Thanksgiving in Hong Kong

Hello again!! I recently just returned from my five day adventure in Hong Kong. I left Tuesday, November 20, 2007 and returned on Sunday, November 25th. I was suppose to meet my husband at the port and have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with him. However, the Chinese government saw things a little differently...

For some reason, when the Kitty Hawk arrived in Hong Kong, the Chinese military would not let them pull into port. So, a long story short...the Kitty Hawk (KH) just decided to turn around and head home. So, that left thousands of wives and children hubandless and fatherless over the holiday weekend. China finally granted access to the port, but the KH had already been homeward bound for more than 24 hours. Quite a few wives and families decided to fly home early. My girlfriends and I decided to make the best of it and have a fun girls weekend. While we were terribly disappointed our husbands couldn't join us, we still managed to have a fabulous time!

The first day (Wed) was pretty much a wash. We really didn't leave the dock (where they guys were suppose to come in). That was a day in limbo...wondering when and if our husbands were coming. By Wednesday night it was official...no KH. So, Thursday we hit the ground running. We started the day by going to Johnny Jeweler. Johnny owns a jewelry store in Hong Kong and makes frequent trips to the military bases around Asia. So, we decided to check out his store. After some retail therapy, Johnny took us ladies out for Dim Sum for our Thanksgiving meal. It was a wonderful lunch. Even better that Johnny could explain to us what were were eating, and how to eat it. Everything was sooo good!

After lunch, us girls headed to the local flower market. Blocks and blocks were filled with vendors and their flowers. So beautiful!! Right down the street from the flower market was the Bird Garden. Around one hundred vendors line the allies with all sorts of cages, birds, and feed. We saw everything from parakeets to macaws! Then, we walked a few more blocks to the goldfish market (do you see a theme developing?). I have never seen so many fish in one place!! It was a lot of fun to walk through the stalls and see the different kinds of fish. Also, what was true in all these markets, is everything is so incredibly cheap. Huge beautiful orchids would cost only a few American dollars. I didn't price the birds, but goldfish were around $0.05 each and huge tropical fish, around $10!

We then left the local markets to head to Victoria's Peak. This is the main attraction in HK. You take a tram up a huge hill to an overlook (1,805 ft). From here you can see all of Hong Kong: the skyscrapers, the harbour and the densely packed streets. We got there just as the day was ending. So, we managed to get daytime pictures of the city and then about twenty minutes later, some great nighttime shots! After a great Thai dinner we headed back down the peak. At 8 o'clock every evening there is a laser light show in Hong Kong harbour. So, we found a restaurant with a pier side view, ordered some drinks and enjoyed the show.

On Thursday, we had booked a tour to Lantau Island. Lantau Island is west of Hong Kong Island and is twice the size (55 sq miles). Hong Kong's airport is on this island, along with Hong Kong Disneyland. Anyway, what we were going to see is the Po Lin Monastery and the world's largest outdoor Buddha. The tour started in Hong Kong at the Walk of Stars (Jackie Chen's handprints in the photo). It is where the famous Chinese actors put their hand prints in the cement. Afterwards, we took a boat ride to the island, seeing a pink dolphin on the way. Yes, a pink dolphin. For some reason, the dolphins in the China Sea are pink. Sorry, I didn't get any pictures, they were just too fast for me! Once we arrived in Lantau Island we walked around the fishing village of Tai O. This is a traditional Hong Kong town. The houses are built on stills over the water. The local vendors lined the streets selling their latest catch. Most crab and shrimp were still alive in buckets and housewives were fighting over their supper choices. While it wasn't the best smelling place in the world, it was one of the trips highlights.

After Tai O, we boarded a bus to take us to the Po Lin (Precious Lotus)Monastery and the world's largest outdoor Buddha, the Tin Tan Buddha. Buddha is over 100 feet high and weighs 275 1/2 tons. What was impressive about the Buddha is that he sits at the top of a huge hill (202 stairs to the top), so you are staring at him as you ascend. Very cool!

After our trip to Buddha, we headed to the adjacent monastery for lunch. The monks there are known for their vegetarian restaurant served in the temple refectory. Very good! I even tried fried tofu!

On Saturday, we tried to get in some souvenir shopping, but also seeing some sights along the way. We stopped by the Tin Hau Temple. They were burning so much incense in there, we could barely breath. (The picture on the right shows the spiral incense. They burn for ten days). Down the street was the Jade Market. All our guide books, said 'buyer beware' about this place. So, we just looked around. After a little more souvenir shopping, we headed to the Peninsula Hotel for high tea! It must be the 'it' thing to do in Hong Kong. We waited in line for over an hour for our table. But, we did enjoy our tea and sandwiches! What a great way to spend the afternoon!

Even though, I would have preferred Colby to be there, I still had a great time. Hong Kong is a pretty popular port for the ships. So, I have no doubt we'll be back!