Hong Kong, Part 3

On Saturday, Dec 9, I woke up at about 5am again- despite the wonderful beds, I could not sleep much. It was just as well, because this was the day we would join up with other CCAI families in Hong Kong and tour! We were scheduled to do the morning tour, which meant being up and ready to go by 7:45am. So we got ready, headed downstairs to the hotel's "Cafe Allegro" (thank goodness we has breakfast tickets included now as part of the group package) and ate. The Cafe did a fabulous buffet that mixed Western and Chinese style foods, and I partook of the chicken sausage, chocolate rice krispies (to which I added walnut and banana), an omelet station (eggs, cheese, red peppers, and bacon), and fresh fruit (pineapple and pears). I touched maybe 1/10 of what they had out!!!! Dad, you would love this, from the moment we got on EVA Air, every restaurant, to here, they always have a pot of tea already brewed, just like coffee! Perfect for us hot tea drinkers.!

We skidattled upstairs to finish freshening up and made it back downstairs to join the tour. On the agenda: Victoria's Peak, a ride in a Sanpan to view some of the world of fisherfolk, a stop at the Aberdeen Jewelry company to see how jewelry is made (with an option to purchase), a visit to Stanley market (crazy mix of shops in alleys- we opted to rest at the DeliFrance and have a snack), and last but not least, lunch at a Dim Sum restaurant. My favorite was Victoria's Peak, because it was such an amazing view that you couldn't capture on camera because of the fog (smog)... our guide, Matthew, showed us 2 pictures taken on extremely clear days- one 6 months ago, and one his grandfather took 52 years ago. It's amazing, because there are mountains and water that you wouldn't even guess were there behind the gray veil. The pagoda (I know, that's Japanese, not sure of the Chinese name) was lovely (see left), and the greenery was fascinating in it's beauty- I'm told Hong Kong is on a parallel with Cuba- which would explain the temperatures being so very warm.

I also enjoyed the Sanpan ride- although it really drove home how very wealthy much of the US is. Alot of the fisherfolk live and breathe their whole lives on the boats, and many of the boats are run down, and pieced together. Almost all are lovingly cared for no matter how shabby, and a very few are quite nice. We saw just about everything onboard you could- dogs, potted plants, washing machines, stoves, etc. The ride was a peep into another world, and at least I felt a little too much like a voyeur... but it was a good insight to have.

I didn't purchase anything at the Aberdeen Jewelry Co. although I was tempted by a jade and gold filigree bracelet, some pearls, and the diamonds. Mom and Caroline also resisted- even for Hong Kong, the prices were a little too high! We wrapped up at the Dim Sum restaurant (the Jade Terrace) by sampling shrimp dumplings, fried rice, noodles, fish balls (me, not so much), and other items. We finished up with some of the sweetest watermelon I have ever had- YUM!!!

We returned to the hotel, and after getting Jordan down for a nap, Caroline, her friend M., and I ventured out to find Caroline's tried and true jewelry store, Mabel's. We found where it should have been, but it apparently has gone away- so no jewelry for me! We did decided to walk down to the harbor and along the Avenue of Stars (famous Chinese and Hong Kong actors and actresses have stars there) and it was just an amazing view. I didn't have my camera with me during the day, but tot he right is a shot of the harbor later that night- just beautiful!!!!!!!! We also saw about 8 women getting married, the dresses were gorgeous, and it was an amazing setting. We made a pit stop in the little underground shopping centre their, and low and behold we found a little store and bought ADAPTERS! I was able to get back and charge my computer, and it was happy- you could almost hear the little battery breathe a sigh of relief!

After returning, we rested a bit, then went out and ate dinner at the same Thai restaurant (Nara) as the night before... not as good, we thinking it was a different chef, but it got us through. We walked back down to the harbor for a moment, then headed back and promptly crashed... because the next day was Sunday, and that meant it was the day to fly to Changsha in the Hunan province!!!! And that meant in less than 48 hours Caroline and Jordan would get little Ellie.... HOORAY!!!!!!!!