Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is almost here. Can you believe it. With Stacey and I spending the month of November in China, it seems like it should still be Halloween.. Where did the time go.

This year is Stacey's familys turn for Thanksgiving so we are having the big day at our house. Not everyone is coming but it looks to be plenty of eating and catching up with everyone.

What I look most forward to at this time of year is the day after. Leftovers you might say.... Well that is part of it but my favorite part is going to Idaho with the family to cut our own Christmas tree. Should be some good hunting this year. We will update after the big Kill...

Happy Thanksgiving...

Utes, Rivalry Week.

It sure has been quiet on the Sports front from all you BYU fans. I am wondering if you have given up on the big Rivalry week. Typically, there is a lot of talk before the game and only the victor continues it after. So, with that being said, I wanted to put it to you all.

Prediction of the outcome of the game.

I am saying Utah 28 BYU 17

What is your prediction?

And then for the other question?

Is this the biggest Rivalry game in the history of the rivalry?

I say Yes. There is so much on the line.

Make your prediction now.....

Home

Well, we have been home for 3 days and i think we both are still suffering from the effects of Jet Lag. Last night I layed in bed all night staring at the clock. Today has been major headache. Stacey keeps telling me that her stomach is turning flips and she isn't sure if she caught something or not. At any rate, I think it will only be a few days more and we will be back to normal. The price you pay for traveling half way around the world.

Hong Kong Day 10

Today was our last day. It is also my Birthday. For the past few years, I have tried to spend it somewhere else. Last year, I was in Cancun fishing with my brother, and the year before that, i was at some training in Phoenix. I have managed to be away for the most part so this was the perfect time for us to go on Vacation. In addition to being away, I want you to ponder this for a minute. My Birthday is tomorrow in Utah but yesterday in Hong Kong. What a Perfect way to look at Birthdays. They come and you don't really have to celebrate them. Well, the Conrad Hotel ruined this. but I am jumping ahead. First things first.

Today is Sunday and we planned to go to the same church we went to last week. This week was District Conference (Like Stake Conference). We took the Metro and got there about 30 minutes early and glad we did. The soft chairs were filling up quick. Funny thing about the church. It seems you always run into people you know. There sitting in District Conference was President and Sister Winegar. He was our Stake President and was sent to be a Mission President in Cambodia. They had come over to Hong Kong to attend a meeting with Elder Oaks (See yesterday) and because they had gotten in early, came to District Conference. The really funny thing is that the last time I had seen them was in the Airport in Kona, Hawaii 2 1/2 years ago. We were just coming and they were leaving. They had taken a last family vacation before they left for the mission field. Funny that we had seen them both times somewhere other than Layton. Conference was nice. They had about 8 speakers and the District President gave a talk on Tithing that was one of the best I have ever heard. He didn't use 1 scripture reference that you usually hear and he did a great job of pulling it all together. It was nice and interesting to attend a meeting where you have a number of different languages being spoken and so many different cultures all coming together to worship.

After church, we headed back to the Hotel to Change. We bought a panini from the bakery in the Mall below the Hotel and ate them in our room. Then we headed back out to run up to a market that we had not been to for some last items. We stopped by Jade Street Market on the way back and ended our Market shopping on Temple Street. We are done and If I don't do anymore bargaining and shopping for a while it will be too soon.

We spent the rest of our afternoon in Hong Kong Park. It is right next to our Hotel and it is very pretty. There were all these Older brides (about 5 or 6 that were in their 50's and 60's) that were there taking pictures. We didn't get the story behind it but figured it must have been some sort of renewing their wedding vows than first marriages. The Park was extremely full of people. Many of them newly graduated and taking pictures. We sat at the Olympic Award Pavilion (Any events held in Hong Kong were given their medals there) and watched wedding party's and graduates. Very interesting dynamics. Stacey wanted to do a Little Tai Chi so we did that for a few. Then after about an hour, we came back to the Hotel. When we were entering through the mall that is in the bottom of our hotel, we found a Grocery Store. Wish we had seen this sooner. They had all kinds of stuff for just about anyone. We decided we would each find what we were craving and do that for dinner. I had some Port Schnitzel and Stacey had some Ham and Potatoes. Ok for the big surprise.

