Beijing Days 2 and 3

Hi families. More about our trip to Beijing. We started the second day ambitiously thinking we could see the Temple of Heaven and the Forbidden City in one day. Well, we could have, but we would not have seen everything we wanted to see in the Forbidden City, so we stayed there all day. The Forbidden City is where the emperor and his court lived and worked for over 500 years. Common people were forbidden entry hence the name.

"Built from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers 720,000 square meters. The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 198, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.
Since 1924, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties."

We walked through some beautiful and different gardens, tons of pavilions, peeked in windows and saw some wonderful artifacts. The size and scope of this place is beyond our ability to describe. We have attached some pictures to help, and we hope that it will give you an idea of how large this place actually is.

The next day we started in Tieneman Square - the largest public plaza in the world. It has several government buildings on either side of the square, and the mausoleum for Mao on one end and the gateway to the Forbidden City on the other. There are several statues honoring people who have made a difference in Chinese history there as well. While we were there, there was a floral tribute to the Olympics and some of the historic locations around Beijing. This was really pretty! We tried to get one of the soldiers to hold us for a picture, but had to settle for the one of us in front of him. After that, we headed out one of the old city gates (the walls have been torn down to make room for modern roads, but a few of the gates remain) and posed with an Imperial Lion. He was a friendly sort!

After another exciting taxi ride (it is a wonder more bicyclists are not injured in the city), we arrived at the Temple of Heaven. This complex was built in 1420 (around the same time as the Forbidden City). The grounds are 2.73 square kilometers in area and are quite nice. We would give you a history lesson here, but for more information google it. We were fascinated by the huge incense burners located at several places on the grounds and took our picture by one.

After this day of walking and visiting, we were pretty tired and located an Italian restaurant for dinner. Yes, we know we should have eaten the local Chinese food, but we just did not feel like it. Check out these cool cans of Fanta and Sprite. We loved the labels!

After a great meal, we headed for the street in search of a taxi. We learned quickly to head for a spot where someone might get out of a taxi and then just jump in. Well, actually, you had better run to the taxi or someone else will beat you to it. (Learned that one the hard way!!)

After a very satisfying day, we headed back to the hotel tired and ready for a nice, comfortable bed. Did we mention that the Government had decided that it was time to turn the air-conditioners off? It was kind of cool outside, but our room was really hot and the windows did not open. So that was a different experience!

We will write more later!

Love,
Kermit the Hermit Crab and Funky Monkey

Beijing Day 1

Hi, families. Beijing was awesome, and we got to go to The Forbidden City, Tieneman Square (we even got to see Mao on display in his crystal casket - but we were kind of put out by it), The Temple of Heaven, and The Summer Palace. Wow, some of those places are a lot larger than we thought and took a lot longer to wander through them.

Beijing is very busy getting ready for the Olympics next year, and we saw a lot of construction on new buildings and roads. We passed on eating Peking Duck and were amazed at all the bicycles and the crazy taxi drivers. One taxi driver was yelling at us in Mandarin the whole time he was driving us back to the hotel (no English on his part, no Mandarin on ours other than hello and thank you), grinding gears and narrowly avoiding other cars at the same time. After a few "I don't know's" from us (the rest of our sum knowledge of Mandarin) we just let him rant and rave at us while praying we would make it to our destination. We burrowed deep in a shoulder bag we were so upset by the situation. Miracle of miracles, we made it back to the hotel in one piece.

By the way, we have to break up our note to you on our activities since we can't attach too many pictures at one time.

The first day in Beijing we took a tour to the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall of China at Badaling. Wow! The Ming Tombs are thought to house 13 of the 16 Ming Emperors. One of the tombs has been opened, but they didn't allow us to go through it. The statues on the way to the main buildings were huge. We were perched on one of the large carved stone slabs. The buildings on this property were just a prelude of things to come on this trip, but they never ceased to amaze us.

After a great Chinese lunch, we were on our way to the Great Wall. There are several sections of the wall close to Beijing, but we went to the one that is most popular and has been reconstructed. The construction of the wall is incredible. It is so hard to imagine this thing being built - so much material would have had to have been hauled to the mountain side. The wall is a lot steeper than we thought it would be, too. We had to huff and puff our way up parts of it. She-who-must-not-be-named and Little B had to hold on tight to us in order for us to have our picture made on the Wall because it was so windy and cold. We hated to leave here. We could have walked for hours!

This was a really busy day for us, and we arrived back at the hotel tired and hungry, but we took some time to play with the elephants in the hotel lobby.

