Hiking Dragon's Back

This is the last of my CNY posts. We did a great hike one day called Dragon's Back. It was a little hazy, but there were amazing views from both sides of the ridge we were hiking along.

This way to Dragon's Back!

View of our apartments from the hike. They're the tall buildings to the right.

Thank goodness for cameras with timers.

View of Chai Wan Cemetery on the hillside.

Spiritual Tour of Kowloon

Friday was our spiritual tour of Kowloon. We went to two very different places. The first was a super-busy temple. There were hundreds (or maybe thousands) of people all giving their CNY's best to the gods of their choice, while being ushered through the temple maze by barriers and police officers.

The maze of people leading up to the temple entrance

Bags of fruit left and incense (or joss sticks) left as gifts

A woman carrying her joss sticks

Look at all that smoke! Needless to say, I smelled strongly of incense for the rest of the day.

The next place we went to was a nunnery one MTR stop away. It was a such a different experience to the other temple- very beautiful and peaceful.

The buildings were constructed without the use of any nails. Amazing woodwork.

The thing I love about this view is the contrast between the modern buildings in the back and the traditional plants and building in the foreground. The background almost looks surreal.

Happy (Lunar) New Year!

Kung hei fat choy! That's about all I know in Cantonese, so I've taken the opportunity to say it as much as possible in the past week. Monday was the official start of the year of the ox. We've had the week off from school, and decided to take this holiday to explore Hong Kong and save up for our trip to Italy (woohoo!!!!) over Easter. To kick things off, we figured we should check out the CNY fair in Victoria Park. It was madness-- tons of people. About half of Victoria Park had booths with people selling everything from abolone-shaped pillows (so gross) to year of the ox hats . The other half was flowers and plants. It's supposed to be good luck if a flower blooms in your house on New Year's Day.

Year of the Ox pillows, hats, blankets, and more!

Lots of interesting foods (which we did not try), including squid on a stick. I know, you're probably thinking calamari. Not exactly. It was not fried, had no breaded coating, and had all of its legs in tact.

Nate surrounded by auspicious CNY plants. Almost everything is auspicious here, I think.

On Tuesday, Nate and I decided to brave the crowds again in an attempt to see the CNY fireworks over Victoria Harbor. We went across the harbor to Kowloon to watch there, as we figured it would be less crowded. We got there an hour or so early in order to stake claim on a table at a waterfront restaurant. We ate until the fireworks started, then jumped up on a wall with lots of other people to watch the fireworks and take pictures. Then we sat back down to finish eating. It was great!

Lights cover the sides of buildings to decorate for Christmas and CNY in Kowloon.


View of the HK skyline across Victoria Harbor.

The fireworks!

After the fireworks, we walked down the street and happened upon this Philipino band. It's totally stereotyping, but many Philipinos seem to have great voices, and they're great at doing covers of American songs- any genre! We hung out for a while and had a blast listening to these girls sing everything from TLC's "Waterfalls" to Journey to some new rock song from the movie Twilight. You could request any song and they would sing it, and sing it well. So fun!

Repulse Bay Temple

Nate and I had a lovely day on Saturday.  We parked at the school and walked down to the Repulse Bay Temple by the beach.  We had a great time using our new camera to take photos.

Entrance to the temple

A giant statue of the Goddess of Mercy

Every time you walk across this bridge, your life is prolonged by 3 days...at least that's what the sign says

Everyone rubs this statue because it's supposed to bring you wealth

A view of the Repulse Bay beach near the temple

Home for the Holidays

Happy New Year! Nate and I are currently sitting in the airport in MI, awaiting the departure of our delayed flight. We had a great, but busy, time visiting our three families in NC and MI for Christmas break over the course of a little less than two weeks, and will leave for Hong Kong tomorrow. Total traveling time this trip-- drumroll please-- about 72 HOURS! (Gasp!) But you're all worth it.
Other than enjoying our time with family, which was spent mostly talking and eating, we also enjoyed some things we don't have in Hong Kong. Nate's favorites: snow, college football, and his grandma's shredded wheat bread. My favorites: my mom's homemade Chex Mix, warm fires, and shopping at Banana Republic.

Here are some of the photo highlights of our trip...which were taken with our NEW camera!

Allen family photo

Jessica & Brett (my sister & bro-in-law)

My grandmother opening gifts

My grandfather opening gifts

(Us)

Maddie, my parents' dog

Nate's grandmother enjoying dinner at Sue's

Nate and his brother Cooper

View of Lake MI

Amy & Jim's barn

(A branch)

Our adorable nephew, Marlow

Dennison family photo