Monday, February 29, 2016

Seeing more of the World: Part I Hong Kong


My husband and I racked up the miles with a 3-week trip to SE Asia this winter. Every day brought new adventures. We encountered many different places, different cultures, and met many new friends.

I'm inviting you to view a lot of our photos and read about our trip. For me, blogging is a wonderful way of  keeping historical records for myself! I'm surprised at how useful my writings and photos can be as I try to keep track of  the happenings of my life.

Hong Kong: three days to adjust to a time change and see this world class city.



Hong Kong is home to the world's tallest building. On a days, such as we had, of fog and rain the skyscrapers are endless. Throughout our travels we saw fantastic landscaping, topiaries and bonsai.


And even in this city of over seven million, we found a lovely, quiet, and nearly deserted spot to escape some of the city's exuberance.

Hong Kong is well known for it's food and shopping. Our first morning, I ordered a typical Hong Kong breakfast--a bowl of noodles is served with 2 fried eggs and a side plate of sausage and toast.

East meets West breakfast in Hong Kong.
Another big food thing for me was to have a traditional Dim Sum meal. After reading up online, I was convinced that Maxim's with a view of Hong Kong's Harbor was just the place. If you travel on your own in foreign cities where English is not the native language, you soon learn that getting directions that you understand and can follow can be a challenge. But, of course, that is part of the fun. We had to navigate our way from the mainland Hong Kong to Hong Kong Island using public transportation. Once on the island, we had to get across the city, find our way to under a major street, walk around several giant buildings. We asked a lot of folks and got more than a few misunderstandings before we arrived at Maxim's. However, it was not the dim sum Maxim's--that was up two more flights. Finally we arrived at the spot that would serve me my dream dim sum lunch! But wait! We arrived 20 minutes before closing for lunch and hours before dinner. The hostess was pleasantly, but firmly, turning away customers. I was nearly tearing up! As we turned to leave she grabbed Mike's arm and pulled us into the fabulous room. I don't know if it was the Asian respect for elders, or the fact that she saw I was near an emotional breakdown, but she let these 2 Americans in and we were the last customers of the day. I cherished each bite!


Maxim's City Hall Palace

Num num dim sum

One of the full days we had in Hong Kong, we decided to see some of the sites Hong Kong is well known for. We started out early to hit Flower Market Road.

On our way to Flower Market Road.
What an eye-full of flowers and plants we found, both for indoors and out!



I love the succulent filled laughing Buddhas!

We then ventured on to Wong Tai Sin Temple, a very popular and busy Taoist shrine. We were in SE Asia in time to be part of the mounting excitement for the coming Lunar New Year, which is a huge celebration.


Entrance to Wong Tai Sin Temple

One of the 12 Chinese zodiac sculptures.


A courtyard full of burning incense, bells, lanterns and worshiping.


Before we knew it, we were packing up and on our way to Cambodia, but we had one last night to make some new friends and enjoy a beer!