Hong Kong

 There is much to discover in this city.  For starters, it is FULL of people, most of them rushing to get somewhere.  The city, which is actually made of a few islands is fairly small in size so the buildings must go up.  We are staying on Honk Kong Island in Causeway Bay with a great view across the harbor to Kowloon.  Here's a shot during the day...

... and one at night.

 We began our day with a trip to the temple.  We decided to have Abe head out with the older kids to do baptisms and I would follow and meet up with them with the younger kids.  After looking at the maps, I figured our route to the temple would require 3 train changes on the MTR (subway) and walking a few blocks.  It all seemed pretty intimidating for a girl who gets nervous driving into Portland.  It actually was relatively easy, thank goodness for signs in English, and Sierra loved helping me navigate.

Notice the Church's name in both Chines and English

After the temple we headed to the outdoor markets.  So much to see, smell, and wonder about the origin of the food items.   We wanted to be brave and try some local fare, but after a little perusing the kids were relieved to see the golden arches and we gave in.  The prices at the markets are not marked and there is much bartering to be done.  The exchange rate is roughly $7HK=$1US, that requires some quick thinking when trying to haggle and get prices down to something you are willing to part with.  I was trying to get a tea set and doing the figuring, I got kind of frustrated and walked off only have the seller track me down and cut her price in half.  OK, so is that how this is done?  We took in all that we could walking through the ladies market, goldfish market and flower markets.

 

 

Guess how many salted, dried, anchovies we bought?

Bonsai tree in the flower market

 Tired from the heat, jet lag and having our body clocks still in another time zone we called it a day and headed for home.  It was all I could do to drag myself to the corner market with Abe to grab some food for tomorrow.  When we got back to the apartment all the kids were sacked out - still in their clothes.  It was only about 6:45pm.