Today was a more laid back day where we didn’t do as much running around downtown like we had yesterday. I had some things I had to do to get ready for work, so we got a later start to the day. Click the picture above for more photos from today.
In the morning, I was in the HSBC banking office getting signed up for a new account for salary purposes and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a guy out in the hallway looking in at me as he walked past. I thought to myself, “That dude’s staring at me, what gives? He does look a little familiar, though.” I was looking at him like, “do I know him?” and he was looking at me the same way. Sure enough, we recognized each other at the same time: it was Matt Grondin, a friend of mine from Purdue, (we were RA’s together in the same hall) and we flew together at Chautauqua, 8 years ago when he was a new captain and I was a new co-pilot. Wow, small world and crazy running into each other. Also, he lives just a few miles from where I grew up in Texas and wants to move into Arlington, where I was born and grew up! Pretty crazy. He’s been here about six weeks, and helped me get a lot of good information about the upcoming training.
Laura and I ate and headed out to see Hong Kong’s Botanical Gardens. We took a three dollar cab ride to the subway train station at Tung Chung, and headed into the Central Station in the middle of Hong Kong Island. It was all good until that point, then the heat and humidity got the best of us. Hong Kong island is on a hill, or mountain, hence the pictures of Victoria Peak from our last post. So, since we started out near the water, the walk to the Botanical gardens was completely up hill and I, once again, looked like I had taken a shower with my clothes on! We carried some bottled water, but that didn’t help too much. We got to the gardens and saw birds in an aviary, some animals, and lots of greenery. It wasn’t as spectacular as some gardens, like the Fort Worth Gardens, but it was nice to walk around and relax.
Afterward, we enjoyed a nice downhill trot to the central district, where there were lots of pricey shops and throngs of people running around. With our money, there wasn’t much we wanted or could afford, so we set out in search of some local cuisine. After an hour of walking around and looking into different places, we finally decided on Hop Fung Noodles. The place was not exactly four star and we certainly didn’t want to see what the kitchen looked like, but the food was outstanding (even Laura liked hers!). The waiter was very courteous and even brought us silverware. The chef in the front of the restaurant was busy keeping many boiling pots of “things” cooking and frying. I’ve noticed that many of the restaurants downtown, that serve local food, have the guys cooking the food on the street side of the place, with glass windows around him, as if to show off what is being cooked in the store. It convinced us, we went in, and we got some great food. Laura got vegetable soup with noodles and I got some curry chicken. That and two drinks puts us back less than $10 U.S. and we were stuffed!
It was getting late, after 10 p.m. and we were getting tired, so we headed home, but all in all, it was a fun and relaxing day here in Hong Kong land. With all the people, things to do, and places to see, it just amazes me that all this exists and I never new about any of it. I mean, people living their daily lives, hawking junk to tourists, selling wild food, shopping, working, living, and now we get to be a part of it. There is someone who knows about all that goes on in this huge world of ours, but we as finite humans only get to catch a small glimpse of all that goes on under the sun. I’m glad that we are able to see and do things that very few others from our part of the world get to see and do. This place has been bustling with people long before we got here and will continue long after we’ve gone, with so many people’s stories and lives and situations. God cares for each one of these people here in Hong Kong. I am overwhelmed with how many people there are here, and each person is important to Him. It shows me just how big a God we serve, and that He can be a loving, caring father to each person in this great big world we call home.
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