Day 4- December 3, 2008

The Hong Kong Temple

We woke up and went down to the visa office to pick up my passport. We then decided to take the ferry across the harbor and hop on a subway to the temple. We were pretty pressed for time when we got across the harbor so we jumped in a taxi and headed off to the temple Once there we went to go in and the guy told Jake his recommend had expired on the 30th of November. He was bummed, but told me to go ahead and do a session. So I went and did a session and it was so nice and peaceful. After that we tried to find the distribution center...we found it but was like an hour out of the way. We then got back to our hotel and changed and then went out and looked at shops and ate at California Pizza Kitchen...man was that tasty. I found some pants and some hair products that I had been looking for. That night went out to the Temple St. Night market. We were pretty exhausted, so we didn't get anything but looked all around and were stopped by a number of people wanting us to buy watches and purses.

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.