Shopping, Shopping and more Shopping

As many know, Hong Kong is famous for its shopping.

We took the girls to the Flower Market...

...with just about any type of flower you can imagine.

Orchids, orchids everywhere!

And on to the Bird Market

A little "grocery" shopping at the Wan Chai Market:

Blaire hides her own hands, lest they have the same fate as these pig's hooves.

Karen passes on the goodies here...

...and opts, instead, for these great little shawls.

The Jade Market was a big hit!

Ryan and Blaire show off their finds - shoes for about $2.00 (USD)

with the Hong Kong flag and the US flag they glued on for decoration.

Sisters!

What timing! My sister Karen, her daughter Blaire and our Mom all arrived in HK during Ryan's graduation ceremony. As we were driving into our apartment building, their taxi was pulling up.

(There was confusion about their airline tickets and they didn't understand they would lose a day. So they thought they'd be arriving the day before graduation! Oh well.) Blaire graduated just a couple of weeks before Ryan and this was part of her graduation present - a trip to Hong Kong with her mom.

The first morning, we suggested that everyone take it pretty easy as they'd be jet-lagged

(12 hours ahead of Florida time).

But Karen and I got up and took a nice long walk - with a camera.

Here are some of Karen's first sights of the island:

The four light blue buildings in the center is our apartment building.

Below, at the end of Karen's finger is our home.

At the Tin Hau Temple near our house, Karen befriends one of the local dragons.

On one of our first trips, Ryan shows Blaire around the school, starting with the senior banner displayed at the front gate. David (HKIS class of 2006) created the banner, sent the file to Ryan, who (as a senior class officer) had it made into a great little banner.

All the seniors signed it.

The bus is our friend. Here are Karen and our Mom on the top front of one of the double-deckers. We're headed to Victoria Harbor for some exploring in downtown Hong Kong.

We arrive at the bus depot and we're in the heart of Hong Kong - the banking district!

We went all the way up the escalators -

the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. The entire escalator system covers over 800 metres in distance and elevates over 135 metres from bottom to top. It was constructed in 1993 to provide a better commute by linking Central and Western District on Hong Kong Island.

(Thank you, Wikipedia.)

And then we went all the way back down. Karen, Blaire and my mom all had extremely sore legs the next day. Ryan and I were used to all the climbing, so it didn't bother us.

My mom poses in front of an ad "Single unattached billboard looking for love."

Blaire and Ryan pose with one of the HSBC lions.

Then we crossed the street and took some pictures around some fountains

with some very cool modern art.

Homeward bound. It was a long day, but these two still look very chipper!

HKIS Graduating Class of 2010

Ryan graduated from Hong Kong International School on June 4, 2010.

177 graduates

Ryan with his diploma.....

...and he's off to...

Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah)!

End of Senior Year Activities

The HS Choral Music Dept. had their final concert of the year.

Ryan was a member of the Vocal Jazz group - an auditioned 5 person group.

I tried adding a clip of them singing, but couldn't - it's probably too big.

Besides performing their own numbers, their small group was invited

to sing in the all-choirs piece.

Afterward, awards were given. Pictured are two of the Vocal Jazz members,

Ryan and Rachel (also from seminary). I don't remember exactly what Ryan's award was,

but the feather boa was part of it.

Baccalaureate was held on Sunday, May 30 at the church affiliated with HKIS.

All of the seniors in the Concert Choir and Vocal Jazz sang a song for that event.

Seven girls and five guys (Ryan was one of the basses) took part. They sounded great.

Afterwards, the Senior Dinner was held at a very nice hotel in downtown Hong Kong.

As part of the Senior Class Presidency (Ryan was VP), Ryan took part in emceeing this event.

Below is the class presidency:

Arvid, me and our senior, Ryan.

Seminary Graduation

On Sunday night, May 16, Ryan, along with 6 others in his class

(and 2 girls in another class), graduated from Seminary.

Arvid had just been released as the District President that morning

and I was the Seminary Teacher.

Pictured below are: Jehonna and Ami (the other two in our district), and the 7 graduated from our class: Michael, Sarah, Brian, Alex, Ryan, Andrea and Rachel.

We also previously celebrated their accomplishment with a dinner up on Victoria Peak. Only Brian, Mike, Sarah, Ryan and Alex (pictured) made it to that.

Senior Project

All seniors at Hong Kong International School are required to do a Senior Project.

Student choose something they want to accomplish (from sports, singing, plays, to science - the sky is the limit) and outline the procedures they go through.

(David did his on drawing cartoons and Scott did his on 3-D sound.)

Ryan chose to do his on Surviving in the Hong Kong Wilderness. As it had many dangers involved, Jai Leal, a teacher/Med. Tech./wilderness expert, volunteered to go with him. Jai (pronounced Jay) let Ryan do everything himself and would only occasionally offer suggestions. The days Ryan chose to do this (April 5-8) were, unfortunately, very rainy ones. It was difficult building a fire with wet wood and kindling (not to mention the flint and steel). He lived on snails, various plant species, a dead fish he found on the beach and water he collected and boiled. Jai kept him safe, but Ryan managed to burn his hand in the fire and get his arms covered with mosquito bites, despite the netting he used at night.

Here he is returning from the trip, holding some of the things he used and/or collected.

His burned knuckles.

He passed this portion of Graduation Requirements and was on his way....

Prom 2010

On May 22, Ryan meets a group of friends at one of their homes for a pre-prom party.

He greets Noa (pronounced Noah) and puts her corsage on her wrist.

The group makes a toast as the party begins.

Ryan and Noa.

(The big joke was that they were the Mormon and the Jew.)

The group partying before the prom - overlooking the South China Sea.

I know there are only 3 girls and 5 guys, but some guys went stag.

It was mostly a group date - nobody really paired up.

Ryan was crowned Prom King, but refused to pose in his crown after prom.

Instead he put it on me (while I was reading and eating a banana) and took a picture.

I look thrilled - NOT!

I am not photo-shopping this, so you just have to use your imagination.

He reports that he had a great time.