Last Day in Hong Kong and First Day in Taiwan

On our last day in Hong Kong, we headed out to Hong Kong Island on the ferry after walking Piles on the beach. We first headed to the University of Hong Kong to check out the campus and grab some brochures for Andy. It was a lot of walking so we did many rest stops and sitting.

Stopped for a lovely breakfast of egg tarts...soooo good!

We realized that the university was close to where my dad used to live so we headed out to the street where his house was. Of course, seeing as how it was over 40 years ago, his old building was replaced by a high rise. He said when he was growing up, the tallest buildings were 2 stories...now in his old neighborhood I think we only saw one or two 2-story buildings- the rest were at least 5+. It was also really neat to walk the path that he used to take to catch the bus to school and see the streets that he used to run around as a kid.

Dad on the corner of street where he used to live

A funny story- we saw this woman dragging a big chair along the sidewalk and totally struggling, so Paul helped her carry it to the end of the corner. We then asked where she was taking it and she said she was taking it to the dumpster but it wasn't far and she would be fine on her own. Adam and Paul decided to help her carry it- it turned out to be a pretty far distance. It took them no time to get it there but it seriously would have taken this woman a good half hour at the rate she was going. It was so funny to watch as the woman ran alongside them yelling "thank you" in Cantonese.


We ended our afternoon by walking through the seafood and chinese medicine street shops where Paul bought some rancid Jackie Chan hair shampoo (that he threw out because it smelled so bad). After that, we did a bit more walking around before finally heading back to Lantau Island, while Susan and Paul stayed behind to ring in the new year with Chris and Haylee. We were totally beat and Betty wasn't feeling so well that night so we were rather calm ringing in the new year (i.e. I rolled out of bed and groggily said happy new year right before midnight...but hey, we rang in the New Year a second time with Gamble over the phone!).


The next day we were met with a beautiful and sunny morning (the first sunny day while we were in HK)- a great way to end our time in HK. We packed up all of our stuff, made sure we left the house in orderly condition and loaded up into a taxi. We met up with Susan and Paul at the airport, made some phone calls to Adam's family before boarding our short flight to Taiwan (where they fed us some dumplings and Adam and I got the entire emergency row to ourselves!).

Finally a sunny day in Hong Kong!

The moment we set foot into Taiwan, we were treated with such incredible hospitality. It's been totally unbelievable how nice everyone has been, and I've been grateful for how gracious my uncle, aunt and cousins have been to us on our visit to Taiwan. I've felt like such a huge burden! For example, we were planning to get a bus from the airport to the hotel, but my uncle arranged a van to pick us up from the airport. After we settled in, we rode with my uncle in the van to a coffee shop to talk together over drinks, followed by the most incredibly welcoming dinner banquet that I've ever experienced. The group included 2 of my cousins (and one of their spouses) and their children, my aunt and uncle, my mom's cousin, and our group. The kids knew some English but were totally shy (one of them reminded us of Susan when she was younger). The dinner was very impressive- it felt like endless course after course of the most amazing and beautifully prepared food. I think Susan maybe has some pix of the food...for some reason I totally forgot. I must have been too engrossed in eating!

My family before the start of an amazing dinner

One of the dishes was beef baked in a clay shell, so Paul got to do the honors and break it!

Day 2-5 in Hong Kong!

So sad- I just discovered that many of the photographs that I took are nowhere to be found. The ones from Victoria's Peak seem to have been rewritten over, as my camera has no memory of ever taking them and my lovely pictures from my little point and shoot are also gone, including pictures at the beach, food pictures, and stray dogs of Hong Kong. I have NO clue how that happened.

On our second day in Hong Kong, we spent it in Kowloon. I would post pix from dim sum, but alas those were on my small camera so those pictures are gone. We did a lot of walking that day- saw a couple temples (including the LDS one), saw crazy crowds in Mongkok, and also saw the Festival of Lights show in Victoria Harbor. We then went to a fairly expensive Indian restaurant where we had a curry that even burned through Adam's mouth (as the restaurant menu proclaimed, it was "HOT HOT HOT!"). It wasn't that enjoyable of an experience- they charged an arm and an a leg for soda and rice, I never did get any utensils or a plate (I borrowed Adam's appetizer plate and used a communal dish spoon), and they lost Paul's credit card for a good 15 minutes, searching under tables and around the restaurant. I would take India Cook House over this high-end place in Hong Kong any day!

Sunrise on day 2 (around 6:30am)

Betty's McD sundae fix...one of many on this trip!

LDS Temple- it was closed for cleaning, but Chris (who was a missionary in Hong Kong almost 10 years ago) got to talk to some of the missionaries who were around

Busy streets of Kowloon- everybody is out shopping

The light show off of the harbor- came with music and we saw a huge catfight between these two women! Lots of yelling and curing in Cantonese!

On our third day, we spent it on Hong Kong Island. We started off with some lunch at a local eatery (all the food pictures were on my little camera so are lost), then did some walking around SoHo and Causeway Bay. Since it was a Sunday, we saw crowds of Filipina women picnicking under awnings and buildings. We took the covered escalators to one of the temples there, before taking the tram up to Victoria's Peak. The view at sunset was beautiful, and there was a nice mix of fog, rain and lights.

Lunchtime at a small restaurant in Hong Kong- fun times, lots of food!

