Holiday in The City of Lights

Hello again from Hong Kong, the city of lights! The advantage of coming to Hong Kong instead of other major world cities is that my sister-in-law grew up here. Before I left, she gave me a list (front and back on a piece of computer paper) of things to see and do here. Most of these things happened to be on Mom's list as well, so armed with expert advice we set off the explore the city.

My first full day in the city, we took the tram to the Peak. The peak is a wonderful place to see most of the city at once and to catch all the shining lights at night. We spent several days hanging out around the harbor (Mom said I misspelled this last time--it should be 'harbour'--thanks England). There is the Avenue of Stars with the names and hand prints of famous Hong Kong actors and a series statues with a cinematic theme. I was excited to find three names that I recognized--Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and Jet Li--now ask me if I have actually seen any of their movies.

Every night at 8:00 there is a light show in which tall and important buildings on both sides of the harbor participate, spinning and flashing their lights in time to music. We watched it one night from the harbor and one night from the water. Both provided very interesting viewpoints and were quite fun. The ferry that we watched from the second time took us on a one-hour tour around the harbor and showed us a large part of the city but there were still buildings spilling out beyond the boundries of our tour.

We took a couple trips to a market with an often beautiful and sometimes exhilirating bus ride that was a treat on its own. On New Year's Eve we spent the day at Ocean Park, a sort of amusement park/aquarium and took the tram to see a different part of the city (and ride a different subway line). New Year's Day was a lazy day of reading, strolling through the very well-designed History Museum, and drinks at Starbuck's.

This past weekend we had a chance to meet the "in-laws." We made plans with my sister-in-law's mother and sister to go to one of the outlying islands together (Cheung Chou). We had a wonderful day walking along the beach and beside what was advertised as "The Mini Great Wall" much to the amusement of everyone.

I feel like I've always known my way around Hong Kong and living here is as natural as living in Florida or Texas--then I realize that I have only seen maybe 1/8th of the city! At the same time, the Master List is almost completely checked off and the time with my mom has been wonderful. Time is running out, so I'm getting the most of the vaction I have left. I leave Thursday and school starts Monday, so it's either 4 days til Chick-fil-A or 7 days until class and rehearsal--personally, I'm counting down to waffle fries and a chicken sandwich.

This is what Hong Kong looks like when riding the peak tram :)







This was taken on a bus ride and is a rather typical street scene. What a brave/crazy soul!







This is the corner just a few stores down from Mom's office. Yikes!

Part of the Harbor during the light show. This was the night we were on the ferry.

Mom hiding on the ferris wheel at Ocean Park.

The in-laws :)

Random skyscrapers.