Saturday, March 31st

The Hong Kong Rugby Sevens. I'll let the pictures speak.

Friday, March 30th

We got a bit behind on our posting, so we're going to finish up post-trip. On Friday, we shopped some more. Aren't you surprised? We visited Mid-Levels, SoHo, including the Man Mo Temple. We rode a REALLY long escalator to get to the top to find a spot for lunch. We lunched at Olive.

The temple was overpowering with incense. They burn incense for family members and for good luck. The picures shows incense coils that line the ceiling.

In the afternoon we went for high tea at the Mandarin Oriental. We truly enjoyed the scones, pastries, and quiches provided for us. Before tea, we witnessed security drag a man out of the hotel because he was shouting things (what things, we don't know because they were in Cantonese.) It took five of them; then they came around personally to apologize.

Thursday, March 30th

We met some former students of Katie's today for lunch in a mall near the City University. We then went shopping at the Ladies Market in Mong Kok where one can purchaes any sort of copy handbag, watch, or wallet known to man. We also stopped for Pearl Tea at St. Alps Teahouse. I (Julie) had been wanting to try this. We then shopped a bit more on Temple street at the Night Market.

In the evening we want to the Avenue of Stars, their version of the Walk of Fame. We saw Bruce Lee's statue and stayed to see the laser light show on the harbor. It was a very cool sight to see all of the lights.

Wednesday, March 28

Today, we went to Ngong Ping to see the Buddha. This big Buddha is the largest outdoor bronze Buddha. We took a cable car for about 25 minutes to get to the village.

There is a small tourist village there with shops and a Starbucks, the Po Lin monestary, and the Buddha. It is sad that it is so commercialized, but the Buddha itself is very impressive.

We also went to a tea house and saw a tea demonstration. In the picture, you can see the young lady making spring rolls, a nice cookie that we tasted.

In the evening, we went for Dim Sum with Nikelle and her brother and then to Happy Foot for foot massages. We were too relaxed to take pictures there. I (julie) have never had a foot massage before. I thought it would tickle too much. Ugh, those ladies have some seriously strong hands. We had 50 minutes massages, with the last 10 having our shoulders massaged. The should massage was like wrestling with my practitioner. She said I was very tight and commenced to using her elbows and knee. It hurt so good.

Tuesday, March 27

Well, today started off with Katie having a sore throat. Despite not feeling 100%, she was still a treat to spend the day with. We went to Stanley Market today and did some shopping. This market is basically a connection of covered alleyways with many open shop merchants. We had fun picking out gifts for our family and friends and watching all of the other tourists. We lunched at the Brasserie, which boasts Indian, Asian, and Western food. It was a lovely, open-windowed restaurant that allowed us to enjoy the nice weather, though we were a bit unsure of our coconut soup we ordere. It would later come back to haunt Julie. After lunch we shoped.

In the evening, we met Nikelle (our lovely hostess), Stewart (Nikelle's boyfriend), and Chris (Nikelle's brother) at the Peak for dinner. We rode the tram straight up the mountain and had a bird's eye view of Hong Kong. We ate at Cafe Deco and furhter enjoyed great conversation and the lovely view.

Finally, we got a short lesson on cricket, as the gentelmen were watching Australia play on TV.

Monday, March 26th, 2007

Well, on Monday we had our first whole day in Hong Kong. We started the day trying to get to the school to visit the teachers that Katie knows from her time living here. It took us 2 hours and 4 modes of transportation to get there. It shouldn't have taken that long, but it did. Our mistake was asking someone if the minibus we boarded would take us to Star Ferry. She either lied or didn't understand us because we ended up in Aberdeen (south side of HK Island; basically the opposite direction from where we needed to be). We made it though and had a nice lunch with the teachers. We went to a Dim Sum restaurant.

Then we moved on to the Hong Kong History Museum. It was quite interesting and modern. We focused on the time when British rule began, the Japanese occupation, and HK's progress to the modern city it is.

In the evening we met some of Katie's former students and friends for Hot Pot. Basically, this consists of various meats, veggies, and greens that are put raw into various boiling broths, then fished out again and consumed. It was not bad. It was nice to sit and relax after much walking during the day.

Our Trip to HK

Well the story started in 1995, when Julie and Katie met at Purdue. After graduating, they both ended up in the same city and their friendship continued on. In 2002, Katie moved to Hong Kong to teach English at a Chinese School. (She taught with Nikelle who is still living there.) After teaching for a year in HK, Katie moved back to the States. Of course being the storyteller that she is, Katie shared many stories and pictures with Julie for the next few years. Both gals are big on traveling, so it wasn't hard to decided that they wanted to travel to Hong Kong together. Julie to see the sights for the first time, and Katie to see them again, but as a tourist rather than a resident. We will be staying with Nikelle for the week.

Below is the itinerary-to-date. If you are reading this and you have suggestions on things we should see and do, please leave us a comment.

our itinerary

Saturday, March 24th Depart for HK

Sunday, March 25th Arrive in HK

Monday
Shatin-- Snoopy World and visit with Sam & Cindy
Tai Wai--Lunch with Teachers from School
Tsim Sha Tsui East--HK History Museum

Tuesday
Stanley Beach/Market
Aberdeen
Peak

Wednesday
Ngong Ping Skyrail
Lunch at Buddha
Ngong Ping Village

Thursday
TST--View various things in the area such as:
Clock Tower,
View of Island,
Avenue of the Stars,
Peninsula Hotel,
Stroll Up Nathan Rd,
Hillwood Soho
Yau Ma Tei & Mong Kok--View various things such as:
Tin Hau Temple,
Jade Market,
Shanghai Street,
Bird Market,
Flower Market,
Ladies Market

Friday Tai Chi Class
Dim Sum Breakfast
Central--View Various Things Such as:
Li Yuen Streets,
Pottinger Street,
Lyndhurst Terrace,
Gage Street,
Mid-levels,
SoHo,
Hollywood St,
Man Mo Temple,
Western Market

Saturday & Sunday Rugby Sevens Tournament

Monday, April 2 Depart for Home

Travel

trav·el /ˈtrævəl/
–verb (used without object)
1. to go from one place to another, as by car, train, plane, or ship; take a trip; journey: to travel for pleasure.
2. to move or go from one place or point to another.
–noun
3. the act of traveling; journeying, esp. to distant places: to travel to other planets.
4. journeys; wanderings: to set out on one's travels.

[Origin: 1325–75; ME (north and Scots), orig. the same word as travail (by shift “to toil, labor” > “to make a laborious journey”)]