Hong Kong Day 4 (Tuesday) (Buddha's Birthday)

For Buddha's birthday, we went with the Sha Tin ward to a barbeque. These are different from barbeques in the U.S., as will be seen. But the Church really is the same all over the world cuz ward parties are the same all over the world.

Andrew and Brother Lo (say Law) at the barbeque.


Julie and the really cute baby. We finally figured out who the baby belonged to--Amy, to whom Andrew taught new member lessons. And, happy day, her husband has joined the Church!


Heidi singing German songs to the really cute baby. I'm sure that the poor girl thought (in baby Cantonese): "This lady talks to me in a crazy language and sings to me in an even weirder one." It was probably kind of like the Chef on the Muppets.


We finally got a smile out of the really cute baby!


Hong Kong barbeques work like this: Get some coals really hot. Put sweet potatoes and corn on the cob in foil around the coals. Put meat on a roaster. Use all kinds of meat--beef, chicken wings, hot dogs, meat balls, pork, etc.


When it is almost done, glaze the meat with honey. Cook for a little longer and ENJOY!!


Sister Tsang, Andrew, Julie, Heidi, and new friend from Murray Ken.


In the South China Sea (maybe).

It was so hot. We were all just frying. I really wanted to dive in. If they had not asked us to please do not go swimming, I would have.


Feet in the water.


Everyone jump roped at the end of the activity. Even some of the old ladies! Even me!


Riding on the top of a double decker bus!


Me and Andrew on the bus.

What a beautiful place.

We were going to meet Elma and Dennis. I'm sorry I can't remember where all of these places were.


Julie, Heidi, and Elma enjoying their Korean barbeque. MORE MEAT!!


Dennis, Andrew, and me having fun grilling meat. Andrew and Dennis are mission brothers (they had the same trainer).

Andrew enjoying his durian pancakes.

Me enjoying my chocolate flavored ice stuff. It was weird but way better than durian.

Hong Kong Day 3 (Monday)

On Monday we delivered love packages full of goodies from mothers for missionaries. First, we went to the mission offices to drop off one package. It is across the street from the Temple.

Me and Andrew in front of the Temple.


Then we rode the Star Ferry across the harbour (I have to write 'harbour' instead of 'harbor' cuz Hong Kong is a former British colony). This is a view of the city from the ferry.


Me on the Star Ferry. yay!


The tallest building in Hong Kong. Also in The Dark Knight.


Awesome. That is all there is to say.


Heidi and Julie on the tram up to Victoria Peak. It was really steep, and I tried to take a picture to show how steep it was, but I always felt like I straightened the camera to the ground instead of holding it level. I'm not a great photographer, so you get what you get. It was steep.


Andrew took us to the place where they dedicated Hong Kong and China for the Gospel the second time. They carved the date into the rock: 7/14/49, or July 14, 1949. This site was lost for a while, and then a few years ago the Church leaders found it. It is in a beautiful spot near Victoria Peak.

Andrew actually has some unique family history connected to Hong Kong. In 1852-1853, Brigham Young sent three missionaries (Hosea Stout, James Lewis, and Chapman Duncan) to serve in China. Chapman Duncan is one of Andrew's ancestors. They stayed in Hong Kong and struggled a lot with the language. They couldn't sustain themselves and the English-speakers were unfriendly. Discouraged, they left after two months. I don't blame them! (see "Country Information: China," LDS Church News, 28 January 2010).

I think it is cool that Andrew got to serve in Hong Kong where Chapman Duncan also tried to serve. Maybe Andrew's efforts brought Chapman Duncan some eternal satisfaction to see his descendent successful in Hong Kong.

The view from the top!


Andrew, me, Heidi, and Julie on Victoria's Peak.


Elder Jolley was so excited to get the package of goodies from his mommy!


The Wan Chai Chapel. It has like 4 chapels and the Asia Area Presidency offices there.


Andrew and his friend Calvin. Calvin took us to some beautiful gardens at a nunnery near Diamond Hill.



The gardens.

The monastery.

Calvin was going to be a Buddhist monk before he joined the Church. He wanted us to try these gooey cakes that were made specially for Buddha's birthday, which was the next day.


Happy birthday Buddha. Your cakes are gross.

Hong Kong Day 2 (Sunday)

Sunday was hot and humid, but we trekked to church.

The Mom and Andrew on top of the mall.

Andrew surprised everyone in the Sha Tin Ward with his presence. He hadn't told anyone he was coming and didn't really expect people to remember him. He was there for like, six months. He was very very wrong.

Here we are with Brother Chan and his family. He was Andrew's golden investigator. His wife recently was baptized and all his children had come to Hong Kong from mainland China for good--finally! They are taking lessons and the oldest two are getting baptized in a month. We came a such a great time and Andrew was so happy!

Gotta have a cheese picture in her somewhere.

That's the church building.

Then we went to the Temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas. The hill was steep, so Heidi, Julie, and Andrew take a rest.

Lots of Buddhas.

The main temple. You aren't supposed to take pictures inside, so you'll just have to live with a picture of the structure.

Now before you start thinking, "Oh how cute, what a sweet little monkey," let me tell you--MONKEYS ARE NOT SWEET OR CUTE BUT ARE TERRIFYING. We accidentally got between this monkey and its baby and it started coming towards me. I called to Andrew, and he bravely tried to scare it off. The monkey hissed at him and showed its teeth and then started getting closer to us. Andrew went one way and the girls went the other. And we girls started to run. Julie yelled, "DON'T RUN!!!!" as she ran up the stairs. That was when I remembered that it is stupid to run from a wild animal, so I turned around and it had started to chase us. It stopped when I faced it. I went up the stairs slowly, facing it. I was prepared to kick it if necessary (I'm pretty sure it could have jumped onto my face and killed me, so not sure how good the kicking would have been). But we all lived and monkeys are not cute. I used to like monkeys but now I do not.

And then we saw this sign: "Beware the monkey attack." Thanks for the late warning.

Cool interior decoration at the mall.

Andrew drinking his Hiu Lau Shan. (fruit juice/smoothies with glutinous rice balls or jelly)

Me drinking Hiu Lau Shan.

Sha Tin in the evening. That is a river, but I can't remember its name.

Hong Kong Day 1

After a very long plane ride...we landed in Hong Kong!

I am an official world traveler and have a stamp in my passport. :)

We met up with Heidi and friend Julie at the hotel, showered, and started off on our adventures.

Andrew and I at the Sha Tin Wedding Registry office.

We went to Dick and Sanina's wedding reception. They were up there talking about how they met and playing games and I had no idea what they were saying. After that, everyone got to eat delicious food!

Sanina (for whom Andrew was a zone leader) and Dick (whom Andrew got to know well in one of his areas).

This is the Church.

A busy street in Mong Kok.

We finished our day by going to the harbor. By this time, I was so exhausted, I could hardly make it home! I slept like a rock and was ready for the next day.