Hibbets' Happenings

Wednesday we decided we would be tourists. We left here mid-morning to go to Aberdeen, on the southwest coast of Hong Kong island. I had read that there wasn't much to do or see in Aberdeen except ride in a sampan, which we didn't figure we could do (little boats driven by ladies who take you around the harbor) because of the wheelchair -- and eat at the Jumbo floating restaurant. So that was our plan; see the boats and find the restaurant and eat dim sum at what's supposedly the world's largest floating restaurant. We rode the MTR to Central and then had to find the bus to Aberdeen. The only one we saw and were told about when we asked was Bus 70 -- which unfortunately didn't have a wheelchair space and had stairs to get up into the bus. We weren't sure what to do, but ultimately decided to make do. We're getting pretty good at stairs, so that wasn't a problem, but there wasn't really space on the bus for the wheelchair. He took up most of the aisle, but the other passengers didn't seem to mind. The people here seem very, very friendly. We have been very impressed. So Bus 70 took us to Aberdeen and let us off at the harbor. Then what? We weren't sure what to do. While we were trying to get our bearings and figure out which direction to head -- because we weren't dropped off at the Jumbo floating restaurant -- a lady came up to us soliciting us to ride in her boat. We asked if the wheelchair could ride, and she said yes (all of this was in broken English, mind you); we asked how much and she gave us a card with information in English -- which said about $60 (HK) a person. We told her we wanted to eat first, then we'd come back and ride. We determined that she was telling us they would take us to the restaurant, and since we didn't know where to go, we decided to take her up on the offer. We got the wheelchair and stroller down the stairs and into the boat. David gave her $200 (HK) -- that's $26 -- and off we went. It was pretty neat. We probably could have bargained her down a little, but we didn't try. And David may not have realized that. Bargaining is not as much in our culture, so we're not as accustomed to thinking about it, and I was the one who had read that about Aberdeen and the boats. So the boat took us to the restaurant; it was only about a 5 minute ride, but I took pictures and just enjoyed it. When we got to the restaurant they directed us to the second floor, which here is actually called the first floor. We couldn't tell if there were three separate restauraunts, and what the difference was. Also, there seemed to be another restaurant off to the right. I'm not sure about what that was; if it was a separate restaurant or what. Our plan was to eat dim sum at the floating restaurant. My guidebook had said the restaurant was kind of expensive, but the dim sum wasn't too bad cost-wise, and that was the cheapest way to go. Plus, the dim sum menu was in English -- definitely a plus. So we could accomplish two things at once -- eat dim sum in Hong Kong and eat at the floating restaurant in Aberdeen. Dim sum, by the way, is difficult to define. I think literally it means "little snack." We ordered four different ones; one was kind of like a spring roll with mango and cream cheese inside; one was like a soft cake with a sesame-honey paste inside (it was our favorite), one was like a dumpling, and one had a very soft and kind of slimy outside -- those two weren't sweet but I'm not remembering what it was on the inside. One had some chicken; the other must have just been vegetables. We also ordered Chinese tea. I took pictures. After taking the sampan over we were low on cash and I was worried that we would be stuck at the restaurant with no way to get back to the harbor! But we found out there's a free shuttle ferry from the restaurant back to the harbor. So note to all future Hong Kong visitors: ride the sampan if you want for the experience (and I don't regret that we did) but you can get to the restaurant for free if you want! After lunch we found the bus to take us to Stanley Market to do some shopping. We probably got there around 2:00, which ordinarily would be enough time, but we apparently enjoyed shopping too much. The market shuts down around 6:00, although a few stay open until closer to 7:00. We did a lot of shopping, but not enough buying, because we still had several to buy for when we left Stanley at the end of the day. But we did buy some more of the pants that I had hoped to buy and a jacket for Joshua, all for $10HK each. David got a new pair of jeans for about $15US and we did buy a few souvenirs. Oh, and we bought Joshua a suit, a 3-piece black dress suit, for $25US. Jayden got a new outfit, too, because she had soiled her clothes and we forgot that I actually HAD packed her a change of clothes. The good thing about Stanley closing earlier is that you get home sooner than if it stayed open late. We stopped at the grocery store and then came on home. Thursday was a class day for me, so in the morning I stayed in and worked, but in the afternoon we got out and first went to Kowloon to pick up the shirts from the tailor and bought a few more souvenirs. Then we came back to North Point for a little while. Mostly we just walked around and looked and enjoyed being out. We decided to pick up some Yoshinora for supper; that's Japanese fast food. That was very interesting! It was very similar to our idea of fast food, with the menu up front up on the board, up high, and you place your order at the counter and then wait to pick up your order, just like if you were at McDonald's or KFC. We selected two items: chicken (w/ vegetables and rice) and a combo beef and chicken (w/ vegetables and rice). Both meals were also served with miso soup, kimchi, a jello-type dessert, and japanese tea. We got all that -- a ton of food -- for like $10 (US). We enjoyed it and may have it again before we leave. Friday we went back to the Ladies' Market, in Kowloon, to try to finish up shopping. We weren't able to quite finish, but we got close. I bought a little jewelry and David got a belt, and we bought some souvenirs and gifts. We took a picnic lunch and didn't end up staying there too long. Then we came back to North Point to find the post office and walk around a little more. David did find the post office, eventually. We got back home early, watched the end of Ladder 49 (we had brought it with us on DVD, the CleanFilms version) and then caught some of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney version) which was playing on TV. It was a fun evening. This morning David got up early and headed to the post office with our box. He was able to send it off, but I don't know if we did something wrong -- it cost us $150 -- US! I can't believe it was that much. I don't know if it was because it was big or heavy or what. I had no idea it would cost that much. But oh well, it's done now. Now we'll just have to see how long it takes to arrive. We still haven't received our boxes from our parents, and they were sent a week before Christmas. Everyone pray that they come on Tuesday (the mail won't run on Monday). At 1:30 we were picked up by two of my students to have lunch with my class. They took us to a nice restaurant in Causeway Bay in Times Square. We were treated to a wonderful, traditional Chinese lunch. They said everything was usual Chinese food, all Cantonese style, except for the Udon noodles which were Japanese. Also, one dish had broccoli, and they said broccoli wasn't really traditional, that it was more Western. I thought that was interesting. Lunch lasted almost 2 hours. Then the same 2 students, Conrad and Angel, took us up to the Peak. We took pictures and then went inside to warm up and feed Joshua. We ended up ordering ice cream at this fancy restaurant. It was very tasty. I was still pretty full from lunch. We had tried a little bit of everything. But David, Jayden and I shared an ice cream, which was just right. Then we went inside one of the souvenir shops there in the Peak Galleria and I think we finally finished buying the gifts we wanted to get. We even got a new game, a traditional Chinese game that we'll have to learn how to play. That's a nice souvenir. Then they took us home. We decided to order Pizza Hut again; we had wanted to have it again before we left. We decided to try the Thousand Island sauce rather than the tomato sauce. It's not my favorite, but I'm glad we tried it. Our pizza was the Fisherman's Favorite, with tuna, pineapple, onions, and green peppers. It was good. Different, but good. We also ordered the sole fillet rice side item and pumpkin soup. I thought we did good in that we ordered all things we can't get back home. Okay, I think that gets me caught up on posts. Tomorrow is church; we're planning on going to the early service at Kowloon International Baptist Church (we'll have to leave here about 7:15) and then spend the day sightseeing. I found a museum I'd like to check out on the Kowloon side but near the harbor, and then we can ride the Star Ferry back to Hong Kong Island and then come home. That's one of the few things we really want to do that we haven't done yet. Now I'll try to post some pictures!