We were sitting on the floor of our room eating our dinner and the phone rang. This was weird as it is the middle of the night back home so who would be calling. It was the Hotel staff and they wanted to bring me a Birthday Cake for my Birthday. When they brought it in, I asked who told them and all he said was Happy Birthday. The Card was from the Hotel Staff. I don't know how they knew but somehow I think it wasn't just a fluke.

Well, we have packed for the long flight home and we are ready to do it. We will get up around 4:00 AM Hong Kong Monday(1:00 PM SLC Sunday and begin the process of getting home. 4 hours to Tokyo, 10 hours to Los Angeles, then 2 hours on to SLC with layovers and such, we should be home around 1:00 PM SLC time on Monday. We actually get into Los Angeles a half hour before we leave Hong Kong on the same day. Should be a long one.

Well, that's it for now. I don't know when I will write next so for now, good bye.

Hong Kong Day 9

We needed to go back to Stanley Market to pick up a couple of things that Stacey had seen when we were there but didn't buy. This is about 30 minutes by Taxi. When we got in the Taxi, I tried to tell the Taxi Driver to drive by the big Christian Cemetery on the way. He didn't understand me and kept trying to understand. I said, buried and Dead and everything that I could think of but it didn't seem to make sense to him. Finally he said, Yes, Yes, Buried under the ground. Well, He didn't know what I meant. When we got to the town of Stanley, he drove right on through and took us out to the Stanley Military Cemetery. This actually was a treat as it was fun to walk through although I would have never asked to go there, it was pretty cool. Everyone buried in it had served in the Military in defense of Hong Kong and Stanley during World War 2 and some of them had been prisoners of war and been in internment camps. Most of the graves are Chinese people with a few British mixed in.

We then had to figure how to get back to Stanley Market. We walked along the main drag and finally found some stairs that took us to the beach and on to the Market place. Before we got to the market, we sat on the beach for about a half hour and relaxed. Stacey kept saying she was going to buy a swim suit and go for a swim but ended up wading instead.

Finally we wandered into the market. As we were walking thru, I saw these 4 men all wearing White shirts, ties, and slacks. They definitely stood out. I said to Stacey, that is Elder Oaks. She didn't really believe me so I went back by them. When I heard him speak, I knew it was him. We stopped and talked to them for a minute and introduced ourselves and shook hands with him and the others. We were thinking that we would get to hear him speak on Sunday at the District Conference (Like Stake Conference) but they told us they were here for another conference and wouldn't be attending our meeting. At any rate, it really shows what a very small world we live in. Here we are 10,000 miles from home and we run into someone for Utah.

Stacey found what she was looking for and we hopped a Taxi back to our Hotel.

We had on the Agenda to see the Hong Kong Medical Museum. When we asked the Concierge, He said that it was very difficult to find and that it was very small. He wrote the address on a piece of paper in Chinese and told us to give it to the Taxi Driver. We winded and went up and down hills and streets until we got to ladder Street. We climbed the long stairs up and finally found it. It was an old Hospital that had been converted into an museum and it was very interesting. It talked about that Hong Kong was the place that they discovered the cause for the

Plague and there was a lot about Chinese medicine vs traditional medicine. Pretty interesting. There were alot of examples of Chinese medicines but without the explanation of why they are used. After leaving the museum we went to another temple. This one had hanging coils of incense which made the temple very smokey. We smelled like campfire for the rest of the day. As we walked back to the subway, we passed shop after shop after shop with no one but the owner inside. How do these shops stay in business? I think there is a shop for every 10 people in China.

Food was cheep today. We ate the hotel breakfast, had fruit and granola bars for lunch and Tea/ hor de vors in the executive lounge for dinner. We just couldn't face looking for a place to eat. It will be long time before I crave Chinese food at home.

