Saturday - Stanley Market

Hi there, C here.

The day had an EARLY start (see last post) as I headed out to the 24-hour McDonald's to access the Internet to post the most recent (before this) message - which Lisa penned.

This particular McD's happens to be located in the basement of one of the big office buildings here in Tsim Sha Tsui, very near the Y. It was around 5-ish this morning when I arrived and headed down the steps. I passed a couple who had clearly been out partying/clubbing/drinking all night. She looked like 10 miles of bad road and he looked worse than she did.

I overhead the following exchange:
She (a westerner, but not an American): "So what else do you like to do?"
He (in broken English - by his accent sounded to be German): "I really do love girls."
I could not really hear the rest of the conversation, but I believe that's for the better!

At the counter I ordered a coffee and then I headed to the back looking for a quiet table. There were a mix of different types of tables and booths. There happened to be a few large, circular half-moon booths with padded benches surrounding the table. As I settled in near one of these and powered up, I noticed two bare feet hanging over the edge of the end of bench. Just below these feet were a pair of beaten-up loafers, with no socks in the area. Near the loafers were a couple of shopping bags, most likely NOT packed with gifts.

A moment or two later, a groggy head slowed surfaced above the top of the bench, apparently awakened by the light tapping on my keyboard. He looked to be in his 50's, and a little perturbed to have been disturbed! He quietly gathered his belongings, slipped his loafers back on and was gone. If I had to guess, I would say that first, he had not just dozed off for a moment, and second this was probably his 'regular' table. The night manager obviously didn't have a problem with him, and neither did I - everyone needs a warm dry place to lay their head.
I could easily write a paragraph on each of the six other people in McD's this morning...but I won't (- you're welcome).

In general, wi-fi is all around in HK, but just not free. I was able to find a wi-fi network where I got 20 free minutes because I was in McDonald's. I posted Lisa's message but ran out of time when I tried to upload photos. I will try again tonight to find a free way to post.

When we all got going, we had a quick breakfast at S'bux (after Kyle & Dylan had granola bars and fruit in the room). We made our way over the the Star Ferry terminal at the tip of Kowloon and took a ferry ride to HK Island. K & D really enjoyed the 10 minute ride and AR got a few photos of the Harbor. We walked about 10 more minutes to the Bus Terminal to catch the #6X bus to Stanley, on the other side of the island. Stanly is a small town (formerly a sleepy fishing village) nestled in a cove - There is an active open-air market and a small waterfront street with a mix of restaurants catering to all tastes.

This was a kick for the boys, since it was a double-decker bus (closed top) and provided great views of the scenery. Mom & AR were not as psyched since the road to and from Stanley ran along some fairly high bluffs with steep (!) drop offs!! My running commentary of how high we were didn't go over that well either.
We spent the morning roaming around the town and the market. We ordered a couple of new Chinese symbol name artworks. One for Dylan and one for Ashley - and a new one for our soon to be larger family tree.

We visited a small Buddhist Temple, and had a nice lunch of hot dogs and rib-eye steak sandwiches. We jumped the return bus and were back at 'Central' (where we caught the bus originally, by 2PM. We ferried back to the Kowloon side and were back in the room by 2:30. That is where I am right now.

Mom passed out and the boys have been playing their DS games and coloring (much needed downtime to help their time zone adjustment). We will be supping at 6:30 this evening at "Dan Ryan's Steakhouse" (a touch of Chicago) over in the Harbour City Shopping Center - very close to the Marco Polo Hotel, where we stayed when we were on Kyle's trip. One night on that trip (4 years ago or so), Kyle & I had a boys night out at this same Dan Ryan's, while Mom stayed in the room - sick as a dog. I remember this like it happened last week - Kyle and I had a really nice meal. Mom didn't miss out completely though - we all returned as a family a night or two later and had another excellent meal.

Alas, the silence has been broken - Mom's up and around, and she's prepping the boys for their night out as I type. We will have our dinner and then head down to the waterfront to see a Chinese Lantern exhibit. The weather continues to cooperate - we saw a light sprinkle of rain as we were having lunch, but that quickly cleared. It's warm and comfortable here - shorts and light shirts.

After we get back from dinner, we'll re-pack the bags tonight in preparation of our departure for Ashley's province (Hubei) on Sunday afternoon. Once we are in-province, we'll have a bi-lingual guide and a car and driver, which will make things a lot easier.

Then on Monday - Ashley joins the Lockheads...forever.

Gotta run - Dan Ryan awaits.

More soon...
C