Saturday, April 20, 2013

April...Hong Kong again


We're Back...in Hong Kong



We headed to the Lantau Island to an area called the Tai O Fishing Village.

History according to Wikipedia...

Stilt houses (pang uk) in Tai O

Nearby archaeological sites date back to the Stone Age, but permanent, and verifiable, human settlement here is only three centuries old. Stories that would be impossible to substantiate have Tai O as the base of many smuggling and piracy operations, the inlets of the river providing excellent protection from the weather and a hiding place.







We spent an afternoon wandering the streets of this quaint tourist town.  We took a boat ride in hopes to see the pink or white dolphin, but no luck.  The boat fee was worth the crazy boat ride though!  The houses on stilts were quite a site, electricity and all. 
Dried Fish
Chinese Pizza...more like a tortilla in the end
Shark and the Town Square wall beautifully painted to depict Tai O


Hong Kong, with the fog and pollution settling in, couldn't see the tops of the skyscrapers.

The next day we headed to a large amusement/aquarium park in Hong Kong called Ocean Park.  It started out to be a cloudy overcast day and the forecast was 40% rain, but this didn't dampen our spirits, we had been looking forward to this trip. It did not disappoint.  The rides and all of the animal exhibits were amazing.
The entrance, a colorful wall to strike a pose and a good photo op near the mascot :)

 
Nautilus
Colorful Reef Fish

Octopus
"Of course we would love to pose for another photo Mom!"



There were two seperate panda enclosures.  Both the pandas were just laying on their backs eating some bamboo.  They seemed quite happy and relaxed, much better than the panda, at the local zoo, we saw earlier who paced the same pattern over and over.


                                                         Riding the cable cars up the side of the mountain overlooking the South China Sea, on our way to the second part of the park.

The Midway
The venue for the dolphin and sea lion show, the rain clouds don't allow you to see the ocean in the background, it is a phenomenal view!





The Crowd



View from the tower (like the space needle)




The sea lions and walrus

Beautiful landscaping throughout the park
Fa Yuen Street in Hong Kong...shoe shopping 

 



This is Leon posing with the Norwegian Panda Bear.



My coworkers, Rachel and Luca, enjoy them both!

My friend and coworker, Dearly.  She is from the Philippines.
My wonderful coworker, Twinkle :)


View of the lobby, waiting with all the other schools to get in...


Luca trying out a ride!
Ancient seismograph


Photo hanging in museum of Guangzhou, the Pearl River and Canton Tower.  Also the blue and orange venue is where Hattie and I saw Elton John.



Selena, the wonderful 3rd grade girl I tutor.  She had just performed a special dance at an annual school art show.


The freshman team that Hattie recently joined for a tournament.
She was excited to have the #35 and her name on her jersey, even if it was a bit crooked!




Mason and Gabe also played with the 14U team in a recent tournament.  They only had one uniform to share so they each played half the game :)  Not sure that would ever happen in the US.  Good thing they didn't have too many fouls called since they were sharing 5???
Kyle, one of Luke's coworkers shared this snack from his hometown with us.  It was made of sesame...it was interesting to say the least.  We appreciated the gesture.
Hattie finally found a shoe in China that will fit her big feet!
We also found Batman!