We are going to sign off now and will write again tomorrow about the rest of our adventures.

Love,
Kermit the Hermit Crab and Funky Monkey

Disneyland and Shek O

Hi families! We have been sightseeing lately and wanted to share with you where we have gone. First, we went to Disneyland Hong Kong. It is not as large as Disney World in Orlando (the Magic Kingdom part) but it is still a lot of fun. We got to take the train over the Lantau Island and then switched to the Disney line. Those trains are really neat! The windows are shaped like Mickey's head, the hand holds for those who have to stand are, too, and the thing that holds the hand holds to the upper rail look like his pants! The seats are curved and cushioned and they have trophy cases that have statues of many different Disney characters in them. How fun! We got to ride all the rides, but we have to tell you, Funky got a little sick on the tea cups. We thought it would be better to take our pictures on the stationary Dumbo - we didn't want to risk another round and round ride! Disneyland was all decked out for Halloween, which was a real treat. All in all it was a wonderful day!

The next Sunday we took a journey to Shek O, a fishing village located on the far eastern limits of Hong Kong Island. We were very proud that we selected the correct bus to get us there and actually ended up where we intended to go! There is a wonderful beach and the largest waves come ashore here. While we were there, a typhoon was off shore (quite a ways away) but it generated very, very large waves. It was so violent that we were not allowed to go near the water for fear of being knocked down by the waves and never seen again. We were standing on the beach when the lifeguards took dashed for the water and saved several people from being swept out to the open ocean - one poor guy had broken his arm. We watched in fascination as they launched their SeaDo and ferried around 25 people back to the shore. So, instead of swimming, we hiked a steep path up an adjoining island to see the view from the top. There is a beautiful little green tiled pagoda at the top and the view of the beach and the open sea is just beautiful. It was very windy, so we didn't get too many pictures of us enjoying the view, but here is one. After all the excitement including a wonderful Thai lunch, we wearily headed back home on one of the double-decker buses - we love sitting on the top deck!

So long for now!
Kermit the Hermit Crab and Funky Monkey

Exploring Hong Kong

Hi families! We are making the rounds through Hong Kong and are having a blast. One day we traveled to Stanley Market to see what was happening there. The drive over there is beautiful - we saw lots of green hillsides once we were out of the heart of the island, some beautiful beaches, and a lot of interesting shops. We poked around the market first, found some red silk bags to get shipped home in, and then went to have lunch at a restaurant next to the bay. It was warm, but the open air restaurant had fans going and it was quite comfortable.

We have walked around Kowloon and stopped in front of The Peninsula. We didn't eat there - high tea is served only on the weekends and we didn't want to go to the various restaurants in the hotel, but we poked around the lobby. Can you say nice? Wow! There is a lot of history in this hotel as well as some very trendy shops. We continued on toward the waterfront because we wanted to see the Doulos - which bills itself as the worlds largest floating book fair. From their website:

"Doulos visits port cities throughout the world, supplying vital literature resources, encouraging inter-cultural understanding, training young people for more effective life and service, promoting greater global awareness, providing practical aid and sharing a message of hope in God wherever there is opportunity."

So, it was a fascinating ship, but the weather was unbelievably hot and humid, so we cut that visit rather short. We had lunch at the nearby Quarterdeck restaurant, which was quite nice and then headed over to the Ladies Market.

You haven't been to Hong Kong if you haven't been to the Ladies Market. It is a neat series of outdoor stalls packed together in the alleyway that extends for three blocks. You can find all sorts of neat souvenirs, shirts, toys, chop sticks, silk items, etc., here. You get to bargain for the price, though, and unless you know what you should be paying you usually pay too much. Our friend wanted to purchase a wallet which was offered for HK$79. After negotiations, she paid a total of HK$60 for two of them. We poked around the shops and one nice shop worker let us take our picture with her. You might not want to post this one on the Internet as we didn't really look at the background. In addition to handbags, she had a lot of lingerie for sale.

Yesterday we ventured to the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. The grounds are beautiful and it is hard to believe you are in the middle of Hong Kong while you are there - unless you look up and see the skyscrapers in the background. We just had to get our pictures taken with our animal friends. Although there is an aviary on the grounds, our little bird friends here weren't very talkative. In the center of the grounds is a beautiful fountain. We were in front of one part of it, and if you walked around to the other side, it looked quite different.

Tomorrow's adventure is Disneyland! We are so excited - we can't wait to get there!

