So this past weekend (Oct. 31 - Nov. 4) we traveled to Hong Kong. For those of you that don't know your history - Hong Kong was under British rule during the mid-1800's. Then occupied by Japan during WWII. In 1983, Britain regained it's control of Hong Kong. In 1997, Britain gave Hong Kong back to the PRC (People's Republic of China). As of now, HK is part of China, but not under control of the Chinese communist gov't. - Just a brief history of HK!Back in the states, we attended North Blvd Church of Christ. There we had a friend named Stacy Kile. Her parents have lived in Hong Kong for about
3 years now, transferred by her dad's work. We have met them a few times and this last time we mentioned to Stacy's mom, Sandy, that we were moving to Japan. They told us to let them know if we wanted to come to HK and that we would have a place to stay. So, that's what we did.We flew from Fukuoka, Japan to Taipei, Taiwan (hour lay-over) then to Hong Kong. Sandy met us at the airport and took us home.
Their apartment was beautiful! Joy, their domestic helper from the Philippians, had made spaghetti for us! That night we went across the river to Kowloon and watched the light show. Many buildings have laser lights or some other light that creates a symphony of lights coordinated to music. It was quite impressive. We then walked down Tsim Tsa Tsui "Avenue of Stars". There, we saw Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan's hand prints.The next morning we went to The Peak, the top of the mountain that over looks Hong Kong. From there we could see SO much, it was beautiful. We walked around the path that circles the top part of the mountains. The weather was wonderful. Nice cool breeze and warm sun.
We headed back to the apartment to get ready for church. The church there in Hong Kong is about 95% Filipino women. There are 2 or 3 men there. They asked me to lead a few songs, which I was thrilled to do! It was great to be able to worship with a congregation again!
That evening we took a walk through the park, right in the heart of HK. Bob and Sandy treated us to a very filling 'Western Meal' at Dan Ryans. After that we went to the Temple St. Night Market. We found many things we had been looking for, almost got squished by the crowds, and saw many interesting and useless items for sale :)
The next morning we went on the Longest Escalator in the world. It's actually a series of escalators but it was still very neat.
It spans a distance of 2,600 feet (790 m). In the morning it travels DOWN (for residence getting down to the city) then it stops and goes UP for the rest of the day. If you go up and want to come back down it will be around 600+ steps. We stopped by a temple where they were having some special ceremony. The red carpet was laid and police were standing by. 
We got to go in for a bit but the smell of incense got too strong and we decided to head out. After lunch we visited Tian Tan, the world's largest sitting Buddha at Lantau Island. To get there you take the Ngong Ping Skyrail for about 20 min. It's a beautiful ride. It just so happened that we decided to go on an extremely windy day. lol. We were a bit scared a few times hanging over mountains, rocks, trees, and large bodies of water. Once you make the breath-taking skyrail, you walk about 15 min to the actual Buddha, then up 268 steps. The Buddha sits 34 metres (110 ft) tall and weighs 250 metric tons.
The next day we went to the Stanley Market, Jade Market, and the Ladies Market. It was basically a day of walking around, exploring and shopping. Wednesday morning we explored around the Escalator again. We had a wonderful time. Sandy got to come most places with us. She was a great guide! Bob and Sandy just found out they will be moving back to the states in a week. We JUST made it - if we came any later the Kile's would not have been there. So it was nice for her to be able to go do all the touristy things one last time.
It was very interesting. When doing any type of construction the Hong Kongese would use bamboo scaffolding. Quite scary looking but I guess it works!
We took the same route back home. We got home to Oita City around 12:30am Thursday Morning. We went to go get our bikes where we had left them.... They were NOT where we left them. We were so tired and now we don't have bikes. After searching around a bit we found them. People often move bikes because they need to get to theirs and can't but normally they'll move it over... not 15 feet away! We were very relieved! We went home, ate, and went to bed!
(Market stuff)
(5ooth Step)
(rawr!)
(goose, chicken, etc...)
(Bamboo scaffolding)
