Hello from Hong Kong

The view of Hong Kong from the Peak.
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I have been convincted by fellow travelers to start a blog, rather than send e-mails en masse.  The first few entries will probably be quite brief, just to catch up.  Here goes...

I arrived in Hong Kong to be greeted by Steph's mom, Theresa, at the airport.  From there we bused to Steph's aunts and uncles apartment in Discovery Bay, which is a very serene place about a half hour ferry ride out of Hong Kong.

My first day in Hong Kong, Steph, Theresa (Steph's mom) and I went to Ocean Park, which is a kitschy theme park / zoo / garden (I can't quite figure out which one prevails).   It was HOT, so we didn't spend too much time wandering around.  From there we went up to The Peak, which is a mountain / hill top view of Hong Kong.  The view was quite spectacular, and we stayed until after dark so as to get a night view as well.

Lion Dancing at the Market.
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The next day, we hit the markets.  The first market we stopped at had been closed for several weeks due to flooding.  It was the grand re-opening, and there were lion dancers there to celebrate this event.  A lot of the shopkeepers were hanging lettuce in the front of their stalls, so that the lion would stop there and bring them good luck.  Even though a few were skeptical of the superstition at first, they got pulled into the excitement as the lion made its way through the streets. Later that night, we also went to the Ladies Market, where Steph and I adopted the strategy of speaking in French to help each other bargain.  We also walked around the streets of Hong Kong, which are frantic and energetic--it seems like you could see almost anything on those streets from an assortment of food, to interesting people, to fake handbags...

Lion Dancing at the Market.
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The shopping in Hong Kong is great! Steph got several suits made, and we also both bought glasses.  The store where we went was really interesting--we had to call them from a specific corner and they came ot pick us up.  Once there, the optometrist gave me a free eye exam and I got to choose from hundreds of frames, which only cost about $25 Canadian.  The glasses were made for me in less than 20 minutes.

Another highlight was the big Buddha, which is on Lantau island, and accessible by the Ngong Ping Skyrail.  The trip there was fun, however as soon as we got to the Buddha there was a huge downpour.  On the way back, the skyrail kept making a horrible static noise and the fog was so bad that we could not see more than two feet around us.  It was quite eery, and we were convinced that the skyrail was going to de-rail and we would plunge into the valley below.

Hong Kong at night.
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On our last day, we rode the "ding ding" from one side of Hong Kong to the other.  This is a tram that costs only about 20 cents to ride, but it really allowed us to see the streets of Hong Kong.

Steph, her mom, and I all took a cab together to the airport, and all of a sudden I was alone and on my way to Singapore.