For the foreseeable future, today was going to be the last day for us to go out and sight-see because we plan on taking it easy on Sunday, and I start work on Monday. Also, it’s supposed to rain on Sunday — which is nice, because it hasn’t rained on us yet. For more pictures from today, click on the picture of the temple at the top of this post.

We wanted to see some local things or some culture, so we decided we’d see Wong Tai Sin, a famous Taoist temple in Hong Kong.

On the way there, we stopped in Mong Kok to see if I could get my six bucks back from the guy who sold me a non-working photo card reader. He hemmed and hawed and only gave me another one, not my money back. I asked if this one wouldn’t work either. He just shooed me away. No one who worked in the store would then look at me, so I stepped out of the store and told people who were about to enter that junk was sold there. I did this for about five minutes and that sent lots of people away and lots of yelling in Chinese from inside the shop! Ha, ha.

As a side note, when I got home, I checked, and both my flash drive and card reader worked; at least for now . . .

Stepping out of the subway MTR station, we could see the Wong Tai Sin temple. There were lots of people there buying incense sticks that they could burn and then request things from the temple, in search of luck and prosperity. In a way, it was sad that so many people can believe in this hocus-pocus. I’m sure they would feel the same about me and my beliefs, or at least until they’ve read: I don’t have enough faith to ben an atheist. This book uses logic to basically prove Christianity as true, or at least the best alternative to other religions. There are lots of pictures from today that can be seen by clicking the picture of the temple up top.

Later on, we took the MTR down to the Science Museum and Art Museum, but neither had interesting exhibits. The Science museum had an IMAX theater, but on Saturdays, the shows are only showed in Cantonese. So, instead we headed over to the Hong Kong Clock Tower and water front.

Finally, we ate in downtown Tsim Sha Tsui, a part of Kowloon, at the Spaghetti House. It was good to eat some pasta with seafood, mushroom, and sun-dried tomatoes. The air conditioning was great and the view was very nice. We were up on the second floor of a downtown building and could look down on the busy sidewalks and shops. We didn’t walk as much today and made better use of the MTR, but we were still tired when we got back home.

Once in the room, we were able to video chat with Laura’s sister, brother-in-law, and their kids. It’s fun to see people on the computer screen, live. Having the Vonage is nice and having iChat is great too. Of course, nothing is as good as the real thing, but that will have to wait several more months.

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Happy Independence day, everyone! This is our third Independence day to be together, but we’ve only seen fireworks once out of those three. The other two years, we’ve been out of the country — in Denmark and now in Hong Kong! What jet-setters we are, huh?

Like I said in an earlier post, we brought our Vonage box with us so that we could make free calls back to the U.S. and allow you all reading this to call our home phone number for free, and we could talk a lot and get caught up. Well, I put that box in our checked luggage, and it gave up its ghost the day I tried to get it to work here in the Headland hotel. My gracious father bought us another Vonage box and FedEx’ed it here on Tuesday night. FedEx is awesome because it left Tyler, Texas on Wednesday morning and got here Friday morning, at 9:00 a.m.! And that’s after heading to Memphis, Anchorage, Hong Kong, and then losing 12 hours! I plugged the new box in and bingo, we’re now cooking with gas. I called my parents and Laura called hers and we are off to the races when it comes to communications. By the way, would you like to talk to us? Call us on our home phone number between the times of 10:00 p.m. and 9 a.m. EST. If you don’t get us, just leave a message and we’ll get back to you. I love Vonage, don’t you?

Today, we wanted to run down to Mong Kok to get some good deals on some electronics we needed, or at least I thought we needed. I wanted a flash drive that I could use for work, and I wanted a camera card reader so that I could take the photos off our little point and shoot digicam and put them on the computer. You can click on Laura’s picture at the top of this blog entry for more photos from our day in Mong Kok.

The streets were packed, as usual, but there is something fun about just walking along and seeing anything and everything you could possibly ever want to buy. The only trouble is, at least with electronics, buyer beware! If you want a real Prada bag or a knock-off, this is the place to be. If you want a tailored suite for $150 U.S. then this is the place for you. But if you want high end camera equipment or other electronics, then the NYC internet wholesalers are the place to be, not here! Try Adorama or B&H; for anything electronic, from a camera that costs $150 bucks to one that costs $15,000 bucks. They are in NYC and are trustworthy. For everything else, use Amazon. But don’t buy it here in Mong Kok. I learned this after finding a good “deal” on card reader that when I got it home, doesn’t work. Now I’m afraid to even open the flash drive I got because I want to take it back. We’ll see tomorrow if I ever get my money back. I can buy the same flash drive for less, right here in Cathay City. Arrgh! The trials of life, right? Also, I realized that I can get the pictures off the digicam without the card reader anyway . . . bummer.

