Monsoon Season, what a trip!
--- a post from June 10th...
Wow. I can't recollect when I've seen such forces of nature when it comes to rain, not even memories of childhood in Taiwan can compare. A couple years ago in Vancouver we did get a squall or two, and downpours along with it, but the heavy rain only lasted 30 min or so, which is so minute compared to what J and I have experienced the last week.
Last Thursday night we heard the thunder and rain roll in, then with some winds added to the bag. By Friday late morning, when we were ready to head out for our exit out of China, Visa requirement, we realized we might get a bit wet heading out of our compound and trying to hail a cab at the entrance. J meticulously crafted rain covers for our carry-on sized luggage, out of plastic sheeting that we kept from the new mattress. Then we armed ourselves with umbrellas and headed out. By the time we got to the gate, which was only a 2 min walk, at least 6" of our pant cuffs were soaked, after having to step through torrents of water on the little roadways. Outside of the gates, we realized that catching a cab was going to be a challenge... the street coming in was fine, but the opposite side of the boulevard was flooded with mud water which came from the construction sites. It was surreal. We decided to head towards the highway to see if our luck would be better at seeing a taxi come down our way, but it was hopeless. The walk took about 5-7 min. to reach the Hwy. 2 minutes in, our pants were soaked up to the knee. By the time we reached the highway and got a cab, our pants were wet to the hip, squishy shoes, suitcases wet on the bottom, as it had to roll through water of 2 inches.
We managed to get on the JiuZhou ferry terminal without much trouble. When we boarded our ferry to Hong Kong, I took half of a Gravol pill to be safe, thank goodness I did. With rains and winds, it was one rocky ride. I had to sit myself sideways in order to maintain equilibrium in my ears/head. When I got up to get our usual food on the ride, bowl of beef noodle and share a can of beer, a sudden wave shifted the boat so much that I ended walking like a drunk person, forcing me right towards a pole, then just before I was to collide, I was forced the opposite direction, making me fall into another seated passenger. Man, even ordering the food i had to hold on to the railing at the front of the boat, and watch the hostesses get thrown off her stool and all the drinks in the fridge fall over. Luckily, one hostess brought us our bowl of noodles, I'm not sure how she did it. The food made me feel better, and the beer relaxed J. We took our shoes off hoping it would dry a bit, but really, only our socks dried enough to notice how wet the shoes were when we had to put them back on. Squish!! ewwwww! By the time we got off the ferry, the wet line on our pants had lowered back down to just above the knee, though damp we still felt.
kaishin chu © 2008
Our next leg of the journey required us to take the MTR (mass transit rail, underground) to our destination, which was refreshing, as it is such a great transit system, reminding us also of Japan. The only confusing bits were finding our way through the labyrinths of halls through multiple buildings were connected underground. We were at Sheun Wan station from the ferry port, and needed only to travel 4 stations to Causeway Bay, it only took us 10 min by the MTR to reach it, if by cab prob. triple that if not more, esp. with the weather. The MTR stations usually have 4-6 exits on average, where you can choose where you want to pop out of the underground. Lucky for us, it had the exact exit for us to head to Times Square, where our hotel, Holiday Inn Express, was just on the backside of it. Soon enough we were checked in and got into some dry clothes and used the hair dryer to dry up shoes, then we headed out to explore Time Square and survey what stores there were. Most of this trip was to be filled with shopping for what we cannot find in China, which is quite a few things, so it was down to a basic needs list. Before we left, I had researched and plotted out which stores we needed to check out, all located within 1-5 blocks radius, so convenient is Hong Kong! Businesses situate themselves around MTR stations.
kaishin chu © 2008
We had an early night, deciding to rest up for a full day of shopping, which would be gruesomely tiring. As we prep to bed we can see pretty large lightening bolts strike nearby in the sky, but it calmed down. The early morning was alarming with the big part of the storm coming in, thunder and lighting were timed closer and closer that it was almost instantaneous, meaning the storm was right over head, we try to sleep through the last hour or two, though not very restful. When we rose at 8 am, we look out our window, and noticed the street on the opposite side of the highway ramp was completely flooded! But our side seemed fine. By 9:30am, after we had breakfast and ready to head out, the flood looked even worse on the other side. We headed down stairs, and for the first time saw this sign posted
or "Black Rain Storm" (extreme heavy rainfall, 70mm in one hour) right before the escalator to the only entrance of the hotel. As we ride down the escalator, we see debris in the foyer, then to our surprise, looking left out of the open entry way, was water rising into the foyer, Air was spewing out of drain holes on the street, as so much water was rushing to drain in, with water and and air blasting up and out at least 2-3 feet. The water was moving like a stream down the street. We had no way out, except to cross this street and get into the mall and do our best there, in case we wouldn't be able to traverse to any other stores with the flooding. Other guests were filming and photographing the scene, not knowing what to do otherwise. I wished I had my camera, but knew that it was too risky of weather for me to carry it... darn.
