Together in Hong Kong

The long anticipated family reunion occurred near 9:00PM as we met Dr. Flatley in the arrival hall of the Hong Kong airport. After over sixteen hours of flight time and hauling a hundred and fifty or so pounds of luggage around, I'm sure he was glad to be on the ground in Hong Kong. Certainly, he was even more happy to see Janet for the first time in five months. After a few hugs at the airport, it was time to hop onto the airport express train for the ride back into Central. From there, thirty minutes later by taxi, we arrived at the Maryknoll house.

The following day, we spent most of our Thanksgiving wandering the streets of Hong Kong. We took the bus into central, which takes about forty-five minutes a gives a great view of different parts of the island. Then, it was off on foot as we made our way up the "people escalator," a nearby sign informed us the proper name is the "travelator." In the SoHo area, we stopped for lunch at Olive, a great little Greek restaurant Janet and I found the last time we were in HK. I think Janet's dad was ready for some Chinese food, but we had to seize the opportunity for variety while away from the mainland and politely vetoed him. There will be plenty of Chinese food to come, no need to worry about that.

After lunch, it was time for a ride on the Peak Tram to the top of Victoria Peak. Here I was sad to learn, that you must now buy a ticket (20HKD) to access the best viewing platform. Of course, being one of the main draws to Hong Kong, you aren't left with much choice but to get the ticket. The day was clear enough for a good view, though some haze did prevent us from seeing the furthest reaches.

Following that, it was time to make the trip back towards Stanley for the famous Maryknoll Thanksgiving dinner. At dinner, Janet and I were the official representatives from the under-fifty years old demographic, but that was fine as the priests we sat with were pretty funny and all had interesting stories of their travels and experiences to share. Dinner did not disappoint. Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and other dishes really made it a real Thanksgiving dinner. I missed having some of my favorites from home like broccoli casserole and maybe an apple or pecan pie, but it was still an excellent dinner. It felt good to have a traditional meal to celebrate Thanksgiving with even though we are 7,000 miles from home.

PS - On a different note, we apparently just missed filming of the upcoming Batman movie, Dark Knight, by just two weeks. They were in Hong Kong earlier in November filming a scene where Batman jumps off of the IFC (the tallest in HK and also a central location for most of our time there) building. I think the movie will be released next July, so be sure to look for the scene - I will be.