Meet me at the cupcake

The Hong Kong terminal was full of surprises, and I was not the only one who never actually made it to Hong Kong.  (The terminal is in Kowloon.)  It is a strange fact of shipboard life that we are kept so busy with classes and lectures and special events that we come to port in need of a rest.  Or with housekeeping items to do: It can take a surprisingly long time to find a post office or an ATM or a bottle of aspirin.  (This is why I am not sending postcards.)  It sometimes feels as if we are traveling around the world and not seeing the world.

Anywhere there is good internet, you see people trying to make arrangements for the next port, since it's so hard to do the simplest thing on ship.  Once the students go over their initial allotment of 120 minutes for the voyage, 30 minutes of internet costs $15.  But what you can do in 30 minutes at home can take 10 times as long here, because the internet is likely to shut off at any moment.  Most students have contacts back home who are doing work and sending email updates.  (Email is free.)

Like malls in the US, Ocean Terminal in Hong Kong has central points where the wings meets and you can go from one floor to the next.  Each of these is an internet hotspot, but each also featured a giant chocolate statue.  There were smaller structures throughout the mall, cupcakes and ice cream sundaes.  Some said "No climbing," but others encouraged interaction, and there were lots of children (and some adults) having their pictures taken there.  One of the designated rest areas, KidsX, was transformed into a chocolate scrabble board, with pillows to spell out "sweet," "chocolate," "eat," and "happy."

All of these were not actual chocolate, of course, although there was plenty of chocolate nearby to purchase.  They were part of "Chocolate Trail 2013," a presumably annual promotion at the mall.  The most interesting part of the event was a chocolate banquet, a tableau made entirely of chocolate.  Everything, including the table and chairs, was chocolate.

Chocolate fruit

Chocolate, the staff of life

Food, centerpiece, candleabra, plates, flatware--all chocolate.

Yes, the chair, too, is made of chocolate.

 I found it a bit overwhelming.  Even with a stuffed-up nose.