Day 8 Big Budha on our last Day

Sadly it's Saturday and our last full day in Hong Kong.

Doug and Charisse had a full day planned and it was fantastic.  We took a ferry to Maui Wo. This one was about 45 min long. Once we got there we took a double decker bus (another 45 min) to Tai O fishing village. It's pretty amazing there. We wound around and around the market to another pier. There we took a sampan type boat (flat bottom) to see the pink dolphins. 

Before they took us out to the ocean they toured us around the fishing village. It was so cool.

 After we toured through the homes and businesses on the waterfront they took us out to the China Sea to find some pink dolphins.We saw a few but it was impossible to get a picture because you never knew when they were going to surface.

 So this is an incredible bridge tunnel system that goes out to Maucau. It was just about finished when we were there,

The water was so nice. I expected it to be muddy and polluted for some reason and it certainly is not. After we saw the pink dolphins we took another bus to climb to the top of the mountain to see the big Budha.

The entrance was so cool.

 To get to the top we had to climb the stairs of death. It was hot and humid and high altitude. Perfect recipe for a miserable climb.

Part way there!

 We huffed and puffed our way to the top.

 We went inside and there were a few artifacts inside but mostly it was a crypt.

The view from the top was incredibly beautiful.

So we headed down the steps and walked through the shopping and got a few final souvenirs. The shopping was great fun and we found some great things. We stopped at Subway for lunch!

On the other side of the shopping area was our transportation down. It came with a big line.

 

We opted not to take the crystal bottom gondola down. It was the longest gondola ride I've ever seen and it was really fun. Except when Doug tried to shake it!

 The view down was pretty great. There's the bridge/tunnel again.

One more big ol MTR ride later with a few transfers and we arrived back to our neck of the woods. We ended up at the Times Square of Hong Kong. 

It was fun to see all the lights. For dinner we went to one of Doug & Charisse's favorite restaurants, Crystal Jade and it was fantastic. We chowed down on Minced Pork & Green Beans, Pork Pan Fried Dumplings, Beijing Pork Dumplings, Shanghai Pancake, Sweet, Sour Chicken, Ham and Chicken Fried Rice. It was a feast and we ate until we were stuffed. Loved every second of dinner. We got back to the flat and it was time to pack up to go home. PS we didn't get General Conference live at the times we are used to. It started in the middle of the night that night so Doug filled us in on what we missed while we attempted to sleep.

:(

Day 7 Cheung Chau and Harbor Cruise

Friday Doug took the day off so we headed out for the day bright and early. We caught the quick ferry to Cheung Chau. 

 It's a good thing it was the quick ferry because it as at least a half hour wait and a half hour ride. The island is so cute. It's not huge and it's a fishing village gone commercial. 

 There are no cars on the entire island. So we just walked around and checked out the temple there.

 The carvings were amazing.

Scaffolding of course! Lots of it.

 Prep for the bun festival.

After we went through the temple we continued walking right through the heart of the island and got to the beach on the other side.

 The beach is the home to some of the most ancient rock carvings on earth. They are estimated to be 3000 years old. Super old and very cool.

We strolled back to the other side of the island and it was just pretty. 

 Lots of flowers and little doorstep shrines all along the way.

Once we got back to the other side Doug and Charisse took us to an Indian restaurant. I have to say we were a little reluctant. Okay maybe alot. But wow was it ever good.

We had garlic and butter Nan, butter chicken, beef Marsala, and veggie samosa with mint sauce. Can't even pick a favorite because we loved it all.

After the ferry back we took the big bus, mini bus and the MTR to Stanley Market on the other side of Victoria peak. It is a beautiful area. We had a quick McDonald's ice cream sundae and enjoyed the sights there. We passed a huge apple store on our way there.

We were home for an hour and it was time to run again. 

We had to stop by Mariane's Store to pick up a couple trinkets! 

 Added a celebration band to my wedding ring set.

The bling is sized and ready!! Happy 35th anniversary and thanks babe ;)

It took so long for the appraisal we rushed to the dock for the Aqua Luna harbor cruise on a traditional junk. Luckily we made it in time. It was just lovely. So beautiful out there and we timed it just in time for the Symphony of Lights.

The Symphony of Lights was so fun. We just loved it. 

Day 6 Dim Sum/ Markets/Temple

Back out we went. Charisse had some banking business to take care of so we did she people watching while she took care of that then we headed to City Hall for some world famous Dim Sum. Oh my goodness it was good.

 The room was so elegant. It was also packed. Luckily we had no wait for a table. Many others were not so lucky. When we left the line was down the hall.

 Ladies came around with carts of food. When you saw something you wanted you just stopped her and she would get you some and add it to your bill sitting on the table. Some ladies didn't seem too excited to serve us but they got to us eventually. The variety was incredible. We love it.

 Thank goodness there was English written too!

The BBQ steam buns might have been my favorite. 

We went to another market. This one was mostly a food market and was very fun. This is the Wanchi market and then we also went to the Wet Market. The stuff you could buy! You name it.

The food was fresh they said because the turnover was very fast. Hmmm.

The meat options were particularly interesting.

We took a ding ding back to the flat.

That evening we headed back out and went to a session at the Temple. We loved it so much. There were five different languages presented that night. The couple officiating were on a mission there from Las Vegas! Small world stories are the best. We were all pretty tired by the end of the evening and we opted to take a taxi home.