My last weekend there was a great way to wind up my trip. Saturday morning Uncle Eli, Auntie Marie and I woke up for an early breakfast and an early start on our hike along Dragon's Back. By 9AM we were well underway and boy was it hot already. I was dripping sweat from head to toe within an hour of climbing and walking in the sun, but the views made the heat well worth it!
Even better was that after the 3-hour hike we opted for a taxi ride to Stanely Market for lunch. We ate a delicious Spanish restaurant...too bad I was the only one that didn't think to pack a shirt to change in to. Nothing like sitting in a nice restaurant, in a tank top wet with your own sweat...So ladylike of me.
After the hike and lunch I was more than ready for a siesta, but ended up skyping all afternoon and downing an espresso instead. A quick shower later and Peter came by to pick me up for dinner and ice skating. Before dinner though Peter brought me on a short walk to a local Halal meat market. Peter had been to the market before and thought it would be a neat picture opportunity for me. As we came walked in to the market Peter approached a stall and immediately put out his hand to shake and greet one of the butchers. My heart stopped as the man put down his knife and the raw meat he was chopping and clutched Peter's hand. I'm pretty positive there was still raw meat clinging to the man's fingertips.
The man generously offered us drinks. "Err...no thank you, I'm okay..." I tried to stop him, but it was too late. Another man put down the raw meat he was handling and grabbed some glasses and poured some soda for us. EEK! I gingerly held the raw-meat bacteria lined glass in my hand and looked at Peter who had already began drinking the soda. YIKES BIKES! I contemplated my options and didn't want to be rude, but last time I was in Asia I got a horrible case of food poisoning and ended up missing my flight home because i was in a hospital in the Philippines. Nope, wasn't going to risk it this time. I put the drink down, insisting that it was only because I was going to take some photos.
But then things got even more uneasy as another man approached Peter and upon realizing he was an American, began a political discussion on whether it's legal for the US to be in Iraq/Afghanistan and his absolutely ridiclous (and terribly unoriginal) conspiracy theoreies on 9/11. "Go watch the YouTube video!" he argued (err dude we all saw that YouTube video 8 years ago...). The real problem was that we were without a doubt a minority in this meat market and the only thing Peter could do was awkwardly drink his infected soda as the man ignorantly berated ths US. I just took pictures. Finally Peter closed the conversation, "I strongly disagree with you, but we have to go."
We practically ran out of the market and quickly scrubbed our hands in the restaurant bathroom before a fun dinner with Peter's parents and their group of friends. "Man you really tore through those fajitas didn't you..." Thanks Peter. Thanks.
With dinner done, we headed to an ice skating rink for a bit of frolicking. I wanted nothing more than to scoop up a small asian child across the ice skating rink, but I'm not sure how well recieved that would have been by their parents.
Sunday morning the group met at the MTR station in Hung Hom to go to the 10,000 Buddhas Monastery in Sha Tin. I heard this was going to be quite a sight, but I had no idea how absolutely fascinating the 10,000 Buddhas would really be! It was defintely one of the most beautiful and interesting things I have been fortunate enough to see. The walkways up were lined with hundreds and hundreds of different styled Buddhas and everywhere you went they were keeping watch over you. Amazing.
Once again though I was a sweaty mess. We did a quick walk through a furniture shopping center nearby and then had lunch which happened to be my first Indian food experience. I can't believe I had been avoiding it for so long, it was delicious!
That night Uncle Eli and Auntie Marie invited Peter and his parents out for my last dinner in Hong Kong at Lian in my second Hong Kong home, the IFC. After coffee, cheese and sweets at Uncle Eli and Auntie Marie's place it was time to say our goodbyes. AHHHHHHHHH! This was it, my trip was OVER?! Unbelievable. Uncle Eli and Auntie Marie left to drive Peter and his parents to the ferry station and I was left alone to pack. I was pretty torn up needless to say. I stayed up until nearly 3Am packing, skyping, and dreading the 15.5 and 4 hr flights that laid ahead of me.
It feels good to be home (despite the awful jetlag), but I have to admit that I miss Hong Kong and I desperately want to plan another trip abroad, I'm just not sure where to. I think I honestly have thought my whole life that I would want to live, raise my kids, and grow old only in Texas and now...please no. I love Texas and there's still a lot more here in the US for me to discover, but there's just too much to see/experience/learn from out in the rest of the world for me to stay put in College Station/Sugar Land for too long!
But still, I'm heeaded to College Station tomorrow for a couple of days, back to Sugar Land for my niece's first birthday party, then to San Antonio with the family for a couple nights!
love, stine
I knew 3 weeks wouldn't be long enough. I'm glad you're going to be doing more traveling in the future. Yes! Indian food is awesome.
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