Buddha Buddha Buddha

GUEST POST from cousin JBC:

I thought I'd kinda update y'all on my trip as I go :) The flight over here took 11 1/2 hours from Dallas to Tokyo. Thankfully I had a window seat and could rest my head up against the wall. I have a fear about falling asleep in an aisle seat and facing someone I don't even know with my mouth gaping open while I sleep (sadly, I do wake up with my mouth often if I sleep on the plane lol). I had a long layover in Tokyo and then a 4 1/2 hour flight to Hong Kong (HK). Bree was waiting for me at the airport...she said all she had to do was look for a blonde girl. She only saw 3 total while waiting on me lol. I'm def the minority with blonde hair and blue eyes :) Bree and Matt live in Discovery Bay which is apart from the actualy Hong Kong island where all the skycrapers are. So, we took a bus ride to their area and went to bed shortly after since it was after midnight HK time.

Yesterday (Thursday) we slept in until 10:30 or so and leisurely got ready. Matt had work so Bree and I set out for Lantau Island where the Big Buddha is. It's the largest outdoor seated buddha ever according to the facts about it. We could have taken a cable car ride and seen the scenery up high but Bree is pretty afraid of heights and with being 31 weeks pregnant doesn't wanna take any chances.... totally understandable! So, we took a bus ride up the mountain which took about 45 minutes. The Big Buddha was huge! We took over 200 stairs up to get to the base of it. Surprisingly Bree was gun hoe about it and did the stairs with me. We took it nice and slow though and me being a nurse I made sure to stop often and tend to her needs. She has been feeling remarkably well -- no sickness and getting rest, so she said she was up for the trek. The weather was also perfect yesterday.... sunny, about 75 degrees with a cool breeze every now and then. After viewing the Big Buddha we went to the Po Lin Monastery, had a vegetarian meal (interesting lol), and watched a variety show. I call it that because it featured acrobats, a contortionist, monks doing tai chi / kung fu / or some martial arts form (not sure which one!), and a unicyclist. It was fun and a nice chance to sit down and put our feet up for a bit. After that we headed back home to meet Matt and a couple of their friends for dinner.

Discovery Bay, where Bree and Matt live, is quite a "normal" experience. It's a lot of foreign workers including Americans, British, German, French, Indian, and Chinese ppl. It's quite a mix! Bree said most of the people who live there work in HK live and commute. The plaza area has a lot of restaurants and shops and children play openly about as it is a very safe place. Bree said that HK has one of the lowest crime rates and I must say you can sense the safety feel over here. Kids ride the buses alone and run around and play alone. Wouldn't it be nice to do that in America?! We ate at a place called Zaks that overlooked the bay and we were able to see Disneyland's nightly firework show from our seats. The weather was gorgeous and the food was good. It was nice to meet Sarah and Anthony who they knew from church in London and and now work here as well.

Today (it's 8:15 a.m. Friday morning) we are going over to HK island to Mongkok Market in Kowloon to do a little shopping. I'm not quite the haggler but apparently that's part of the whole experience. Might could be a problem since it's hard for me to think in HK dollars. The HK dollar is 1/8th of a US dollar. .... You divide the HK amount by 8 and that's how much it cost. So, HK $500 = US $40. It's hard for me to think quickly like that on the spot. Other than market, we are meeting up with Sarah and Anthony again to hang out and go to dinner.