I had to roll my pants up above my knee, and J rolled up to just below his knee, with flip flops the trekked across, the water reaching just over one foot tall. We were cautious going across, in case there were unsuspected objects underfoot, and trying to find curbs. I am sure both J and I are on all those footages of those who were filming, as they seemed humored by our need to get out across. When we got inside the mall, we found the only thing open, Starbucks, and had a coffee and tried to dry out. My poor leather flip flops, as they were all I had on me... Locals would even wear their house slippers, which were usually plastic out and about...
By 10:30-11am stores started to open up, but a lot didn't most likely due to employees not being able to make it. We happily bought some computer supplies, novels, and food items such as curry paste, quinoa grains and more. By the time we came out, maybe 3 hours later, the streets were bare, just wet, the rain has eased up and the drainage system had handled it all. What a difference!
Due to the rain, we changed our plans to extend one more night in HK, and one less day in Macau. All in all it worked out perfectly. We got to experience a Black Storm, shopped for what we needed, got to visit Discovery Bay and see my cousin and his family ( hadn't seen him for 17 years), the additional day was a dry and sunny day and so we got to venture out to more stores, then went to Lan Kwai Fong for margaritas and Mexican food (the best ever too!!).
kaishin chu © 2008
kaishin chu © 2008
When we got to Macau it was sunny and hot, beautiful. We stayed at Hotel Royal again, and as always, it's such a pleasure to stay there.
kaishin chu © 2008
We checked out stores, then at night we ventured out to the Venetian Macau for dinner in St. Mark's Square in a Macaunese/Portuguese restaurant called, Madeira. We managed to get shuttled to Sands, then catch the Shuttle their to the Venetian. The place is similar but different to Vegas', and much bigger but empty, a bit surreal. We headed home the next day (yesterday) and was glad to be back, as I got a little bit of heat stroke, as temperatures reached 29C+ with 80% humidity, which equalled to feeling like 35C+.
This morning, the monsoon is back.... lighting crashes and thunder rolls... then the rain beats up the windows yet again...
If you'd like to see photos from our trip, click here.
Wow. I can't recollect when I've seen such forces of nature when it comes to rain, not even memories of childhood in Taiwan can compare. A couple years ago in Vancouver we did get a squall or two, and downpours along with it, but the heavy rain only lasted 30 min or so, which is so minute compared to what J and I have experienced the last week.
Last Thursday night we heard the thunder and rain roll in, then with some winds added to the bag. By Friday late morning, when we were ready to head out for our exit out of China, Visa requirement, we realized we might get a bit wet heading out of our compound and trying to hail a cab at the entrance. J meticulously crafted rain covers for our carry-on sized luggage, out of plastic sheeting that we kept from the new mattress. Then we armed ourselves with umbrellas and headed out. By the time we got to the gate, which was only a 2 min walk, at least 6" of our pant cuffs were soaked, after having to step through torrents of water on the little roadways. Outside of the gates, we realized that catching a cab was going to be a challenge... the street coming in was fine, but the opposite side of the boulevard was flooded with mud water which came from the construction sites. It was surreal. We decided to head towards the highway to see if our luck would be better at seeing a taxi come down our way, but it was hopeless. The walk took about 5-7 min. to reach the Hwy. 2 minutes in, our pants were soaked up to the knee. By the time we reached the highway and got a cab, our pants were wet to the hip, squishy shoes, suitcases wet on the bottom, as it had to roll through water of 2 inches.
We managed to get on the JiuZhou ferry terminal without much trouble. When we boarded our ferry to Hong Kong, I took half of a Gravol pill to be safe, thank goodness I did. With rains and winds, it was one rocky ride. I had to sit myself sideways in order to maintain equilibrium in my ears/head. When I got up to get our usual food on the ride, bowl of beef noodle and share a can of beer, a sudden wave shifted the boat so much that I ended walking like a drunk person, forcing me right towards a pole, then just before I was to collide, I was forced the opposite direction, making me fall into another seated passenger. Man, even ordering the food i had to hold on to the railing at the front of the boat, and watch the hostesses get thrown off her stool and all the drinks in the fridge fall over. Luckily, one hostess brought us our bowl of noodles, I'm not sure how she did it. The food made me feel better, and the beer relaxed J. We took our shoes off hoping it would dry a bit, but really, only our socks dried enough to notice how wet the shoes were when we had to put them back on. Squish!! ewwwww! By the time we got off the ferry, the wet line on our pants had lowered back down to just above the knee, though damp we still felt.
