. The 100 year celebration of Rolls Royce. They presented a new experimental car. And, boy do they know how to present. The booming announcement, Ladies and Gentlemen...All the lights cut for a moment, including the road we all walked up to get there, then Bam! very strong headlamp style lights, big fog, and through that slowly emerges the new Rolls sports car. They gave a parting gift bag, with a magazine on Billionaires, a Christies catalog, and a glass paperweight with a gossamer version of the hood ornament, the flowing goddess figurine.We are probably going to do a date at a little club called Gecko. Expat -Australian, natch. (Isn't the gecko the Aussie National bird or something?) The circle of expatriates here is a subcommunity, and not all that large once you discover it.
HONG KONG - PART 2
O.K. got a couple more strange things: Well, interesting and different:
A large part of the time you spend going UP and then DOWN. Seriously, HK is a up and down place. No set elevation! Stairs, stairs everywhere. Sometimes you go up and then down, and are not sure why...Good Butt-ups! I haven't seen any overweight people here...Probably 'cause I'm in the train stations a lot, and everyone there walks a lot. From train to train, and once you are in town...you walk a lot.
Another one: They fine (as in penalize) people here 1500 HK for spitting. Not kidding, apparently it is a 'bad habit' many mainland Chinese people have... $1500 HK is about $150.00 US. it's about 8HK to $1.00 U.S.They also fine you $1500 HK if you allow your dog to do it’s duty in public. Same for littering. And it works, Hong Kong is very clean.
They show ads for safe driving on some of the newer trains - their safety goal is for ‘zero’ accidents. The drivers all practice what I call “cooperative driving”. Generally they’ll find ways to let you change lanes, even sharing their lane a bit so that you can pull into an adjoining lane.
Also, their public transportation is truly wonderful. Done very well. Train stations and timetables that even a foreigner can grasp - eventually They announce each stop in both Cantonese and English, so that makes it even more user friendly.
Now, there is a large population of 'maids' here. Live-in. They work 6 days a week and in their first year pay ½ their salary to the agency that got them the job. Phillipino, Thai, Vietnamese, and so on, but no Chinese. There seems to be a prejudice against the Chinese... The maids all congregate in HK Central on Sundays. Central is the main city area of HK, they call it Central. The maids bring picnics into the railway station, lay blankets, newspapers down, whatever, and hang out all day together. One Expat said to me that 'they get to relax and be with their 'sisters', cry laugh and be themselves one day a week. He also said they are usually grossly underpaid. Our British friend later tells me that, by law, the maids must have one day off per week, and so the custom is to make them leave the house by 9 a.m. and have them return about 9 in the evening. Her maid, however, comes and goes, watches television if her work is done, and shares in the British Thanksgiving dinner.
Emmie, KaiLing's maid, seems to be pretty happy. (we're staying with Sam and his fiancé out in Tai Po, her nickname is Callie). Emmie's very shy, and we certainly don't know how to deal with her properly. I thank her when she does things for me, and she seems surprised. But she's seems to understand that we have no idea. I think if she were our maid she would overrun us in no time! Maybe not, she's pretty shy. I just found out the other day that Emmie likes to sing, and that her real name is Immie, pronounced I'm - ee. She hasn't been singing because Callie told her I was a singer, and Mikole a musician, and she was too shy to do it around us. Luckily we have had a piano to play here and so she's heard plenty of me. We're encouraging her to go ahead and sing, baby! Oh, I also have discovered that my inability to sleep is called 'jet lag' by those in-the-know! Just when you think you've skipped a step. I'm going to continue adding to this, because it's getting to be really fun. Carrie
HONG KONG - PART 3
O.K. I found a t-shirt that says "I am Lost In Hong Kong", and, of course, had to buy it! Although we haven't worn any such shirt, it has been obvious to the many that we have been lost and confused. We've had several little adventures, that all turned out well in the end, as everything actually seems to do. One of the little clues we give out must be searching looks at passers-by to see if there is a glint of recognition for a Caucasian 'English-speaking' face. The other is standing in front of signs of the railroad routes and discussing them. Then of course, there is the desperate, "Do you speak English?" There was one guy I was speaking with, and near the end of the conversation I said, "By the way, you speak English very well..." And he answered, "Thank you, I have been attending Ohio University, do you know it?"