Hong Kong Day 8, Hong Kong Temple

Today was a very nice day. When we got up this morning, we were trying to decide what next to do on our list. We decided we would make the trek up to the New Territories to see the Hong Kong Temple. I had tried to find it on the Church Web site before but without much success. When we had met the Hong Kong Mission President and his wife, we had asked them and he wrote down how to get to the temple. It was a good thing he did. When we got off the Metro and started looking around, it was not immediately apparent which way we should go. I decided to start walking the direction that I thought it would be in and in a few minutes, low and behold, the Angel Moroni.

The temple is in a nice area. Lots of Gated houses and some schools. I thought that the temple was very simple and while it is not the most beautiful temple that I have ever been in, It was still pretty. We were told that it is a 2-40 temple. Meaning 2 endowment rooms that seat 40 each.

After we had gotten our clothes and were dressed, they put us each in a small room to wait. No chapel for everyone to wait in. The Temple President was working the line when you came in, the place you get your name, and later he was at the veil. Not many workers and it looks like they all have to pitch in to make it work.

The neatest part was that there were 3 women and 1 man from Mongolia in our session. They had taken a train for 3 days to get to the temple. There is Patron housing that they can stay in and they are going to stay for about a week. They do not read so they need help to understand. The session was in Cantonese so we wore head sets. I can say that it was truly something that I will remember. We take for granted the opportunity to attend the temple and it was obvious that there were some sacrifices that we just can't comprehend that were made for these people to be here.

When we were done and were leaving, there was an Elder from the Mission office that came out and spoke to us. He was Elder Lau and he and his wife are from Mapleton, Utah. He seemed starved for someone to talk to. He took us up to the Mission office (It is in the temple) and showed us around. Very nice people and they gave us some ideas for where to eat and go see.

After we took the Metro back to our Hotel.

We decided we wanted to go and see the Flower Market, Bird Market and the Ladies Market, then we would find something to eat. With a newer, more detailed map provide by Elder Lau, we headed off on the Metro again. This time, it was very easy and we walked straight to the Flower Market. Too bad we couldn't really buy any. However, it was very nice and the flowers were cheap. At the end of the Flower market, is the Bird Market.

They sell birds, crickets, meal worms, bird cages, and all the things you would need for your bird and some people just bring their birds to an outing in the park. It was interesting to walk thru and see some very different and pretty birds. After this, we headed for the Ladies Market. This was someplace that my girls would love. There are both booths and stores selling clothes mainly for Ladies. When you look at the clothes, many of them still have the labels in them even though they are supposed to cut them out. I saw Eddie Bauer, Old Navy, Laura Ashley and a number of others. You really have to hunt but the prices were very very low. I can picture Sarah and Megan spending an entire day there and then the next morning begging to go back and look some more.

This was not really my thing.

Ok, now it was time for Dinner. We had decided that we were venturing out tonight. We had a couple of places in mind but settled on one that was Shanghiese. When we got there and looked at the menu, everything had Shark fin, Birds Nest or Eel in it. We couldn't even find 1 thing we thought we could eat. So we headed out and started just looking as we went. We finally found a place that looked pretty good. I can say, that everything we had was good. Some had more flavor than the others but overall it was a nice change. The Sweet and Sour Pork with Mango was my favorite. It is a nice change to an American dish. We were going to do Dessert but he told us that the Sweet Papaya soup is served hot, we decided to pass.

We headed back to the Metro and back to our Hotel. One last thing for tonight. I haven't said much about this but there are Millions of these people over here. Each time we go someplace, it is like an army of people moving. I have tried to take some pictures to show this but none of them do it justice. I guess it is just something that you have to experience.

Hong Kong Day 7, Chang Chau Island

I thought about calling this the Day of Home food. Mainly because we didn't eat anything weird and we started the day with Waffles. That may not seem like a big deal but over here, they eat rice, fish, vegetables, noodles, and stuff like that for Breakfast. It is hard to find something that we would call normal.

