Day 3 in Hong Kong

We get a late start on the day, but thankfully we can all report a full night's rest! We meet up with Dave at an Admirality stop (I think) - where the Lippo building is. It takes a while to find our way, but finally we find Dave. Then it takes us another few minutes to find Cafe de Corral and grab a bite to eat. Not too bad - less than $10 US for lunch! Pretty good too.

Then we use our metro pass to head to Ocean Park. It takes a while to get there - but we pass a bunch of indoor car dealerships and St. Michaels Catholic Cemetary (Happy Valley). Cemetaries in Hong Kong are really striking - the graves are all deliniated with above ground markers - not just a headstone. And they are so close together.

Once at Ocean Park, it takes us a few to get situated with the map. It's not too busy, so I can tell it's going to be decent even if the place is lame. But it is definitely not. There is about 6-7 huge escalators that we take up a huge moutain. We watch the bird show, then the sea lion show. Both shows have limited English, but the animals are cute & entertaining, without the need for a script. Then we take these cable cars over to the other side of the park. There, we check out the new jelly fish exhibit! By far the coolest zoo-type exhibit I've ever been to! The jelly fish were really beautiful and facinating. At the end they had these jelly fish projected on the wall, and when they bumped into your shadow they made a noise & moved away! Very fun! The shark exhibit & the coral reef exhibit were also very cool except for all the Chinese people with no sense of space. But it was still very cool. I was busy trying to read a sign for a restaurant and slipped on the last stair of a stairwell we were going down. A small twist & a small scrape, but after waling if off a bit, it's feeling fine. We check out a few more things - the last being the ride at the peak of the park that takes you up - incredible view if you can get over the height.

We head back on the 2nd bus - there is quite a line. We head back to the hotel quickly and then it's off to Tsim Sha Tsui to meet Wei Yan's uncle. He picks us up in his car and takes us to a restaurant. Wei Yan and his uncle take a while to order and after the food arrives he tells me that it's Chiu Chow cuisine, which I've been wanting to try. We finally figure out that Wei Yan's dad and mom both are Chiu Chownese - which is the language that his grandmother in Greenville keeps reverting back to every now & then. The food is definitely different than anything we've had before, but it's all pretty good. After this, Wei Yan's uncle takes us to Temple St. We have to be careful of pick pocketers, but these are more of the Hong Kong prices we were thinking of. We buy a few things, and by now I can tell that my little fall earlier didn't hurt my ankle, but my lower back & neck are aching. When Wei Yan asks if we should head back or keep shopping, I think I answered before he could finish. We part ways with Wei Yan's uncle & take the MTR back to Causeway Bay. After a quick stop at 7-11 to pick up some water, we head back. I'm definitely glad to be off of my feet now! The last 2 days we've been really tired and our feet & legs have been super tired, but tonight I'm definitely hurting in a different way. Now that we've gotten a few of the must-do's out of the way, I think I'll be taking it easy tomorrow.

Sam's pictures: