Hong Kong Trip 2012 (Sister Time Edition): Day 13 - Post #8

Traveling is the topic of today's post.  The strange thing about this day is that we lived it twice.  How, you ask?  Well...HK is a 12 hour time difference from Eastern Time in the US, so we left HK on Wednesday morning (HK time) and arrived in the US on Wednesday night (US time) (in HK it was actually Thursday morning); however, since we were on US time now, we lived Wednesday night over again.  Is that clear as mud?

It was a long and tiring journey, but I am definitely glad I got to spend it with my sister.  

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Wednesday

Meredith and I woke up bright and early Wednesday morning to get ready to go to the airport - our flight left a bit after noon.  When you live out of a suitcase for two weeks (or for Meredith, two months), it takes a good bit of time to make sure that everything is packed correctly, weighed correctly, and where you want it.  Also, any time you fly internationally, you are encouraged to arrive at the airport 2 hours before your departure time to give you time to get through not only check-in, but also security and immigration.  However, we also had to eat breakfast, check-out of the hotel, get to a bus stop, and take the Airport Express to the airport...so needless to say, we had to wake up pretty early.

We had a good breakfast and then were able to easily check-out of the hotel.  Thankfully, there was a free shuttle available at the hotel next door that would take us to the Airport Express station.  From there we could ride the Airport Express subway to the airport.  Easy enough...however, we would have to cross the street with 3 suitcases and 2 carry-on size suitcases...if you're not good at math, that equals 5 suitcases...for two girls (with only 4 hands) to maneuver…in one of the busiest parts of Hong Kong.  J Since Meredith basically lived in Thailand all summer, she took 2 big suitcases and a carry-on suitcase.  I had one big suitcase and a carry-on suitcase.  Let's just say, it was quite humorous to cross the streets of Hong Kong with 5 suitcases.  Ha ha!

Somehow we managed to make it across the street and were able to catch the free shuttle, however, I was worried as to how we would make it on the airport subway with all of our luggage…it turns out, though, that I had nothing to worry about because when we got to the Airport Express station there was a flight check-in counter!!  Oh my goodness!  I never knew this existed!!  This meant that we could check-in for our flight, drop off our checked luggage, and not have to worry about the insane lines at the actual airport – we could simply go to security!  I was a bit concerned as to how the luggage would make it to the airport, but I figured the agents knew what they were doing.  Check-in was easy and we were able to easily board the Airport Express subway with our carry-ons! 

Although super early to the airport, we decided to go ahead and go through security & immigration as we figured it would take a while.  When we made it out and into the terminal, we walked around and looked at the shops, got something to drink, and then made our way to our gate to sit and wait.  FUNNY STORY: You know from the previous post that we encountered some people with some strange names…this continued into today as the person who took our order was named…get this…Crazy.  No, I’m not kidding…their name was Crazy.  I’m really not sure where these names come from, I mean if I saw names like Justin (as in Beiber) or Miley (as in Cyrus), I would totally understand, but Crazy, Machos, and Wicky????!!!  No words. J

We waited for a good bit and then were able to line up to prepare for boarding.  It was strange, however, that we had to go through another security check of our carry-on to make sure we were abiding by US security standards (liquids, etc.)  I made it through okay, but Meredith forgot to pack her toothpaste (over 3 oz.) in her checked luggage and it was confiscated.  So she likes to tell everyone that she made it back from Asia with everything except her toothpaste.

It was then time to board.  You remember from the first post how bad I dreaded the 15 hr. flight…the dread this time was just as bad.  The reward of being back home was sweet, but the thought of being in the same position for 15 hours was just so daunting.  Thankfully, Meredith & I were able to work it to where we could be beside each other so we had a shoulder to lean on or were able to share things…it was definitely nice to fly together!

As much as I dreaded the flight, it actually went by faster than it did before - I was bit surprised.  I think it helped that I kind of did different “activities.”  I read an entire book (Mary Beth Chapman’s Choosing to SEE), watched a couple of movies (Mirror, Mirror & the Avengers…which probably would have made more sense if I had watched the other superhero movies…but I digress), listened to music, and slept (for maybe a total of an hour – I told you I don’t sleep on planes).

After 15 hours, we made it to US soil as we arrived at the Chicago airport.  We had to go through customs, but it was a breeze compared to the other line (for visitors/non-US citizens).  While we waited to see the customs agent, Meredith said, I really hope someone says “Welcome Home” to us.  Incidentally, after he stamped our passports, the customs agent looked at us, smiled, and said “Welcome back home!”  Meredith and I smiled at each other. J

It was then time to get our luggage and take it out of the international terminal to be checked in for our next flight to Knoxville.  There was a bit more to do in the Chicago airport this time than there was when I arrived on my way to Hong Kong.  It seems like a pretty fluid system, but when you’re not used to it & it’s your first time there, it’s just a little confusing.  The airline took our luggage for our next flight and then we had to go to another terminal via the airport subway.

