HONG KONG part 2

Not seeing my husband for 3 months turned me into a 13-year-old girl in some ways. There's that initial shy stage when you first see him again because you're all smiley and a little nervous like you're on a first date again. Its really funny how often military wives experience this, and I wonder if after several deployments that initial reunion is always the same or if it changes? But there we were, finally together in Hong Kong! I had my checklist of things to see and do, but Jonah had his too (namely, Outback Steakhouse).

We started our first day at the Peninsula Hotel for high tea. Do you see the band in the top corner there? It was very fun and fancy...and British. This is one of those "must-see" things in all the travel guides, so we took advantage and had a lovely time!!

Here's Jonah with his scone and clotted cream. He had coffee and I had Jasmine tea.

That night we went to Happy Valley track, which was very close to our hotel, to see the horses race. It was different from the horse races at Del Mar in California. We could never figure out the betting system! It was a lot of fun though.

Yeah, we had to fall for the cheesy tourist photo-op here. Actually, I had to fall for it, and drag Jonah down with me.

The next day we began our assent across the water and up the hills to see the big buddah. My favorite part about this day was this 25-minute skytram ride.

The bottom of the skytram was a window, so you could see the trees beneath you, as well as those motivated hikers climbing up the path of enlightenment, all the way to the buddah.

Funny story: We watched a parkour demonstration in the village outside the buddah and Jonah went to see where the dancers were. Well, after climbing the stairs to get a better view, the parkour guys hopped up there to show off to the audience and Jonah sorta got caught up in the madness. Can you find him at the very left of the picture? haha

Those were a lot of stairs.

Look who we ran into?! These are some of the guys from Jonah's squadron.

I love when he makes this face, haha. In the background you can see some of the random cattle grazing the temple streets.

Jonah with some iron-fisted Chinese emperor.

The last night we were there I went to a light show on the harbor with some girlfriends of mine. Thanks Gina for snapping this picture! In the background you can see Victoria's Harbor all lit up.

It was a great trip, I only wish some of you could have come with us! Hope you enjoyed the pictures : )

HONG KONG part 1

Once I got back from my visit to the states, I unpacked, did laundry and repacked for my trip to see Jonah during his port call in Hong Kong. I traveled with a great group of military spouses that I hung out with until Jonah got off the boat. Some of these women were 262 spouses, others were friends I'd made volunteering at the Marine Gift Shop. Speaking of the Marine Gift Shop, that's how I met Johnny. Johnny is basically the official jeweler of Marine spouses on Okinawa. His business is based out of Hong Kong, but he visits the Marine Gift Shop several times a year to sell his jewelry, and has become somewhat of a legend around base, boosting the morale of military spouses with his beautiful jewelry and friendly personality!

 This is Victoria Harbor. This harbor stays busy 24/7, but what was most surprising was how clean the water was. You wouldn't think such a busy harbor would be so clean! We stayed on the Wan Chai side of the harbor, so we rode the ferry across to the Kowloon side of the harbor to do some shopping during our first day in Hong Kong.

 After getting some advice from Johnny about how to get around, we took a taxi up to Mongkok, an area with a lot of markets for shopping. We visited the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden, where I got a birdcage for the nursery of our baby girl!!! Have I mentioned that yet? We're having a BABY GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!! I might have jinxed it because to be honest, because I bought a birdcage and a doll in Hong Kong... (before I knew the baby's gender)    : D

 Here we are listening to Johnny about how to get around Hong Kong, what to do and what not to do! Thankfully he told us to bring our own toliet paper. Why most restrooms don't have toliet paper in Hong Kong is beyond me, but thanks for the tip Johnny!

 Johnny treats the Marine spouses well. He brought us to a authentic Dim Sum restaurant to taste the local specialty! We also had Jasmine tea, which I really liked. And I usually don't like hot tea, but it was really tasty!

This food was amazing. Just looking at it now makes my stomach grumble... the baby must be growing super fast this week because I've been constantly hungry. The baby weighs a pound now!

 Johnny and his daughter, Jennifer, showed us his shop in Hong Kong. Thank goodness for all his tips!

 These photos are stolen from my friend Megan, I didn't really take a lot of pictures in Hong Kong for some reason. I think I was just the pregnant lady trying to keep up with everyone!

 

Here we are at Ladies Market in Mongkok. I learned I'm not really good at the whole market thing. I was really overwhelmed with the price negotiation and all the choices. Thank goodness for friends with quick wit and negotiation skills! My pregnancy indecisiveness was out of control! Here I am scarfing down a snack to keep from passing out in some dark ally. 

 One night we were so tired from all the walking that we just ate at a McDonald's after taking the subway back to Wan Chai. I like this picture because it gives you some insight into my confusion over seeing dollar signs in front of prices that just don't match with the product. $25 for a big mac!! Of course, that's really like $3 or $4 dollars with the exchange rate, but c'mon what's a Journalism major to do with all this? I should have packed my calculator!

Well, that's part 1 of our trip. Next I'll post about the time I spent with Jonah in Hong Kong. One thing I really liked about this place was that it had an East-meets-West kind of feel to it. Of course it's very Asian, but it has a strong British influence, obviously, and that made it somewhat familiar. Everything was written in both Chinese and English,  which was comforting. Jonah and I ate 3 times at Outback and once at TGIFriday's while we were there to get our American food fix. Good times!