People have been very helpful. One night at about 11:30 we were running late to the train to Tai Po. See, you must take the MTR out of Central Hong Kong and change trains to the KCR in order to get close to where we are staying. There is a wild rumor that there are 24 hour buses up here, but we have yet to see these elusive phantoms... So, we are running down, and when I say down, I mean that literally, DOWN, step, step, step, slope. And me in dress shoes, Mikole with his saxophone. We see a bunch of young guys on the street and ask, Do you speak English? then point, and say "is that the MTR?" The tallest of them says, "Cross the street here", so we do. We outstrip him and are heading to who knows where, when he grabs my arm and gives me a little push into the alley, and says, "MTR there", and continues in the other direction leaving us in this alley with the rest of the group of guys. I'm thinking, "uh, I dunno", but there it is, the entry to the MTR. So we board and we're all proud, and we pray our way to the KCR connection. KCR, we've been told stops running at midnight. It is now 5 minutes to midnight. We alight, minding the gap as the computer tells you, and start running in the station. Then we have one of our famous discussions, and are on the wrong side of a sign. A young couple comes over to us, and says, "where are you going?" 'Tai Po'. The girl giggles, "oh, so is he", and we say, "we are following you, but haven't we missed it already?" And she says, "KCR goes to 12:30". And we stop running. But you see what I mean, that's three total strangers just offering help. Hong Kong is a friendly place...
The thing is they start music in HK Central about 10 p.m., so we are going to have to seek out the buses that run 24 hours... Are you bored yet? Cause I want to tell you about the Chinese Doctor we found.
We went to Tai Po Market, great produce and a bunch of other stuff, too. Hardware store, electric store and so on. Hardly anyone drives here. It costs about $1,000.00 U.S. just to run a car. And they don't remind you that your license is about to expire, or your plates or anything. You forget, they fine you. They also don't forward your mail. You gotta make sure everyone knows where you are, or too bad...
So, after Mikole is all happy to find the stuff he needs at this little hardware store, we take a look around, pick up some ripe fruit, and I notice an unusual looking stall. It has all kinds of dried stuff. So we go in, and, sure enough, an herbalist type place. Chinese Doctor, licensed and all, herbs and all kinds of good things. I think, what an opportunity, a real live Chinese Doc, in China! We look around. The store is about 12X20. I'm not great with eyeballing size, but it seems all the stalls are small spaces. I, of course, want to check out the scene, and sure enough, the couple next to us speak English, visiting relatives, but residing in England! They translate for Mikole. Mikole gets a consultation - the Doc asks questions, listens to the lungs, through the chest and the back, takes his pulse, and writes out a prescription. Now the prescription is handed off to the assistants, who measure out ingredients, grind some with a pestle (no, I'm not making this up), and then Mikole is sent home with 2 days worth of tea. Usually, they keep the prescription and make the tea for you. The daily routine is you go say “hi”, they decoct your particular tea for an hour, you shop or wander around for that hour, come back and drink it. However, they are willing to send us home with it, especially since I know what they're talking about. The total cost for this doctor visit and two days worth of medicine? $8.00 U.S.
O.K. One more thing. Pedestrians are nobodies. You cross in front of a truck they honk and don't even slow down. Pedestrians never have the right of way...ever. A bit New Yorkie I'm thinkin'.HONG KONG - PART 4
Hello my friends,
Here is part four of interesting things about HK.Bargaining: Went with Callie and Sam to the Bird Street, then the Flower Street, then the Fish Street, The Women's Street, and the Dog Street. It's like a 'restaurant row' idea. In one area you can see all kinds of birds. As you walk up to the Bird market area, you see many old men with their birds and their cages. They sit with their birds and talk with each other, and contemplate buying another bird, or perhaps another cage. These men's cages are very nicely done, the wood is shiny, and some have decorated the cage. I saw one man with two birds in their two cages gazing longingly at yet another bird...
Callie is looking for a specific plant or pot that she can place in the home. She’s got a very clear idea of what it is, but we don’t find it. So, we go on to Women’s Street, where I get my first taste of ‘bargaining’. I know that I want to pick up souvenirs for people but I don’t know what, and so this is ‘window shopping’ for me - in an outdoor market. I do need a pair of sunglasses, I think, so I stop at a stall to look. The girl says, “good deal, very nice,” points out the designer name and I try them on. She gets pretty warmed up with her sales pitch and offers the glasses to me for $160 HK = $15.00 or so U.S. Callie, has, by this time, caught up with me, and it’s ON. She scoffs at the price, and I hand the glasses back to the girl. Now, she and Callie go at it in Cantonese, while Sam and I stand there looking friendly. She tries to blunt Callie’s influence with me, to the extent of physically pushing between us. I keep my eyes on Callie, only briefly looking at the girl, because I know that I DON’T KNOW how to get a good deal, and Callie DOES! The girl tells me ‘you good’, points to Sam ‘he good’, points to Callie, ‘she no good’. Finally a bargain is struck for about $4.00 U.S. Then, Callie notices a scratch, and it begins again. The girl gives up, goes underneath the table and comes out with a pair of sunglasses still in the plastic.