We made it to the domestic terminal, went through domestic security, and then were able to go to our gate which was in the downstairs of the terminal.  We waited at our gate for a good bit of time, and then were told our gate had been changed.  This meant we had to take our stuff back upstairs and also that our flight would be delayed for just a bit due to the gate change.  As we waited at our new gate, we discovered that our flight would be further delayed due to a mechanical problem.  People were aggravated, but I told Meredith I would rather be waiting in Chicago than in the air worried about a mechanical problem.  She agreed.

The flight was probably delayed about 30-45 minutes, and then we were off for Tennessee!  Meredith and I couldn’t help but smile on the flight because we knew we were going to get to see our family when we got off!  The flight was smooth and fairly quick...and we couldn’t get off fast enough when we landed.

The Knoxville airport was fairly empty by this time (it was about 9 pm), but when we exited the terminal, we saw a sweet welcoming party – our parents & sister.  Lauren (our little sister) had even made a sign especially for us – bedazzled and all!  After hugs all around, we went down to get our luggage.  Meredith & mine were one of the first to come out, so were able to leave pretty quickly. 

Lauren's bedazzeled sign - it says, "Welcome Home - It's 'Bout Time!" 

We stopped for a late dinner and then traveled back to Morristown and were able to sleep in our own beds.  Let me just say, there’s nothing like sleeping in your own bed! J

Overall, it was a great trip home – no major issues and most importantly, we were safe.  I am thankful for God’s traveling mercies and for his provision in getting us home safe & sound.  Long flights aren’t fun, but being able to travel home with Meredith made it SO much better! 

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I'm hoping to spend a blog post in short, overall reflection of my trip at some point in the future, but I really hope you've enjoyed my detailed journal of my day-to-day experiences and adventures in and around Hong Kong.  I've enjoyed writing and posting these entries immensely and know that it will be fun for me to look back on all these posts and remember the incredible time I had at VBS and with my sister.  Thanks for traveling on this journey with me.  Be blessed!

Hong Kong Trip 2012 (Sister Time Edition): Day 12 - Post #7

I left you in my last post with a teaser for this current post – on our final day in Hong Kong, Meredith & I wanted to share a special memory by doing something that we had never done in Hong Kong before so we went to what I phrased in the last blog post as “the happiest place in East Asia.”  Where is that you may ask??…Hong Kong Disneyland. J 

Tuesday

Although we were beyond tired from our long, hot Monday, Meredith & I managed to get up Tuesday and venture to Hong Kong Disneyland.  A few people who knew we were going were kind of confused as to why we would want to go to a place that you can find in the States…but my logic was this: how cool is it to say you’ve been to Disneyland in HONG KONG? J  Pretty cool, I think.

HK Disneyland - the happiest place in East Asia :)

It actually isn’t too hard to get to HK Disneyland – it’s basically a few MTR rides away!  Oh, how I wish it was that easy here in America…unfortunately, I would have to drive like 12ish hours from my home to get to Disneyworld.   Granted, the MTR ride is pretty much 45 minutes and we had to change subways twice, but that definitely beats 12 hours waiting in traffic!

HK Disneyland actually has its very own MTR – the windows are shaped like Mickey ears and the handles inside are mouse ears too!  Since it was a nice day (and it was also the hottest day since I had been there), we knew that it was most likely going to be crowded and we weren’t wrong…the MTR was packed which was a very good indication of the day.

HK Disneyland MTR windows

HK Disneyland MTR

When we got off the subway, we saw a welcome sign and got really excited!  We had to walk a ways to the entrance, but there was Disney music playing and you couldn’t help but smile!  I had pre-bought our tickets before I left the States, so all we had to do was go to a kiosk and type in a code.  I am SO glad I did this because it cut our wait at the entrance considerably. 

Welcome to HK Disneyland!

We walked into the entrance to the park and were immediately in Mainstreet USA…in Hong Kong (if that makes any sense) J  The entrance is set up very similar to the Magic Kingdom park in Disneyworld… there is also only 1 park here with little “lands” setup inside (i.e. Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, etc.).  We walked down Mainstreet and immediately saw the Sleeping Beauty castle!  Knowing that the lines would be tremendous today, we realized that we were not going to get to do everything in the park.  We knew we wanted to see the shows and that we wanted to try and ride a few rides, so we began to scope out the things we wanted to do.

Mainstreet USA...in Hong Kong.

