Long Day Exploring Hong Kong.
We were up and ready to go early yesterday (about 4:30am). We started the day by taking the ferry over to the Kowloon side of Hong Kong. Hong Kong is such an easy city to get around. From the taxi system, subway/tubes, ferries, it is all very easy to navigate. We would definitely come back here again. While waiting for the ferry, we saw some vending machines that were funny so we thought we should share (Pictures below).
Once in Kowloon, we took the subway to near the markets and then walked and walked and walked. We saw the Flower and Goldfish markets on the way to the Ladies Market. Once we arrived at the Ladies Market, we were disappointed to learn they don't open till 1230 and we had about an hour to kill. Rob used his coffee honing skills to find a Starbucks where we enjoyed a coffee, snack, AC, and sitting. We did get a little shopping done and then took the tube back to Hong Kong Island. I use the word tube here because we found out that the "subway" is the pedestrian underground to escape the heat and avoid the traffic. We loved that as long as we could keep our bearings.
On the way back to the hotel we were going to pick up the hotel shuttle at the train station. Dana used her internal compass to get us to the right side of the building, but Rob used that important Amazing Race skill of RE-READING the clue! With that, we realized that we were on the wrong level at about 3min before the shuttle left. Thankfully, we made it to the shuttle just as they were about to close the doors.
In the afternoon we went to Victoria Peak a.k.a. "The Peak". To get to the peak you can either hike (VERY long hike) or take a tram, which is what we decided to do. The wait for the tram was about 25 minutes and was very crowded with all the camera yielding tourists of the area. While at the top, we decided to eat dinner at a spaghetti place. Dana ordered what looked like a baked spaghetti creation with cheese on top. It came out – noodles, some diced tomatoes with a slice of American cheese melted on top and tasted like spaghetti O's. So if you have a kid who is a fussy eater, you can create this and tell them that it is internationally inspired cuisine! Haha. Rob's selection of the Japanese fried fish with curry rice was much better.
One of the goals of yesterday was to see the Hong Kong light show. At 8pm every night, the skyline on Hong Kong Island lights up. To see the show, you need to be on the Kowloon side of the bay and that was the plan for us until about 6pm when jet lag was in full force. We decided that we were not up for it and decided to hit the Executive Lounge in our hotel for snacks and refreshments. We did see a bit of the light show on the local news and we will probably buy the post card.
Today we are up early again (4am). Today's plan is to lay low at the hotel and to rest up. We will then fly out this evening to Hangzhou, China.
Please join us in praying for Ellie. She has been with a Foster family for the last year and a half and has recently (in the last day or so) been transitioned back into the orphanage. Please pray for her peace and comfort. Please also pray for her Foster family as they have loved her and had her in their home for a long time.
