November 26

Today we rose bright and early after a fitful night of sometimes sleep! Sydney slept well, but Deborah, Daniel, and Tom slept fitfully and briefly. So the early breakfast in preparation for the tour of Hong Kong turned out to be welcome, as it gave us the excuse to finally get out of bed!

The breakfast buffet here in the Cafe Kool at the Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel was fantastic! Breads and pastries galore, delicious fresh fruit, traditional Asian and Western dishes, brewed coffee, and several cook-to-order stations. Sydney ate a huge breakfast, while the rest of us did a pretty decent job as well. We ate our fill and then some, then met members of groups 885, 886, and 889 for our tour of Hong Kong. Matthew and his wife, Joey, guided the tour.

We traveled by coach throughout the day. Our first stop, after fighting traffic through a downtown tunnel (Matthew calls it the "no excuses" tunnel), was The Peak on the Hong Kong island. (The tunnel connects Kowloon from Hong Kong.) From here we would have had a fantastic view of the north of Hong Kong island and the Kowloon peninsula. I say "would have" because the haze, a combination of humidity and pollution from neighboring Guongdong Province, obscured our view throughout the day. Nonetheless, the journey to The Peak was enlightening and awesome.

We descended from The Peak to Aberdeen, where we boarded small sampans to tour the Aberdeen fishing village for about 25 minutes. The sampan rolled and swayed in the waves, which was enjoyable to me but might turn others a little green! We wandered through the large and small house boats and fishing boats, passed one of the world's largest floating restaurants, and got a small glimpse into the life of the dwindling number of Aberdeen fishermen.

We traveled from Aberdeen to Stanley Market, where we spent a little time shopping. By this time, Deborah had hit the wall for the day and sat to rest with Sydney. Tom and Daniel continued shopping; Dad purchased a beautiful sample of calligraphy, characters meaning "faith," "hope," and "love," while Daniel purchased a unique example of coconut carving, a scene of Hong Kong from Kowloon.

Somewhere in here we also visited nearby jewelry factory. I think we hit the factory before Aberdeen, but it might have been between Aberdeen and Stanley. At any rate, here Sydney became a little spooked and nervous about the jewelry makers. We spent only a few minutes touring the factory, then spent time shopping for jewelry. Tom looked for some things for Martha, while Deborah looked for some things for herself and the girls. Ultimately, although the jewelry was beautiful, neither Tom nor Deborah purchased anything. The quality of the merchandise, especially the jade, was top-notch... but so were the prices!

We concluded our tour at a Kowloon dimsum restaurant near our hotel. The lunch was wonderful, noodles and rice and many different dumplings. At the end of the meal, Deborah and Sydney were more than ready for a nap! We returned to the hotel where Deborah and Sydney laid down for a nap while Tom and Daniel went exploring. We walked to the Star Ferry pier, then took the Star Ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong central. The ferry ride was enjoyable, but once again the haze marred the view the ride might have otherwise offered. We wandered through a huge, upscale shopping center, then returned by ferry to Kowloon. We walked back to the hotel where we found Deborah awake, Sydney still sleeping.

For the rest of the day, we enjoyed a coffee together as Sydney tried to wake up. Her attempts were unsuccessful until about 7:30 PM, which corresponds to 6:30 AM at home and explains the difficulty she had with waking up. We then found a small cafe for a light dinner, then returned outside beside the water to watch a laser and light show on many different Hong Kong buildings. Although underwhelming, the show demonstrated a remarkable feat of synchronizing music and lighting across several square miles. Following the show we returned to the hotel, put Sydney to bed, and repacked our suitcases for the journey to Wuhan.

We leave tomorrow at 8:30 AM for the airport, departing for Wuhan about 11:30 and arriving about 1:30 PM. We've enjoyed Hong Kong, but we are quite ready to get closer to Emily. Tours are fun, but this is simply not a trip for touring!