Sunday, August 3, 2008

Hong Kong

Hong Kong was truly a sight to see. I wish I could have spent more time there. I would compare it a lot to New York. It is very crowded and not as pretty as Beijing. There are few parks and the streets are narrow. I saw no bicycles! We stayed at a nice YMCA International House.

To get into HK was quite an ordeal. We flew into Shenzhen, a city close to Hong Kong still in main land China. We then took a bus to cross the border. We had to get off the bus twice for customs to get our passports and bags checked.

I wish I had more time in the city since it took so long to get in. We quickly went out to a nice dinner at a Japanese restaurant and then to the harbor ferry light show. National Geographic Travel says its one of the 50 best lifetime experiences and I would agree. From the boat the lights are amazing. The buildings in a 360 degree angle have lights and lasers going off. I pointed out to some of the team that I thought it was coordinated to the music on the boat and no one, including myself, couldn’t believe it was possible. When the music turned off though, the lights did too, and it was explained they were coordinated!

After the boat ride some of us went to meet two of Wendys friends that run the Gateway Camp which the 24-7 team went to in July. They were amazing people. They took us to a popular part of town and then up to a third floor local’s and artist cafĂ©. The menu specified that they wanted to keep it a quiet and secret place, so I felt honored to be there. It was refreshing to talk to some natives from HK that spoke perfect English. Jason and Juliana had crazy stories. God is working so much through their lives.

I then stayed up with Kate, my new great friend, and chatted and prayed until 3am. It is so amazing that we could have so much fun together yet still be vulnerable and honest about our lives after really only knowing each other a few days.

In the morning Wendy and I said bye to the team and got to venture around Hong Kong a bit more. I was surprised that there weren’t more people on the street. Wendy explained it really is a night culture. We took the subway to the airport which was quite an adventure of being crowded and doing a lot of walking. I loved the experience. The train to the airport to a great route and let me see how beautiful the area is with the water and the mountains. HK is really etched out of rock.

I’m off on another adventure in Taiwan now. I really loved China and can’t picture anything topping my love for it. There is so much more to think about; I’m sorry my blogs are so long, but I rarely get the time to write

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