Sleeping Beauty castle

Our first “adventure” was to Adventureland to see the Festival of the Lion King show.  It was in English with Chinese translation and there was a mixture of both Asian and Western cast members.  The show was really good and very colorful….PLUS, you couldn’t help but sing along to the familiar Lion King songs!  Oh yeah, the air conditioned theater was nice too. J

Festival of the Lion King show

Following the show, we ventured to Fantasyland to see what was going on there.  There were all sorts of familiar rides – Cinderella’s carousel, Mad Hatter teacups, Winnie the Pooh ride, as well as my favorite…It’s a Small World.  The lines for many of the rides were like 35-40 minute waits, however the Small World ride was 15-20…so we opted to wait in that one.  There’s just something about being in It’s a Small World in another country that just is really cool to me…Meredith didn’t really get my excitement, but I was excited nonetheless J  The only thing that wasn’t exciting in this particular ride is that about 15 people just cut straight in front of us so that they could be in front of us (no real reason)…not sure why and we really didn’t want to waste the energy to protest…but it was kinda nuts.  We just told ourselves…we’re in a different country with different rules and expectations.  I made the comment to Meredith that if that had happened in America, there would have been complaints up and down…good thing we weren’t in America…  FUNNY STORY #1: While waiting in line, a Disneyland worker came out of a back room.  He was a husky looking young man who looked to be 16 or 17 and his name was Machos…no, not Nachos, but Machos.  Hmmm…very interesting.

Anywhoo…we rode the ride and it was fun to sing along to the familiar song…yes, my dear blog reader, I can hear you humming it now. J  One cool thing about the HK Small World is that there are different Disney movies represented throughout the various nation-rooms.  There is also a special “Hong Kong” exhibit in the ride too.

Small World ride

Inside the ride....so colorful

Hong Kong portion of the ride...love the Star Ferry on the far left :)

After riding this fun ride, we went to the Phillarmagic 4-D show.  We’ve seen this one at Disneyworld in the US, so we kind of knew what to expect.  I won’t give anything away, but it’s an animated 4-D show….3D with the extra “dimension” of smell.  It includes a lot of the famous Disney movie songs and was a fun show…it was also nice to sit in an air-conditioned room J  FUNNY STORY #2: While waiting in this line, a Disneyland worker came up to give an announcement.  We looked at his name tag and saw his name was Wicky…no, not Ricky, but Wicky.  Geez.

Fun show :)

By this time, we were hungry so we scouted out a restaurant where we could find a seat…which ended up taking a whole lot of time because there were absolutely, positively NO SEATS at any restaurant.  We knew we needed to sit under shade because it was SUCH a hot day…finally, we found a restaurant and got some food.  After eating, we decided to just walk around the park to see some of the “extra” sights…we knew we didn’t really have enough time to wait in a ride line (because we were going to go to another show), but we did have time to walk around.  We ended up seeing ToyStory Land….it was so cute as it was like a gigantic land of toys from the popular movie.  It made you feel like you were smaller than all the toys… pretty cool.

Toy Story Land!

The final show we wanted to see was fast approaching, so we high-tailed it there and had an enjoyable time watching The Golden Mickey’s.  It was a Broadway-type show set up like an awards show for various Disney movies.  There was singing and dancing and it was just a very well put-together show.  It was nice to sing along with the songs in English…the dialogue was in Chinese, with English subtitles, however.

Golden Mickey show

One of the parts of the show - a tale as old as time....Beauty and the Beast! :)

Following the show, we went to Tomorrowland to try and ride the Buzz Lightyear ride.  When we got there, we found out the wait time was an hour…an hour!!!!!!!!!!  We decided not to wait an hour for a 10 minute ride, so we opted for another one – the Orbitron…basically the Dumbo-ride of Tomorrowland (in spaceships instead of elephants).  I had a fun time on the ride…Meredith, not so much!  J  Guess she didn’t like seeing a birds-eye view of HK Disneyland.

The Orbitron ride

Even though she was scared to death...I managed to get Meredith to smile on the ride!
 

Since the beginning of the day, Meredith had wanted to ride the Jungle Cruise in Adventureland.  Since I made her ride the Orbitron with me, I let her decide what ride she wanted to do…and Jungle Cruise it was.  When we made it to the ride, it began to get really dark…like storming dark.  We were put in an English only line, and when it was time to get on the boat, it began to rain.  The ride kept going, though, so I guess it wasn’t raining enough to close the ride.  This ride was basically taking a boat ride through the “jungle” and seeing fake elephants, alligators, and the like…it was a relaxing ride if you take into account all the walking we did most of the day.  The best part about it was our tour guide…which brings me into FUNNY STORY #3:  When we boarded the boat, our tour guide said in the most broken English I’ve ever heard anyone in HK speak, “Hallo…my name is Pui, but you can call me Steve.”  How in the world do you get Steve from Pui?  Not sure.  His inferences throughout the “cruise” were hi-larious.  He was more entertaining than the ride.  Now that’s funny.

