October 24th - Hong Kong, China

Got off the ship this morning and took the ferry over to the "Central Area"
of Hong Kong Island. Wanted to visit the Apple store to update my operating
system and apps using their fast and free Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi on the ship is 75
cents per minute). The trip did not end up being free, since I bought a new
IPad Mini while there, the energy was contagious. The store was huge, I
think there was a minimum of a hundred blue-shirted employees helping
customers with their purchases and devices. We were fortunate enough to have
some great people assisting - Zero, Cindy and the manager Marcus.

At one point while in the Apple store, a young man sitting next to me asked
where I was from. When I told him I was from the United States, he very
proudly told me that he worked for Ford-China, an American company, a nice
experience.

Went back to the ship to unload my purchases from my free Wi-Fi trip.

Took another ferry back over to the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong Island to
find the local markets where the shops and stalls were said to be buzzing
with local life. It was definitely for locals, I never saw another tourist,
and there were no souvenir shops. There was an amazing array of meat (every
part of an animal is eaten and sold), fish, fruits, vegetables and spices.
The fish here was so fresh, that at one stall, they were jumping out of the
displays, trying to escape their fate. Bought some hot peppers to bring back
to the crew so they could make some samba sauce. I even saw an authentic
Chinese laundry here.

This was the last day in Hong Kong, and as much as I loved this place, I am
looking forward to some fresh sea air. The pollution here was terrible,
making it difficult to breathe and awful conditions for taking photos.

October 23rd - Hong Kong, China

Got outside early this morning to watch the sail into Hong Kong - really
makes you feel like Denver is a small town.

First stop after getting off the ship was to visit Thomas Cheung at Admund
Optical to order some reading glasses - people on the ship swear by him, and
his prices are at least half of what they might be in the states.

The touring began with some rides via subway and bus to Lantau Island. A
large portion of this island is uninhabited. First stop here was to the
rural Tai O fishing village with traditional stilt houses and shops. After
walking around and taking a boat ride here, we hopped on another bus to see
"The Big Buddha", an 85 foot statue at the top of 268 steep steps - the
climb down was much easier than the climb to the top.

Also located here is the Po Lin Monastery, where in addition to viewing the
beautiful buildings, the timing was such that we saw some kind of ceremony
going on with many monks - very nice.

Took the four mile ride down the mountain on the Ngong Ping 360 crystal
cable car with a glass floor back to Tung Chung. I am sure that had there
not been so much pollution, it would have been breathtaking, but the ride
over the bay and islands was still enjoyable.

Next on the agenda was a visit to the Temple Street Night Market, with
fortune tellers, hookers, hawkers, shop stalls (where one buys things they
really do not want or need, just to join in the game of bargaining with the
vendors), and all kinds of street food (most of which you would not find
served in the states). A fun place with some locals - but mostly tourists.

Went back to the ship to get a ring-side viewing spot for the city's evening
laser show. It was great, but paled in comparison to the theatrical and
bright light show in Shanghai.

Tomorrow - looking forward to another day in Hong Kong.