China, Part 1

We’re back! Last week, we took advantage of the week off to see a bit of China.

Last Friday, we arrived very late at night in Hong Kong. We spent the night at the Disneyland Hotel, chosen specifically because it was near the airport. (We didn’t even go to Disneyland!) However, the hotel turned out to be very nice, and Laurea liked it enough that she wants to go back to the Disneyland Hotel, rather than go to Disney.

The next day, she got to release several ladybugs as part of a natural pest management program. She even got a certificate and was very proud of herself. Above, you can see her posing with “Dr. L. Bug.” (She's holding on to her box of ladybugs.)

That day, we took a ferry to Macau, or actually, to two islands off of Macau. Macau is quite the gamblers’ paradise, and building more casinos each day, so we were glad that we stayed in a pretty isolated place. Picture #2 shows “Hac Sa” Beach (“Black Sand” Beach).

Our favorite part was walking about 10 minutes down the beach to an excellent Portuguese restaurant named Fernando’s. Russ also found his ancestral coffee shop (picture #3).

After staying three nights, we took the ferry back to Hong Kong. (Turns out there was a riot in Macau the day we left, which we didn’t witness a bit, but we were glad to have left in the morning.) The first day, we were like most tourists and went up “The Peak,” which is a very steep funicular that carries with it spectacular views. (Picture #4) However, it was quite crowded, as it seemed that all of the other tourists had similar ideas.

At night (and every night that we were in Hong Kong), we went to a fireworks/light show that the city held over the harbor. We have never seen anything like it – all of the buildings in the skyline were lit up to music and fireworks.

To be continued