Riding the Jungle Cruise boat

Our tour guide Pui....I mean Steve! :)

 When we got off the boat, it began to rain HARD.  Meredith pulled out her umbrella, but we were getting soaked anyway.  We ran under a shelter, but stood there for a long time.  Since it was both raining and beginning to get dark, we decided to head out.  We knew from the beginning of the day that we weren’t going to stay until the park closing because of all the crowds and the rain let us know it was that time.  We wanted to stop at the Disney store, first, however, to pick up some things for our Disney-fanatic friends. J

After making our purchases, we headed to the exit to leave for our hotel.  Let me just say, even though we left early to avoid crowds…it really didn’t help because the crowds to leave were just as horrible.  Let’s just say there was a lot of pushing and shoving…and Meredith and I were mustering up our grace and patience.  J  It was crowded for a good portion of the trip to the hotel, but it leveled off eventually. 

Leaving Disneyland :(

We made it back to our hotel, dropped off our stuff and went to the infamous McD’s for our last dinner in HK.  McD’s was chosen because it was quick, cheap, and had free wi-fi J  It was nice to just chill out and enjoy our time together reminiscing about our fun day at Disneyland.  Before returning to the hotel, we went to the harbor nearby to see the gorgeous Harbor lit up at night.  The lights are just beautiful and it was nice to have this one last memory of HK.  Our day was catching up with us, however, so we then returned back to the hotel, got our luggage together, and went to sleep, in order to wake up and take off the next morning for our journey back home.

The gorgeous Harbor at night!  Love the lights!

I had a great time with my sister in HK Disneyland.  I am SO glad I got the opportunity to share this special time with her.  It was nice to have this as our special last HK memory before returning home to America.  In my next and final post, I’ll share with you about our trip home…it’ll be a lot shorter than these previous posts, promise… J   

Hong Kong Trip 2012 (Sister Time Edition): Day 11 - Post #6

The previous posts have all discussed my mission trip to Hong Kong (see the previous posts if you haven't had a chance to read about the VBS experience).  Today's and the next post let you in on the special "sister time" I got to have with my sister Meredith.  As the team left on this particular day, we took a couple of extra days to reminisce and create new memories in a city we once explored as children.  I love my sister and am so glad I got the opportunity to spend some special time with her in Hong Kong!
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Monday
On Monday morning, the team left to return back to the States.  We gathered together for our final breakfast as a team and then everyone was off to the airport.  I am so glad I got the opportunity to work with these people on this mission trip.  I already knew a couple of the people and it was great to reconnect those relationships, as well as build new ones.  Each person on the trip was so encouraging, helpful, and had strengths that added so much to the team.  It has been cool to watch how God brought each of us together to form a tight-knit team ready to make a difference for His kingdom!  Although we were a small team, God used us to make a BIG impact here in Hong Kong.

Today began the two days of “Sister Time” in Hong Kong.  Since Meredith has not been back to HK since we left as missionary kids, we all thought that being able to spend a couple of days together in HK doing some more sight-seeing/remembering-type things would be a special memory that we could share together.

"Sister Time" in Hong Kong

My plan today was to take Meredith around and show her things that she would remember or that might spark a memory.  When we moved to Hong Kong, I was 10 years old and she was 6 years old and when we left HK, I was 12 and she was 8.  I take for granted these memories as I remember a lot from this time period, but because she was younger, Meredith doesn’t recall as much of it.  There were some things that sparked her memory, though.

Meredith and I took the morning to kind of relax a bit as we had been on the run since she had flown in on Friday night.  As we were meeting our dad’s old office staff for lunch at 11:50 am, we decided to head out about an hour & a half before that so that I could show her our old apartment complex as well as the old mission office where our dad worked.  We got ready and walked to the MTR.  We traveled on it for about 5 minutes to MongKok, one of the most crowded parts of Hong Kong (in the US, you would basically consider it the “downtown” area).  There are SO many people and a lot going on, but that’s what makes it even more exciting!  When we got off the MTR, I took her on the familiar trek to the exit where the mission office building was.  The office has since moved to another location in HK; it’s kind of sad this missions landmark is no longer there anymore, but “to everything there is a season!” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).  The old building wasn’t very far off the exit, so we detoured there for a minute to take a picture.  I asked Meredith if she remembered it, but she didn’t.  I’m sure if we could have gone into the old office as it looked when we were smaller, it would have for sure sparked major memories, but we didn’t have the opportunity to do so.

Building where the old office used to be

I then wanted to take her to our old apartment complex.  There really isn’t a MTR exit or anything near our old apartment building and it’s not far enough away to spend money on a taxi, so we decided to take a short 10-15 minute walk to get there.  From the old mission office, it’s basically a straight walk to the street that our old building was on, so there wasn’t really any opportunity to get lost.  I knew that once I saw a gas station on the corner, we were there.  One thing we noticed as we walked down the street was how incredibly hot it was today.  I’d say the weather was just as hot as it was in Macau on Saturday (however we were shielded by buildings more-so today).  Many Chinese had their umbrellas pulled out and were holding them to shield the sun.  This is a very typical Chinese thing to do when the sun is beating down – not a raincloud or drop in sight, but those umbrellas come popping out like wildfire!

