Hong Kong

For the Memorial Day weekend I went to Hong Kong. My friend Adam was working there so he talked me into coming over for a visit.

This is a view from the hotel room. We were at the Renaissance Harbor View in Wan Chai. It overlooked Kowloon on the other side of the harbor.


The first day we headed over to Stanley Market. It is a popular shopping area. I also got my first hamburger since I left for India and it was soooooooooo good!! We decided to walk around the area a bit. We saw a temple on the top of the hill so we hiked up to it. Above is the view from the temple.

After more shopping we headed back to where our hotel was. On the way back we had to pass through Repulse Bay. This is the the Beverly Hills of Hong Kong. There was some serious money in this area. We saw nothing but high end cars - Porches, Mercedes, Lexus, Lamborginis, etc. I even saw a DB9 which is an Aston Martin. There was also a Maybach dealership on the main road.


Once back by the harbor we took the Star Ferry from Hong Kong across Victoria Harbor to Kowloon.

View of Hong Kong in the background.


At night we went out in the Lan Kwai Fong area. The first stop was at an Ice Bar. It was a small room with ice blocks as tables. They gave you fur coats to go in. We stayed only briefly because it was so cold!


This is the view of DA'Aguilar Street in Lan Kwai Fong area. It reminded me a lot ofBourbonn Street or something like that. There were lots of American and Europeans. If fact all around Hong Kong I was surprised at the number of white people I saw. We hit up other places like D'Apartment and Lux on this street. On the way home we stopped by Agave Tequila Bar and
had a margarita that tasted like one you would get in the states. I've tried several in India and they just don't get them right - so it was a welcome treat!!



Sunday morning we got up and headed over to Lantau Island to see the Big Buddha. The trip to see the Buddha - once we got on the island - took us a lot longer than we had expected. Our original plan was to take the bus to the site and then hike back. However, because we got there so late and we had dinner reservations at 7pm we had to take the bus back as well! :o( Above is a view as we got off the bus.


View of Big Buddha from down below. The Big Buddha or Tian Tan Buddha, is the world's largest seated outdoor bronze Buddha. When we first got there everything seemed clear...


As we climbed to the top the fog rolled in and at times we couldn't even see the head of the Big Buddha.


See how thick the fog was!


But it provided some beautiful views as it cleared up!


Adam and I at dinner on Victoria Peak. We had an amazing dinner at The Peak Lookout.


View from Victoria Peak - 554 meters (about 1,817.6 feet) above sea level, Victoria Peak is the highest point within Hong Kong and occupies the western part of the island.

Random Pictures from April/May

The first picture below is one of my favorites. It was sent to me via e-mail by a complete stranger. When we were on the train to Amritsar there was this couple and their cute baby sitting one row back and to my right. I would glance back every once in awhile to check out the cooing noises I was hearing. The woman would always smile at me. I thought the baby was so cute and I was amazed by her full head of hair! At one of the stops we made along the way the lady got up with her baby - I thought they were getting off, but instead she asked if she could have a picture with me. We took a picture and then she basically just gave me her baby. Then she sat down in front of me for a bit then moved back with her husband. The whole time I was just holding her baby. It was fun - the baby was so cute and not crying or anything. I held the baby for awhile and then gave her back.

They had asked for my e-mail address when I was on the train and about two weeks later I got the picture above.


So for laundry we have this company come to work every Monday and Thursday (although they have been slacking lately and not coming until late on Tuesdays and Fridays). We drop it off one day and then the next time they come back we have clean laundry. They do a pretty good job and it is a fraction of what it would cost in the US. For a bag of laundry it cost me around $10 or so. One annoying part of the laundry is the fact that to keep our laundry straight they have to tag our clothes. They use a paper stapled onto the garment - it has become annoying to take these staples out all the time and leads to bleeding sometimes when you are in to much of a hurry to pull them off. And sometimes a rip in the clothes if they haven't put the staple in the correct place.


Dinner at Punjabi By Nature for another SMEs going away!! This was Ben's last party with us!!


Most of the shoe stores in India get there shoes from up above!! Whether it is because of space or what - most places have there stock of shoes on the second floor. The person down below shows the shoe and yells the size up to the man and he then throws the shoes down. I find it very amusing so I got a picture of it.

Then when they are done with the shoes or they need another size they just throw the shoes back up. Erica wanted to give this a try!! :o)


One Sunday I organized a group dinner at 19 Oriental Avenue - it is an Asian restaurant in the Shangri-La. I had heard it had good sushi. I ended up just getting Thai dishes but it was fabulous! The old manager from the 24 hour restaurant at the Taj now works at 19 Oriental Avenue and when he saw my name on the reservation he recognized it and made sure we had outstanding service! He even sent a drink for me on the house! Above is the entrance to the restaurant! I love Buddha figures so I had to get a shot of this!!


