Hong Kong Adventures

So first off I would like to say that I have made it to Chengdu, where I will be living for the next 3 months, but before I get into that let me finish where I left off!

Our second day in Hong Kong was yet another adventure. We visited our first temple (see picture) which was a combination of a Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucius temple.

It was very cool to see these three religions come together to create a worship space for all these follower. My favorite part was the garden which was serenity in the middle of city bustle and skyscrapers.

After the Temple we went to explore Hong Kong Island. We started by riding up a mile long escalator to the mid level. Apparently people who live or work on the mid level commute to work via escalator. As we wandered back down the hill I learned how to use a cool setting on my camera to highlight one color so I tested it out on some purple flowers in a park I came across (see photo).

Having thoroughly meandered up and down the side of Hong Kong Island we went to visit David's nonprofit, Mother's Choice. This organization does many amazing things for the Hong Kong community including counseling for pregnant teens and sex ed in the schools. They also have an orphanage, which we got to visit. It was heart wrenching to see all the babies who did not have parents yet, but it was so nice to see them being taken care of by amazing volunteers and staff in a very nice facility.

After our visit to Mother's Choice we took the tram up the steepest grade in the world to the top of Hong Kong peak. The view of the city was phenomenal and we could see both the Hong Kong and Kowloon sides of the city.

We finished the evening off taking a ferry to another small island for a fresh seafood dinner. It was quite an experience and quite delicious. On the ferry ride home I taught everyone how to play indian poker and got a kick out of having everyone stick cards to their foreheads.

Our last day in Hong Kong was a free day so my roommates and I decided to go to the beach and then get pedicures. The Beach was absolutely beautiful, but the sand was very hot to walk on and the water was unfortunately full of garbage. After taking in the view for awhile we headed back to the Kowloon side of the city to try out the Hong Kong foot massages and pedicures we had heard soo much about. We all thoroughly enjoyed our pedicures and arrived back at the hotel with freshly massaged and pedicured toes ready to head to the airport for our next destination.

Check back soon for the story of the next leg of my travels to Chengdu!!

And Yes, we did finally make it to Hong Kong!!

So we just spent 3 fabulous days in Hong Kong. Although it took us awhile to get there I arrived at 6am on Saturday morning feeling refreshed from sleeping on the plane, but a little woozy from a VERY turbulent landing. We were imediately greated with all sorts of "Bejing 2008" olympics signs which we continued to see throughout the city. After navigating the MTR (subway) to get to the Hotel, we showered and hit the town. I was really surprised at how few people were on the streets and the MTR when we arrived, but I quickly realized that it 7am on a Saturday morning and not many people where out and about (for the rest of our time we did see the crowds I expected that first morning). We started right off with the study part of our trip learning about the History of Hong Kong at the history museum. I now have a much better understanding of the Hong Kong/British/China relationship. We had a free afternoon so we spent it walking along the Hong Kong water front on the Kowloon side (looking out onto Hong Kong Island--See picture).

We then went and ate our first traditional Chinese dinner in a restuarant in a round building on Hong Kong Island. Dave, CEO of a Hong Kong non-profit, and his family joined us for dinner and it was fun getting to talk to people who lived in Hong Kong. We finished the evening off returning to the Kowloon side and watching the nightly light show. The city was beautiful all lit up and it was a great finished to our first day.

To be continued... (as it is very late here and I have to be up very early in the morning)

I made it...to Vancouver, Canada!?!

So the day started off with arrival to Seattle airport, eager to get to Hong Kong. However I quickly discovered that that may be a rather distance hope, as Hong Kong was about to experience a typhoon. When I arrived in Vancouver Canada I discovered all air travel to Canada was put on hold. After several card games, a couple emails home, and creation of a list of things to do in the airport, I realized I would go crazy spending 16 hours in an airport and decided to head into the city of Vancouver with 5 other people from my group. Best Idea ever!! We got to experience a city I had never been to first hand. Our adventure began with a public bus ride into Vancouver and consisted of an afternoon of exploring Vancouver shopping, restuarants, and parks. A highlight of the day included seeing the count down to the 2010 Olympics. It was a great day and I enjoyed exploring a new place in such an unexpected way. When we arrived back to the airport we discovered the rest of our group board in the airport, still trying to find things to do to entertain themselves. What a fun and unexpected adventure of a day!
...I just found out the typhoon has hit Hong Kong and out flight will leave at the delayed time of 2am. I can't wait for more adventures to come!