We stayed up late last night trying to pack what we could. We really had to get creative with our things and hopefully our carryon luggage bags won't be rejected. They are definitely packed full. We kept out only what we needed for today and tomorrow and the rest was rolled up tight and crammed strategically into a suitcase. This morning we got up late as a result and missed breakfast downstairs. By the time we left the hotel it was lunch time so we stopped at KFC (they have the best waffle fries there) for a quick lunch and then headed to Central.
We had brought our art pieces with us because the three larger ones wouldn't fit in the suitcases so we were wanting to see how we could ship them home. We were hoping to find a package large enough to send them all but with the large canvas painting we got that wasn't going to happen. We were also hoping that the smaller three pieces would fit together but the embossed character one was too long for any package at the post office. We ended up having to mail the large print in the tube we got it in after taping it up a bit better then I had to get a little creative for the two water color pieces. I ended up cutting open one side of a large padded envelope and
then taping it all back together with the paintings inside. We probably spent a good hour at the post office trying to figure out how to package everything and then getting it all together and then figuring the best way to ship them. Hopefully all three will make it home and in good condition. We still had the long piece left but that one would fit in our suitcase we would just need to figure out a way to keep it flat. Neither one of us really wanted to do a whole lot today but Peter brought up the point that we weren't going to be doing anything at all tomorrow when we had to fly back home.
That motivated us to get moving and we talked about going back to the hotel to drop off our last art piece so we didn't have to carry it but when I searched the hours of the things we had discussed doing we knew we wouldn't have enough time. We got on the MTR and headed to Tsuen Wan. This is in New Territories and the last stop on the red line.
We rode the train all the way from the beginning to the end and got off to catch a minibus up the mountain. We were a little confused on how to go but we quickly figured it all out and got off the bus at Yuen Yuen Institute. We still aren't quite sure what the Institute is but we had a good time wandering through all the beautiful architecture and buildings. There were lots of people burning incense and praying and we got a ton of great photos.
Just about all the buildings reminded us of Beijing and we remembered lots of what we had learned about the colors and meanings of it all. Just to the south was the Western Monastery so we walked there and got to enjoy some more beautiful buildings. I really enjoyed seeing these places and Peter said he was glad we came also. The Western Monastery is styled as a classic Chinese Palace and there
was no one around so we freely roamed the very peaceful property walking up and down all the stairs and around the gardens and waterfall. When we had seen it all and taken as many pictures as we thought necessary we headed back up the road to catch the bus back down the mountain. When we got back off the bus at the bottom of the mountain I wanted to see Tak Wah Park which is in the middle of city.
I was looking at the map and trying to figure out where we were while Peter looked at his phone to get the GPS going. We weren't trying to figure it out for very long when a man came up to us and asked if he could help. I showed him where we wanted to go and he pointed us in the right direction and welcomed us to Hong Kong. Overall we have found that the people in Hong Kong are very helpful. They often offer to help us when we haven't asked for help and sometimes we don't
even look like we don't know what we're doing (or at least I don't think we do). We found our way to the park easily after that it was quite unimpressive so we just did a quick walk through and then headed back to the MTR. Since we had skipped the ICC yesterday we decided to hit it tonight. The temperature today was very cold again but the sky is absolutely clear. I don't think we have ever seen the sky in Hong Kong so clear before. There
isn't a pollution problem at all but because there is so much height to the mountains and so much humidity in the air we are usually in clouds or a mist/fog that you can't see through very far in. Even if you go to the best vantage point in Hong Kong you often won't be able to see too far because of the clouds. Since today is super clear and there seems to be absolutely no limit to how far you can see ICC would be great. ICC
stands for International Commerce Center, it is 118 floors high and is the 7th tallest building in the world standing at 1590 feet. On the 100th floor there is an observation deck that you can pay to go up to and
/>see a 360 view as far as you can. On the 101st floor there are four restaurants where you can eat while enjoying the amazing view. We assumed the prices at the restaurants would be pretty expensive but since we would have to pay for the observation deck we thought maybe it would be worth it to pay the difference. When we got to the ICC building we found out that the observation deck wasn't available because the entire thing had been reserved for a private event.