We finally made it to the corner gas station and we were there!  We walked a little bit down the street, passing old memories like the motorcycle shop & the place where a man who sold chickens (to kill on site for you to take home to eat) used to have his stand.  Meredith remembered these things! :)  We looked straight and saw our street – Emma Avenue.  I remember so many times saying this in Cantonese to taxi drivers so that they could take us home, (and I am spelling this phonetically…this is not how it would be written…) “Ye-ma-doe, Ho-man-teen.”  If you said that to the taxi driver, he would know EXACTLY where to take you!  We walked down Emma Avenue and saw the gate that we would have to punch our code in order to get into.  Nothing about it had really changed at all.  Not even the grounds had really changed.  I wish we could have had the opportunity to go inside, but we weren’t able to do that.  We took a few pictures and then I looked at my watch and realized we needed to high-tail it back to the MTR in order to meet our dad’s old secretary at one of the other MongKok exits.

Our old street!

Wing Ying Mansion - we lived on the 17th floor...this building has 18 floors...you can bet we took the elevator!!

As we walked back the way we came, Meredith commented how thirsty she was and asked if we could stop at a McDonalds to get something to drink.  We knew that at lunch we would have hot tea, so when we saw a McDonalds across the street we decided to cross over via an overpass.  As we crossed on the overpass, I saw a sign that pointed to Grand Century Place - a mall that was built in HK when we lived there.  I was excited as I had been looking for this mall the past few times I have been.  My family has fond memories of this mall – this is one of the very few places that had a full playground for children to play on and we would go there frequently as children.  There was also a Pilipino-based restaurant called Jolibees there that was always a favorite for us to frequent.  We also shopped and went to the movie theater there.  Once Meredith & I saw the sign, we looked at each other and were like “We’ve got to go see this!”  So instead of going to McD’s, we took a detour to Grand Century Place.  As we walked up towards the mall, memories started flooding in!  We went through the mall and finally found the playground!  It was just as we remembered it!  Jolibees used to be in the food court across from the playground, but it was no longer there :(  Very sad, but I was excited that we got to see something today that was “unexpected.”  We did, however, stop at one of the food court places to get something cold to drink, so we got to set down for a couple of minutes.

Grand Century Place - Mall built while we lived in HK

The infamous playground at GCP!

Once we finished, we walked really fast back to the Mongkok MTR station to meet with our dad’s old secretary.  Her name is Carrie.  She had arranged a Dim Sum meal with at a restaurant some of the other office staff.  We were a few minutes late, but it worked out as she was running late too.  We followed her and another mission office staff person to a local dim sum restaurant.  When we got to the building, I realized that I had already been there before – when I came to HK in 2010, members of the office staff met at the same restaurant to eat dim sum with me.  This time there were even more former staff members from the office – all impacted by the influence of my parents.  From my dad’s assistants in finance and property to language teachers, each person remembered my parents fondly and we enjoyed conversing around the table and catching up on our lives.  The dim sum meal was very good, as well!  In the first post about my HK journey, I discussed what dim sum was…click here if you need a refresher.  I just love eating Chinese food in China with chopsticks :)  My favorite dim sum meal is a pork bun with BBQ pork inside…not sure of the correct name, but it’s really good!  Last time I was at this restaurant, I tried the jellyfish they ordered…this time they ordered spicy jellyfish.  I wasn’t feeling THAT adventurous today, so I passed on eating that particular item.

We had a great dim sum with my dad's old office staff!

We visited with each other for a good long time and then said our goodbyes and Carrie invited us to see the new mission office.  It is actually at an exit on the MTR stop where our hotel is located.  When we got on this particular MTR, it was VERY crowded.  Not sure why…it was past lunch time and it was a Monday…but it just goes to show you how crowded the Mongkok area is.  When we got to the correct MTR station, we went to a different exit than the one our hotel is at.  Carrie guided us through streets and eventually we got to the building that housed the new office.  The bottom couple of floors are actually mall space and the upper floors are office space…this was very strange.  In order to get up to the office part of the building, you have to take an elevator from the mall area.  I’m glad the office wasn’t there when we were children – our parents might have gone broke from all us girls wanting to shop! LOL!

The new office was very, very nice.  I was impressed with the new look and the space.  Carrie informed us, however, that they were looking for a smaller space.  As the IMB is continuing to downsize the HK office as HK is considered (by IMB standards) a more “evangelized-country”, the office staff is very, very small and with the high property price that office spaces in HK are, they feel it is behooving to find a space that suits the size of the staff.  I think this is a great thought and I hope that they are able to find what they want for a reasonable price.  Meredith and I enjoyed walking around the office with Carrie and even saw some things that sparked memories – like seeing a key box that my dad meticulously managed.  The keys are even in the same order he left them!  Crazy!  Carrie showed us a financial book put out by the IMB and inside was a list of the 2012-2013 trustees – our pastor’s name was listed right with Tennessee.  That was also crazy, seeing my pastor’s name on an “official” document all the way in Hong Kong!

The "key box" mentioned above!

