Saying Farewell to Hong Kong

Some friends at the Lai's fabulous end of the year party

(before all the expats go to the USA for the summer)!

Some of us in our Institute class.

A bunch of my friends all go to the Jardine's Noon-day Gun....

...and one more sam pan trip in Victoria Harbor.

End of year party at the Hillam's: Terry, Suzan, Katie and Marj

And Chris, Carrie, Helen and Lily.

Cheryl, Lynelle, Arvid and Wylie.

Nadine, Kim, Brian and Mike.

One last trip to Macau - to see the Cirque Du Soleil.

The three of us in the lobby of our REALLY nice 5 star hotel.

(And I admit - this trip was before Ryan's big shave in April...)

A farewell dinner with some of our friends -Bradford's, Wade's, Lew's and Westergard's.

Our last Sunday - saying goodbye to the guards at church.

Farewell party at the Consulate - Arvid, me, and his staff:

Christine, Amy and Sharon...

...and Joey and her husband PC:

Christy and Kelly on the Peak.

Dinner with the Perkins.

Magnificent Hong Kong and Victoria Harbour.

My last view from the back window of our flat.

And then we're off!

But we'll only say Farewell - and not goodbye. We love Hong Kong!!!

Out and about in Hong Kong

On our way out to Tai O Island and to see some pink dolphins (which we did, but I couldn't manage to snap any pictures of them - just the splash as they dove back into the water!).

We chat with a local merchant.

Blaire does some bargaining...

and snags this bamboo hat.

We enjoy a Dim Sum lunch. Mmm-mmm-good!

On our way up to Victoria Peak! Cute cousins...

Mother and daughter...

The HK skyline poses for our picture. Isn't it glorious?

On the peak enjoying the view!

Down from the peak, we walk across the street and visit the US Consulate.

You never know what you'll see on the streets of HK.

These people were doing some kind of "picketing" - for lack of a better word.

What's a trip to HK without visiting Monkey Mountain?

They're everywhere!

A little monkey family...

Ryan, Blaire, and yes, even Arvid do their own monkeying around at Victoria Harbor

while waiting for the Light Show to begin.

Once home, Ryan teaches everyone to make sushi!

Ryan and Blaire make themselves up to get ready to do a little sushi video to send the third cousin their age, Sara, who wasn't with them.

So don't feel too left out, Sara, they thought of (and talked about) you a LOT!

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)!