Scary Bus Rides, Stanley Market, Security Guards

 After a quick and easy first week of school the weekend called for some more exploring of the city. Friday night was a night on the town. We headed to a fancy bar called Aqua which offered great views of the city! WE had all done a lot of pre-gamming so we didn't buy any expensive cocktails thank goodness! Saturday was an interesting day to say the least. I went on an organized school trip to Lamma Island which is an outlying island of HK.

Boats in Lamma

Burning Incense- Temple of the Fishing Goddess

I'm not sure if it was the dreary weather or poor sleep habits catching up with me, but my day on the island wasn't the best experience. First of all it's a pain to travel in huge groups. This is something all the exchange kids are learning quickly and we are finally finding our own smaller packs to travel in. Second of all the "adventure" for the day was walking around a VERY rural island that honestly was not all that pretty. We also ended up sitting on a cold beach for 1.5 hours while we waited for our time slot at a seafood restaurant. The day ended with some sub-par seafood for a lot of money and a few cranky Hoosiers. The only positive of the day was that I got to take my first ferry ride across Victoria Harbour.

Ready for a better day Haley, Paul, and I decided to make our own plans for Sunday. We ended up exploring the market town of Stanley (on the coast of HK island) and taking a look around central. 

Sick of Asian food our adventure began with a quick pit-stop in Subway. For those of you who no me well I hate Subway so I am clearly getting desperate. Minus the food I am having a fabulous time! We then worked our way through the hundreds of people to get to the Exchange Bus Terminal in Central. When I say hundreds of people I am not exaggerating. Exploring on a Sunday may not be the best idea in the future... because Sunday is the "people's holiday" everyone crowds the streets. Women also set up camp for the day all over the city and sit with their girlfriends. It is basically a display of thousands of hobo picnics all over the streets. Tarps, cardboard boxes, and sheets are laid out and the women eat lunch and chit-chat all day long! Quite odd but definitely something to see. 

After fighting our way through the crowds to the bus station we hopped on the Stanley Express and spent 45 minutes travelling through the city to Stanley. The bus ride was amazing! The views through Repulse Bay were phenomenal and the real estate that we saw was unbelievable. You know you're in the right part of town when you pass Mercedes, Ferrari, Bentley, and Maserati Dealerships within an hour! 

We finally arrived in Stanley and explored the market. Although the market is fun to browse it's not really worth buying anything because it's a huge tourist trap and the ladies running these stalls DO NOT barter. After shopping in Mong Kok at the Ladies' Market, Stanley didn't offer much shopping entertainment. My only purchase of the day was a few postcards. 

Tired of the crowded market streets we headed to the waterfront and took in the view. The best part about Stanley is the laid back ambiance. It's nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. We climbed a few rocks, took a few pictures, and ate a few spring rolls at a seaside cafe and then headed back into town on the bus. 

I'm not sure who taught the bus drivers to drive but the ride home was much less enjoyable partially because we spent the entire journey struggling to stay in our seats as we whipped around the hair-pin turns (still had fun though). 

A little tired but satisfied with our adventure we made one last stop to the HSBC building. Here there are lion statues and it is apparently lucky to rub the paw of the lions which of course we did! We also climbed on top for a prime photo opportunity and got yelled at by the security guards- picture was worth it though! 

Ladies on a Sunday

Lucky paw!

 

 

All hungry, we headed back to Mong Kok for dinner. We already knew that we would cave and get Western food again so we headed to Pizza Hut. In Hong Kong eating out at Pizza Hut is actually a dining experience (very culturally different than at home). The pizza was delicious. Full and happy we headed back to City U for much needed rest.