Okasame Dinner City Tour

Last night Drew and I had a Stu inspired Okasame sushi dinner! Basically, we just say "make us something good," and the chef goes to town. It was 7 courses and absolutely fantastic. Drew took photos of the dishes on his iphone, so we will be able to post them once back in the states. The best courses were an amazing oyster that melted in your mouth, tuna belly, and tuna neck which had this incredible sauce. Delicias.

Today, Drew had to work, so I took a tour of the city on a double decker tour bus. I could hop on and off as I wished all day, and it only costed $8. First stop was St. John's Cathedral, which was actually an Angelican Church. Had no idea until I saw a pamphlet. Is there a distinguishing decor difference between Catholic and Angelican Churches, because this Church looked Catholic to me...

Second stop was the Zoological and Botanical gardens in Hong Kong park. The zoological part included an aviary with the most beautiful birds including 5 different types of cranes. And some cool looking pheasants, which I thought Brian would appreciate.  

In addition to the aviary, the garden also had monkeys! Including an orangutan. And in one pen there was a mom with her new baby. Super cute. And the white and black one is Leah taking a nap...

The botanical gardens were less impressive than the zoological gardens. Mostly just more orchids. But there was one of the pretty trees, the same ones they were selling at the New Years Fair, so I thought I'd show you what I was talking about. These trees are similar in status to our Christmas trees. You see them everywhere.

Next stop was the harbor front where you can catch a ferry to many of the local islands. We will definitely have to do this on a weekend adventure. It also provided great views of Kowloon (across the waterway from Hong Kong) and the city itself (photo). The turtle looking building is the city's convention center.

Next stop was the Man Mo Temple. It wasn't very big, and, as a single story building, it looks funny squashed between sky scrapers. Inside so much incense was burning my eyes started to water. Everyone who was praying would light 5 sticks at a time. This particular temple was to worship the god of literature Man Tai and the god of war Mo Tai. I thought those were funny gods to pair together. There were way more than just two statues in the temple, so I also think there were more than just two gods being worshiped there. Everyone inside was very serious. There were tons of incense coils burning from the ceiling, and people would strick a gong or drum occasionally. Pretty cool.

Throughout this tour bus experience, I learned a few things. 1) A bus will only stop for you if you wave enthusiastically at it. Standing politely in front of the bus stop sign is not sufficient. 2) Sour and spicy Cambodian noodles at a Pho restaurant are insanely hot, and I thought my spice tolerance was high. Eyes watered for the second time today. 3) I am not the only blonde this side of the Pacific Ocean. All of the other expats live in Soho, a very stylish neighborhood with Italian pizzerias and art galleries. There was noticeably less Chinese in this neighborhood. 4) Don't try to outsmart the bus and beat it to the next stop because you were late to the previous one. It seems like a good idea until you fail and have to wait just as long at that stop as you would have at the original one after rushing around like a crazy person.

I also went to the University of Hong Kong which was surprisingly small and didn't have anything that resembled a main quad. I guess the later should not have been surprising. I also noted the location of several outdoor markets. I didn't really have time today to really shop, so that will be tomorrow's adventure. It will be very easy to return to the markets using the MTR, or subway. These subways have airconditioning and are spotlessly clean, so a very nice ride. That's it for the city tour. Dinner soon, then drinks with Drew's old coworker Pavel from Russia.

Cheers.