Hong Kong was wonderful. Everything about it. From the Mexican food to Llama Island, it was all just perfect.
We had a little bit of a rocky start. The school's driver was taking us to the airport but someone decided that it was a good idea to leave just an hour and a half before our actual flight. It was cutting it close, especially when you are flying from a place were very little English is spoken. And to top it off, the school's driver dropped us off in the wrong terminal. So after rushing through the airport and standing in a few lines, we made it with only 5 minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave. It turns out that we had no need to worry, or even rush, because they hadn't even started boarding people yet. The airport runs on China time. Which is, everyone and everything is late.
Hong Kong is pretty much a huge busy city on an island. So picture New York in Hawaii. Well, at least I think. I have never been to New York before but I imagine that Hong Kong is what it would be like. There are so many different cultures in Hong Kong. It was so fun to hear all of the many different languages that everyone was speaking. It was so cool. Everyone knew English too, which was very convenient.
Our first night there we rushed to the temple because when I called, the lady told me that we could do baptisms at 7:30 pm. As soon as I saw the temple I couldn't stop smiling. It was beautiful and I was so excited to go inside of it. Well, she was mistaken and the temple was actually closed. I was pretty disappointed but we still had a good time taking pictures outside.
We then went on a search for Mexican food. If there is one thing that I really miss from home, it is the variety of food. Chinese food every day for every meal of the day gets old. Whoever told me that you could find Mexican food on every corner was most definitely wrong about that. It turned out to be a much more difficult quest than I thought it was going to be. We asked so many different people where we could find just a simple taco or burrito. We were pointed in so many different directions. We even had to get back on the MTR and get off at a different spot where it was suppose to be common. After searching for over an hour, we decided to give up on our search. We sat down at a place that we passed on our search. They handed us a menu and they had Mexican food! I was in heaven! A burrito had never tasted so good in my life.
We walked down the Avenue of Stars, which is along the coast. It was great hearing the ocean waves and feeling the ocean breeze. Every few yards there were people playing and singing. I loved it. Street performers have become one of my all time favorite things. It was a great first night in Hong Kong but things just kept getting better.
We were able to go to Hong Kong Disneyland! It was a blast. It is very similar to Disneyland in California but just smaller so it didn't have as many rides. Mostly all the rides were the same ones that they have in California. We spent all day in the park. The last hour we were able to just walk on all of the rides because no one was there. It was an awesome day. Am I crazy to say that I want to go to all of the Disneyland parks in the world? I have two down so far.
(Don't worry, I have the classic Asian pose down.)
Saturday we got up early and were able to go inside the temple and do baptisms for the dead. It was such a special experience and one that I won't ever forget. Of course, it was beautiful. It was cool to hear it all taking place in Chinese too. I loved seeing the Chinese youth there too. You always here of members of the church all over the world trying to live the best as the can like you are trying to do. When you actually see it in action, it is awesome. The Hong Kong temple is beautiful.
After the temple on Saturday we took a ferry to Llama Island. Ferries are so much fun! I think it would be sweet if ferries were apart of my everyday life. Llama Island is a cute little island with no cars on it. There were fun little shops and a hike to the pier on the other side of the island where another ferry leaves from. Of course, we did the little hike. It was worth it. I wish that I had worn my swimming suit but going out into the ocean to my knees had to be good enough.
(You know you have lived in China when you choose a squatter over a Western toilet. Yes, that happens.)
We ended our stay in Hong Kong with sitting down by the ocean again, listening to the street performers, and enjoying a fun drink with bubble ball things in it. (We may have gotten one of those drinks every single night while we were there. Don't judge.)
I didn't want to leave Hong Kong and come back to reality. Our stay in Hong Kong was way too short. It was such a fun place to visit. I think everyone should get the chance. I love meeting people from all over. I love experiencing new cultures. I love eating new food. Basically, I love everything that my life has in it now. Hong Kong may be over but my reality rocks so I am happy to be back in China for just a couple more short months.
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