All over Hong Kong were huge crowds of women who were taking a break from their jobs as housekeepers, nannies, etc. With nowhere to go, they hang out with friends in the public spaces. Since there was rain out, every covered area was where the crowds went.

Covered escalators...glad they have them because the hills are STEEP!

One of my few pix from Victoria's Peak. I have no idea what happened to the hundreds of pix that I took, but they were not on the memory card. =( Luckily I got a few from Betty!

Day 4 was spent in Macau. I can't talk much about this day because I was sick with a cold and not in a particularly good mood. Adam probably can tell a better story. We did eat some amazing egg tarts here and I took my parents to get some cool stamps at the Post Office and took my mom to the Wynn to do a little gambling.

Inside the Wynn

Today was a catch up and breathe day! We slept in, did some laundry (which is still hanging to dry...with rain and humid weather, the clothes don't dry as fast as in Ridgecrest!) ate lunch in Mui Wo, took the dog out for a walk, then headed to Tai O to see the houses on stilts, walk through the dried seafood markets, and eat dinner. The dinner was a little underwhelming, despite the restaurant getting rave reviews from Lonely Planet.

One of the many large animals we saw on our walks in Pui O

Homes on stilts along the water in Tai O

One of the many dried seafood stands along the small streets in Tai O.

Tomorrow will be our last day in Hong Kong. Susan and Paul will ring in the new year in Victoria Harbor, but the rest of us don't have the energy to stick it out (plus I am still sneezing up a storm with my cold). I am going to take a ton of photos to make up for how I am feeling right now!

First Day in Hong Kong!!

We made it to Hong Kong and are having a great time (minus severe jet lag!). After an incredibly LONG flight on Cathay Pacific, we arrived at 6:30am in Hong Kong. We've been going non-stop ever since (and I think that it is definitely wearing on us...and our feet!).

On our first day (Dec. 26), we stayed on Lantau Island and rode the Ngong Ping 360 cable cars up to the Po Lin Monastery and the Giant Buddha. Susan and Paul then went to Hong Kong Island with Chris and Haylee and crashed the night with them while we stayed in Lantau and walked Piles the dog and rested up.

Here are some pix from our first day!

This is the house that we are staying at...note all the luggage! Yikes!

Piles, the dog we are walking while we stay at this house. He's already gotten me in trouble by peeing in front of someone's house (the old man who hollered at me and was appalled had to get out a bucket and wash down the walkway)

The gondola that we took to the Po Lin Monastery. It was a very nice long ride (after we waited in a VERY long line for about an hour and a half) and the 9 of us got to have a gondola all to ourselves. It went over the water, hills and mountains. Pretty great view!

The Giant Buddha! It doesn't looks so giant in a wide angle lens. As soon as I upload some of my pix from my other camera, I'll definitely share them!

Ok, well pix from days 2 and 3 will be coming soon! We spent day 2 in Kowloon and today we spent the day in Hong Kong Island. Tomorrow we are going to Macau...so I better head to bed early because I am B-E-A-T BEAT! ;)

Hong Kong and Taiwan, here we come!

Holy cow, I can't believe that it is already time for us to head off to Hong Kong and Taiwan. I have to admit that Adam and I have been totally neglectful of the holiday season and haven't properly wished our family and friends a happy holiday and merry Christmas. Heck, I've even missed a bunch of birthdays over the past few weeks too. So for all our family and friends reading this- you will probably get belated Christmas cards and will have to bear with our photos and stories from our vacation.

I recently purchased a brand new lens (Canon EF-S 10-22mm wide angle lens) and hope to get some amazing photographs from the trip!! If we have internet access abroad, we will definitely be sharing some stories and posting photographs! Love you all!

Below is a photo from 3 years ago on our way back from Michigan and our stop in New Mexico! It's amazing how quickly time has gone by (2 years ago we were in Beijing around Christmas, and last year we were in Key West!).

Camping at the Kern, Garden Updates & Disneyland!

I can't believe it is almost November! Things have been fairly uneventful, other than work (we moved in 1900+ students into Mesa Court in September, so its been busy). However, our garden is going great (no thanks to us...Renee and John are out there every day and we get out there when we can, which isn't saying much). We've had okra, basil, green chili peppers, bell peppers and tomatoes. Our carrots are still growing and our strawberry plants are going strong!




A few weeks ago, Adam and I made the leap and renewed our Disneyland passes so that we could join Amy, Kevin and the family while they were out here visiting. I'm glad that we have our passes again, but we haven't had a chance to go out since. Luckily a ton of friends have passes as well, so it won't be long before we get to go again.



Adam and I also headed out to the Kern River over the past weekend to go camping with Jennifer and my other co-worker Mitch. It was an incredibly nice break away from Irvine and work. We got to relax along the Kern River and I also spent some time stargazing, which you can't really do in the OC...I forgot how easy it is to see shooting stars- that night I saw 4!

Can we can fit everything into the car...?

Dinnertime!

Mitch reading by the fire...I need one of those headlights!!

On our hike, Jennifer found the perfect rock on the river

Mitch is wearing purple, wearing purple...or something.

Flyfishing on the Kern River

Jennifer and I on our hike!

California's fall colors- yellow & brown =)

Part of the river in our campground

Eggy casualty