After our Island hopping of yesterday, we decided we would venture to another island, this time via the Ferry. We asked at the Concierge the best way to Pier #5. He said take a taxi as it was about a 30 minute walk. But as we began walking towards the Piers, we decided that he was wrong and it was not that far. We purchased our ticket for the ride to Chang Chau. There are 2 ferrys to the island. One takes close to an hour and the other is the "Fast Ferry" and is about 30 Minutes. We decided we would take the regular one over and then the Fast Ferry back. The cost was 18 HKD or about $2.00 for Deluxe Class. (You could go on top of the ferry and also you sat in the Air Conditioning) There were about 10 people in Deluxe and about 200 in Regular. It was definitely worth the extra $.30 to go Deluxe. We sat out on the back of the Ferry and watched all the different boats. But after about 20 minutes, the Diesel Fuel fumes were getting to us and we had to go in. As you can see, we saw some very interesting boats on the way over. This Fast Ferry was pretty cool. I was hoping that it was what we would ride back on but it wasn't. It really cruised. I would guess that it was doing in the 45 MPH range.

There were also lots of fishing boats moving around all the bigger boats. Sometimes it looked like they were going to get run over but somehow, they all made it.

Chang Chau is an island with about 2500 people that live on it. It is mainly a fishing village and has been in existence for about 2ooo years. There are no cars on the island and there are tons of bikes. We walked around and saw most of the village, then we went to the Beach, and then as we were wandering back to the pier, we saw a sign that said, Mini Great Wall with an arrow. How could we resist. We walked along the stone path for about 20 minutes and we kept saying I wonder what it will be. When we got to the end of the path, There was this little place to sit down and look back at Hong Kong Island. I think this is when we realized, we had been walking on the "Mini Great Wall" of China or Chang Chau. It was nice but quite a workout. Up and down and stoney hard stairs. We decided it was time for the Fast Ferry. We headed back and purchased our tickets for the Fast Ferry Deluxe Ticket. It was 22.5 HKD or about $2.75 for the trip back. While we were waiting, Stacey said that she would like something to settle her stomach. I looked out and there was a McDonalds. We decided that it was worth a try. We had a Sprite, Hamburger and fries and it really tasted good. I don't think Stacey has eaten at McDonalds in about 4 years but she was happy to do it this time. It took us about 25 minutes to cover the same distance that took us an hour earlier. It was definitely worth the extra money.

After we got back to the pier, we needed to run up to the Hotel and get our passes for the Metro. We needed to go the the Tailor to pick up the shirts and the pants we had made. The man that did the custom fitting was really nice and everything fit great. It was a really kind of fun to do it and if I ever come back, I am definitely going to have some suits and some more shirts made.

Lastly, we needed to go back to the Temple Street Market to look for a Man Purse for me. I have one that I use when I travel that I bought in Prague a few years ago. I really hate it. I have looked for a long time but decided it was time. After a few booths, I found what I wanted and paid about $18.00 US for a Leather bag that I can use for travel.

Finally, we took the Metro back to our hotel. We stopped at Dan Ryans Chicago Eatery for Dinner and I had a Cheeseburger and Stacey had a bowl of Chilli. After this, time for bed. Both of us are tired and sweaty after the hiking and treking around the island and so we are done for the day. What will tomorrow bring....

Hong Kong Day 6, Lantau Island

Day 6, or something like that. Today we decided to venture out into the New territories and see some other sites. Stacey has been reading the Frommer's Travel book on Hong Kong and one of the Must see things to do was to go out to Lantau Island and see the Big Buddha. You can take the MTR (Metro) all the way to the Island. It was about a 45 minute ride. When you get off the Metro, you are in a mall. (That is the way it is most of the time) After getting our bearings we found the signs that led to the Cable Car. Now I know many of you that know me are saying, no way did you take the Cable Car. Well, I did. It wasn't too bad but I just had to keep thinking of something else. You paid about 10 US dollars for the ride up to the Big Buddha and the Po Lin

Monastary. You can walk but it is up over this mountain and the book says it takes about 3 hours. I would estimate more like 5. As we were climbing up over the mountain, we could see the airport and there was the UPS plane just getting ready to take off. We haven't seen much UPS over here but it was cool to see it coming down the tarmac and then turn around and take off.

