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| A real playground! We hadn't seen one of these for a long time. |
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| Monkeys galore |
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| We thought we might melt |
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| "Reptile House." I think. |
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| Beautiful gardens in the middle of the city |
--> Jacob had to work this morning so the kids and I ventured out
without him. We hailed a cab and told the driver we wanted to
go to Hong Kong Park. Unfortunately the driver only spoke five
words of English; Hong, Kong, or park were not three of them.
He had me use his walkie-talkie and I tried my three words on the
taxi operator. We all wondered nervously where we'd actually
end up. He dropped us off at the Botanical Gardens and
Zoological Park (hey, close enough!) and it was great. Monkeys
galore, a beautiful fountain that we wanted to swan dive into, and
beautiful plants and flowers were the highlights. We caught a
cab back, but I realized as I tried to explain where "back"
was that I didn't exactly know. I knew the road and the cross
streets but he needed a street number. He was so friendly and
was obviously relieved when we found the Starbucks where Jacob was
working.
In the afternoon we got on the MTR which took us under
the harbor to Nan Lian Garden, an incredibly serene and picturesque
garden. Connected to the garden was a stunning monastery.
It was closed to tourists but the exteriors and the koi ponds alone
made us feel like we'd left behind the busy, western city and arrived
in the heart of China for awhile.
We caught a cab to the Temple Street Market. The boys picked
out small golden Chinese dragons and Anna chose a jade elephant for
their souvenirs of Hong Kong. Lucy went with chopsticks.
I had read about a highly-recommended northern Chinese food
restaurant and after searching long and hard we found the narrow
staircase that led to it. It opened up to a large dining room
packed with only Chinese people. I felt like all eyes were on
us as we were shown to our table. We had no idea what to order
so I leaned back and ventured to ask the family with children next to
us what they recommended for kids. I got lucky because they
spoke English and recommended some amazing items on the menu.
Egg rolls, orange chicken, pot stickers, fried apples, and a few
unknown dishes were are delectable. We rolled out of the
restaurant and took another cab under the harbor and back to the M.A.
(mini-apartment).
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