Day 3-December 2, 2008

Well I let Jake choose whether he wanted to go to Disneyland for his birthday or Ocean Park. We had planned on Disneyland, but after looking more into it, they only had a like 1 roller coaster and so Jake decided on Ocean Park. This amusement park is in the mountains right next to the ocean. On one of the roller coasters you feel like you are going to fly off into the ocean. They also had an aquarium, dolphin show, and a panda exhibit. This was the perfect time to go, you could walk right on to every ride. The weather was just perfect.

We took a 30-40 min bus ride out there.

A long escalator up to the top of the mountain where the rides were.

Jake and I on a ride that spun all around.

Jake and his friend the elephant.

Here is us on our way over to the panda exhibit. They had cable cars that went alongside the mountain. The view was absolutely gorgeous.

The picture of me is because one of the pandas and I shared the same birthday.

Day 2-December 1st

Well we started Day 2 off at Chinese consulate office, applying for another visa. We got there, filled out the paper work, and then we were able to get a number to be seen. We had about 100 people ahead of us, so we ended up waiting a couple of hours. After that we headed out to find the Victoria Peak Tram. Along the way we found the Bank of China Tower, where they let you go up in it and see the view of Hong Kong, and the best part is.....it's FREE! We picked the perfect day to do all the things that overlook the city. The sky was so blue and clear. We took a tram up to the top, that overlooks Hong Kong. While we were there we met a couple from Sweden. The tram went strait up and I kept joking that it was just going to go flying back down the mountain backwards.

While up at the top we went into a shop just looking around. I noticed they had the game World Monopoly and just checked to see the price...we had no intention of buying it. The lady in the store said, "Oh you like, I give it to you for 380." We told her we were just looking but she kept dropping the price and throwing in extra stuff. Long story short we kept saying no, but she dropped it to 300 as we were walking out of the store so we thought what the heck we are always looking for new games to play with our friends. She also threw in an alligator massager and something to put on your eyes while in the bath.

Inside the tower at the top of the mountain they had a lot of little shops and a wax museum. SO I got to "dance" with Bruce Lee.
Jake didn't want to get too close in case he pulled out one of his moves on him.
Downstairs was a cute little Christmas display

Jake always does a better job at taking pictures...oh well.
We ate at Bubba Gumps for lunch and loved the Western Food. The girl behind Jake bought a bunch of stuffed animals that did tricks and was playing with them while she was waiting for her food....mind you she is probably 17.
The table we sat at overlooked Hong Kong, it was such a great lunch.

After the tram on our way down to the Harbor. We found this little park with some really beautiful fountains.
After the tram we went and got tickets for the Star Ferry Tour/Symphony of the Lights. We were pretty tired at the end of the day, but it was fun to go around the Harbor and see all the buildings with their lights. Jake and I decided that this wasn't really worth the $$$, especially since you could go across the harbor and see the light show from the dock. The music and lights didn't really synchronize very well either. Oh well you live and learn.

PS. Jake wants to let everyone know that he took the pictures of the Star Ferry tour and that is not a post card.

Hurrying around in Hong Kong...Day 1

Well on Sunday November 30th, Jake and I woke up early and caught a taxi to the airport. We thought we could get breakfast at the airport, but they really didn't have anything. So off we went with a couple of cookies to hold us over. We flew into Shenzhen, which is right next to Hong Kong, but it is a ton cheaper. We then to a taxi to the border and crossed into Hong Kong. Then we jumped on a Subway and were off to find our hotel. We each had 2 pieces of luggage and for some reason one of the places where we switched subways was really crowed. I was trying to make it in and the doors started to close, Jake was on the subway and it was jammed packed. I got on and the doors shut....on my backpack! They opened again and I pushed really hard to make room for me! We got off the subway and found the street our hotel was on. However we didn't realize it was about 15 blocks to our hotel or we would of taken a taxi. we got to our room and got settled in and relaxed a little bit and then set out for some food.

We ended up eating at this really good Mexican/Italian place on a street called Soho, which has a ton of tasty food. Afterwards we took the longest outdoor escalator up and down and up and down and all around. We seriously walked past the same place like 3 times because we were trying to find exactly where it started. It was so pretty with all of the building lights. We found a little park area that had a huge Christmas tree that was all lit up. That made my day because I love Christmas and I haven't got to see a ton of decorations in China.