A picture a day

I have been taking a picture a day for all of 2009 (you can see them HERE) and now that the year is over, I have all 365 pictures. Here is a slideshow (with music, WARNING!) of ALL those pictures. A year in review.

Hong Kong Part 3: Ocean Park

On our last day in Hong Kong we went to Ocean Park, a Sea World/Six Flags type amusement park. We got to see some pandas!


Matthew was especially excited about the pandas.


The had a big display about all the different kinds of goldfish they breed. These ones had a big lion mane.


Riding the carousel, always a favorite with our kids.


We found a play area there with a rock climbing slope.
Matthew did it...

...so Anna had to do it too, and by herself, thank you very much!
Scott spots her.


If you get to the top of the rock "wall" you get to go down the slide!
Anna was excited about that.


On a small ferris wheel


And sitting in the little steam boat. They didn't actually ride in these little toys. Just climbing in and out was entertainment enough.


Matthew rests on Scott's shoulders while we watch an acrobat show.
He looks really excited, doesn't he?


Here's one of the giant pandas.

And taking a ride on the train that goes up the mountain. The park is located in a mountainous part of Hong Kong Island and the park was separated into a high part (headlands) and a low part (lowlands). You had to take a train or a little sky cable car to get between to the areas.

Here we are up at the headlands. A great view down.

This is at the sea lion display. Their sea lions were from California and the sea lion habitat was decorated kind of like a San Francisco (or Monterey) pier. Reminded me of California for sure!

Things were expensive, but not this expensive. The conversion rate was about 7.5 HK dollars to 1 US dollar...so these were really about $1 and $1.20. I was still shocked when I saw prices on things. Also, dividing by 7.5 or even 7 is harder than dividing by 100 in Japan. I wish I had brought a calculator.

The kids got tired out after so much excitement.

We took the sky cable cars back down the mountain after we found out it was crazy crowded up in the high part of the park. That's where the big people roller coaster rides are. The ride down was very peaceful and had a nice view.

What our cable cars looked like.

Ocean view from the cable car


We went through a Christmas themed funhouse, which was actually really fun, and only a little creepy.


This elf was a little creepy.


There were a lot of optical illusions to take pictures of.
Fun!

And we met Santa at the end. Anna started to cry at first, but then she calmed down and looked at him and said, "Santa!" That was the first time she has acknowledged someone as Santa. Maybe he is the real thing?

After a busy day at Ocean Park we watched the harbor laser show back by our hotel. They do this ever night. A bunch of different buildings participate. It's pretty cool to see.

Are you imagining the song Final Countdown playing while you look at this picture?


Anna was snuggled up in Scott's jacket while we watched the show.

We had a great time in Hong Kong. There were so many things we wanted to do and didn't get to, but we opted to go at a little bit of a slower pace with some of the sightseeing, 'cause of the kids. I think they had a good time too.

Hong Kong Part 2: Kowloon and Hong Kong Island

After spending a few days at Hong Kong Disneyland we took a day tour of Hong Kong Island. Here we are at Victoria Peak - a high point on the island - looking down on the city. It was a bit foggy.

Here we are waiting for the tram to go up to the peak. It was a steep climb.

It was a bit cold and windy up there, but we braved the elements to get a few pictures.

Here's our tour guide, Alex, getting us pumped up.

We took a little boat ride at Aberdeen fishing village...

...in a boat that looked like this.

Some of the houseboats that people live on in the harbor, Alex calls them the boat people. There used to be a lot more of them, but each generation fewer and fewer of them remain. The younger generations choose to live a more traditional life on land. Interesting to think about what it would be like to live and make your livelihood on a boat.

Anna pooped out part way through the boat ride.


A BIG floating restaurant. I wanted to go there for dim sum, but it ended up not working out. A cool looking building, though.


We made a stop at Stanley Market - one of the big markets in Hong Kong. It reminded me of some of the markets we've been to in Japan - kind of like a maze in parts.


Later we made our way to our hotel on Kowloon peninsula, which was nearby this statue of Bruce Lee!

I wanted to take a picture in front of the statue, but there were a lot of people waiting so I snuck in behind him. Bruce Lee will never even see me coming.

A sign near the waterfront. It's crowded in Hong Kong.

We took the Star Ferry across the harbor back to Hong Kong island. It only cost about 35 cents in American money. The best deal in Hong Kong.


I think this is the tallest building in Hong Kong...but an even taller one is under construction!

On the left is the soon to be tallest building (or maybe it already is the tallest?) in Hong Kong. I couldn't see the top of it in the fog.

We stopped to take a picture of the skyline when we got off the ferry on Hong Kong island. We walked around a little bit before heading back across.

Here we are back on the Kowloon (hotel) side. A great view! The skyscrapers lined the harbor and not just in one spot, all the way along it. Definitely a huge business center.

Jackie Chan's star on the "Avenue of Stars"

They really light up the buildings there for Christmas. It was great! These are some of the buildings near out hotel in the Tsim Sha Tsui neighborhood.

After a busy day exploring I convinced Scott to eat out at a Vietnamese restaurant. He was wary of taking the kids to a nice place, and with good reason. The kids were a little crazy and it was kind of stressful, as it always is to eat out with kids, but the food was so amazing it was completely worth it. Here are some of our appetizers.

Our main course was a seafood hot pot. It had all kinds of seafood in this broth that tasted of coconut and citrus. It was so good and comforting after a long day. More Hong Kong adventures to come.