The Peak

Last Saturday, we decided to take a couple of hours and go to Victoria Peak as we have been meaning to do this since we got here.  The line  to get on the tram was long but we were finally able to get to where the tram was loading up passengers as seen below:

It is rather a steep climb going up.

The tram arrives at this large wok-shaped building which you can read about here: Peak Tower

Here's the view from the top of the building and it wasn't too bad with less smog than most days here in the "winter".

There were quite a few people from mainland China there.  We also talked to a nice couple from the US who were touring Hong Kong and other Asian countries on their honeymoon.

We tried the Buba Gump restaurant that's in the Peak Tower.  They had great shrimp and fries.

Here's a view looking down inside the tower.

Then we did a little hiking around the area.

We were searching for the site where Matthew Cowley offered a prayer on Victoria Peak on July 14, 1949.  It was pretty exciting for us to use the directions we had to locate it on the wall of the mountain but it was pretty hard to find. You can read about it below:

    Prayer on Victoria Peak

Here's a view looking up at the tower and you can see how little the people on top look.

Remember, it's the year of the rooster or cock so everyone had to get a photo with this rooster.

The little children here were really darling.  We were sitting on a bench waiting for it to get dark and they came and talked to us; they kept calling us grandpa and grandma.  They would run around and then come back and talk to us again.  Finally, the little girl said, "Grandpa, I could teach you how to walk." It was so cute and sweet and she must have wondered why we just sat there.  We think she was probably relieved to find out we really could walk.

Here are some of the night views.

It was really different taking the tram back down as the passengers all ride facing backwards! When we got to the bottom, Elder Chandler took the photo looking up at this building which you looked down at in the previous photos.

How's this for a New Year's tree? It's a bit different from a Christmas tree, isn't it?  Although they've turned the Christmas lights back on on the skyscrapers, the Christmas trees have been replaced by these trees and others like the one shown below.

They placed this beautiful New Year tree in the lobby of our apartment building with messages of good luck or fortune for the New Year.

There are miniature orange or kumquat trees everywhere right now for the New Year. Apparently, the words orange and tangerine sound like the words for luck and wealth.  The orange or golden color resembles gold or money.  The internet says that it also represents the sun's positive energy and is meant to lift spirits. We read that it is a "highly auspicious symbol of abundance and happiness".  The trees are usually placed in pairs, one on each side of the entry doors. The trees don't grow like this.  The tree is groomed into shape and the fruit is sometimes even tied on with wire. Also, it said that it is traditional to place mandarin oranges along with a red envelope next to children's pillows in Chinese households to bring them good fortune. Oranges are also placed in the family's rice container to bring good blessings to the family.

Officially, the Chinese New Year is January 28th so we want to wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Macau

It's always nice to start a new post with a happy event.  Jenny was baptized this week.  She is very special and she is very happy to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We are all very happy for her.

Our group of senior missionaries received permission to travel to Macau last Saturday.  Macau is the gambling capital of the world.

Entrance to the Guia Lighthouse and Park--the highest point in Macau.  As you can see, everything is in Portuguese since this was a Portuguese colony.

View from the aerial tram to the top of the peak.

Standing on the peak.  You can see some of the hotels in the background.

Residential towers under construction in the distance.

One of the weird shaped hotels and casinos.

Here is the lighthouse on the top and a small church next door.  Immediately to the left of the small church is where Macau was dedicated for the preaching of the gospel.

In the distance is the 2.4 km bridge connecting Macau to Cotai Island (still part of Macau)

Here's all the sweet sisters in our little tour group.

Actual dedication site by Jeffrey R. Holland.

Not sure if these are dragons or dogs but they are cute.

This Muslim style home was built for the wife of a former premier or president of Macau.

You see a motorcycle or scooter here and there in Macau--actually lots of them.

L

Entrance to the Lou Lim loc Garden very near to the LDS church.  It is all decorated with flowers for Chinese New Year.

You probably didn't know there were bonsai trees in China.  The one in the middle is even a little forest.  Here's a link to the Bonzai tree video: Bonzai trees

Remember, it's going to be the year of the cock or rooster, so we're seeing them everywhere.

This is the facade of St. Paul's cathedral.  The church burned down leaving only the front.  It's on a hill in the middle of Macau and a very popular tourist spot.

Looking down toward a shopping area from St. Paul's cathedral facade.

How do you like this pork chop sandwich?  If you look carefully, you can see the bone in it.  You'd better bite carefully, Elder Chandler!

These are big slabs of jerky that were being sold.  Elder Chandler bought a peppered piece of jerky.

There were just a few people on this shopping street.

St. Anthony's cathedral

Getting ready for Chinese New Year.

There was a big square full of New Year's decorations.

Here's our whole group--imagine how they all looked 50 years ago!

The tallest structure in Macau--sort of like the one in Las Vegas.

We went inside the lobby of the MGM casino.

How's this for a fish tank?

Here's a link to a video in MGM:  MGM lobby

Studio City hotel and casino and no we didn't do any gambling or even go in a casino.

A-Ma Village and Temple.  It's very ornate, beautiful and made to look old but it was constructed about 15 years ago.

It's good luck if you can get a coin in the bowl on the turtle's back but we weren't lucky.  Maybe this is a form of gambling now that we think about it.

The beginning of the City of Dreams water show in Macau.  It is the most over-the-top extravaganza you can imagine (but at least it's clean)

Venetian Hotel.

Here's the Eiffel tower in Macau at 492 feet it is about half the size of the real Eiffel tower.  This one just opened in September of 2016.

These videos are from the water show that was listed above:

Here's a link to click on below:

Water Show

Click on the link to see more below:

Motorcycle part of watershow

If you want to see more of the water show that people have recorded you can google Macau water show and see quite a few videos.

Before leaving Macau, we stopped at Fernandos, a Portuguese restaurant.  It's an old restaurant out in the boonies but very popular.  It was a cultural experience and the Portuguese food was good, too.

We left Macau and arrived home at midnight.  Good night Macau.  Good night everyone!