I haven't heard anything from Zac in about a week, and probably won't for another week. But the week before that, I was able to email daily. He sounded good and busy. He likes the food (which, now that I think about it...I cooked for the man for the past 7 months, and what food does he just LOVE...ship food. So glad I do what I do...) He was a little seasick for the first couple days, but said there were swells of 8-10 feet, so once he got his "sea feet," he was much better. But, that's all I know.
Remember that time that Zac and I went to Hong Kong...
We got to Hong Kong, saw a Buddha, then later that day we went up to the Victoria Peak. And took this train.
The ride was super steep:
No, the camera wasn't tilted, and the building is not falling down. That's just how steep the train ride was!
When we got to the top, it was completely cloudy/foggy and you couldn't see anything. Usually you can buy tickets to go on an observatory deck and see the city, but they weren't even selling tickets because you couldn't see anything anyway. But up at the peak there was a little shopping area with cool car toys that climbed up walls and remote control helicopters and other junk people buy on vacation. Oh, and a Crocs store. Did I mention Crocs stores were EVERYWHERE in Hong Kong?? I've never seen a Crocs store in the US, but they must be big in Asia. So being absolutely exhausted (remember the 2390 steps we went up to see Buddha...this is still the same day) we had a nice snack and drink at Bubba Gumps. Yes, there was a Bubba Gumps in Hong Kong, the very same as on Forest Gump, and yes, we went there. What can I say, we were in a touristy spot and all they had were touristy restaurants. I felt like I was at Kemah. Except we couldn't see anything out the window. Seriously, the clouds blew away for about 13 seconds, we saw an estate on a hill, and then the wind carried it away, like Mary Poppins.
After rejuvenating ourselves at Bubba Gump's, we decided to take advantage of the fantastic happy hour deals at Lan Kwai Fong. It's more of a Happy Day over at LKF, as the "hour" lasts from about 12pm-8pm. We hopped around, each of us getting a chance to pick a new place to go. The boys started playing bar golf (never a good idea, children.), and it ended up being a pretty rough fun night.
Needless to say, the next day was a late start. And after our action packed first day (we really did see a ton), we took it easy. Zac took over, and decided that he wanted to see the electronics market, and the goldfish/flower/birdcage market.
Forget Best Buy. This outdoor market had EVERYTHING electronic you could ever think of.
Some Chinese street food, very colorful. We decided to not partake.
The goldfish market. Yes, it was a street of pretty much just pet shops, but all they sold was goldfish.
For many of you, this may come as a surprise, but Zac is an animal lover. He confided in me while we were dating that when he was little, we wanted to be Jeff Corwin when he grew up. Now, I had the occasional guppy, beta fish, and dachshund like most kids, but nothing compared with Zac's sugar gliders and other exotic animals. (I'm sad to say that even though we dated several years, I never met Abby and Pablo[?], the said sugar gliders.) Therefore, the goldfish market was MUCH more interesting to Zac than me. So while he meandered around the shops looking at crazy reptiles and snakes and fish (in which I had no interest) I stayed outside for several minutes looking at these cuties (sarcasm).
Probably the smallest turtles you've ever seen.
After the oh-so-exciting goldfish market, I had pretty much had my fill. We stopped by one more night market (as it is famous....just so we could say we did), and since I've vowed to keep most tchtochkes out of the house, we just window(/street) shopped. Not that I couldn't have used some fake gold jewelry or a purse made out of Capri Suns...
The next day was Disney/New Years, which totally deserves its own post.
Our last day, we headed to Stanley Market.
We almost didn't, but I'm so glad we did. It was quite a trek, almost an hour bus ride, but during which we discovered some Hong Kong treasures. The market was right on the water and really had some neat things like beautiful oil paintings, Chinese antiques, and great linens. We rounded out the trip with some traditional Dim Sum yum.
One of the best meals of the trip in a really random, beautiful, tucked away restaurant near Stanley Market.
We took the long bus ride back, unsure if we would really make it alive (the bus driver was terrible), and consequently 3/4 of our group were car(bus?)sick by the end. I guess all those road trips in the big ole van did me well growing up. The situation was not helped by a horrendously large protest shutting down most streets in Hong Kong. I was so glad to get off that bus, not because I was sick, but because I'm not allowed to talk to Zac when he is car sick. (I guess I should be glad I'm not on the MEU with him.)
We did a little shopping, then Zac and I went over to the Kowloon side for dinner and to watch the famous Symphony of Lights, a laser light show that goes on every night to music. I'll try to post a video of it, but here's a pic:
I have a few more adventures to post about this trip, but I just really wanted to touch on how much we really enjoyed Hong Kong. Zac and I have already had quite the traveling marriage, but it is absolutely the time of our lives. Hong Kong was an incredible city, and I would urge everyone to experience it! It's a perfect Asian "jumping off point" because almost everyone speaks English, and is such a melting pot of cultures (Chinese, English/Western, etc.) I know it's not on the top of everyone's "to see" list like Europe, Australia, etc., but you would be missing practically a hemisphere of culture if you don't experience Asia!
I also treasure this trip as it was really some great "couple" time, as our together time was extremely limited before and after the Hong Kong due to Zac's preparations to leave. Even though we live "away," it's so great to get away, off the island, and to enjoy these adventures together!
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