Hibbets' Happenings

Our time in Hong Kong is just about ended. We are mostly packed, and for now everyone is asleep but me. David fell asleep beside Joshua, but I figure he'll wake up again shortly. Sunday morning we got up early and went to church. Our original plan was to wake up by 6:30 and leave by 7:30 to make it to the early service in Kowloon Tong (Kowloon International Baptist Church) at 9:00. Well, I couldn't figure out how to set the alarm clock on David's cell phone so it ended up being 7:00 when I woke up. We rushed around and made it to the bus stop a few minutes before 8:00; and then discovered that on Sundays the bus doesn't start running until 8:00. So we really weren't late after all. We ended up catching the bus at 8:15, caught all the MTR trains and lifts perfectly, and were at the church at about 9:20 -- we made really good time. Then, we found out I was wrong -- that church started at 9:30, not 9:00! So we weren't late at all. The early service at KIBC is a little more contemporary with a praise band and worship choruses rather than hymns and an organ. The pastor wasn't there, so the youth pastor preached. He's from Germany, I believe. His name is Maik -- it's pronounced like "Mike." He seemed very nice. It is very interesting and neat to be exposed to a truly international church like this one and the one in North Point. It is a very different experience for us. At the Christmas party we went to with the home group from the North Point church there were several Chinese, of course, and a few Americans, of course, but also a guy from Firenze (that's Florence, Italy) and one from New Zealand -- probably other nationalities, too, but that's all I can remember right now. On our way back to the MTR station after church, the heel on my shoe broke off! We were planning to go to a museum and walk around, but instead we headed to the mall at Kowloon Tong, called Festival Walk. It's a pretty nice mall, but also pretty upscale. We walked around for what seemed like forever to find me an affordable pair of shoes that I liked. We ended up back at Marks & Spencer, where we started, and spent about $40 on a pair of black flats. Well, they'll have to do. Then we decided to watch Happy Feet there at the cinema in the mall. We got some lunch at the Delifrance bistro -- a panini and pasta and then went to the movie. And we got some more Chinese-style popcorn, it was so good! Happy Feet was okay; I hate that we spent so much money on tickets for an "okay" movie. But you never know until you see it. It's one I may rent to see again, but not buy. I didn't like it that much. After Happy Feet we did a little more shoe shopping in the mall and then decided to leave. We went to Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) -- pronounced (something like) Chim Sha Choy -- which is the station on the harbor on the Kowloon side. We walked around a little bit, found the Avenue of the Stars, bought some coffee and some bakery treats, and walked along the harbor until we found the Star Ferry. Then we rode the Star Ferry to Causeway Bay and caught a bus back to North Point. Oh, and we lost Jayden's cup; we brought two sippie cups with us and managed to hang onto both the whole trip -- even Jayden did great keeping up with her cup while we'd be out -- until Sunday. David had it and set it down rather than putting it in the bag, and we left it. Oh well, there are more important things. I just think it's funny that we were so close to making it through the trip with both of them. I knew at the beginning we were taking a big risk that we wouldn't be coming home with them. It's okay too, though, because she really likes drinking like we do rather than from a sippy cup. So I may not even try to replace it. We walked around in North Point, did a little more shoe shopping and just window shopping and looking, and we ended up eating at a little restaurant/cafe-type thing called Congee Wonderland. Congee is a rice soup, very popular here. David got his with beef and mine had fish balls (like meat balls, but with fish rather than meat). We also got a "turnip cake" to try (very hard to describe) and some rice noodles. It was all very good. Very cheap, and good. I brought my congee home for later and actually just ate it tonight. We were home around 9:00, I think. David and I stayed up until past midnight but the kids of course went to sleep. We were curious about fireworks, but we could only see the ones from Disney, which is pretty far from here. We could see a countdown on one of the big buildings downtown and we could hear the people at midnight. On the news we got to see a little more about ringing in the New Year in Hong Kong. I'm glad we were up here and not out in the craziness, especially with the kids. Monday we slept in and worked for a while around here, but after lunch we decided to get out and enjoy the sunshine, knowing it would probably be our last time out. We just went to North Point; we walked around the markets, did a little more shopping (but not much buying), got some final bakery treats, and ended up getting a supper snack at Yoshinoya again, the Japanese fast food place. We tried something new, the salmon flakes bowl. It was different, but fine. There hasn't been anything I just haven't liked. But I'm not a very picky eater, either. Today we were up at 8:30 and we worked at home all day. I worked on grading and David worked on packing. We had some visitors; Dr. F. S. Hu (Miranda's husband) stopped by to say hello and goodbye and wish us well; Alex, also from Shue Yan, came by to visit and say goodbye; we got to exchange addresses with him and I do hope we'll keep in touch. We were able to arrange the Rehabus service to pick us up in the morning; the Toyota van was already booked so they're sending a tour bus to get us! It will cost more, but still be cheaper, or about the same, as two taxis. And we can all ride together. We should have plenty of room! They said it will seat 23. It's a blessing that worked out. Tonight I had my last class. The students gave their final presentations and then we took some pictures. Two of the girls brought gifts for Joshua and Jayden. Jayden was still up when I got back up to the apartment so she got to open them and I took pictures. She liked both of them (well, all of them, even Joshua's socks) very much. We ate supper and now everyone's asleep. I'm going to fix me a last "homemade Starbucks" -- that's what I'm calling my coffee with leftover eggnog and a dash of nutmeg on top; which is not good for the caffeine but I will enjoy the taste. I'll read a chapter or two in the Bible for today, since I haven't read yet, and then work on finishing packing up, I guess. Oh, and I'm going to make us some pancakes that we can eat for breakfast in the morning. We also have some other snacks to take with us and have in the airport and while we travel tomorrow. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel. Please pray for safety, and for the kids to travel well (they were awesome on the way over and I know it was because you were praying), and for our layover -- timing and customs -- to go smoothly in Newark. That will be a little after lunchtime your time tomorrow. And then we should arrive in Dallas at 6:30 (your time) tomorrow night. We'll be in Dallas until Saturday, and then home in Monroe! And with that, I guess our Hong Kong trip is over. I may get a few more pictures of us heading out and travelling home, but there may not be anything left to post about. I don't know if we'll have Internet access in the hotel in Fort Worth or not. So now this can go back to being our health blog. And we can go back to being much more diligent about eating the way God wants us to eat! It's like we've been on vacation for a month, and our waistlines feel it. Pray for David; he's taking his nutrition certification exam on Thursday afternoon. He's been studying hard and this certification would mean a lot. It's very neat that he'll get to take this exam while we're in Dallas already for the trip and conference. And my conference presentations are Friday evening and Saturday morning; I would appreciate your prayers that those go smoothly. I still have some work to do on my slides for my presentations. We don't get a break -- there's still lots of work to do! I'll shift my work to conference presentations until Saturday and lay off class work until Monday. Then I'll have one week before classes at ULM begin, with more than one week's worth of work to do. But I know the Lord will provide as He always does. I guess the kids start back to school on Monday, too; they won't remember what that's all about! And Jayden will have a new teacher and everything. Hmm, never a dull moment. But that would be boring! See you all soon. With love from Hong Kong, Aleecia