We have been back in the states for a week now and I haven't blog yet, so "we're back" in many ways I feel like.
This week has been a week of adjustment. We never imagined jet lag being so bad. We have been up almost everyday before 5am regardless of how much sleep we have had. The first few days seemed reasonable because we were napping during the days or going to bed really early, but recently we are still waking up early with only 5 hours of sleep. Hopefully this week will go better for us!
In other news Vivian is growing like a weed and becomes more of a person daily. She talks in complete sentences all the time now. She loves to talk on the phone and my dad loves talking to her so I have a video of her saying "Hello Gerald!", but unfortunately I am having difficulties uploading it tonight so I will try again later.
She is soo cute. Wearing Holland shoes and a santa hat...this is her version of dress-up!
Her present from Hong Kong, a good luck doll
the doll
I have also finished my pillowcase vest. It is made out of our old pillowcase. I used the stuffing for our 3 new pillows and used the case to make this awesome vest. Here is the vest on Summer, my dress form. Yes, we named her Summer! I also was lucky enough TODAY to finally get the boots I have wanted for about 3 months. These are the cutest rain boots ever! They are shaped like cowboy boots, but are rubber and have skulls and roses on them. LOVE THEM! I wore them out tonight although it wasn't raining, I think these are my Sandra Bullock boots (movie - All About Steve).
Yesterday was our last day in Hong Kong and to end the trip we took a ferry to Cheung Chau Island. This is a small island 10 km southwest of Honk Kong Island. It was an hour long ferry ride! It was a very interesting place to see. It is a fishing village, so it is a much poorer place than the mainland of Hong Kong.
view of Hong Kong Island from the ferry
us on the ferry, notice the ferry is wood
skyline with the smog
the habor of the island
Downtown on the island
It is the alleged hiding place of Cheung Po Tsai (張保仔), a famous 19th century pirate. It has a pirate cave, which of course Davis had to see. As soon as we arrived on the island we made way for the pirate cave, along the way we saw a boat sinking in the habor and another boat trying to pull the sinking boat up, all the while there were people scooping out water with buckets on the sinking boat.
boat sinking
full view of the 2 boats
When we finally arrive at the cave, there is an Asian woman sitting outside selling flashlights....only problem with this is that she speaks NO English! So we didn't even know which way the cave was...up, down, to left because there were holes in the rocks in all of these places and we didn't know which one to take. We also didn't know if we were going to have to crawl or if we could walk through it. ALL WE KNEW IS THAT WE NEEDED A LIGHT! We didn't even know how much she wanted for the flashlights. So, I decided that I was NOT going! and then an Asain man and his son showed up and they could translate!! Yay! So we found out that no crawling was involved (I do not do caves that I have to crawl through) and that the flashlights were $10HKD with $4HKD refundable deposit at the end. So we forged onward and into the cave we went!
the No English lady
Davis standing in the cave entrance
fitting through a tiny space
outside the cave
After the cave we walked forever trying to find the peak! I have no idea how far we walked before a man asked us if we needed help while we were contemplating over a map. He pretty much told us that we were on the wrong side on the island and so we gave up on seeing the peak of the island and decided it was time to eat. This island is known for it's good seafood so we were on a seafood hunt. We parked ourselves at a tiny outdoor restaurant and enjoyed sitting down for a while.
me with all of our food
this is how the people get to their boats from land...it looks so unstable, but they were pros!
Dave at lunch
sipping his hot tea
our view at lunch...this is not zoomed in, they seat you right next to the water
The laneways are so narrow that normal motor traffic is impossible. Instead, there are small motorized trucks officially termed "Village vehicles"
they don't have cars, so there are bicycles everywhere Village vehicles...mini police car (their roads are like our sidewalks so no normal sized cars)
I love cotton candy especially when it is 50 cents!! amazing!
making my cotton candy fresh because it's sooo humid the cotton candy melts like ice cream
cemetary...the graves look like little houses on the hillside from far away
view on the island
2 more boats sinking
Poisonous Rat-Bait, yuck! on the fast ferry (they have 2 ferries, the standard and the fast), our ride home was only 30 min the packed subway
Davis in his new suit
the inside of his jacket
Hottie!
outside of the Peninsula, the most expensive place to stay
last night
my drink at Felix, a bar on the 28th floor of the Peninsula
We had dessert every night and sometimes we had it 3x a day (no kidding)!
After breakfast I headed back to the Ladies market to score some more deals before leaving on Sunday. I finished my list of to buys...yay! Davis only had to work a 1/2 day, and since his work was at the airport which is on Lantau Island, I met him over at his work and we went to explore the Island.
We decided to ride a cable car to see the "Big Buddha". The Big Buddha was definitely a must see for me. It's called the Big Buddha! The name makes it a must see.
Wikipedia Facts: Ngong Ping 360 is a dynamic new tourism experience, which combines a stunning 5.7 km cable car journey with an impressive cultural themed village and easy access to the Tian Tan Buddha Statue, the world’s largest, seated, outdoor, bronze Buddha statue.
On Ngong Ping Plateau, where the Tian Tan Buddha (or "Giant Buddha"), an 85-foot-high bronze Buddha statue, various monastery buildings and a vegetarian restaurant can be found. Walkers can ascend from Tung Chung to the monastery in two hours. Visitors can also take a 25 minutes ride on Ngong Ping Cable Car from Tung Chung to Ngong Ping Plateau.
After walking up a TON of stairs and riding the cable car back down, we headed back to Hong Kong Island. Our next stop was Modern Toilet, a restaurant. Yes, it sounds gross, but funny thing about Hong Kong is when they say Toilet, they mean bathroom. So this restaurant bathroom themed restaurant and it was AWESOME. The seats are toilets and the food comes served in toilets, tubs, urinals, etc. http:
After eating we went to a really cool home store called homeless.
Restroom signs
at the night market
my view at lunch!
Friday's Pictures:
he works soo hard
looking back from where we came
the airport island....the whole island is reclaimed land, CRAZY!
looking ahead
from whence we came
again backwards
look at that sag in the line we see Big Buddha Buddha from a far
Davis being silly.
Rats are apparently a problem in some parts of Hong Kong. In this picture you will notice an extra large one in a red shirt.
lots of steps
us at the bottom....it was much colder up there, Davis was a gentleman and lent me his coat Almost to the top!
So strong!!
High five Mr. Buddha!
Model posing looking off into the distance.
Nazi Buddha!
A full picture of the HUGE Buddha.
Hong Kong's busy "Times Square"
A look into Modern Toilet. Click the picture to zoom and and notice the showerheads and plumbing decorating the walls.
A face cutout of a girl peeing in a urinal? Only in Asia!
Chicken curry out of a toilet. Yummy!
Our bath tub banana split. The bottom layer is chocolate flavored blended ice. It was actually a lot better than it sounds.
Modern Toilet gets two thumbs up from the Bensons!
A closer view of our seats at Modern Toilet.
He was so excited to get to eat at Modern Toilet (He has seen it on the internet before we came)
She is soo cute. Wearing Holland shoes and a santa hat...this is her version of dress-up!
Her present from Hong Kong, a good luck doll
the doll
I also was lucky enough TODAY to finally get the boots I have wanted for about 3 months. These are the cutest rain boots ever! They are shaped like cowboy boots, but are rubber and have skulls and roses on them. LOVE THEM! I wore them out tonight although it wasn't raining, I think these are my Sandra Bullock boots (movie - All About Steve).