The ride on the Cable car goes through a couple of stations as it is so long. Finally, you come over this hill and start heading toward the ocean and there you can see the Big Buddha. You walk through this villiage up to the base of the Buddha and then you climb the stairs up to the top. There were all these people that were climbing the stairs and some of them would stop at each landing and pray. I think they were just tired. On some of the landings, they would lay entirely down and on some just kneel down. I can't remember how many stairs it is but it was a long way to the top. The view was incredible. From the top of the Big Buddha you could see the Ocean and I am sure that many of the ships coming by could see it.

At the base of the stairs, is the Po Lin monastary. Stacey had read that one of the best places to eat was at the monastary. The Monks have a Vegetarian lunch. The book gave it 2 out of 3 stars and said it was very delicious. So, we bought our meal ticket and walked over to the monastary. They took you into this big room and then brought out your entire lunch. The sign said no pictures but I just had to take some.

The first thing they bring you is what I termedDrtee Sok Suup (Dirty Sock Soup). It had lots of vegetables in it but it was nasty. I took some but Stacey couldnt do it. The broth tasted like something they washed their clothes in. The sticky rice was OK and the vegetables were pretty good. But the best part of all, was that they had some Soy Sauce. (first time we have seen any) This made Stacey happy.

Overall, I would give the meal a 2.5 out of 10. The soup was definitely something to remember. The Buddha is a must and was worth the trip. Also, looking around the monastary was pretty cool. I would take some snacks though and eat in the garden. Skip the Vegetarian Monk Lunch...

We rode the Cable car (Sky tram) back to the Metro and decided we would go north up to this Old walled city community. It was called Sam Tung UK. It had been there for about 300 years and the city had just grown up around it. The people that lived in it were relocated so they could restore it to its original. Now they treat it as a museum. It reminded me of a fort in the Old west with little living quarters all through it and the Temple in the middle. Pretty interesting. This was something that we didn't really see many other tourists at. The Metro ride definitely was all locals and us and the walk to this made us realize we were off the beaten path. Overall, it was pretty cool.

For dinner we ate at a little place in the Mall near our Hotel. It had salads just like they make in New York and it even tasted like it. After the lunch we had, we were looking for something a little more normal. It was a nice change.

Hong Kong Day 5, Hong Kong Island

Today we made the switch of Hotels over to Hong Kong Island. After spending the first 4 days on the Kowloon side of the Harbor, we have relocated over to the Island and are staying at the Hilton Conrad. This Hotel is very nice and is a 5 star hotel. We have a nicer room and the amenities are very nice. The move allowed us to do some of the things that most tourists coming to Hong Kong do. We took the tram up to Victoria Peak, we had our picture taken from Victoria Peak overlooking the Harbor. We ate Dim Sum at the restaurant at the top of Victoria Peak.We then took a taxi down to Stanley Market to do some shopping. (Stanley Market mainly caters to Ex-Pats and is a little more expensive) They don't bargain much although the items you find there are different than what you find elsewhere.
We also went to the Hong Kong Maritime Museum. This was not something planned but after wandering around Stanley we happened upon it and decided that the $1.20 each was worth the price of admission. We then took a Taxi back to our Hotel and had dinner in the Executive Lounge. We had had a pretty big lunch so dinner consisted of Cheese, crackers, some vegetable pastrys and some Cheese cakes. It was small but good. Tomorrow, we are going to take the Metro out to see the BIG Budda. It is also a must see. Should be interesting.
Till tomorrow.

