Parent's Trip

Back in November, my parents took the plunge and came to visit us in Hong Kong for two weeks. Despite a terrible trip over, including a night stuck in Narita, Japan, (thanks United) they managed to arrive in good spirits. As soon as they arrived I whisked them straight to the Peak, as it was a clear night and I wasn't sure if we were going to have another one. When a nice day comes in Hong Kong, you take advantage of it. 

The following day, we went on a hike up to Mt. Butler. It is a lovely hike with views of both the south-side and city-side of the island. Nothing like some good old exercise to help get over jet-lag. 

I had to take Mom to my favorite green tea ice cream place. 

Walking around Hong Kong was a favorite pastime, including the glitzy malls that Hong Kong is known for. This shot was for my sister Stephanie, whom I denied the chance to shop when she visited Hong Kong. 

But, couch time is good too. It's easy to do with the view we are lucky to have here.

This is actually a shot from Tai Hang Road up to our building. 

While they were here, it was also Mom and Dad's 32nd wedding anniversary. Dad has a tradition for their anniversary of buying Mom one rose for every year they have been married. With a little help from Drew, the tradition continued! 

Us kids, including Leah and Stephanie, then treated them to an anniversary dinner at a place called The Helena in Tai Hang. Their meal was made Sous Vide, meaning it was cooked in an airtight bag at a very low temperature for a very long time. It makes the food super tender and delicious. Because their reservation was for a weekday, somehow they had the whole place to themselves!  Happy Anniversary!

We also went to Stanley and had a nice walk around and a good British breakfast. 

One of the highlights of their trip for me was Thanksgiving. Mom helped me cook a traditional Thanksgiving meal for about a day and a half for a group of 20 of our friends, many of whom were not American and so had never experienced a proper Thanksgiving feast. It was a great success, and I couldn't have done it without Mom's expertise in the kitchen. 

Drew was, of course, the turkey and gravy master, to great success.

In addition to homemade pumpkin pie, we also ordered a pavlova cake for our Kiwi friends. It is essentially a huge meringue cake. Apparently this pavlova is too "pretty" and is therefore not truly authentic, but it still tasted delicious. 

We also went to the Happy Valley racetrack and sat in the tourist section instead of being down by the rail, which was a first for me. We were right over the finish line, a great view. Mom and Dad are pretty good at picking winners! By the end of the night, they were up a whopping $70 HKD, which is seriously much better than how Drew and I typically fare. 

A trip to Hong Kong is never complete without stopping by the local wet market. There is always something there surprising. This time is was pig heads.

True to McDaniel form, we did another hike, Dragon's Back, which is a local favorite. It was a bit cloudy, but still decent visibility.

I think Dad's favorite part of the trip was our day in Cheung Chau, where we got to see a real working fishing port, which Dad declared as quite rare.

This is a traditional Chinese junk boat, which someone clearly still lives on full time.

The best seafood around!

Mom and I took a trip out to the New Territories and on our way saw this little guy hanging out on the subway train. Dogs aren't technically allowed on the train, but he never moved a muscle, so he certainly wasn't bothering anyone. What a fluff ball. 

Mom and I went to the Nan Lian Gardens, which has a vegetarian restaurant attached to it. I had never been there before, so another first for me. It was absolutely delicious. 

Another first, we also went next door to the Wong Tai Sin Temple, a gorgeously decorated Chinese temple, one of the largest that I have seen. It was a beauty, and one I will have to take Drew to. 

We also went to the History Museum, and, afterwards we sneaked a peak inside the Peninsula Hotel, where apparently Dad had been to on his last trip to Hong Kong maybe 8 or 9 years ago. 

We stopped by 1881 Heritage Square, which had a lovely Christmas Market going on. 

Finally, we went to the Avenue of Stars to see the skyline from the water front. We took the Star Ferry back across, and I got some good shots of the city. 

This is a shot of our building from across the water. It is the one just slightly left of the middle and all the way back towards the hillside.

