First Day in Hong Kong!

Well, it's 4:40 on the 12th of May, and we just got back from our first full day in Hong Kong. What a fantastic city! We began the day with a big breakfast on the top floor of the hotel. Our table was at the window, and we had a direct view of Hong Kong Island. We saw all the buildings and boats you see in magazine photos and movies and we were thrilled to be in such a vibrant and important city for the first time.

By the time we got out and walking, about 10:45 AM, the day was hazy and warm already. Luckily, the haze would lift by about 1:00. Immediately, we went down to the waterfront and looked across the harbor to HK Island. But what caught our attention were the hundreds of perfectly dressed (uniforms! We need more of them in the States!) school kids of all ages who were swarming the boardwalk asking adults (tourists, mostly) if they could ask us some questions for the various surveys they were doing for school. The kids who got us ranged from 10 to 15 years old, and they were all wonderful. After answering questions for about a dozen or more surveys, we came to the conclusion that the kids were working on developing a number of skills in approaching tourists: confidence skills, manners, data compilation, and, perhaps most importantly, they got to work on their English, which was always incredible...even with the youngest of them. The survey topics ranged from the hospitality of Hong Kong, to the air and water pollution, to our jobs, and even to our opinions of our bodies. It was both easy and tough to answer the question "What do you like least about your body?"...easy because so many possible answers came to mind immediately, tough because I had to choose only one! Then, they wanted to take our pictures with them, probably to include in their final data portfolios. Included is a photo of some girls surveying Colleen.

After having to think about my body's shortcomings, I asked Colleen if she'd be up for a bracer at Starbucks. I was delighted to learn that she was all for it. Within 2 minutes of sitting down and cooling off, approximately 11,127 of the students who surveyed us only minutes before decided to join us. Unlike 95% of American students, these kids were beautifully behaved and we kept wondering why American schools don't send observers here to see how things should be done. After drinking away our sorrows to the tune of a few hundred calories, we headed to the Star Ferry terminal where we caught a boat and took a tour of the harbor. As a spur of the moment decision, we got off at the first stop, HK Island, and walked by line of sight to the Peak Tram, which takes riders on a 1,400' near-vertical climb to the top of Victoria Peak. Once there, the view was incredible (see photo). The city looked bigger than ever from up there, and it didn't hurt that it was a little cooler up there as well.

By the time we got down from the peak, it was about 3:30, so we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel to rinse off and rest a bit. We caught a commuter ferry back across the harbor, landed, and walked back to our hotel. It was a long day, and we did a ton of walking, but we already love the city. And, what a great city for kids! Tons of playgrounds, fun little shops for kids, a million restaurants that they'd love, etc. Colleen and I must have mentioned to each other a thousand times how much our daughter Emma would like HK...especially the Hello Kitty store we came across in the mall at the top of Victoria Peak! We also noticed how adorable and well-behaved all the Chinese kids are. This would be a great city to live in as an ex-pat.

So now it's 5:00 PM and we're resting. We'll eventually hit the books and find a good place to have dinner, maybe walk the boardwalk and see the lights across the harbor, and then turn in. My friend Howie, who has spent many a year in HK, suggested strongly that we eat at the restaurant at the top of the peninsula Hotel. Further, he suggested that I take a look at the men's room at this restaurant. Why, I do not know...but my curiosity's piqued. If I get a pie in the face, I'll know who to look up when I get home.

So now we're only 3 days from getting Annie in Nanning. This is always a topic of discussion, and we can hardly wait. For the moment, though, we're going to enjoy HK. Tomorrow, it's either the Giant Buddha or Stanley Market. More on that in tomorrow's entry. See ya!