kaishin chu © 2008
Our next leg of the journey required us to take the MTR (mass transit rail, underground) to our destination, which was refreshing, as it is such a great transit system, reminding us also of Japan. The only confusing bits were finding our way through the labyrinths of halls through multiple buildings were connected underground. We were at Sheun Wan station from the ferry port, and needed only to travel 4 stations to Causeway Bay, it only took us 10 min by the MTR to reach it, if by cab prob. triple that if not more, esp. with the weather. The MTR stations usually have 4-6 exits on average, where you can choose where you want to pop out of the underground. Lucky for us, it had the exact exit for us to head to Times Square, where our hotel, Holiday Inn Express, was just on the backside of it. Soon enough we were checked in and got into some dry clothes and used the hair dryer to dry up shoes, then we headed out to explore Time Square and survey what stores there were. Most of this trip was to be filled with shopping for what we cannot find in China, which is quite a few things, so it was down to a basic needs list. Before we left, I had researched and plotted out which stores we needed to check out, all located within 1-5 blocks radius, so convenient is Hong Kong! Businesses situate themselves around MTR stations.
kaishin chu © 2008
We had an early night, deciding to rest up for a full day of shopping, which would be gruesomely tiring. As we prep to bed we can see pretty large lightening bolts strike nearby in the sky, but it calmed down. The early morning was alarming with the big part of the storm coming in, thunder and lighting were timed closer and closer that it was almost instantaneous, meaning the storm was right over head, we try to sleep through the last hour or two, though not very restful. When we rose at 8 am, we look out our window, and noticed the street on the opposite side of the highway ramp was completely flooded! But our side seemed fine. By 9:30am, after we had breakfast and ready to head out, the flood looked even worse on the other side. We headed down stairs, and for the first time saw this sign posted
or "Black Rain Storm" (extreme heavy rainfall, 70mm in one hour) right before the escalator to the only entrance of the hotel. As we ride down the escalator, we see debris in the foyer, then to our surprise, looking left out of the open entry way, was water rising into the foyer, Air was spewing out of drain holes on the street, as so much water was rushing to drain in, with water and and air blasting up and out at least 2-3 feet. The water was moving like a stream down the street. We had no way out, except to cross this street and get into the mall and do our best there, in case we wouldn't be able to traverse to any other stores with the flooding. Other guests were filming and photographing the scene, not knowing what to do otherwise. I wished I had my camera, but knew that it was too risky of weather for me to carry it... darn.I had to roll my pants up above my knee, and J rolled up to just below his knee, with flip flops the trekked across, the water reaching just over one foot tall. We were cautious going across, in case there were unsuspected objects underfoot, and trying to find curbs. I am sure both J and I are on all those footages of those who were filming, as they seemed humored by our need to get out across. When we got inside the mall, we found the only thing open, Starbucks, and had a coffee and tried to dry out. My poor leather flip flops, as they were all I had on me... Locals would even wear their house slippers, which were usually plastic out and about...
By 10:30-11am stores started to open up, but a lot didn't most likely due to employees not being able to make it. We happily bought some computer supplies, novels, and food items such as curry paste, quinoa grains and more. By the time we came out, maybe 3 hours later, the streets were bare, just wet, the rain has eased up and the drainage system had handled it all. What a difference!
Due to the rain, we changed our plans to extend one more night in HK, and one less day in Macau. All in all it worked out perfectly. We got to experience a Black Storm, shopped for what we needed, got to visit Discovery Bay and see my cousin and his family ( hadn't seen him for 17 years), the additional day was a dry and sunny day and so we got to venture out to more stores, then went to Lan Kwai Fong for margaritas and Mexican food (the best ever too!!).
kaishin chu © 2008
kaishin chu © 2008
When we got to Macau it was sunny and hot, beautiful. We stayed at Hotel Royal again, and as always, it's such a pleasure to stay there.
kaishin chu © 2008
We checked out stores, then at night we ventured out to the Venetian Macau for dinner in St. Mark's Square in a Macaunese/Portuguese restaurant called, Madeira. We managed to get shuttled to Sands, then catch the Shuttle their to the Venetian. The place is similar but different to Vegas', and much bigger but empty, a bit surreal. We headed home the next day (yesterday) and was glad to be back, as I got a little bit of heat stroke, as temperatures reached 29C+ with 80% humidity, which equalled to feeling like 35C+.
This morning, the monsoon is back.... lighting crashes and thunder rolls... then the rain beats up the windows yet again...
If you'd like to see photos from our trip, click here.
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