On their last night, Mom and Dad treated us to our favorite burgers at Stone's. Drew decided to go big and order a double, smothering it in their homemade sauce. 

Pure contentment. Thanks parents for coming all this way to visit! Hong Kong isn't exactly Hawaii, so we appreciate the sacrifice. 

Bangkok-Wat Pho and Grand Palace

On our first day in Bangkok, we decided to visit two very popular sites in the old section of the city. The first was Wat Pho, one of the largest temple complexes in Thailand. It's been around since the late 1700's and has been added on to and redone countless times. It is also thought to be the original university in Thailand, as well as the birthplace of the famous Thai massage. For those of you who are unfamiliar, different countries have different versions of what they call a massage. Not everything is oil and relaxation. For those of you who've read my blog on my Chinese spa experience, that massage, focused on pressure points throughout the body, was so painful I almost cried, and it left me bruised for days. Thai massage, on the other hand, is like guided stretching and gentle pushing across areas of the body. You don't even get undressed, but instead wear these baggy pajamas, and there is no oil involved at all. For an expert opinion, ask Brian; he's tried everything under the sun. 

Wat Pho is also known for housing a huge reclining Buddha. I'm not sure why, but they never seem to build these building large enough to hold the Buddha comfortably. It is impossible to get a full shot of this Buddha facing head on. This place was very sacred, as I, again, was required to wear borrowed pants to cover up my legs, and no shoes were allowed.

The building was covered floor to ceiling in gorgeous paintings. Some, as in the picture below, were being redone, which was cool to see.

During the Buddha's lifetime, he was thought to have left his footprint on whichever lands he thought would believe in his teachings. So, I think there is a tradition in Buddhist art to make the soles of the feet very distinct, so that one would recognize his footprint whenever you saw it. 

There were lots of other halls throughout the temple complex with loads of more Buddha sculptures, each one different in its own way.

After Wat Pho, I went next door and checked out the Grand Palace, while the rest of the family took a break and people watched, a favorite pastime of theirs. It was amazing how many people were out to scam us in this area. Good thing we were prepared for this. Mostly the scams revolved around official looking people giving you wrong information to try to lead you somewhere where you needed to buy something. Scam #1: A guy told us we were walking in the wrong direction for the entrance to the Grand Palace. Wrong. Scam #2: A guy told us we wouldn't be allowed in the Palace, as we were dressed inappropriately. To fix this, we needed to buy a sarong from the lady over here. Wrong. While the Palace did require proper attire, they gave out clothes for free, as long as you left a deposit. 

The Palace itself housed the royal family from 1782-1925. Now it is used for special events mainly. Once inside the Palace walls, the first area to visit is another Buddhist temple. This one was made up of three stupas, all built in different times and therefore with different architectural styles. Cool fact: the wings on the far right building are a very traditional Thai feature. They are meant to mirror birds' wings, flying to heaven. 

The temples inside the Palace grounds were extraordinary in their ornateness. So much detail. 

Most of the palace buildings we were only able to see from the outside. But there was still a interesting and varied range of styles to see. 

This was a more modern looking mansion used to house important visitors. 

This green roofed building was the main living area as well as the original throne room. 

Eventually, a grander throne room and adjoining halls were built. This was my favorite building on the grounds. The base seemed colonial, while the roof was Thai. It was a very unique mix that was just stunning. Also in front of the building was a gorgeously manicured garden and lawn that also made the building feel very grand.

The two protectors of the building, the royal guard and the spirit of the elephant.

There were lots of smaller, inconspicuous, but still beautiful buildings on the grounds. Lovely. Maybe Drew and I need to move to Europe for awhile. Or Charleston.

