Womens Conference in Hong Kong

 

 

 I flew to Hong Kong for The Asia Women's Conference.  We arrived early Friday afternoon and headed straight to the Stanley Market.  To get to the market we took a taxi up a very steep narrow winding road.  So happy to get out of the taxi.  This is the view from the market. 

                                  The Stanley Market.  Great place to buy just about anything.

 I found some great treasures and I would love to come back with Tim Kennedy and Harrison.  They would love it.  After the market we all headed to the Women's conference.  After the conference it was out to dinner and downtown Hong Kong nightlife.  Reminded me of Times' Square. 

 

 

We had dinner at this little spot Din Tai Fung.  We ordered a several dishes to share and a few orders of their famous pork dumplings.  They were absolutely delicious! 

 

After more classes at the conference, which were really great, we headed to the Jade market. Let the haggling begin.

 

 

 Then it was more sightseeing.  We did lots of walking checking out shops and looking for food and heading towards the temple for our evening session.

 

 

 We made it to the temple in time for our session.  The Hong Kong temple reminds me a bit of the New York temple, tucked right in the middle of everything.

 The temple was lovely. I miss living close to a temple. This was comforting and refreshing, loved it.

Saturday morning was the closing session of the conference and then a few of us were off to hike "The Dragon's Back"  I forgot my camera, but I am hoping one of my hiking companions will send me a few photos of the hike.  It was beautiful, the weather was perfect and it felt great to get out in the fresh air.  After the hike we stopped at a large cemetery.  It was massive and the headstones where like small shrines and they were totally stacked on top of one another.  Very impressive. Again, I need to get photos from someone.  Then we headed to lunch.  Vietnamese.  The spring rolls were my favorite.  The phu had too many unknown cow parts for me.

 

Then we headed to the ferry.

 

                               You never know what you are going to see in a ferry terminal.  The book store made sense to me but the giant angry mouse?

We ran out of time so no ferry ride for us.  Off to the airport and back to Singapore.  I really enjoyed Hong Kong and hope we can visit again soon.  A weekend is just not long enough.

Haw Par Villa

 

 

 

While looking for condos we stumbled upon this treasure.  As described in a tourist blog, 

"Haw Par Villa, also known as the Tiger Balm Gardens has to be one of the weirdest tourist spots you can find in Southeast Asia, and the weirdest in Singapore. Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par, the two brothers behind the famous Tiger Balm, built the Haw Par Villa in 1937. It features over 1,000 statues and 150 dioramas inspired from Chinese folklore, history and mythology, and quickly became an attraction for people who appreciated Chinese culture."

 

 

 If I knew anything about Chinese folklore I am sure it would have been a different experience and if my children would not have been hot and tired it would also have been a different experience.  It was very interesting and one of Harrison and my favorite spots was the Ten Courts of Hell.  Beware:

 

 

 

 The Ten Courts of Hell are found inside this cavern guarded by some by some serious looking beasts.  Each court had a plaque explaining which sins were being considered and then the punishment for that sin was.  The  execution (no pun intended) was then depicted.  These scenes left nothing to the imagination.

 

 

 

 

A few of the other statues and buildings on the property:

 

 

 

 

                                               These statues were screaming "photo bomb"!

 

Newton's Circus

 

Newton's Circus is a well known hawker center.  It is right next to the stake center which is the building Kennedy and Harrison have YW/YM every Thursday.  It has come in handy.  The satay and friend rice were yummy!

 

 

 

 

 

Singapore Botanic Garden

 

 

 

 

We finally made it to the Botanical garden.  I have signed up to volunteer there and I really wanted to check out all of different areas in the garden.  It is an enormous place.  The trip did not go well.  First, we got a late start so it was already blazing hot when we got there.  Second, my children had no interest in joining me but I made them come thinking they would find something worthwhile to hold their attention or peak their curiosity.  No, they were not having it.  Third, there was a lot of walking involved.  It took 30 minutes to walk from the entrance that the MRT arrived at to the visitors center. Thirty minutes with no shade.

No water.

Big mistake.

Not happy people.

We used our umbrella for shade.

 

 

We did see a few flowers along our way through the streams of sweat pouring off of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were others but these people were not having any of it.  Kennedy amusing herself.

 

 

 We are a very photogenic family, aren't we.  Add tired sweaty mess and this is what you get.

 

 

 

 

 And then there were these very pungent flowers.

 

First stop was water, then the lovely air conditioned MRT station.  We will try again under better conditions or I may just go and enjoy it all by myself.

First Adventures

Harrison was game enough to try an Asian dish of hot noodles, broth, some greens and a boiled egg for breakfast.  He rocked those chopsticks!  Notice the napkins in his pocket?  Most places do not have napkins, so we have quickly learned to bring our own.

 

Decisions, decisions...what to eat?

A panorama of Marina Bay.  This is the Art Science Museum and it is surrounded by a pool full of lotus and the museum itself is in the shape of a lotus.  I will work on getting a better picture of the museum.  The architecture in Singapore is fantastic and so eclectic.  I am sure there will be several posts highlighting the architecture.

We have spent a good amount of time traveling in taxis as we look for our new home.  These two get a little bored, actually, we all do.

Until we find our permanent home we are staying at The Orchid Country Club.  It is lovely.  It has beautiful views, pools, a Subway and a grocery store, a few restaurants, a shuttle to the MRT station, wifi only in the lobby (doesn't make for the best place to do schoolwork) and a music school moving so the kids bought some new musical instruments.  A ukulele and a guitar are also sharing the room with us.

WE HAVE ARRIVED

SeaTac to Tokyo to Singapore.  After 16 hours of flight time, one transfer, way too many movies and airplane meals, we are safely in Singapore.  First two nights at the Crowne Plaza Changi airport hotel.  Jetlag, airport food, very cool pool (sorry I lost all photos from Seattle-first two weeks in Singapore, phone switch over complications) and car rental.  This was a very odd experience driving on the left side of the road while driving from the right side of the car.  Again, no photos.