Hong Kong Patch

This year my Girl Scout troop has embarked on the task of earning the “Hong Kong Patch”.  To earn it, girls (either individually or together as a troop) have to do 30 required activities that will take them all around Hong Kong over the course of the year.  The girls have to write a “reflection” about each of the activities and keep a scrap book to chronicle their journeys.  I thought it would be fun to keep track of the outings on the blog.  I’m sure my “reflections” will be a bit different than Lydia’s!

Requirement: Try 2 traditional Chinese dishes at home or at a restaurant.

First stop of the day, a restaurant called Qiao Cuisine (I find this a bit funny since “qiao” is pronounced like “chow”) for quick bite.  We ordered Dan Dan Mian noodles, which are Chinese noodles, almost like spaghetti, in a peanuty-beef broth.  Lydia dug right in:

Dan Dan Mian was a hit with her.  The fried tofu with spicy sauce was a weird texture and I thought the sauce tasted like spiced ketchup, but my dining companions didn’t agree.  Still, it probably isn’t something any of us would order again.

Requirement: Visit the Peninsula Hotel.

The Peninsula Hotel was built in 1928 and is known for having a fleet of dark green Rolls Royces.  However, it is also a place of great historic significance.  During WWII, it was where the colonial government surrendered to the Japanese.  The Japanese then used the Peninsula as its headquarters during its brutal occupation of HK.  When the British regained control after the war, the Peninsula was restored.  In 1994, a 30 story extension was added.  Now it’s a popular luxury hotel.  Hard to envision this as a military headquarters:

It was also a bit difficult to explain the history to 8 year olds.  When I heard Lydia’s friend re-explain it, she had the British at war with Hong Kong locals. 

Requirement: Visit the HK Space Museum

The space museum isn’t much to look at from the outside – visions of Mork from Ork and an egg come to my mind.   

Photo from the HK Space Museum website

It doesn’t have a whole lot on the inside when you compare it to a place like the Air & Space Museum in DC or the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson.  Still, the girls found some things of interest – like a gyroscope and displays of the constellations. 

The thing that captured most of their attention though had nothing to do about space, but was an exhibit on tornados – how they form and what kind of destruction they can do.  Kansas was featured as being part of “Tornado Alley” and there were photos of Joplin.  The logo for the exhibit was a bit dramatic.  

 

In nearly 40 years of living in Kansas, I’ve never seen a tank like vehicle drive through rural areas during a tornado (well, I’ve never actually seen a tornado either!).

Requirement: Visit the Hong Kong Art Museum

Requirement: Visit a Chinese Painting/Calligraphy Exhibit

 We got a 2:1 deal at the art museum since they had a separate calligraphy hall – I can’t say there was much notable about it, other than it had calligraphy and scrolls.

The museum's feature exhibit was called “A Lofty Retreat from the Red Dust: The Secret Garden of Emperor Qianlong”.   

It was a re-creation of the garden designed by Emperor Qianlong after his 60 year rule; it’s located in a corner of the Forbidden City in Beijing.  The exhibit included pieces of furniture, art, and other artifacts.  It was interesting, but definitely was not geared toward an audience of 8 year olds.

Just when our energy was flagging and we were about to call it a day, a security guard encouraged us to see a special exhibit that was ending that day.  She said that the girls could draw pictures and get a “free gift” – now THAT got us going again.

The exhibit was called “Creating a World of Compassion” and featured the art of Feng Zikai.  His work was a fusion of traditional Chinese art and cartoons.  Each piece of artwork was both simple and profound. Much of the work was around the subject matter of war and peace and reflected Zikai’s experience during the Cultural Revolution (he was expelled to a labor camp in the countryside).  However, you had to really look at the art to pick up the meaning.  The girls really liked it; Dave and I were fascinated.  I think Zikai may be one of my favorite artists.  Here’s one of his works that I really like, called “Missing a Beloved”:

 

After viewing the exhibit, the girls were asked to draw a picture that was inspired by what they had seen.  They did really good work.  I wish we could have kept their drawings, but they gave it to the museum in exchange for a poster with Feng Zikai’s art on it.  They were pleased.

Whew, that was a big day!