Days 8, 9 and 10

I seem to have fallen behind on my journal and will try to catch up today.

Our last day in Shanghai was more enjoyable than the first.  We went to a charming water town of Zhujiajiao which looked a lot like Venice with junques instead of gondolas.  Great shopping but we have very little time to do any.  People are beginning to be tired of being rushed here and there but our schedule is such that we really need to keep moving.  We have lunch at a Western buffet called Ashley's (I am not kidding) located in a department store.  It offers pizza, pasta as well as Chinese dishes.  Very casual and people manage to get some shopping in (not me!) and then we are off to Yu Gardens and a shopping bazaar.  Yu Gardens is actually close to our hotel and is a lovely oasis in this very busy city.  Rock formations and ponds filled with Koi.  Just like we imagine every Chinese having in their back yard except there is no such thing as a back yard in China.  Then to a beautiful area called Tianzifang which is billed as being filled with "many designer products" but mostly really cheap looking Rolex watches.  I didn't buy any but my roommate now owns 8!  We had dinner at a great dumpling restaurant in that area and it was exceptional.  A wonderful chicken soup...well, chicken broth for me as I was afraid to eat the chicken as they put the WHOLE thing in there.

Friday was a travel day.  We left the hotel and sweet little Vivenne and had an on-time flight to Hong Kong.  It was a great flight!  Okay, the seats are geared toward the Chinese (my butt is NOT Chinese!) but they served a full meal with wine (we were in coach) and Hagan Daaz Ice Cream!  We were all in a very tight heaven.  We land and are met by our new guide, Ben.  I wish I could tell you who he reminds me of but he is a really funny older gentleman with slicked backed hair and a great laugh.  We take to him immediately.  Nothing going on tonight.  My feet are so swollen that I am down to one pair of shoes that I can wear.  I stay in and put my feet up and the others fend for themselves.

Saturday was interesting.  We had a visit with an attache in charge of Agricultural Development at the US Embassy, which is located on Hong Kong Island.  Hong Kong itself looks like someone cracked open a huge geode and it is filled with tall, tall, tall crystal towers.  Beautiful and dirty at the same time but a lot of fun.  We are staying across from the island in Kowloon, near the Peninsula Hotel.  Great location near to Nathan road.

Anyway, after the meeting at the Embassy, we take a tour of the Kwang Chung container port (4th largest in the world), which is colorful but boring and then we have a few hours for lunch on our own.  Nancy, Lois and I go to the Peninsula and have a very expensive but tasty lunch.  Really relaxing and British.

Then we are off to the fish market area to see John Miller's partner's shop, I Love Rabbit.  John's company supplies them with the feed for small animals (gerbils, guinea pigs, rabbits) and they manage to sell $120,000 a month in feed and animals.  They figured out that, because the average apartment in Hong Kong is 500SQF, people don't really have room for dogs and cats but they can have small pets and sales are soaring.  Clever, really.

We were on our own for dinner so Nancy, Lois and I went to Temple Road where you can shop forever. We didn't buy much but it was a lot of fun.  Very colorful people.  I had to buy a new suitcase because mine cracked from top to bottom on the flight yesterday.  Honest, that is the reason!!!  We ended up at a weird bar across from the hotel where we had wine and french fries.  We talked to a Scottish man who divides his time between Shanghai and Sydney.  Very interesting.  Nancy and I did table karaoke, much to Lois' amusement.  Fun night and then to bed.  Feel's good to pry off my shoes.

Today we are visiting Hong Kong Island, going up the tram, ending in Stanley Market.  This may be my last post as tomorrow is our long travel day and then I will be home! 

This has been a good trip and was so well planned that I really did not need to be here.  I will definitely use this tour company again.

See you all soon!