Hong Kong Day 4

Day three, or is it day four? it is hard to tell with the way you feel when you are half way around the world. We visited 2 temples today. As we left the first temple I said to Rich, how was that for a tourist trap? He reminded me that we were the only Caucasian folk there. Most likely not a tourist trap. It was interesting to watch the people with the incense. They would lite the incense and then bow and walk with the lit stick around the temple and then put the stick in a pot filled with sand. You could look inside the buildings but you couldn't go in. The Kowloon Walled City Garden was very beautiful. There were lots of traditional buildings and gardens. In a city with millions of people, I felt like I was alone. Hardly anyone was there. On the other hand, in the street markets and subways, you feel like there are a million people standing next to you. Lots of smells...sort of a day old Chinese food smell. We passed by a cemetery today and walked inside. Every headstone was Chinese writing(hum) so you couldn't read dates but you could see the dead person because there was a photo of the deceased on the headstone or crypt box. Good idea? Breakfast was the same as yesterday, once you find something that works why venture out. Lunch was Ritz crackers, lucky cow cheese spread and a papaya that I thought was a mango when I bought it(bummer). We ate dinner at an American restaurant, I just needed something that tasted normal. We ate broccoli and enjoyed every bite. As for the toilets, you have your options to sit or not to sit. Tough choice. There are signs everywhere reminding you to wash your hands, cover your mouth when you sneeze, and to wear a mask if you are sick. It makes you feel a little paranoid...are my hands clean enough, can I sneeze? We are all the cleaner for the reminders on this trip.

Hong Kong Day 3

Today is Sunday in Hong Kong. We had planned to go to Church and running into the Hong Kong Mission President and his wife last night, redirected our plans to attend the English Speaking Branch on Hong Kong Island. Apparently, the one we had planned to attend has been merged with this Branch recently and we would have gone all the way up there to find that church was over.

We took the MTA (Metro Transit Authority) across the harbor.

It was very easy and the passes we had bought at the Airport when we arrived worked great. We got off the Metro and were walking in the direction that we thought we should go when I saw a little boy (11) and his sister (8) walking ahead of us carrying what looked to be scriptures. I said to them, are you going to church? They said yes. I said are you Mormons? They said yes. We said can you show us the church? They both said Yes. They didn't really even slow their stride and kept walking. We asked where their parents were and they told us their Dad was right behind them. Looking back, sure enough, here comes Dad about 25 feet behind them not really paying much attention. Anyway, it got us to where we were going.

Church was very nice. It was the Primary Program so we felt that we saw a glimpse of what we were missing back home. The Branch President was very nice and spent some time talking to us. He asked if we had ever been to the LDS Conference Center in SLC and we both said yes. He said that we were standing in the 2nd most expensive building the church had built after the Conference Center. It really was a very nice building. It looks like an Office building but the inside is beautiful and reminded me of the conference center. The Chapel had stained glass windows and it was very nice. We stayed for the entire block and it was a very nice way to spend the morning. We also found out that next week, they are having District Conference and that it starts an hour later than normal. Good thing we went to this Branch this week or we would have been messed up for both weeks. Before we went to Church we backtracked and found someplace to eat. We were hoping to find something on the way but didn't until after we found the meeting house. This was what I had. Cheese Omlette, tomato(pretty good too) a Ham like meat (I think it was spam) and a Crossiant. I liked it and would go back as it was pretty reasonable.

Also of interest. This building houses the Area Presidency and the District Presidency. I didn't catch who the Area president is but he is one of the Seventy. They have Apts on the 11, 12, and 13th floors of this building.

After Church, we rode the metro back to our Hotel. We decided we would try and find something at the local supermarket but after about an hour of wandering, we finally bought some Dragon Fruit, some Crackers, and some cookies.

The Dragon Fruit is very strange as you can see. When you cut it open, it is white with these little seeds inside. Kind of like a Kiwi but not very much flavor. Fun to try though

Not the best lunch but it worked. After Lunch we went to the Hong Kong Art Museum. It was Ok. Not really my thing but interesting to look around. The admission was only about $1.20 each. What a bargain. They did have some pottery from the different eras of Chinese History and some that dated back over 4000 years old. That was cool.

Next we decided we were going to give a try to some Chinese food. We have been kind of stepping around it so it was time to jump in. We went to Peking Restaurant, (It was given 2 of 3 Stars on Frommers Travel Guide).

I let Stacey order and as you will see, we didn't necessarily know what we would get. It was OK. I would give it a 6 or 7 out of 10. The Vegetables were not my favorite but the rest was pretty good.

After dinner, time to retire. We are both pretty tired tonight and it feels like we have walked a marathon although we really haven't.

I think the hard surfaces everywhere we go really take a toll on your feet. Anyway, that is it for now. Love you all. Rich and Stacey