When I was a little girl I never imagined traveling all the places I have been lucky enough to go to....so when Steve asked me to go to China I was excited and thrilled....
We planned a quick fun getaway to Hong Kong, Lantau Island and Kowloon! I loved it!!! Steve has been all over China - Beijing, Shanghai, Tiajin, etc., but this was my first trip to Asia....there were people 24/7 everywhere we went! This one one of the busy streets we were at in Hong Kong - there are high end stores (Mont Blanc, Tiffany, Bulgari - even people lined up to get into Chanel their economy is so good!) In between the high end stores are street markets - fish mongers, etc. You can buy anything you can imagine on these streets.....
This was a fresh produce market and we also went to many famous markets - Stanley Street Market, Ladies Market, Jade Market and our favorite the Night Market and we went there several times. We loved the outdoor food service and activity all mixed in one area....and Steve was happy to sit there and people watch while I shopped away....they love to 'bargain' there and you negotiate back and forth and it is quite the experience.
One day we went to Victoria Park where they were having a flower show. There are very very few parks or flowers or greenery anywhere in Hong Kong or Kowloon....the locals flock to these flower shows and take endless pictures of tiny blooms and blades of grass....
One day we rode the subway to Lantau Island and took the 35 minute, 4000 ft Tram ride to the Monastery and Big Buddah....loved this...the tram made several turns and we went mountain to mountain high above the Wisdom Walk and Path of Buddah
Few cars and the intent of this picture was to capture the bamboo scaffolding they use over there - no OSHA - no hard hats - no wonder they can get things done so fast. They can build a 60 story highrise in 4 months. We rode the double decker bus all over Hong Kong (30 cents US)
One of the food stands at the night market....night after night we enjoyed shrimp, dumplings, noodles and more....every meal was perfectly delicious and no napkins anywhere - they put a roll of toilet paper on the table and when you go into the bathroom no toilet paper so bring your own!
One night we ate in a 5 ***** restaurant and it was not nearly as fun.
In Hong Kong they pretty much tear everything down to build a new skyrise, however in a few pockets we found some old world treasurers....
We rode the Hop On Hop Off Train and the Tram to Victoria Peak....loved this view of Victoria Park with the concrete jungle in the background. Every night at 8 pm they have a laser show across the harbor where 40 buildings on each side flash lasers syncronized to music....amazing
Some of the old and new....old world British influence and Chinese skyscrapers
Even with all the wealth they still have the 'Junk' Saipan boats where people live on them in the beautiful harbor....we snapped this shot on one of our many trips back and forth from Kowloon to Hong Kong on the Star Ferry (25 cents a trip!)
We loved Lantau Island and walked the 200 steps to the Big Buddah and went to the monastery and ate at the vegan restaurant in the monastery.....so wonderful.
We planned a quick fun getaway to Hong Kong, Lantau Island and Kowloon! I loved it!!! Steve has been all over China - Beijing, Shanghai, Tiajin, etc., but this was my first trip to Asia....there were people 24/7 everywhere we went! This one one of the busy streets we were at in Hong Kong - there are high end stores (Mont Blanc, Tiffany, Bulgari - even people lined up to get into Chanel their economy is so good!) In between the high end stores are street markets - fish mongers, etc. You can buy anything you can imagine on these streets.....At this market the fish mongers had fish in barrels, fish on ice, and these fish were so fresh they kept their lungs and heart in them and you could see the hearts beating....now that's fresh!
At this market they slaughter and sell every piece of every animal. On 'display' here is tripe, tongue, heart, kidney and tail!
This was a fresh produce market and we also went to many famous markets - Stanley Street Market, Ladies Market, Jade Market and our favorite the Night Market and we went there several times. We loved the outdoor food service and activity all mixed in one area....and Steve was happy to sit there and people watch while I shopped away....they love to 'bargain' there and you negotiate back and forth and it is quite the experience.
One day we went to Victoria Park where they were having a flower show. There are very very few parks or flowers or greenery anywhere in Hong Kong or Kowloon....the locals flock to these flower shows and take endless pictures of tiny blooms and blades of grass....
One day we rode the subway to Lantau Island and took the 35 minute, 4000 ft Tram ride to the Monastery and Big Buddah....loved this...the tram made several turns and we went mountain to mountain high above the Wisdom Walk and Path of Buddah
Few cars and the intent of this picture was to capture the bamboo scaffolding they use over there - no OSHA - no hard hats - no wonder they can get things done so fast. They can build a 60 story highrise in 4 months. We rode the double decker bus all over Hong Kong (30 cents US)
One of the food stands at the night market....night after night we enjoyed shrimp, dumplings, noodles and more....every meal was perfectly delicious and no napkins anywhere - they put a roll of toilet paper on the table and when you go into the bathroom no toilet paper so bring your own!One night we ate in a 5 ***** restaurant and it was not nearly as fun.
In Hong Kong they pretty much tear everything down to build a new skyrise, however in a few pockets we found some old world treasurers....
We rode the Hop On Hop Off Train and the Tram to Victoria Peak....loved this view of Victoria Park with the concrete jungle in the background. Every night at 8 pm they have a laser show across the harbor where 40 buildings on each side flash lasers syncronized to music....amazing
Some of the old and new....old world British influence and Chinese skyscrapers
Even with all the wealth they still have the 'Junk' Saipan boats where people live on them in the beautiful harbor....we snapped this shot on one of our many trips back and forth from Kowloon to Hong Kong on the Star Ferry (25 cents a trip!)
We loved Lantau Island and walked the 200 steps to the Big Buddah and went to the monastery and ate at the vegan restaurant in the monastery.....so wonderful.I have a million more pictures and the trip home was a bear (28 hours, thanks United) however I would do this trip again in a minute. It was so interesting and was wonderful to be there with Steve and I do have to say I felt sorry for America once I saw the Chinese technology, order, structure and wealth.....buy American everyone!!! Let's support the USA - we are almost a 3rd world country compared to what I saw!!!