The official document mentioned above with my pastor's name on it - cool to see it in another country!!

After taking pictures with Carrie, we left and traveled back to our hotel via the MTR exits.  Thank the Lord for MTR exits, instead of having just one exit, MTR stations have multiple exits so that you can end up in different locations without having to cross streets or waste money taking public transportation.  Once we got to the hotel, we crashed as we were thoroughly exhausted.  We intended on staying at the hotel for like 30 minutes so that we could go take pictures at the HK harbor in the daylight before meeting friends for dinner.  However, after an hour & half nap, we woke up and realized we were going to be late to our dinner appointment.  We needed the rest, though, so it was all good.

Love Carrie who was our dear friend as well as my dad's former secretary!  She is such a gracious host when I come to HK to visit!!

We woke up and hurried down to the harbor to get photos.  Let me tell you…today was the most picturesque day I have ever seen in Hong Kong.  The sky was gorgeous and provided some stunning shots of the beauty of the HK harbor.  FUNNY STORY: We wanted to get a sister-picture, so we asked a random stranger to take a photo of us.  They did and when they handed my camera back, Meredith thanked them in Mandarin.  I’m not sure that they spoke Mandarin because they looked at her and laughed.  Kinda funny. :)

Gorgeous day in HK!

My heart city!

After snapping a few pics, we hurried back to the MTR to travel to Kowloon Tong in order to meet our dear friends, the Aus for dinner.  As you can see, the MTR is THE way to travel.  It’s cheap, fast, and efficient.  I find that it’s the easiest way to travel in HK.  Although crowded, we made it to our stop and met the Aus at a mall called Festival Walk and ate dinner with them at an Italian restaurant.

It was so awesome to be able to catch up with our dear friends tonight.  Oscar and Faith have three children, but they are spread out all over the world.  I miss this family so much, they are dear friends.  Faith and I are especially close.  She was my Sunday School teacher through the entire time we lived in Hong Kong.  I’m not sure that a children’s SS teacher stays with you for that long, but Faith did and she really helped me grow in my faith (no pun intended!).  I am so thankful that God put her in my life and like I told a couple of people on the trip – there are some people in your life that you know you will be forever friends with and Faith is one of those people.  If you’re reading this Faith, know that I love you so much and thank God every time I think about you (Philippians 1:3).

Me and the Oscar & Faith - such special friends!

After dinner, we hung out for a bit at the mall, watching the ice skaters skate around the ice rink they have there, then we got our things together and Oscar & Faith drove us back to our hotel.

Today was intended to be a day of good memories and we accomplished just that!  We also saw people and places that mean so much to us and it did cause us to stop and appreciate how these people/places shaped our lives.  It’s good to remember – memories help us thank God for those significant times in our lives.  I thank God constantly for the memories I have of Hong Kong.  I grew so much as a human being in this city.  I can’t imagine the person I would be if I hadn’t had the opportunity to spend my “growing-up” years in Hong Kong.  Living here opened my eyes to the world around me and make me have a mission-minded lifestyle.  These reasons are why I refer to Hong Kong as my heart city…because it is a place that molded me into who I am and a place that remains to this day incredibly dear and near to my heart.

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New memories in Hong Kong were made on Tuesday...check out the next post to find out where we went...I'll give you a hint: It's the happiest place in East Asia. 

Hong Kong Mission Trip 2012: Day 9 & Day 10 - Post #5

Today I continue my journal entries from my trip to Hong Kong.  When I left off, we had just completed VBS.  For the weekend before the team left, we went sight-seeing in both Hong Kong and another special administrative province of China, called Macau.  We had tons of fun, but it was definitely hot!  I hope you enjoy reading about our adventurous weekend! :)

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Saturday
On Saturday, we woke up early (which was hard for me & Meredith as we hadn't had much sleep the night before...but that's okay) and traveled to Macau via a jet-foil boat.  The boat was leaving at 8 am, so we had to ride the MTR to the ferry port in order to get to Macau.  Macau is actually another special administrative province of China (Hong Kong is the other).  It was a Portuguese colony around the same time that Hong Kong was owned by the British.  There is quite a bit of history there and it is quite different from Hong Kong.  In order to get to Macau, you have to have your passport...which made our passport look even more beautiful! :)  Me and Meredith had been to Macau twice before when we were children, but we don't really remember much.

Jet foil we rode to Macau

We got to the boat terminal, went through immigration, and made our way to the boat that we would be riding.  When we began to get on the boat, it was very rocky.  I was a little nervous that it was going to be like this the whole way, but once we departed, it was a fairly smooth ride the whole way.  It took about 50 minutes to get there.  Once we got to Macau, we had to go through immigration there, as well. When we got out of the terminal, Janice went to get us maps and figure out what kinds of places to show us.  One thing we noticed at this point was the heat.  We could gather that it was going to be a very HOT day...and it definitely was.

