Sunday

We decided that today would be a day to sight see around Hong Kong before we depart for the mainland in the morning. We slept-in and then went to walk around Harbor City. Everyone here is really pumped up for the Olympics and there are decorations & flags/banners everywhere! Here is a picture of Andre standing in front of some of the blow-up mascots.

For lunch, we went to a restaurant called Quarterdeck (Western food) which is in Harbor City an looks out over the water to Hong Kong. It was quite a beautiful view.

During lunch, I had my first run-in with a standard Chinese toilet. It never even occured to me that the toilets, of all things, would be different but they were!! They are called "squatters" because they are nothing more than holes in the floor that you squat over. If you are lucky, the squatters flush, but many do not. Many are smelly....think port-o-potty. Here is a picture of one...in case you are curious!

The more I saw of Hong Kong, the more I realized it is pretty much just like New York City. It is very westernized. It is REALLY busy, and there is tons of shopping. I saw just about every designer possible...what girl wouldn't love that, right? It seems like the whole city is one big mall, that's pretty much how you get around...walking from mall to mall. There is also a regular subway and a pedestrian subway. Most walking is done underground here, you can't cross busy intersections.
After we went to lunch, we went to check out a local supermarket to see how it compared to the ones at home, and then when we go to mainland we can see what the difference is between that one and Hong Kong as well. They had mostly everything in the supermarket. I was quite surprised. After we went to the supermarket, we took a double-decker bus around Hong Kong island. You can sit on the 2nd floor at the front & you basically feel like you are the one driving! It was a good way to see the whole island. It is very scenic and beautiful, everything is built into the sides of mountains.

We also went to a place called Stanley Market. That was a typical market, and quite interesting to walk through. It is pretty much just a series of alleyways selling knock-off stuff, and other Chinese goods. It was really safe though, and packed with people.
After our busy day, we decide to order Pizza Hut and watch a movie. I was still extremely jet-lagged and we had to get up early on Monday to take a ferry to the mainland. For the record, the pizza tasted pretty much the same as it does in the states. That's reassuring! :)