Brenda and I were
up earlier than we both would have liked Monday morning (6am for me) - with the
15 hour time difference that meant it was 3pm in Seattle - the perfect time to
talk with Justin and the kids on their Sunday afternoon. I was happy to see
them excited about some of the fun things they've done and looking forward to
having the same nanny come over this next week. What a comfort it is to be so
far away and know the kids are being well taken care of and having a great time.
Our first
destination of the day was hiking to the Ten Thousand Buddha's Monastery. My
Mom had prepared us by letting us know it was a strenuous uphill hike. My legs
were still sore from our last mountainous adventure and the heat and humidity
wouldn't make it any more comfortable, but I'm determined to see everything I
can while I'm here. It was very hot, but the hike was manageable. All along the
path were large Buddha statues – each different than the others.
The monastery itself
contains over 12,800 statues. I couldn't take any pictures inside, but you can
get a small idea from this picture. The walls are completely lined with small
Buddha statues.
The nine-story
Pagoda is printed on the $100HKD note.
Apparently there
are some pretty aggressive monkeys in the area. We didn’t see any – though I can’t decide if that’s
fortunate or unfortunate.
Next on the agenda
was walking through the Nan Lian Garden - we didn't have the best of weather,
but in my opinion the rain only added to the beauty of the gardens. The gardens
are meticulously landscaped over an area of 3.5 acres right in the middle of
the city. Every hill, rock, body of water, plant and timber structure is placed
according to specific rules and methods.
Right after I
took the above picture it started to pour – I put away my camera and Brenda
turned around and took this next picture with her phone – one of my favorites.
Behind the
waterfall is a very nice restaurant
Above the garden
is the Chi Lin Nunnery. The entire wooden building is built using only
traditional wooden dowelling and brackets - no nails.
We ate an
authentic Chinese lunch in a nearby shopping center before heading to the Wong
Tai Sin Temple. I think this is the most colorful temple we've seen so far. I
loved all the lanterns hanging down.
This was possibly
the most crowded temple we've seen as well. I love that these places we are
visiting aren't just tourist traps. The people come to these temples to
worship. So awesome to witness that.
For good luck
We had a few
hours left til we had to meet Mom and Val at the mission office so we decided
to come back to the apartment and cool off in the beautiful pool. Unfortunately,
the pool ended up being closed for possible thunderstorms so we took advantage
of the opportunity to relax a little before heading back out - I don't think
either of us minded.
Monday night my
Mom and Val were in charge of a dinner for the senior couples who serve at the
temple, the Hong Kong Mission President and Temple President, plus their wives.
Once a month this group gets together for some kind of activity. The dinner was
held at the mission office. Brenda and I got there early to help set it up. My
Mom made a yummy "Plum Good Chicken" with rice. The other couples
brought other things to go along with it. The couples were really friendly and made
us feel welcome.
After dinner the
temple president had arranged a for a local sister to organize a game for us.
She does very intricate origami and had created a "candy" that separated
into two pieces. Each of us were given one the pieces and the person that had the
match to our piece became our partner for a little numbers game She was a hoot
and she loved to take pictures (she’s pictured to the right of my Mom in the
above picture). As she was taking
a picture of Brenda and I she commented to me, "I just want to squeeze
your cheeks!" Guess, they don't get too many chubby cheeked people in
China!
Before we left for
the night I took a picture of the Hong Kong Temple across the street. Beautiful!
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