I thought we
wouldn't experience anything hotter than Tuesday at Ocean Park - I was wrong.
Today reached 97 degrees- add in the humidity and it was scorching. I've never
sweat so much in my life. Mom and Val took the day off from the mission office
and we spent the day on the south end of Hong Kong Island. Before catching the
bus that would take us south Mom wanted to show us the area office - smack dab
in the middle of the city.
The building is
beautiful. It's eleven stories high. On the top floor are apartments for the
area president and other big wigs. There are a few office level floors for
those who have responsibilities in the area. One of the missionaries showed us
a map and explained that the "area" the Hong Kong office covers spans
from China to India to Indonesia - the area is huge and Hong Kong is the hub
for all that. He said that 1/3 of the worlds population is in this area. The building also has three chapels and
holds regular church services on Sunday as well as a daily service for those
that only get one day off of work a week and it's not Sunday.
The bus ride to
Stanley winded along the coast and was beautiful. Stanley is famous for its
relaxed ambience, beautiful sea views and bargain buys.
We walked around
the Stanley market looking for great deals and fun gifts to take home to the
kids...
Picking out an
adorable little owl backpack for Katie (apparently I take my shopping very
seriously)
The bartering
wasn't as successfully as previous shopping experiences as I wasn't able to get
them down very far. I bought a few of the same things Brenda picked up the
previous night in Mong Kong, but paid more (drat!)
We also visited
the beautiful beach at Repulse Bay. Like I said it was a hot, humid day. I've
been hauling around my camera pack everyday, which is an additional 15 pounds.
Today we also brought with us swimsuits, water, and then the items we purchased
at the market. We were all dripping with sweat. Changing clothes was like
peeling off a wetsuit and then pulling on a swimsuit onto a damp, sticky
body... yuck! But it was worth it. No better way to cool off than to go
swimming in the South China Sea. The water was refreshing and the setting was
gorgeous.
There was lots of interesting statues and decorations by the beach
My Mom took this picture, if you look real close you can see Val out
there waving at her. Brenda and I
are out there somewhere too.
Val took the picture below of Repulse Bay. Right in the middle there is a building that has a huge
rectangular hole in the middle. It
is the "Dragon Hole" and is good Feng Shui - it allows the dragon to
come down from the mountain to the ocean to drink.
We rinsed off
when we were done, but with humidity like it was today I stayed damp the rest
of the day. Since it was Brenda's last night before heading home we decided we
needed to try out a restaurant someone recommended to my Mom back in the SOHO
area of central Hong Kong.
Who could object
to eating dinner at a place called Chocoholic???
It looked like a
dive from the outside, but if was full of yummy goodness inside. For dinner we
shared two small pots of chocolate fondue with kiwi, marshmallows,
strawberries, and bananas. We had a little chocolate leftover so at my
suggestion we broke out the granola bars we had in our bags and dipped those -
we let no chocolate go to waste!
Enjoying every
last drop of chocolate!
For dessert we
each got something different: Mom: macaroons with ice-cream, Val: a brownie
sundae, Brenda: brownie cheesecake, and Me: chocolate banana crepe with
ice-cream. We all left satisfied. We walked around the shops at SOHO a little
before heading home to relax and shower. It feels so good to be dry, clean, and
cool!
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