Okay, well we will see what the restaurants had going on. You can't just go up any random elevator to wherever you so we had to find our way to Sky Dining 101. We were directed to go around the corner and when we walked up a hallway a lady popped out and set the elevator for us to go on up. We got in the elevator and Peter and I watched as the meter count rose and the position on the animated ring around the ICC building picture got higher and higher. My ears popped a couple times but it was only a few seconds and we were there. It reminded me of the ride up the Sear's Tower in Chicago only in that elevator we were crammed in like sardines and this time it was just Peter and I. When the elevator doors opened and we got out we found ourselves in the middle of four hallways that each lead in different directions, like a big X. We made our way to each one (one was around another a corner or two so we didn't actually make it to that one because we weren't sure where it was and we felt weird about snooping around while no one else was there) and asked to look at the menus. Peter did most of the research, I mostly just stood around and looked at everything. There was a sushi place called Inakata and while we were trying to figure out where to eat (or even if we could afford to do so) the hostess asked if we wanted to see something. I wasn't sure what she had said due to the language barrier but Peter said sure so we followed her to the back around the corner and down a hallway or two when she opened a sliding door into another room. I was little worried at first, if we were on floor level I would have thought she was leading us out the back of the restaurant back to the street. In the room was a huge table with 20 or 30 place setting. It almost looked like a huge hibachi set up but there was no flat grill in front of the settings, instead there were dozens of shallow baskets with different types of food in each one. Most of them had vegetables in them but as they progressed toward the back they had different meats and fish on/in ice. Behind the table were two men who kneeled on stools. Peter made the decision that we would eat there but we weren't really sure what we were doing. We ordered a couple things off the menu, a salmon/avocado sushi roll and some beef with fried rice and got some water. It was a bit awkward because we were the only costumers in the whole room and there were probably 7 workers all waiting on us. After
much struggling over understanding one of the waitresses told us we could pick the foods from the table and one of the men would grill it however we liked. We asked a few prices and then Peter ordered chicken and mushrooms. The man closes to use had to crawl over to get to the mushrooms but I guess that's how he does it. He grilled up our chicken with teriyaki sauce and when the mushrooms were grilled our waitress made us a sauce of minced ginger and vinegar. The food was really good but also pretty expensive so we had to eat lightly. From the room you could see the amazing view from the large window that made up one entire wall. I took a few pictures but had a hard time because of the glare and reflections from the lights within the room. We really enjoyed dinner and the view and were happy we came. On the way out one of
managers (I assume) asked if we wanted to see the VIP room. He said the view was the best and we could turn the lights off. Of course, we said we did. He took us to a large dinning room with a traditional table and a corner view of the sky line. He showed us how to turn out the lights and then left us to take as many pictures as we wanted. It was amazing! What a huge blessing for us.
I still got some glare but hopefully I will be able to clean them up a bit in Photoshop and they look a million times better than the other ones plus you could see down Hong Kong Island's coast a lot farther in this room. When we left we made sure to thank the manager and then found our way back to MTR to get back to our hotel.
Time for more packing and showers. Early start tomorrow and the fire alarm that went off at 11:30pm didn't help.
Okay, well we will see what the restaurants had going on. You can't just go up any random elevator to wherever you so we had to find our way to Sky Dining 101. We were directed to go around the corner and when we walked up a hallway a lady popped out and set the elevator for us to go on up. We got in the elevator and Peter and I watched as the meter count rose and the position on the animated ring around the ICC building picture got higher and higher. My ears popped a couple times but it was only a few seconds and we were there. It reminded me of the ride up the Sear's Tower in Chicago only in that elevator we were crammed in like sardines and this time it was just Peter and I. When the elevator doors opened and we got out we found ourselves in the middle of four hallways that each lead in different directions, like a big X. We made our way to each one (one was around another a corner or two so we didn't actually make it to that one because we weren't sure where it was and we felt weird about snooping around while no one else was there) and asked to look at the menus. Peter did most of the research, I mostly just stood around and looked at everything. There was a sushi place called Inakata and while we were trying to figure out where to eat (or even if we could afford to do so) the hostess asked if we wanted to see something. I wasn't sure what she had said due to the language barrier but Peter said sure so we followed her to the back around the corner and down a hallway or two when she opened a sliding door into another room. I was little worried at first, if we were on floor level I would have thought she was leading us out the back of the restaurant back to the street. In the room was a huge table with 20 or 30 place setting. It almost looked like a huge hibachi set up but there was no flat grill in front of the settings, instead there were dozens of shallow baskets with different types of food in each one. Most of them had vegetables in them but as they progressed toward the back they had different meats and fish on/in ice. Behind the table were two men who kneeled on stools. Peter made the decision that we would eat there but we weren't really sure what we were doing. We ordered a couple things off the menu, a salmon/avocado sushi roll and some beef with fried rice and got some water. It was a bit awkward because we were the only costumers in the whole room and there were probably 7 workers all waiting on us. After
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