Anyway, we had a fun time, even though it was hot, just walking around and seeing all that was for sale. The standard fare here is to be offered something, like a beaded necklace, for an exorbitant price: “For you, 85 Hong Kong dollar.” One U.S. dollar is 7.8 HKD. So these beads worth just a few bucks are offered at US$10.89. No way! We start walking away. “Okay, 60, for you.” No response from us. “Forty!” Okay, now we are getting somewhere. The Asian way is to offer something very high knowing that, I, the customer, is to offer something lower. One never pays sticker price or first price quoted here in Asia — it just isn’t done that way. They know it and expect you to know it. The good thing for buyers is, that you can walk off and they will give you the absolute best price they can, and if it isn’t low enough, 10 other merchants can be tried out, within 100 feet. It’s a tough way to go for the timid, but can be rewarding too. And no, we didn’t buy the beads, but we’ll be back!

Afterward, we got some takeout food from the food court in Cathay City, the complex our hotel is in, and enjoyed being in for a change. The running around wears on you after awhile. It’s been a good week, so far. I know we have been posting a lot of pictures and blog entries, but they will slow down as I get busier. But for now, it’s fun write to you all about the goings on here in Hong Kong. Tomorrow is Saturday, so enjoy some fireworks and cook-outs for us, will you?

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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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Today was a great day for us in Hong Kong! We saw some amazing sites and had a wonderful time. Click Laura’s picture for the photo album.

I woke up about 3:00 a.m. and just got up and started working on the computer. I wanted to stay up so I’d be tired enough this evening to sleep through the night (It worked!) Laura got up a few hours later because she is sleeping better than I am. We got up and went down to the breakfast buffet. She had some fruit, frosted flakes, and a muffin, while I dined on scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit, raw salmon, oat meal, and dim sum. It was very tasty, and that ended up being the last time we would eat until dinner.

Stop one on our grand adventure today was to ride the cable car up the side of the mountain, just a few minutes from the hotel. It only cost $10 bucks for both of us and the ride ended up being even more fun that we thought it would be. It was about 10 minutes up and 10 minutes back down. The views were amazing and the entire airport could be seen, along with the hotels, condos, and mountains. Those condos, by the way, are about 50 stories high!

We stopped in a shopping center style building to use the restroom. I asked an employee where one was and he had no idea what I had said. I then remembered that on maps, the word toilet was used, so I asked him where a toilet was, and that did the trick. We headed into one and I found two urinals that literally had less than one inch between them. I’m glad I was the only one using them. Then I went to wash my hands and found that there was water, but no soap or towels! A man came out of his stall and proceeded to “wash up” with only water. I had to leave when I saw him starting to rinse off his face and use his hands to bring water to his mouth to rinse and drink! Laura faired worse, because when she came out, she said she would hold it until we found somewhere else. Not only was there no soap or towels, there was no toilet paper anywhere! No where in the stall was there a place to hang it. She found out later in another bathroom, that some toilet paper is hanging outside the stalls. Hmmm. Better grab you enough, I suppose.

Then we bought train tickets, and once again headed into town. We got off at the Jordan stop and walked the fifteen minute hike to the Hong Kong History Museum. There was a sign outside that said: “Free on Wednesdays.” Awesome — can’t beat that! We got to see lots of the culture and also enjoy some of the air conditioning. One of my friends told me that the sun hasn’t been out for almost two weeks, but it has been nice and sunny ever since we arrived — God is good. Sunny and humid, I might add. Some of the pictures of me will look like someone threw a bucket of water on me. Well, they didn’t, I am just suffering the injustice of a lack of evaporation . . .

After the museum, we hiked, and hiked and hiked our way through people and traffic to the Star Ferry that was going to take us on a 10 minute ride to the Island of Hong Kong. It cost Laura and I a combined $12 dollars Hong Kong – or $1.54 U.S. to ride the ferry. I must say I do hate these high prices! (Kidding — our money is traveling as far as we have!) For those confused about being in Hong Kong and then traveling on a ferry to see more Hong Kong, your confusion is understandable. Hong Kong is really a group of islands and peninsulas. Looking at a map here, you can see that there are several parts to it, all connected by either train or ferry. Kowloon is the main part of HK that is connected to mainland China, and HK island is the island just South of Kowloon where most of the tall buildings are that are seen on post cards. The airport is on Lantau island, off to the west of HK about 10 minutes. All of it, though, is Hong Kong.

After the ferry, we more or less wandered for an hour, hot, thirsty, and hungry. We wanted to be at the top of Victoria Peak during the dusk hours, so we had to plan out where we had to go to make that happen. We saw a bunch of shops and street vendors, and I was checking the prices on a few electronics and camera stuff; my wonderful bride, being ever patient while I did so. We decided to eat something and stopped into an air conditioned restaurant. I asked if they had English menus and the hosted said yes. It was nice, and we sat in a booth that had large windows that overlooked the street below (we were one story up). I opened the menu and that is when the trouble started: Ox tongue, eel, shark, most of it raw, and plenty of other things I didn’t recognize! They brought us tea and that is when I offered to pay for the tea, because we would have to leave. They graciously declined and we headed out.

