Rest. Do chores. Nothing to write home about.
Day 88: Tues; Dec. 23, 2003.
Another restful day. But at 3:00 PM I meet my friend W at the Central MTR. We walk a couple blocks and catch minibus No. 1 towards the Peak. However, we are not going to the Peak. We are going to Matilda Hospital, which is near the Peak, to have dinner with J, a friend of W's who is a nurse at Matilda. W lives in nurses quarters right at the hospital.
The minibus seats 15 people, with 2 person seats on the right, and single seats on the left. At the front there is a video screen playing Chinese language programming. The fare is $7.40, which is less than the regular bus (about $9.40, and much less than the Peak Tram ($20 one way; $30 round trip). We steadily climb the hills and after about 20 minutes we are dropped off directly in front of the hospital.
Matilda is a small private hospital, known primarily for its maternity ward. The original building dates from about 1930. There are also doctor's quarters, a 5 or 6 story apartment building with a nice view to the west towards Lamma Island. We stand in front of the nurse's quarters and W calls J from her cellphone. J comes down to meet us and takes us into the common area living and dining room. Very spacious, very nice. J has a single sleeping room upstairs. There are two nurse's quarters buidlings, joined to each other, and each has common areas, kitchens, and sleeping rooms.
J than takes us on a tour of the hospital, which is right across the street. J works in the maternity ward, and so she shows us there (I see a couple babies born yesterday!), and also to a couple of the very spacious private suites/rooms that are available for those who can afford to pay. Some of these have their own balconies that look southwest towards Aberdeen. We also walk around the main hospital building, which sits high on the hill with some really nice views, and then we go back to J's building. J and W go into the kithcen to finish up dinner preparations, and I make myself comfortable in the living room. I have turned-on the stereo to the classical music station, and then I find the Monday Night football game on the TV. Hey, not bad!
Soon we are enjoying a very nice meal of chicken wings, two different noodle dishes, mixed veggies, broccoli, and little sausages. Yes, a very nice meal. And, it is very nice to have a nice homecooked meal, comfortably sitting in a dining room. A pleasant change from always eating in a restaurant or the food court!
After dinner we take the minibus the rest of the way up the hill to the Peak. The short ride costs only $1.00HK, and takes maybe 6 or 7 minutes. It is my first time at the Peak at night, and the views are really nice! It is a little windy and cool, and there are lots of people out also enjoying the view. After we have had enough of the outside view we go into the Terminal building and have coffee and cheesecake at the Pacific Coffee restaurant (similar to Starbucks). We sing Happy Birthday to W (yes, its her birthday, duh). The Pacific Coffee also has great views of the city. What a great place for a coffee shop! It is soon time to leave. We walk to the nearby bus stop, where W and I board a regular full-size double decker bus back to Central, and J gets her minibus back to Matilda. At Central W and I say goodbye, with each of us taking a different MTR train home.
Back to Home Page
To Site Map/Table of Contents
Go to HK Part 4, pg. 13