One of the sections of Nathan Road. All of the bright neon signs are advertisements for restaurants or shops on floors higher than ground level. This is how we found the restaurant we ate dinner at. Unfortunately, this picture really doesn't do the street justice, but it gives you the idea.
As I said before, we didn't wake up until 4pm on Friday! Because we had already wasted most of the day, we had planned to stay in the area around the hotel again. We walked over to the Jade Market and browsed for a bit, and then walked over to the Temple Street Night Market. We were a little early for the night market so we decided to go have dinner and then go back. We ate at a great sushi restaurant that had a moving conveyor belt with the sushi on it for you to pick what you wanted. They charged you by the plate color and the sushi was so cheap! Each piece of sushi was only about $1, Kevin was in heaven! We went back to the night market and then got on the Metro and went down to the waterfront. The waterfront on Kowloon Island overlooks all of the skyscrapers in Central Hong Kong. It was beautiful! The area around the waterfront has free public wi-fi, so we checked our email, made some skype calls, and then walked back to the hotel. It was a great way to spend the evening.
A beautiful mural all lit up on the outside of Tin Hau Temple.
It's not the best photo, but proof that I do eat sushi!
In front of Central Hong Kong. Apparently, Hong Kong has the most skyscrapers of any city in the world! Over 7,000 buildings that are over 13 stories high!
We were able to fall asleep around midnight and we both woke up around 9am on Saturday morning. We went back to the waterfront area in search of an Indian restaurant and a bookstore. We were in luck, and found both! I was able to get some new children's books for my library and we had another great lunch! We stopped at a Circle K convenience store to get our tickets to Disney's Haunted Halloween and then went back to the hotel to relax for an hour or so. The Halloween celebrations did not start until 6:30pm, so we decided to fill our afternoon with a trip to Lantau Island to visit the world's tallest sitting Buddha. Both of these attractions were about 30 minutes outside of Central Hong Kong and were only one metro stop apart from each other. We traveled the 30 minutes to Tung Chung Station and walked over to the gondola entrance to get up to Big Buddha. Big Buddha sits on top of a mountain and the easiest and most scenic way to get there is by the 30 minute gondola ride to the top (you can also take a city bus, or HIKE to the top). It was a beautiful view of Lantau Island and the surrounding islands! We got up to the top around 5pm and Big Buddha closed at 5:30. We ran through the shopping areas and past the Po Lin Monastery and made it to the base of the Buddha with about 15 minutes to spare. Then we climbed 268 steps to reach Buddha himself! He sure was big! We took some time exploring Buddha, the Monastery, and some shops, and then we were on our way back down.
On the gondola
Just one section of the cable car ride to the top!
On the way!
In front of the 268 steps to the top!
Buddha, time for your close up!
Just being goofy
Just the two of us!
Beautiful sunset behind Big Buddha
One of the first and last views of Buddha.
We got back down around 6:30 and rode the Metro one stop to the Disneyland station. It was so convenient that there was a Disney train that was a part of the city metro system! The train was so cool! All of the windows were shaped like the famous Mickey head, there were character statues on the train, and the hand rails were Mickey heads too! Disney always amazes me! We purchased our tickets earlier in the day, so we were able to walk right in, without having to wait in lines. We got into the park around 7pm, changed into our Halloween costumes, and started to enjoy the fun! The whole park was decorated with pumpkins, and zombies, and dragons and more! We rode Space Mountain 3 times throughout the night, Buzz Lightyear twice, and the River Cruise once. We also saw the Halloween Parade and Fireworks, and walked through the Haunted Hotel - not to be confused with the Haunted Manson. It was such a fun evening, and a great way to celebrate Halloween together (since Kevin will not be home for Halloween this year). We left around 11pm and went back to the hotel!
On the Disneyland Metro to the resort. See the window!?! It's all about the details!
Welcome! I felt like a kid in a candy store! It was so exciting!
The Train Depot and Mickey!
A Zombie on Main Street
I never thought I would need chopsticks at Disney!
In front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. It was so little!
A professional photo that we purchased. Do you like the costume? Funny thing is that the costume is a Universal brand!
The fireworks show was pretty neat!
"To Infinity and Beyond"
The Nightmare Before Christmas was the main theme.
A pumpkin from the parade.
Sunday was a much slower day! We slept pretty late again, had some Thai food again for lunner (lunch/dinner), and then went back to the Jade Market. We told a very nice lady at the market earlier in the week that we would come back when we had Hong Kong Dollars, and that is exactly what we did. I bought a jade bracelet, and Kevin got a neat carved ball with another ball inside of it. We also went back to the Temple Street Night Market and this time the market was hopping! We found the south section of the market which had much better stalls! Kevin bought a tripod and we went back to the waterfront to watch the Symphony of Lights Show. This is a laser light show that takes place on the waterfront between Central Hong Kong and Kowloon Island. This particular night, the show was announced in Cantonese, so we couldn't understand what they were saying, but it was still cool to see the lights over the water!
The light show!
That tripod sure came in handy!
The night market was hopping! The stalls went on for blocks!
Monday was our work day. We were on and off the ship within 2 hours and then we went back to the hotel, dropped off our stuff, and then went out to make the most of our last day! The last thing I wanted to do in Hong Kong was go up on the Peak Tram. It is a very big tourist trap, but I am glad we had the experience! We rode a tram to the top of the peak and the view over the city was beautiful! There was also some great shopping! We spent about 2 hours up on top and when we got back down it was rush hour! I have never seen so many people in a subway station in my life! Thankfully we only had to go 2 stops! We finished the night with another trip to the sushi restaurant and the night market. It was another great day!
On the tram.
Madame Tussauds Wax Museum is at the top of the Peak, and Bruce Lee is waiting for tourists to take this photo.
Overlooking Central Hong Kong and Kowloon Island in the upper left corner.
The buildings were SO tall!!
All of the people!
Our flight left of Tuesday, and we took the free train to the Airport Express station and we were able to check-in and check-in our bags before even getting to the airport. It was definitely hassle-free traveling! I flew home alone, and Kevin flew to Turku, Finland. It was a great trip! Sorry for the delay in posting!
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