Hong Kong, Day 1, my first sight seeing

I had some trouble sleeping, both because of jet lag and excitement! I had been nervous that I'd be so tired that I'd oversleep and miss meeting Jubilee's social worker, Janice, at 8am. Thank you adrenaline, I got up bright and early, got dressed, packed my camera, and grabbed some breakfast at the hotel restaurant-fried rice, steamed buns, fried potato wedges, and coffee.

My view during breakfast

Then I wandered down the street to fill my Octopus card at the 7-11. The Octopus card is a travel card, accepted by the subway and buses, as well as a cash card that can be used to buy food and other items at 7-11 and fast food restaurants. I wandered back across the street to the hotel. My first taste of the busy Hong Kong Streets. The cars are fast, there's no such thing as personal space, but at the same time nobody looks at anyone else.



I met Janice in the lobby, and after a quick introduction, we were on our way. We walked a couple of blocks to a subway station, rode for a couple of stops, and then walked from there to a bus station. The bus took us up a winding mountain road. We got off right by the orphanage and walked inside.

A sign on the bus...I think it means don't eat on the bus?

The kids were out on their weekly field trip, so before getting to the exciting part of the day, I had meetings with some caretakers and therapists. Everyone had nice things to say about her sweet, social personality and that she is always willing to try things. I was supposed to get a tour of the orphanage next, but they were doing a monthly cleaning with strong chemicals while the kids were out for the morning, and since the meetings went pretty quickly, we had some spare time, so Janice and I set out to see The Peak. The Peak Tram was about a 5 minute walk from the orphanage, mostly stairs because we were already up the mountain a little way. The hill is so steep!

This picture cracks me up because of the angle we are at on the tram, it makes the buildings look tilted :)

The view from the top!

We went to a restaurant on the peak for lunch, I had a delicious udon stir fry, and Hong Kong style milk tea. The table was set with chopsticks, and when Janice said something in Chinese and pointed at them, the waiter ran off to get what I assumed was a fork. I said "it's ok, I can use chopsticks." She said "Oh, are you sure?" and then after watching me use them for a few minutes, complimented me on how good I am with chopsticks. Eric and I both learned as kids, but apparently not everyone does, even those who travel to Hong Kong.

We did some shopping, then got back on the tram. It was almost time to meet my daughter!