Let me stop here and tell you that Macau is considered the "Las Vegas" of Asia, meaning there are many casinos and such...but don't worry, we didn't partake of any casino activities :)  We did, however, take a FREE shuttle bus to one of the casinos so we would be closer to things to do.  Everything really did look like what I have seen of Las Vegas - things were big and grand.  Janice took us to a small historical garden area where we were able to find out some of the history of the area, see what people used to dress like, and also see the grand ornate houses that they lived in.  It was a very quaint and beautiful place.

The Venetian - one of the casinos in Macau

Old Portuguese style house found in Macau

We then trekked to lunch via a taxi which was a Portuguese-style restaurant....when in a Portugal colony, eat like the Portuguese, I guess :)  One interesting thing about Macau taxis is that they are black and yellow...very reminisent of ones in the States.  As we traveled to the restaurant, we came into more of the heart of Macau.  There are grand, unique looking buildings here.  I took some pictures of ones that were oddly shaped, I don't remember this at all as a child, so I'm sure the area has grown up a bit in 13 years.

Odd shaped building in the heart of Macau

We got to the restaurant and went up to the 2nd floor.  Regarding lunch, I have to admit, I was a little nervous as to how the food would taste, particularly because I have never eaten Portuguese before, but to be honest, it wasn't too bad.  I had baked pineapple rice.  It was pretty good...I can now check "Eat Portuguese food" off my bucket list!

We then began our sight-seeing.  We walked through the quaint, narrow town that was VERY crowded.  Things were similar to Hong Kong, but on a much smaller scale which made the crowds just a bit more overwhelming than in Hong Kong.

Crowded street in Macau

We first stopped in an old Catholic church.  The statues and grandeaur of the church were very beautiful.  It is so strange and sad to see churches and yet know that the majority of the people don't even believe in God.

Catholic church in Macau

Next, we traveled to the ruins of the St. Paul Cathedral.  The ruins consist of a partial facade of the church.  My family and I remember this place as we had a family picture taken there many years ago.  Meredith and I continued the tradition and had our picture taken there as well.  It was neat to see something that sparked a good memory.  We toured around that area for a bit.

Ruins of St. Paul

Meredith & I at the St. Paul Ruins

Circa 1998 - The Young Family in front of the St. Paul Ruins in Macau

After that we went to a museum near the ruins.  It was basically a history muesum, but more upscale than the one we visited before.  There were many gorgeous displays as well as interactive activities.  As we made our way through the museum, I saw things that I remembered seeing as a child and came to the realization that I had been there as a child, although things looked very much different.  Meredith even remembered a statue that she had her picture taken next to when she was little...so we continued the tradition and took her picture with the statue again! :)  The end of the museum tour consisted of us being on the rooftop overlooking the city.  It was very beautiful and you could see Macau for miles!  For the last part of our tour in Macau, we went to the grave of Robert Morrison - the first missionary to translate the Bible in the Chinese language.  His grave was on the grounds of the church he started in Macau.

Overlooking Macau

Grave of Robert Morrison - first missionary to translate the Bible in Chinese

This concluded our day in Macau...due to the heat and the walking, we were exhausted and ready to go back to our hotel.  We went to a taxi stand to wait for a taxi and when we got there saw how extraordinarily long the taxi line was, but there was no other way to get back to the boat terminal, so we waited for about 30ish minutes.  It was crazy.  Finally we got a taxi, got back on the boat and began traveling back to Hong Kong.  We eventually got back, ate a small dinner, and went to bed.

It was really neat to be in a different country today.  I'm glad we got the opportunity to go to Macau.  I hadn't been there in years and it was neat to relive some fond memories.  The team saw something today that we hadn't seen in many days...SUN!  It rained the entire week, but finally the Lord brought us sunshine for our weekend.  Although it was extremely hot, today was a fun day and we all enjoyed seeing the gorgeous sights on this simply picturesque day.


Sunday
We woke up fairly early and traveled to the pastor of CBIBC's house to spend the morning.  The rest of the team was going to go on a morning hike with the pastor...but since a hard hike isn't exactly a cup of tea for me and Meredith, we stayed and kept the pastor's wife company.  I really like this couple and think they are a good fit for the church.  They love God and love others which is a great way to minister in this day and age if you ask me :)  They are from Wales and traveled here one year ago to be the pastor & wife for CBIBC.

As we traveled to their house, I was struck by how similar the area in which they live (Sai Kung area) was much like the area where I live in East Tennessee.  Mountains, hills,  greenery...it was very reminicent of home.  There were a few things that were out of place, though....cows were walking along the road, as well as monkeys....yes, I said monkeys.  It was rather funny.

Sai Kung or East Tennesse?

The pastor & his wife live in Sai Kung Country Park.  I had heard that we would have to sign into the Country Park in order to be granted access, however when we arrived, they just waved us through.  We arrived at their house and the team prepared to leave on their hike.  By this time it was already very hot outside, so we made sure the team had plenty of water for their journey and then they were off.

