Today was our first full day in
Hong Kong. Last night we
were thinking of going to either
Hong Kong Disney or Ocean Park. We decided not to do
either. We slept in and had an "interesting" breakfast at
the hotel. A fascinating fact we have learned.. white hens
lay white eggs and red or brown hens lay brown eggs. We
were clearly trying to eat eggs from a brown or red hen and
they did not taste good. At least this is what the "egg
chef" told us. After breakfast we decided to walk through
the lobby where we saw Edward
Deckard and his daughter Joy Song. Shortly
afterwards a gentleman walked up to us to let us know our
CCAI Rep Joanne was on
the way to the hotel with 5 other families from our group.
They arrived about 15 minutes later and we decided to go up
to the restaurant with them for a quick meeting. They were
all weary travelers as they took a red eye flight from LA to
Hong Kong and got in this
morning. Their trip included an 8 hour
layover in LA before
their 15 hour flight to Hong
Kong. It was wonderful to meet everyone that we had been
communicating with over the
internet for all of these months. We then decided to
walk to the local mall. The climate here is just like in
Hawaii so it is very warm and tropical. We were able to
find our way to the mall with no problems. The streets are
very pedestrian friendly. As we were approaching the mall
we started seeing signs that said "No hawking" (see
picture). At first thought one would think that this had
something to do with the bird. However, the sign was
appearing on EVERY tree we saw!!! We then realized that "No
Hawking" meant that they didn't
want people making those awful throat noises and spitting
mucous on the wonderful
palm tress that lined the streets. Things that make you go
HMMMMMM.
We walked around the mall for a
couple of hours and then had lunch at the friendly
KFC. Yes, for the
record, we have eaten there 2 times since leaving the US.
Sometimes fish heads are just not appetizing!!! We were
very surprised when we saw the big
IKEA sign at the mall.
Believe it or not, Hong
Kong has IKEA!!! We sat
for a long time just people-watching and car-watching
(Brandon). We then walked back to the hotel. We were
trying to figure out what the proper name for people who
come from Hong Kong is.
We couldn't remember so
we decided on Hong
Kongians. OK. We know
that's not right. We will just defer to the fact that some
of Jessica Simpson's brain cells are currently resident in
my brain. Just temporarily of course.
We took a couple of pictures of
the surrounding area and then headed to the hotel room to
relax a bit. We caught a good episode of
Oprah and then we were
off again. It was 4pm so we decided to walk to the mall
again. We walked to the mall and through
Shatin Park. There is a
beautiful walkway right next to the water. Brandon made a
point to mention that he had read that that specific
waterway was one of the most polluted and that if someone
fell in that there would have to be on antibiotics
indefinitely. He didn't
remember where he read that but if it is correct it would be
an interesting factoid.
Not that we were thinking of swimming or anything but there
were school kids on crew boats so it was a scary thought.
We actually stopped for awhile to watch them glide along the
water.
We made it back to the hotel and
met up with several families who were sitting in the lobby.
We were reunited with Mary and Lisa who we had met in
Beijing. After about 1 hour of visiting we all decided to
walk to the local Pizza Hut. Brandon had seen one during
our afternoon stroll. When we got to the Pizza Hut we
realized it was a carry out/delivery so we ordered and
walked back to the hotel. All 4 families camped out by the
pool and ate pizza and drank soda. We had a wonderful time
visiting.
Tomorrow morning, we (Group 853)
are to meet our CCAI Rep
in the lobby to go on a tour of
Hong Kong. Tomorrow is our last full day in
Hong Kong as we leave for
Nanchang (pronounced
Nanchung) on Sunday
morning. We are scheduled to get the babies in the
afternoon.
There are 12 families in our
travel group. There will be a total of 5
CCAI travel groups in
Hong Kong at the same
time. That means there are a huge number of families
arriving here each day.
We originally thought that there
were only 2 babies from Yingtan
City in our group however we found out today that there are
3 babies coming from Yingtan
City. All of the babies are 8 months old and all have been
in foster care the whole time. Actually,
Kiah turned 8 months old
today!!! We will have her in our arms in less than 2 days
now. Now that we are with our group we are feeling more
comfortable. Although Hong
Kong is a wonderful place, we can't wait to get back into
China where the Pandaphone
works and things are much cheaper. Hong Kong has been the
most expensive by far.
Jacob and
Katelyn, we miss you both
so much and can't wait to get home to you. We get baby
sister in 1 day now. She is so very lucky to be getting
such wonderful siblings!!! She is just waiting now for her
forever family. We will be home with her soon!!! Please be
safe and stay healthy. We pray for you both all of the
time. We love you very very much.
Love from China. no wait a
minute.. Hong Kong!!!
-Nicole and Brandon.
