Hong Kong Disneyland!

Of course we had to go one last time. This post will mostly be pictures. But I have to tell you about a ride called the Grizzly Gulch Runaway Mine Cars. It was. AWESOME. It was like Thunder Mountain in California. But at one part, when you think you are headed over a mountain, it drops you back. But you still think you're going to go back up and continue. But no. you go backwards for a few turns and then back into a cave where you watch two bears (daddy and baby) push the TNT pump bar down followed by an explosion that shoots you out, pretty forcefully, forward for the rest of your ride. It was awesome. I think they should put it in CA, but they won't, because Disney is stinky like that. So if you every get to Asia, go to Disneyland Hong Kong.

We had a great time and then headed back to the hotel around 7 pm. We stopped and got Subway for dinner and ended up timing it exactly right to catch the shuttle back to the hotel. It was a great trip. Tuesday morning we headed back to Utah just in time for Thanksgiving and my family's Christmas Bingo party. Those will be the next few posts. I've just been busy, busy!!

 This is a new land that will be opening next year. I think it's the land where Brave takes place.

 The "barking pass" to ride slinky dog's ride.

 Slinky dog's ride.

 Winnie the Pooh, one of our favorites.

 Donal was hilarious.

 He teased Daniel pretty good.

Chinese people with elves ears looks funny. Just in case you wondered.

The Rest of Hong Kong

After that we headed to the the central area and went up the Mid-level escalators. It is a path of escalators that goes for 800 meters, about 2,600 feet. It was very unique. Some were steep, like steps, others were shallow steps and others were more like conveyor belts. It was very interesting. Instead of taking a taxi down we walked down and saw some fun things. We walked a cool path and enjoyed out Mrs. Field's cookies along the way (they have stores in a lot of the MTR stations). 

 Looking down into the streets.

 The mosque we saw on the way up. 

 A drainage tunnel.

The the roadway system on the way down the peak. It's pretty steep.
 

Then we headed to dinner. We did some wandering because one of the places we wanted to eat was originally not open and then when it did it was too expensive. They told us because we didn't have a reservation that we could only eat if we finished before a certain time. Dumb. So we wandered a little more. We ended up at a yummy reasonably priced Thai food restaurant. We really enjoyed that. I'm really missing authentic Thai food here in Utah. Gosh, as I type this I realize I'm homesick (word choice?) for Asia. I miss it a bit. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to be home, but that was home for 18 months and it included so many wonderful things and people. I really miss it. And I'm not sure if I'll ever get back. Here's hoping I get to take my kids in 10 years. China is just such a huge part of our lives, I can't imagine not sharing it with my kids. 

Then we headed to Mongkok to do some shopping, at which we were successful. We had fun bargaining. At least I did. Daniel makes me do it because he's not as hard core as I am. I love it. It's like the thrill of the hunt. Can't hunt that way in Utah. I miss that a little too. 

Then we headed back to the hotel to relax. 

Our last day in Hong Kong was Disneyland. That'll be my next post!

Hong Kong

We did a few other things while in Hong Kong. We headed over to the Kowloon Walled City Park. (Click the link for more info and old pictures). It was very interesting. It was a small area that had been walled in sometime in the 1870s by China has continually remained Chinese land throughout this whole Hong Kong/England land exchange. It was set up a little like a fortress. In the 1960-1990s it had buildings that were 8-10 stories high with almost 15,000 people living there. It occupied space just under 700 feet by 400 feet. The sidewalks were about 3 feet wide. The buildings were extremely close together and the neighborhood had become known as a place of drug dealers, shady business and lasciviousness. So they knocked the whole place down and created a park with monuments and remnants of the original wall. It was a nice little park. Hong Kong is very rich in history. The more time I spent there, the more I realized how little I know about it.

 The dog in the Zodiac garden.

 The Zodiac garden.

What the city inside the walled area used to look like. Pretty dense, right?

We went to the temple and did a session in English. We met a wonderful young woman there who was a Chinese national. She had returned from her mission to Temple Square just a month before and was in town to spend time in the temple before returning home. I could tell it broke her heart to be back in a country where she couldn't share the gospel with friends. She gave me a hug. She says she's applying to BYU-Hawaii for next fall. I hope she gets in and is able to return to America.

After the session we went over to the ward house and changed. There was a wedding there. It was interesting to see Mormon wedding culture mixed with Chinese wedding culture. Very few of their friends and family were members so they did the Chinese customary ceremony afterwards at the ward house, without the alcohol. She was beautiful. We told them congratulations and were on our way out. 

Then we went and did the Mid-level escalators. That's the next post.

Hong Kong!!

On our way home we stopped for four days in Hong Kong. We had a good time. It was a nice vacation. Our first day was kind of tiring though because we had to get up at 5 to catch our flight to Hong Kong. We landed, checked in, grabbed the camera and headed out to see a few things.

Our first stop was the 10,000 Buddhas. It is a monastery that has literally over 10,000 statues, many life size, of various Buddhas. Each with a different face. It was very odd. But cool. I would recommend it to anyone visiting Hong Kong.

 Riding the train into the city. I love his new geek glasses. They are so him.

These are some of the more interesting Buddhas we saw on our hike up the mountain.

 I think this one is actually the Warrior Emperor Guan Yu.

 He had a little Buddha in his tummy. Ewe?

 I think this was my favorite.

 I'm sure there's a story here.

 And this one.

 Those are eyebrows on the guy on the far right.

 This is the hall where there were 6"in Buddhas on shelves in alcoves from floor to ceiling - a 24" ceiling probably.

It was pretty interesting. Something I would do again.