Hong Kong

Hello Family & Friends!  I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures from our trip to Hong Kong.  The trip was Carol's anniversary present.  I know that 15 years of pure bliss with me is reward enough, but I thought I'd get Carol something special anyway.  We went over Thanksgiving break.  Although we weren't watching the Cowboys or Lions, or having turkey-induced comas after overeating, it didn't deter us from having one of the most memorable Thanksgivings ever.

A rarity - simultaneous ice cream headaches in an ice cream shop in Hong Kong.

CJ was braver than usual with his meal selection.  I was surprised at how difficult it was to get straight up Chinese food like we're used to in the States.  So in China, do they just call it "food"?  Can a brother just get some beef and broccoli or shrimp fried rice?

Carol with a big bright purple piece of eggplant.  She's getting better with those chopsticks.  I still do a double-take every time Carol straightens out her hair.

One of the boys' favorite things about Hong Kong - Toys R Us!

Shopping at Stanley Market.

Notice my technique as I prepare to haggle prices with shopkeepers.  I still can't hold a candle to my sister Darby's haggling prowess, but I'm getting there.

The weather was perfect for the pose.

The waterfront area by Stanley Market.

This is from a beautiful beach area called Repulse Bay.  Pirates used to pillage this area and use it as a base.  The British Fleet repulsed the pirates, hence the name "Repulse Bay."  I love using the word "hence" because it makes me sound more polished than I actually am.  It's a travesty to the English language though when people use the term improperly.

This is a famous bridge in Hong Kong.  Legend has it that every time you cross this foot bridge, you add three days to your life.  Hence, we walked across the bridge several times, hence, making our trip even more worthwhile.  

Chillin' under a Chinese pavilion.

The place was filled with statues like this one.  CJ is saying, "Can we go to Toys R Us now?"

Our next stop was to the famous Jumbo Floating Restaurant.  To get to the restaurant, you had to hop on a water taxi from this dock for a grueling 2 minute 7 second ride. 

Not only was the restaurant Jumbo, so was the bill.  I'm guessing they don't have too many people doing the dine and dash thing cause of all the surrounding water.  Almost every dish in the place had shark fin something or other in it.  It was a good meal but where were the fortune cookies?

Oh yes!  Hong Kong Disneyland!

They even got to see the big guy!

This guy was the best Buzz Lightyear ever!  It's amazing how much personality he exuded even though he couldn't talk.  He had some great moves.  Or maybe he just had to pee real bad.

Although you can't see it in this picture, we had snow at Disney!  Okay, so it was fake snow but it was a really nice touch during the big Christmas parade.

It was almost like we were in Orlando!

"When you wish upon a star..."  What a great day that was.  My favorite part of our Disney day was the Winnie the Pooh ride where Carol, CJ and Jake all sat together happily in one car, and I was in the car behind them, all by myself.  If I had a big pillow with me, I would've laid my big head on it and cried some big tears.  I would've taken a picture of that ride but I was too sad to pick up the camera.

The Hong Kong subway was crazy packed!  At least my family let me stay in the same subway car with them.

This magnificent view is from Victoria's Peak, one of the most famous spots in all of Hong Kong.  Unfortunately, Carol was not feeling so great.  This is how Carol looks when she needs to hurl.

Beautiful Hong Kong.  One of these building is where the famous Hong Kong scene in Dark Knight took place.  In one of these alleys is probably where the bootleg Dark Knight DVD came out even before the movie was released.

I would love to go back to this magnificent city.  So many great memories to take away from this place.  Allow me to share two of them with you - hacking and hovering.

What was up with all the hacking and hocking up lugeys?  Every time I turned around, some guy was gyrating his facial muscles, inhaling strongly from the nostrils, preparing to expel mucous from the deepest bowels of his inner core.  I shouldn't talk though.  I pride myself on my advanced phlegm removal techniques, specifically my ability to execute the patented high school gym teacher method of quickly blowing snot out of your nose by closing one nostril shut with one finger while leaving the opposite nostril open for mass mucous evacuation.

And the waiters at restaurants with all the hovering during bill time.  They leave you alone during the entire meal, then when it's time to pay, they hover over you and don't let you breathe, looking over your shoulder and peering.  Maybe it's because they don't want you to inspect your bill very closely - which you should, cause some restaurants add all sorts of charges on there.  Charges for garnishes, sharing, cover charge, salt, pepper, napkin, oxygen - it's a little ridiculous.  

I'm splitting hairs though.  Just like me to go to one of the finest places on the planet and I end up blogging about hocking up lugeys.  If you ever get the opportunity, go to Hong Kong.  Great sights, great food, incredible shopping and countless things to do.  You'll love it.  Until next time -- C2