Lots of love,

Funky Monkey and Kermit the Hermit Crab

Hong Kong Happenings

Last week we went to plant a letterbox at The Peak, and boy did we have fun! We took the train down to Kowloon and walked to the Star Ferry pier. On the way we stopped at the clock tower. Our photographer wanted to make sure he got the tower in - can you see us sitting there on the bench in front of it?

The Clock Tower is a landmark in Hong Kong located on the southern shore of Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon. It is the only remnant of the original site of the former Kowloon Station on the Kowloon-Canton Railway. It is built out of red bricks and granite, is 45 metres tall, and is topped by a 7-metre lightning rod.

We excitedly made our way to the Star Ferry - we timed it just right because the ferry was boarding. We took our seats and marvelled at the harbor and the buildings on either side. What a sight! We decided to take a bus to The Peak rather than the tram as it was Sunday and there is usually quite a wait for the tram, so onto the Bus 15 we went. What a ride! We got to pass through town and up and up and up the mountain. It was fascinating to see the apartment towers stuck on the sides of the mountain. At the top, we walked on the Circle walk and had a great time. We planted the letterbox and then continued on around the circle. There is this awesome India Rubber tree that we got to play in. Kermit wanted to play hide and seek, buy Funky Monkey convinced him that he would probably never be found, so that put an end to that game. We continued around and stopped for a picture at one of the overlooks. You can see pretty well, but there is still a little smog in the air clouding the view. After dinner at The Peak Lookout restaurant, we made our way back to Tai Po, tired for happy after a good day of touring.

Another day we went to the Museum of History in Sha Tin. There was a special exhibit of Chinese treasures from the Shu time period, and we especially enjoyed an exhibit on The Art of Henry Wo-Yue-Kee.

We took off the the "country side" one night and travelled to Tai Mei Tuk, a little fishing village not too far from Tai Po. We got to ride on the top level of the double-decker bus. There we ate at an ourdoor Thai restaurant which had just opened. They had neat tables with huge umbrellas over them and since it was so hot, they had some fans nearby to help keep you cool. The food was wonderful and it was very pretty when the sun went down.

We have been to Meghan and Caitlyn's school, which is quite different from the school in the US. The buildings for the Secondary (that is Year 7 through Year 13 or grades 6 through 12 in the US) are six stories tall! They have an indoor pool and tennis and soccer (they call it football) courts on the rooftops. How cool!

Next week we are going to Stanley Market, and will send more pictures then. Take care!

Love,
Funky Monkey and Kermit the Hermit Crab

Last Adventures in Hawaii

Well, we finally have a few more pictures of our Hawaiian adventures. We had such a good time there! We got to go snorkeling and went out to see the Captain Cook Monument. We just had a slight problem getting the mask to fit. It was just a little on the large side, so it was hard to get a tight seal so that the water would not leak in. The boat ride out the the bay was really nice. Someone said they saw a dolphin, but by the time we were on the right side of the boat it was gone. There were all kinds of beautiful fish in the bay, and some people saw eels, too. We weren't looking too hard for them, so we managed to miss that sight.
Sometimes we cooked out and so the two of us had to check out the grill. It got hot enough, let us tell you! Near-by there were all kinds of coconut husks, and we played with them a lot.
We went to a botanical garden and enjoyed all the different flowers. We also planted a letterbox and re-planted one for Norasta. We hope that one survived since it was kind of close to the surf and there was a hurricane approaching on the day we left.
The flight to Hong Kong was long, but uneventful, thank goodness. The pilot just liked to land the plane kind of hard - we sort of dropped like a stone. We were glad we were wearing our seat belts!
Well, we are going to sign off now and see if we can locate some really good pictures of Hong Kong for you!
Love,
Kermit and Funky Monkey

Even More Hawaiian Adventures

Hi, families! We are having a great time here in Hawaii. Since we last wrote to you, we visited the Volcanoes National Park and have been swimming. The B's didn't get any pictures of us at the volcano - man it was really windy. We would have been blown away! But here is a picture of what we saw, anyway. There were craters, rough lava, smooth lava, cinder cone sand then by the sea we saw the sea arch. Unfortunately, the surface lava is flowing in an area that they have closed to the public because it is not safe to go there, so we did not see any new surface flows.
The next morning we went swimming at Hapuna Bay. Man, the water was so nice and warm. The waves on this side of the island are more gentle, and the bay is a little protected. We loved sitting on Little B's swimboard and just floating around. We were really glad that we were carried to the water, though. That sand was HOT!
Well, we haven't downloaded any more pictures, so we'll sign off and get ready to head to a new beach!
Hope to write again soon.
Funky Monkey and Kermit the Hermit Crab