January- Happy New Year

Happy New Year from Hong Kong

To start the New Year out right we went to a lovely park here in the city called Victoria Park.  And we went shopping at the nearby Ikea store.

Don't you love all the pigeons and Elder Chandler looking spiffy in his suit?  Fortunately no pigeons were flying overhead at the moment.  They might have added a little color to his white hair.

There was about any kind of pigeon there that you could imagine.

We also watched some people racing their little miniature boats around there.

The children were enjoying a little playground.

It looks like this place has the right idea for a New Year's celebration.  They're probably going to ring in the new year with a big pop.

The streets on Hong Kong island were super-packed with people all trying to find a good place to see the fireworks.

We wanted to stay to watch the fireworks but after we had a dinner with the senior couples at the Area Office we were exhausted.  We are vowing to watch them on Chinese New Year when they set them off earlier but here's what we missed the other night; but we heard them!:

2017 Hong Kong Fireworks

We also had an extra day off after the New Year so we went on a strenuous -mile or so (2 to 3 km) hike to hike Dragon's back.  It is called that because it goes up and down along the ridge of the mountains. We took the ferry, then the train, then the bus to get to our hike.

There were some pretty spectacular sights along the way.

Some of the trail had steps but lots of the trail was uneven rocks.

Here's Elder Chandler taking a short rest.  Notice the trail; this was how it looked pretty much all of the way.

You can see the little town and Shek O beach below.  Shek o translates either as rocky bay or big rock in Chinese.

Anybody care for a little golfing?

When we got to the top we were as high or higher than the hang gliders.

Here we are at the top of Shek O Peak. It was around 70 degrees--not bad for January 2.

Then it was time to head down.

Near the end of the hike back, we were happy to find a couple of benches to take a short break.

Here's what we saw when we got back to Hung Hom.  It is the moon and the planet Venus.

Good Night Everyone.  Happy New Year!