Yes, we walked. In the heat and sunshine. And walked. Actually, the park they wanted is close to Danny’s childhood school, and although it’s a good hike, it’s mostly downhill. Still, when we got to the park, the kids were about to melt in the heat, so they didn’t end up playing much!!

I walked around the park a bit while they did play, and check out the scenery. Hong Kong is spectacular and interesting because with all its ultra-modern high rises, it’s also tropical, and there are some fabulous old buildings.

After living dangerously and filling up drinking bottles from an outdoor fountain (oh yes, I did) we walked down towards the main part of the city for some lunch. As usual, Emily’s request is simple: “noodles and air conditioning and something cold to drink”.

I know the photo isn’t brilliant, but check out the one with the man sitting sewing! Yes, that’s his sewing business, cramped in between two big buildings, down a few steps, underneath construction cladding. How cool is that!?

Also, see the photos of shops carrying every manner of seafood, including the politically incorrect shark fins! There are tons of shops with all the lanterns and things you can see in the photos too. Much of those things are actually for burning in various ceremonies for the dead. For real.

We had lunch in a little (dirty) Vietnamese noodle place. The food was passable (just) and the atmosphere nothing special. The funny surprise of the day was that the washroom (yes, we’re that adventurous) was reasonably clean. For real. Cleaner than the rest of the place. How weird.

We headed back up to the hotel for an afternoon of swimming! Yes, as usual, all my kids want is to swim! Check out the underwater photos! I gave the camera to Emily, and she took them. Before this trip, I bought myself a spiffy Sony underwater camera like Danny has, so I’m enjoying giving it to the kids to play with.

We had a dinner obligation tonight. Gum Ha (Danny’s cousin) and her sisters were hosting everyone for a banquet dinner for a large group. The food was ok, although not my favourite, and the company was lovely, but I struggled, since there was no English being spoken. Stephanie ate a few chicken wings, thorough under-cooked (yes, still bleeding inside, for real) and fell sound asleep. Emily ate tons of chicken meat and did a great “big girl” job of behaving through a very long, very late meal. We didn’t finish dinner until almost 10:00pm.