On another day, I go back, and buy the graceful pot that Callie liked the best, and get some pretty plants to go with it...
HONG PART 5
Music, understood, everywhere.Oasis of Jazz Concert at Clearwater Bay:
We are part of the Clearwater Bay Resort’s Oasis of Jazz Concert. Mikole opens his set playing some instrumentals. They are fascinated with the Bassoon. I join them in gloves, gown. You know the look. One of the highlights of the set is the Bassoon/vocal duet on “Stormy Weather”. I also sing, “Take the ‘A’ Train”, “I’m Beginning to See the Light”, and other selections from the cd. A nice night overall. The players are an international mix. Piano player - Allen Youngblood and Drummer - Larry Hammind - from the U.S., Bassist - Paul Candaleria - Philippines, On the other sets there is Blaine, a talented Aussie Alto Sax player, a guitarist from the U.S. and some Latin players from the Dominican Republic. I love the international flavor. But, I miss my band.We’ll be going to mainland China next. In Beijing there is a rumor of a great bassoon factory and Mikole wants to check it out. In Shanghai there is said to be a lot of great jazz. I can’t wait.
We’ll be doing some more performances in Hong Kong when we return.
BEIJING:
We go to Beijing and check into our ‘non-smoking’ room in the Huadua Hotel. That sounds so simple, doesn’t it? First we couldn’t land in Beijing and were re-routed to the Shanghai Airport until visibility cleared and we could land. The air quality in China is pretty bad around the cities. They don’t talk about it like we do in the U.S. If they did, L.A. would look like the ‘healthy lung’ site for a city. Clearly, or should I say, it was never quite clear in the cities.
China owns HK now, so you’d think there would be similarities. And, there are. However, customs people are not very similar. Entering Beijing; the gentleman stamps my passport, I smile and say ‘thank you’, and he glares at me like I’ve done something wrong. There is a decided uptightness in the airport that wasn’t there in HK. In HK, one of the airport police was so bored he was walking heel to toe and counting steps to squares...
Now that we’re on our own, we have to figure out how to get places. The musical manufacturer makes it easy on us. They just pick us up. The other way to get about is to go to the concierge, tell them where you wish to go, and they write it in Chinese. You just hand the card to the cab driver and they take you. When you wish to return to the hotel, you just use the same card and ‘no problem’. One of the U.S. expats we meet tells me that the cab drivers will all have to pass an ‘English’ exam by 2008 in order to keep their licenses.
Finally, after a day of disappointment at the wrong manufacturer, and a ‘junket’ lunch, about an hour outside of Beijing, they take us to another manufacturer. The bassoon’s are handmade and based on the “Heckle” bassoon. The best in the world right now. He only has the ‘lesser’ models, but they are wonderful. The designer and builder is also a classical bassoonist. Since he plays he is able to fine tune the instruments. He speaks no English, and Mikole no Chinese, but they communicate very, very well. Music. Understood. Everywhere. Unfortunately, all of his models are sold. So, Mikole hopes he’ll be able to find him at this years NAMM show (National Association of Musical Manufacturers) in Anaheim. We’re out of time, and just when Mikole could’ve enjoyed spending some time with this designer.
The jazz scene in Beijing is small, but we appreciate the trumpet player at the Kerry and the fine piano player at the ‘Big Easy’. Since we lost a day coming in, we don’t really have a chance to do much more than that.
SHANGHAI
There is definitely great music here. We were told to look up Dwight Dickerson, a great piano player out of L.A. He’s working with a wonderful singer, Alexia Gardner, bassist and drummer. We see them first, and, as it turns out, they are the best. We also hit some other places and enjoy them, but the place I like the best is the J.C. Mandarin with these guys. Alexia is very generous and invites us both to sit in. We do, and it is a wonderful musical experience. I’d like to return to Shanghai. There are two ways. Doing a concert. Working in a hotel. If you work in a hotel, then you can stay for 6 months, they take care of all the government paperwork. You must supply them with a 30 minute video of yourself, proving you are who you say you are, and you do what you say you do. This is not the hotel’s requirement, it’s the government’s. I’ll keep in touch with the people over there and see if we can’t set something up.