Megan's Trip

Back in early November, my friend Megan Yoder came out to Hong Kong to visit. She and I went to grad school together at Mines. She got a Masters in Stats, so we weren't in the same department. But, we worked together for the same grant called the Bechtel/GK-12 grant, where grad students are put into elementary and middle schools to help improve the curriculum and get kids excited about math and science. We met on the first day of that job, and, after going out to lunch together, were friends ever since! Megan has been a great friend, seeing me at some of my worst moments, including throwing up in public while on a lunch date (I was sober, by the way. I blame it on the sour cream), and not judging me. Her kindness also includes coming to visit me here in Hong Kong. Everyone knows international flights are not cheap, and there are so many other places in the world she could have gone, like a beach in Thailand, but instead she came to visit me here, spending a lot of hard earned cash and vacation days in the process. So thank you, Megan! Hopefully you thought it was all worth it, but I had a wonderful time! 

Megan is very easy to please, so I had no trouble coming up with a long list of things we could do together, including the History Museum. I had been to this museum before with both of my sisters, and they, specifically Stephanie, had begged me to skip the first section which is all about geology and, well, rocks. One lady nearby us actually said "I didn't come half-way around the world to look at rocks, I REALLY didn't!" Steph had nudged me and said, "My thoughts exactly." Megan, on the other hand, was the exact opposite and wanted to learn all about the geology of the area. Seeing as we both went to the Colorado School of Mines, where geology is pushed on you whether you want it or not, it's easy to see how we both have an appreciation for it. 

After the museum, we went to one of my favorite spots, 1881 Heritage Square, which was all lit up for the holidays. We stopped by the Stables Grill, the old carriage house that has been converted into a bar and grill, for a glass of wine. Lovely! 

We, of course, went to several of the popular tourist spots, including Victoria's Peak for the view. Megan is one of those people whom I always have fun around and can talk with endlessly, so going to these old, familiar haunts with her was great. Plus, I love seeing people discover things about the city for the first time. Maybe my true calling is to be a tour guide!

We also went to Stanley for some good eats, a lovely sunset, and a tour around the market. Megan bought me the coolest t-shirt I now own, Bruce Lee in all his awesomeness. You'll see a pic with the shirt in a bit. 

One of the new things I got to do with Megan was go to Ocean Park! Ocean Park is Hong Kong's own personal amusement park, themed on the sea and everything in it, as well as some Chinese things, like Pandas. Hong Kong also has a Disney Land here, but everyone says Ocean Park is better for adults, while Disney Land is more for kiddos.

First we visited the aquarium. While the educational info here was a bit lacking, they still had some cool things, such as these cute cuttle fish. We also saw amazing jelly fish, sharks, giant manta rays, turtles, etc. 

Next, on to the pandas!

We got to see this little guy at feeding time. Did you know red pandas are also called firefoxes, hence moxilla firefox? Thanks Megan for that piece of trivia knowledge!

This panda was taking a snooze. He looks like he just ran a marathon and fell down in exhaustion, but I think pandas are just rolley polley like that.

There is also a recreation of an old Hong Kong street, including street snacks and actors walking around being silly, hence the picture below with Megan and the curler lady.

Ocean Park is built on this peninsula that juts into the ocean, and it's very steep. The park is actually separated into two sections, with a cable car bridging the two. The cable car ride was fantastic, and that alone would make the entire park worth going to.

The views of the south side of the island were stunning! The beach on the left is Deep Water Bay.

While the front side of the park is mostly about animals, the back section is mostly about rides. We went on the hair raiser roller coaster on the far right, which was really fun as it is perched on the side of the hill. At some points, it feels like you are flying over the ocean! They could use a new theme for that ride though; not really a fan of clowns. 

We also got to see a group of penguins! The house they were in was frigidly cold, so we could only bear to stay in there for a few minutes. They were cute though! The one second from the right needs some grooming! 

On Megan's last night, we, along with Andrew, went out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Lily and Bloom. 

While it's not Asian, I ordered the CO rack of lamb, and it was delicious!

Also, Andrew and I are suckers for a plate of oysters. So delicious.

Thanks so much Megan for coming out to visit! I hope you had a wonderful time, and I can't wait to see you again!