Hong Kong: our second day

Barek is attempting to eat cheesecake at every port of call. He also always orders anything that contains mango. So when he saw this mango cheesecake in a Hong Kong cafe near our ship, we just had to stop. According to Barek, the cheesecake was "really good".

On this last day of the Chinese New Year celebration, we visited the Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple, in which Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism are all practiced via praying, incense burning, fruit offerings, clapping, bowing and more. I wanted to respect the people and their prayer and yet wanted to share some photos; so I have been working on snapping shots with my camera down at my side, rather than holding it up to my eyes. I've taken a lot of photos of sidewalks this way, but also managed to get the photo of the women praying above.

Incense was burning everywhere and our kids were blinking their eyes in the fog. Above, someone is assisting others in lighting their incense sticks.

Many people were writing prayer petitions. Rubbing the dragon on the way out of the temple brings good luck. This Taiwanese woman struck up a conversation with us and really loved the boys. Asher's hair has gotten many a rub these past days! They love blond hair! I think touching it must bring good luck, too!

We went on an SAS trip called the "Family Insight Tour" where we met with social workers who talked with us about social services and living conditions for families in Hong Kong. The young man from Nepal and the seated Pakistani young woman told us about services they have received from the Hong Kong government. The apartment building above is the public housing unit we visited, and the apartment pictured is the one the Nepal family rents. We were surprised to learn that approximately 45% of Hong Kong residents live in public housing. Public housing buildings are often right alongside private apartment buildings, but proximity is all they share: public apartments rent for a fraction of the cost of private dwellings. And owning condos is outrageously expensive, with prices often around 1 million US dollars and far above. As many of our guides said: Hong Kong people just keep working because they have to! Owning their own home (condo) is the major goal for most Hong Kong residents. Many spend decades trying to come up with the government-required downpayment, which is 30% of the purchase price.

We also visited two senior citizens centers, and it was interesting to note that the government has a senior center (day center) every 600 meters in the city.

We went out for dinner near our ship and happened upon a fantastic (and reasonably priced) restaurant. The flat noodles in the first photo were amazing and the shrimp were so fresh and melted in our mouths. Fortified with excellent food, we returned to the Temple Street Night Market, which had been so much fun the night before!


Lots of people eat at the open air restaurants alongside the market. Fleets of red taxis are everywhere--I took this shot from our taxi going home. In Shanghai and Hong Kong we enjoyed taxi rides that were only $2-$4 a ride. The display above with its children's new year theme is set up near our ship.