Last day- Kowloon Park

Our last day in Hong Kong we wanted to keep low key.  We would be leaving the hotel late at night for our flight home.  So we needed to pack and didn't want to spend hours away from the hotel.  We decided to check out one of the local city parks, Kowloon Park.  If it wasn't so stinkin' hot out, we could've walked there from our hotel, which was in the Tsim Sha Tsui district of Kowloon.

We checked out a sculpture garden.

Then the dumplings headed into a garden maze.

Only Caleb was tall enough to see over the hedges.  It was cute to watch them run around.

We also spied some fish, ducks, and flamingos.

It was soooo hot, and at times, there was no breeze.  So we had to call off the park adventure and head back to the hotel.

Havi loved standing on the window ledge and walking back and forth, always with rice cracker in hand.

Don't worry, Patrick was standing just outside the frame of these shots.  So she wasn't in any danger.

Since we really enjoyed our dinner at Pizza Express a few nights back, we decided to eat at one located near the hotel.

After dinner, we took a quick walk down to the harbour for one last view.  Since Havi's diaper had leaked, we were in a bit of a hurry to get back to the hotel.  So I didn't have time to set up my tripod.  I just "upped" my ISO and snapped a shot.

I did manage to take a series of shots that I hope to convert into a panorama (I did the same for the view from the Peak.)  Then it was back to the hotel for about an hour before we departed for the airport.

I will share about our actual travel home in the next post.  We really enjoyed our time in Hong Kong.  Honestly, I wanted to use up all the 7 days we're allowed when transiting without a visa.  There were just a few more places and things I wanted to see.  But three weeks away from home was wearing on the rest of the family.  It got old living out of suitcases, trying to keep clean and dirty clothes separate and just trying to find whatever it was you were looking for.  Anyway, I'm thankful that we took a different travel route this time than the two previous adoption trips and that it allowed us to explore Hong Kong for a few days.  I honestly can't wait to return when the kids are older. 

Ngong Ping 360 on Lantau Island

On our third full day in Hong Kong, we took a cable car ride on Lantau Island.  There is a subway station right at the ticketing area.  So we opted to take the subway there and back.  It was very easy to navigate the subway system because everything is in both Chinese and English.  It was easy to switch lines, and we arrived about an hour after we left our hotel.

Unfortunately, we did not purchase our cable car tickets in advance and had to endure an hour and twenty minute wait.  Thankfully it was shaded because it was soooo hot and humid, even for a Florida gal.

You can purchase a crystal clear cabin, which means your cabin has a clear bottom.  It was pretty awesome to see Tung Chung Bay right below your feet.

In addition to cable car tickets, we also purchased tickets for a short boating excursion around Tai O Fishing Village, which also required bus tickets for a 20-25 minute bus ride down the mountain to the village.

Life is very rural there, and the houses are all on stilts.

Our boat ride also took us out around the island for some pink dolphin spotting, only we could barely see them under the water.  The boat ride was rough out in the open sea.  Thankfully Havi squealed as if she was on a rollercoaster.  She loved it.  That was a relief because that boat ride wasn't for everyone. lol

Unfortunately we didn't plan well, arriving at Tai O Village at lunch time with nothing to eat unless you wanted to be extremely brave...something we were not going to subject the little dumplings to.  

So our visit to Tai O Village was brief.  We boarded the bus and took the 20-25 minute ride back up to Ngong Ping Village to eat there.

We picked up some Taiwanese food for the littles and Starbucks for mama and baba.

Then it was time to head over to the biggest Buddha in the world.

As we walked through the piazza on our way, Madeline decided to stop and pose.  And her family photobombed her.  

After such a long day, we were not about to purchase additional tickets to climb to the top.  This was as close as we wanted to get with three tired little ones in tow. lol

Caleb and Madeline tried to help Havi look in the direction of my camera for photos.  Some of the onlookers apparently thought this was funny.

It was a full day on Lantau Island.  The views were spectacular, and the weather cooperated, for which we were thankful.  I just wished we had eaten lunch at the Ngong Ping village before we took the buse ride down to Tai O Village because I had wanted to explore the area more after the boat ride.  Lesson learned.