No more time for preparations, it is time to leave the country! Saying goodbye was no fun, but the comforting thought was that Matthew Jennifer and Evelyn were left in good hands.
Daniel is not a fan of movies, but Melanie showed him some cool games. There were a tonne of entertainment option on our 15 hour Cathay Pacific flight.
But it doesn't matter how good the selection is, 15 hours is just a tonne of time to be stuck in a seat in a crowded plane. You know it's a long time when you've had supper breakfast and lunch. Yikes!
So touring Hong Kong was a bit of surprise for all of us. Except Philip, presumably. The rest of us had assumed we'd be tucked nicely in a hotel far away from any potential protesters and complications. Alas, rest on a flat bed was not to be.
Boy the airport was big. There are subway trains to get you to different terminals. Yikes! Once outside the sun was rising, but already it was hot and muggy. Boy did I wish I'd known we were touring Hong Kong and had shorts readily accessible. I was not a happy traveler. Tired too.
At least on the bus we can sit down. My legs felt like jelly. Note Philip's enthusiastic "this is good for you and you'll love it" encouragement going on in the far corner. (why is noone sitting beside him? ;) :p ) I don't remember what remote island we went to that is close to the airport but no where near protesters. I didn't really care. It wasn't a hotel. And there were no beds in my near future.
After I got a short nap on a couch somewhere (to make me more friendly) we meandered to the waterfront.
Pretty cool looking boats in the water. The shape reminds me of "The Story of Ping" where there are houseboats on the Yangtze River. I liked that. But after a while the walk got too long and tiring and hot.
We wandered through a little city park. The chicken made me think of Mathew.
Back to the buses we went, to go check out a temple. There are a fair amount of buildings, mostly growing upwards where there is room.
We found a walkway that provided some shade. We also meandered a bit extra as Philip tried to make sense of walking via Google maps. My legs did not enjoy the extra "touring" while things were sorted out.
After lots of walking we found a place full of incense and offerings of peanuts. And plaques and small Buddha statues of very different looks. At least, I thought they were all Buddhas. Maybe not.
Eventually we found the temple (walked the wrong way first of course!) Had I mentioned my legs were tired? I wasn't the only one feeling exhausted though, I was just the loudest one.
The inside was very dark and dingy. If I'd had more energy I may have read some of the details and learned something. But it was very hot. And did I mention that it was muggy?
There were a lot of streets lined with trees. That surprised me, as I thought Hong Kong was crowded and had no room for trees. It was also very quiet. Hardly anybody was around.
Driving on the bus (I love sitting!!) we saw more of what I thought would have been typical Hong Kong.
And we spend a fair bit of time at this bus stop walking around in circles trying to find the right spot to stand for the right bus. Missed it a few times when it was right in front of us. Fortunately people in Hong Kong are very friendly and helpful. Just ask a question and they will go out of their way to show you what you need. And they speak English. Wonderful!!
In the background you can see lots of pictures up. At least a hundred. They were put up while we were in and out...every one a photo displaying police violence.
View from the top of a double-decker bus. Is this near London maybe? I'm feeling disoriented.
Heading back to the airport. I really don't want to miss our flight, so we get back with lots of extra hours to kill.
And they are killed. The kids are so wiped they can sleep anywhere now. How many hours had they been asleep in the last 48? Less than 5 probably! It's hard to figure out with a tired self and confusing time changes and all.