Sweating and tired, we couldn’t find the Peak Tram that would take us to the top of Victoria Peak. It turns out our map was wrong! We paid $2 U.S. and caught a cab who took us to the tram. The tram is a cable car like vehicle that is towed up to the top of the peak via a huge cable. We hoped it wouldn’t snap on our journey. Once at the top, we saw what all the rave was about: A breath-taking view of the city that only pictures can describe. We hung out on the ledge a while and then ate at one of the few places that looked affordable: Bubba Gump’s. It was good food: I got a burger and Laura had onion rings and a salad. Coming back down the tram, we could still see the amazing sights of the city at night.

We found our way back to the central station and headed for home. All in all, it was an amazing day! Lots of sweating and lots of walking, but now we know a little more about where things are and how cheap the ferries and cabs are. If there is much walking to do again, I’m opening my wallet!

I only wonder what tomorrow can bring? We’ll see!

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I uploaded pictures of our trip over to Hong Kong and they can be found by clicking the picture above. Now we are in Hong Kong and experienced our first full day here, and it was very nice. We woke up about 8:00 a.m., after going to bed the afternoon before around 5:00 p.m. As of right now, our bodies are experiencing the throws of jet lag as our circadian rhythms are all messed up.

I ran into a friend, Adam Horbach, who has just finished up his training in Hong Kong and is heading home for some R&R.; It was God that brought him to us, because he explained a lot of helpful details about starting out here in the Headland Hotel. Like: Instead of paying for laundry service, there are washers and dryers up on the 22nd floor, walk a certain trail to Tung Chung, instead of paying for a cab or bus (Tung Chung has shopping and is the cheapest train station to get to downtown Hong Kong), where to eat, that I need to wear a tie on day one and for simulator check rides (oops, gotta buy those today!), and more. I’m glad we ran into him.

After meeting him, and him giving us a general tour, we ate some lunch at the hotel restaurant and headed out for some adventure — in other words, to find me a shirt and tie! We walked to Tung Chung to look around at the shopping and then catch a train ride down town. Tung Chung is just a small district and is where I stayed on my last visit to Hong Kong, for my second interview with Cathay. It’s a little pricey over there, but if you need groceries or fancy clothes, the shopping is there for you.

Then we took the train down to Mong Kok, a shopping district that Adam told us about. He got a tailored suit with a high thread count, three shirts, and two ties for less than $300 U.S. Wow! We looked, and did find a shirt and tie, but not within the sales price that Adam found. I hope to hear back from him exactly where he went, because I want deals like that. Mong Kok is dubbed the busiest place on the planet, with the Guinness book of world records placing it as the highest population density in the entire world! Crowding through the streets, I can see why.

I saw some good deals on high-end camera equipment, to the tune of about $300 U.S. dollars cheaper than in NYC, but I couldn’t fine Wii’s cheaper here — yet. All the Wii’s I run into are more expensive than in the U.S. if I want the English, U.S. version. I’ll keep looking for a good deal. However, there is no trouble getting one like back home, as they are stacked on every street corner!

We headed back on the train to Tung Chung, and the entire train round trip for both of us was less than $10 bucks. Nice.

Our Vonage box went out when I plugged it in here in the hotel. Bummer. I read on the internet to expect them to last for around three years and mine is that old. I’m guessing that I probably should have kept it in my carry-on luggage, instead of checking it, where no doubt, it got banged around pretty hard. Oh well. My dad is sending us a new one, and if or when we get it up and running, our home phone number will be in use shortly. But, PLEASE do not call our mobile phones, for any reason — they are shut off, but messages, once received, will cost us. If our phone just rings, receives a voicemail or text, or contacts the cell tower for any reason, it’s a $1.50 and then $1.50 a minute! For emergencies, call our families, and they will have the number to the hotel and can connect you. (If you have Vonage, to call us here in Hong Kong is four cents a minute! Without Vonage, hang on tight!)

We look forward to the next day and see what it has to offer. I feel like these days of fun are the calm before the storm, so I’m trying to enjoy as much of it as possible. Only sleeping a few hours a night can make the days seem long and irritable at times, but that too shall pass. I’m certainly glad that we came early, because I wouldn’t want to feel like this on day one of class. Also, if you are headed out on a vacation to a far away land, like Australia any time soon, may I make a recommendation? Spend the money and go for an extra two or three days. That way, you will have more days to recover from the ensuing jet lag and thus enjoy your visit even more.

Well, we’ll see what happens tomorrow!

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