Barbara:
I’m going to take a sidebar and tell you about Barbara. Barbara is a fitness trainer, and she trains a trumpet player we’ve met only over the phone. He’s a friend of a bass player that we were able to spend some time with. Great couple. Anyway, the trumpet player, Mark, tries to help set us up in a hotel in Shanghai. We end up not using that hotel, however, we have been put in touch with Barbara. She’s about five foot nine inches tall, and stunning. When we get in, we phone here to say, “thanks for trying to help us,” and to tell her that we’re O.K. She says, ‘you eat?’ and we say ‘no’,we need to go out to eat. She say’s, “I’ll be right over”. This happens for lunch the next day, and she picks up the check before we even know that it’s arrived. That’s including Dwight and Cassandra’s meals. She gets shy, covers her mouth and giggles, telling us that we shouldn’t thank her. After that, we make sure we get the check! This happens all the time. I think Mark told her to look out for us, and she took him very seriously.Shopping with Cassandra in the Shanghai Market:
I tell Dwight’s wife, Cassandra, that I want to go shopping. Not in the big designer stores, but in the market, the, I don’t even know what to call it, but she gets me instantly. So, we go, 5 women to the market. Two are Chinese, and three of us are American. Cassandra is the Queen of Bargaining. I thought Callie was good, but she was nothing like Cassandra. The rate exchange for Ren and B, or Qua, or whatever you want to call it -Chinese currency- is about $9 to $1 U.S.
But, you can’t think like that. When we walk into the Shanghai market, “watchee, watchee, lady you like, give you best price”. I answer that I don’t wear a watch. “Cd, DVD,”and they show me Oceans 12 on DVD. Oceans 12 just came out 1 ½ weeks ago in the U.S. How do they do it? Well, from what I’m told, you buy one of those very cheap DVD’s, and, as you’re watching the inferior picture quality someone may stand up and move across your screen, or you’ll hear someone coughing! China is an interesting dichotomy, very capitalistic, yet having another whole vibe.So, we go through the market, and Cassandra sees something she likes. She asks, “How much”. They name a price, and she offers them about 1/4 of the asking price. One guy leaves his stall to bargain with her all the way down the aisle into another area of the market. Finally he agrees to her price, and then it turns out he brought the wrong color! So, he runs back, gets the right color, and everyone says, ‘shea, shea’. So, the bargain is always completed with a ‘thank you’ and smiles, no matter how hard you bargain. This goes on throughout the market, and a pattern emerges. 5 women, so we all wander a bit. Yet, we remain connected, and flow like an amoeba. Whenever one stops and bargains, we coalesce around her, offering support, agreement and our opinion that the price is much too high. We become a force. I am able to purchase items made in China - in China! What a concept. I try to find things that are not readily available in the States, and get them as gifts. Pashima scarves, pretty table settings with chop sticks, beaded bags, belts, and so on. Barbara won’t let me carry my bags, and by the end of the day she is completely loaded down. We split up and finish by meeting Mikole at a Buddhist restaurant. We treat Barbara, and she admits that Mark told her to take care of us. The food is great, all vegetarian, and it’s a wonderful way to finish the trip.
Now, back to HK.
Other things that I’ve learned.
My Bass player, Garry Goodman asked how we liked the airport and, more especially, the landing in Hong Kong. He related a story of coming in at a steep angle and seeing high rise buildings on either side of him. He thought they were crashing, but it was just a normal landing. And, other people told us that while HK belonged to the British, the Chinese kept an array of anti-aircraft guns aimed South, and right on the border, so that jetliners would make these steep barnstormer climbs to have enough altitude to turn before crossing that ‘line’. Now, that’s the old airport. The new airport is out on an adjoining island and the old Hong Kong airport sits emptily waiting for someone to figure out how to use the space.
Space is at a premium in Hong Kong. For a nice flat in HK, say 3 bedrooms, 2 ½ baths and a spacious feeling, you can pay $4,000.00 or more (U.S.), per month. Many families live in a very small space and have two burners to cook on. So, everyone goes shopping together. No one wants to be trapped in that small space, and they all go to buy produce and so forth. On Christmas Eve, we find that we cannot just sit at the bar and get a salad. All the dinners are ‘set’, and reservations packed. Everyone goes out like it’s New Year’s Eve, and some of the streets are like Bourbon Street in the height of Mardi Gras. Any excuse for a party. The police actually monitor the foot traffic, as many people were trampled one holiday. So, people move in blocks. City blocks. A city block of people, that mass, moving all together is really something to see.
We play two intimate dates at Bert’s, and do our New Year’s Eve party for the Foreign Correspondent’s Club. We get a video shot at Berts, and everything goes well for the New Year’s Eve party. They know how to put on a party there. The band is our international mix again, so musically we can dig it. Mikole even sings a bit. Then, it’s back to the U.S.
I want to go back. I enjoyed it so much, the music, the culture, the people. I’ll work on it.Injoy,
Carrie
