Hong Kong Day 1

First, jet lag hasn't been too bad! We left for Hong Kong Island around 9:30 am and didn't get back until 8:20 in the evening...that's one way to avoid napping at odd hours. :) it was a full day but we fairly easily navigated the public transportation and got some good advice on places to visit from someone who lives here.

It was cloudy ALL day (though the weather was very pleasant - probably between 65 and 75) and so we did not do the Peak which is the one thing we had planned to do. However, we were advised by many that it isn't really worth it unless it is a clear day. Bummer!

We did enjoy Hong Kong Park with it's many attractions but most notably an amazing aviary and a tea museum. We had lunch outdoors in the park at a Japanese/Thai place. It seems like quite the fusion of cuisine here. Our food was delicious! I had pad thai and a honey lime citron tea and Andrew had one of their specials that included a very interesting gelatin dessert - all very good. We also went to the Hong Kong zoological and botanical gardens which was very beautiful and they had many varieties of primates which our boys would have found fascinating. We found a bakery to buy some yummy cakes filled with lotus paste and one even had an egg yolk in the middle -yum! We went to St. John's Cathedral which was gorgeous - it's an episcopalian church. We did go to the bank of China building - they have a viewing deck on the 43rd floor...but again , it was very hazy and confirmed our decision to not do the peak. :( we ended our day at a local temple but could only view it from the outside- we missed it closing by 20 minutes. The night market was right beside it, so we watched vendors transform the street into a a shopping market which makes the famous night market. We browsed but did not buy anything. We stopped and had dinner there - truly a local experience. We stuck with the vegetarian fried noodles and when they walked up with it from somewhere down the street, I was glad we hads stuck with vegetarian. :) they were delicious though! For that and two cokes, it was 52HK dollars (about 7 us). 

We hope to post pictures at some point but haven't figured out the best way yet. May just have to be on Facebook. We fly to nanjing city tonight! We are feeling very relaxed and rejuvenated today. Definitely glad we took a little time to acclimate to the 13 hour time difference and just enjoy being together.