Hong Kong!

HONG KONG DAY 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Technically we arrived in HK on Friday night but it was late and we shuffled our way through the airport to the hotel and promptly fell asleep so Saturday was Dia Numero Uno(?). We attempted to see Big Buddha on Lantau Island (there are 263 HK islands) and our plan was foiled by transportation issues.  The cable car/gondola to BB was closed for maintenance and lines for buses and taxis were crazy. After spending a couple of hours debating how best to solve the problem we said, “forget it. we out.”  Considering our very few hassles in 3 months of travel one small hiccup was no biggie. Instead we took the afternoon to explore Hong Kong Island.  We did a quick bus tour around the city and decided to get off at the Mid Levels. We walked through the Graham Street wet markets filled with exotic fruit, drying fish, hanging meats and up the hills to the cute, hip ‘hood of Sheung Wan.  We popped into the fun antique stores on Hollywood Road, grabbed a waffle, picked up a few funny souvenirs in Upper Lascar Row, and checked out Man Ho Temple to light some incense and say some prayers.

The evening kicked off with a ferry ride to Kowloon to meet friends for dinner at Peking Garden.  8 kids and 4 adults made for a fun, raucous evening and it was nice to have other people do the ordering for us. On our way back we unintentionally timed the ferry perfectly to watch the nightly laser light show from the Kowloon perspective (our hotel room gives us a great view from the Central side).  We capped off the evening with an ice cream in the hotel lounge.

 

Man Ho Temple: Built in 1847, pays tribute to the God of Literature (Man) and the God of War (Mo). We had no idea what the process was here so we watched for a few minutes and hopefully did not offend anyone.

Dinner on Kowloon

 

 

 

 

 

HONG KONG DAY 2 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We met up with the Chans in the morning for dim sum at the top of Victoria Peak.  Our last funicular tram ride was in Wellington so this rounded out our trip quite nicely.  I like it when things come full circle.  We spent a good chunk of the day up here – eating then hiking and then repeat.  When we got back down to the bottom we walked over to the Central–Mid-Levels escalator system, the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. I’m not sure what the competition is like but it’s a thing and the kids thought it was fantastic.  After our fun-filled day we were all ready for a break at the hotel. Harry was meeting a couple of work people for dinner so the kids and I got room service and watched a movie, which felt amazing.

  

 

HONG KONG DAY 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG We’re going to Disneyland!!!!!! HK Disneyland was a surprise for the kiddos – well we actually told them in Bali so they could get a little pre-pumped for it. Luke has never had the Disney experience, and Paula probably forgets much of hers. It was a nice entree into our soon-to-happen America re-entry.  It’s incredibly easy to get there. We took the train from our hotel (our hotel is attached to the IFC mall which contains the Central stop) and shot over to the park to meet Virgil and Carrie-Anne Chan.  I don’t think I need to go into great detail about this – the photos speak for themselves. For dinner Virgil invited us to the Jockey Club, which is kind of a HK institution thus fun to see.

 

 

  

 

   

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HONG KONG DAY 4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our last full day of the trip – how the hell did this happen?!  New Zealand feels about a million years ago but I also think we’ve been away for 10 minutes.  Time is such a strange concept.  Then again, as you may recall, we’ve evolved past time so I don’t need to waste my precious brain power with such pedestrian thoughts.

Big Buddha, we are coming for you today, but first we need to wake him up.

Normally when most of us (or maybe just me) think of Hong Kong we think skyscrapers and crowds but there’s a lot of countryside in the region as well.  Lantau Island, the location of BB, is about an hours drive from Hong Kong Central (where our hotel is) and feels very bucolic especially with the wild cows roaming around.  Having learned from Saturday’s snafu, we opted for a ride directly to the big man.

Big Buddha whose real name is Tian Tan Buddha is 34 metres tall and sits atop a very long set of stairs next to the Po Lin Monastery.  The statue is a new addition at about 25 years old.

 

 

The last time we High 5’ed Buddha was in the hinterlands of Byron.

From BB we drove to nearby Tai O fishing village.

 

 

We finished the day with a pre-dinner dip despite the chilly weather. This pool must have the best views of Victoria Harbor

 

 

 

HONG KONG DAY 5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t make me leave.  I suppose it has to end at some point…not sure why but that’s what people keep saying.  Piper is waiting and we do want to reunite with friends.  I guess we’re doing this.

 

 

Do I need to end with something inspirational, poetic, prophetic… cuz I got nuthin’.