Me, Meredith, Janice, and the pastor's wife all stayed at their house.  The pastor's wife recently had surgery on her feet so she has had to stay off of them for a week or so.  Janice had to work on slides for the Sunday services as she was leading music.  Meredith and I had the opportunity to call home and talk to our family to see how everything was going.  As all of this was going on, our bus driver called Janice and said he couldn't get out of the Country Park.  Because we hadn't signed in, he was "illegally" there....however, they had waved us through!  It really didn't make any sense.  This predicament continued on for a good hour with Janice calling the office, then the bus driver, and on and on.  Really it was a case of one foot didn't know what they other foot was doing....you know how that can go.  It ended up working out, though, and the bus driver was allowed to leave and come back to get us, thankfully!  We ran into another problem, however, in that we were trying to order a pizza delivery for lunch and they informed us that they wouldn't deliver it until much later in the morning - someone was going to have to leave to go pick it up.  Thankfully, Faith & Oscar were on their way to where we were and called before arriving to ask if there was anything they needed to do!  We said, "YES!  We need you to be our pizza delivery service!" :)

The team made it back and looked completely and thouroughly exhausted.  I could tell it had been a very hard hike.  They began to get dressed for church while the rest of us prepared for lunch.  Oscar & Faith arrived with the pizzas and it was time to eat!  One of the best parts about lunch was the fellowshipping and laughter around the table.  I also very much enjoyed the fresh mangos that the pastor's wife had prepared.  They were DELICIOUS! :)

After lunch, we got back on our bus and headed for a tour around HKUST.  Oscar was our tour guide and we got to see many beautiful spots of both the campus as well as the surrounding water known as "Clearwater Bay."  Today was another picturesque day which made for a very pleasurable tour.  We got lots of beautiful pictures.  It was then time to head to the entrance to pick up people for church.  Once the bus was loaded, we headed towards the location for church - which was the same place we were last week.

Clearwater Bay

Ocean view of HKUST

We arrived at church and everyone began to help set-up.  I was getting a bit nervous as it was nearing church-time because I was supposed to lead a couple of the VBS songs with children, however there were no children there.  Right before church started, however, a few children walked in, so I was grateful!  Janice did a great job leading in the music.  You could see her heart for worship and the music she picked out was very worshipful as well.  I enjoyed leading the children in music one last time.  Although the songs get stuck in your head, they are good songs to get stuck in your head and are truths that I think will resound with the children as they recall these songs.

Me & 3 of the VBS kids singing some of the VBS songs for CBIBC

After presenting the songs, a few of us US team members and CBIBC VBS volunteers were "interviewed," really just asked questions about the week.  Janice had asked me and a couple of the other girls from my team to speak.  I didn't really think through what to say, I just kind of talked as she asked the questions.  I really enjoyed hearing the other people's answers to the questions- they were very informative and helpful for people who might think about working next year.

VBS team being recognized at CBIBC

Following the VBS Celebration, Zach preached the sermon which was translated in Mandarin by Oscar.  It can be very hard to preach a sermon that has to be translated every other sentence, but I thought he did a great job.  Church ended, we said our goodbyes to our helpers and friends from CBIBC and then we were off to Victoria Peak for the evening.

It took a very long time to get to the Peak as traffic was stopped in many places.  We were going to ride the peak tram, but after seeing the line, decided to go up via our bus.  As we made our way up, I could tell it was going to be a very beautiful night to see the sights from the Peak....and it didn't disappoint.  Before going up to the Peak Tower, we went to eat at a nice restaurant called Cafe Deco.  The team enjoyed a nice meal...unfortunately, I wasn't feeling well, so I didn't eat much, but I wasn't about to miss this view for anything!

Peak Tower

After dinner, we went to the overlook.  It was the most clear, beautiful view from the Peak that I have seen in a long time.  It was so clear that it was almost like a 3D picture that you could reach out and touch.  For those of you who don't know, this is my most favorite place in the entire world.  My parents would bring us to the Peak when we lived here and I remember how much I loved this place.  You feel as though you are on top of the world and the view is just simply spectacular.  We took many pictures then left for the hotel.

Amazing view from the Victoria Peak overlook

Today was a wonderful day.  From fellowship with friends to worshipping with my brothers and sisters in Christ at CBIBC to seeing the gorgeous view of Hong Kong from the Peak, I am so thankful that I got to experience all of this today.  I will miss these special times.  Like I said before, Hong Kong is my heart city and seeing the clear overview from the Peak just reaffirmed that in my heart.  As I stood there overlooking Hong Kong, Chris Tomilin's "God of this City" was just playing through my head.  Just like NYC or Los Angeles or Tokyo or London...He's the God of Hong Kong too.  "Greater things are yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city."

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I hope you enjoyed hearing & seeing Saturday & Sunday's gorgeous adventures....next time, find out what happened after the US team left and Meredith & I got to conquer Hong Kong by ourselves!