The group at dinner. Left to right - Jennifer, Erica, Vicki, Dan, Dave, me, Kinal, Farzeen, and Riz.


This is the sign on the door to the bathroom stall at work! Thought it was interesting! Plus you never need to bring a paper to the bathroom - it is on the stall door! :o)


This was the bar we went to for Pete and Kinal's going away - Urban Pind. At the end of the night we found the 'Bar Closed' sign and thought it would be a great picture if we all looked sad - not all of us got the memo though!! :o)


The Orient Express is the name of the bar and very nice restaurant in the Taj that we from time to time hang out in and have drinks! Above is Farzeen, Riz, and Juan.


Kinal and Kristin ant Orient Express.


My good friend Avery came to town to visit for a long weekend. She was in Singapore for work and was able to get the time off to come visit. Above is us at Akshardham Temple. It is a Hindu temple that was completed towards the end of my last visit. It is a truly amazing temple - definitely worth visiting if you are ever in Delhi. Check out the photo gallery in this link --> http://www.akshardham.com/


On Saturday we made our way to the Taj Mahal in Agra. It was my second visit to the Taj! It was just as beautiful and just as hot as the first time I visited - thankfully not as crowded!!


Above is a picture of them mowing the lawn at the Taj Mahal! I have to admit I've never seen someone mow a lawn with ox!


Jennifer getting hounded outside the Taj Mahal! It was relentless!! In this picture they were trying to sell her pens that had nothing to do with the Taj!


Saturday night we went to Bukhara for dinner. We took this opportunity to get dressed up in our Saris! I bought mine when I was in Kerala and finally got the shirt made so I could wear it.


Avery and I at Bukhara!


Erica, Vicki, and I in our saris!

Udaipur

Udaipur is one of the places I knew I wanted to definitely visit my second time around. I had heard many good things about the city and it lived up to all expectations! The flight out was on a much smaller plane than I expected. I sat next to this 9 year old girl that was very friendly. She was just as curious about me and what I was doing as I was about her. She was flying all by herself and seemed like a pro. She was going to visit her grandparents that lived in Udaipur. It kind of reminded me of when I was younger and my sisters and I would go to visit my grandparents in Oklahoma by ourselves!

My friend on the flight to Udaipur. She spoke very good English. I had read somewhere that most kids don't take English until they are in secondary school. This girl went to some type of private school. She told me they didn't learn from books but rather were assigned projects. They had to go out and do the research and report back. She currently was working on a project about food where she went out to villages and met with farmers.


This was the door guy at the Taj Lake Palace. He ended up taking us to the airport on Monday. The Taj car was going to be 899 rupees and we knew we could get it for less than half that so we asked him to get us a cab. Instead he said he'd drive us personally for 300 rupees. He looked a little strange out of the normal get-up with his mustache, but he was a really nice guy. When he picked us up he had someone else driving the car and he just went along with us. In the end I think it was a way for him to make a little money on the side and get a free ride to the airport to meet with some contacts. After he dropped us off we saw him waving at a bunch of people and then shaking hands with a lot of cops in and out of the airport.


The Taj Lake Palace - our hotel - was a former summer palace that is in the middle of Lake Pichola. Every time we wanted to go to or leave our hotel we had to take a boat. This is one of the drivers that we had several times.


Kristin and I with the City Palace in the background.


Above is our hotel. It is a 250 year old marble palace.


Our room was very, very nice!


View from our room! We had a great view of the City Palace.


Courtyard just outside of our room. Some scenes from the James Bond movie Octopussy were filmed in this courtyard.


More views of the hotel.


Pool at the hotel.


Sunset in Udaipur!


Another view of the sunset. On the top of the hill you see Monsoon Palace. It was one of my favorite places in Udaipur. It had some amazing views that you will see below.


The rooftop restaurant where we watched the sunset.


View of City Palace at night from where we ate dinner.


View of Udaipur from City Palace.


Inside City Palace. You can see some of the beautiful Mosaics that are throughout this palace.


Outside view of City Palace. Built in granite and marble and surrounded by crenellated fort walls, the largest palace complex in Rajasthan stands on a crest overlooking the Pichola Lake.


Cute money on the road to the main shopping area!


Our rickshaw driver for the weekend! You can't really tell from this picture - but I've never seen this much hair coming out of a mans ear!! :o) Very nice guy!


Outside of Monsoon Palace. The palace was not kept up very well but the views from the palace where amazing. When I win the lottery I want to buy the property and fix the place up!!


View of Udaipur from Monsoon Palace. If you look in the middle, left of the picture you can see our hotel in the lake.


Another view from the palace.


This is as close as I'm going to get to spotting leopards in the wild!! :o)