The End

This adventure has officially come to an end.  We are all 3 of us are back in the US - Gwen returned on Thanksgiving Day.

We spent the holidays visiting relatives on the east coast - catching back up with all of my grandparents and then headed south to Patrick's parents.

We also took advantage of the empty house and painted the entire interior.  Here are a few new colors:

A few weeks ago our things from China were finally delivered.  Everything arrived safe and sound and our new acquisitions from abroad have found homes in our house.

 The adventure is over, but we are ready for whatever comes our way next.

Last Adventures in Hong Kong

The end is drawing near here in Hong Kong, and I have been trying to take full advantage of it.

I started November by embracing the warm weather (By HK standards, it is getting cold)

Still wearing sandals on Nov 7th.

The holiday season is in full swing earlier here.

Two weekends ago I went with some friends over the island for a 'wine walk' to support Queen's Road East restaurants.  The idea was that you had a passport and walked to 19 restaurants and businesses to get your passport stamped.  If you filled the passport you got a bottle of wine.  We only got to 9 places, but we had a lot of fun along the way.

Met some friends on the street.

I thought I would get a jump start on my move back to the US and check out a car - Mini specifically.

Wheel on the wrong side of the car for the US - so I will keep looking.

Another stop - Chez Patrick.  Wish we had found this before Patrick left.

Colorful buildings of WanChai.



The end result - not finished, but a ton of fun.

For my birthday, the team took me out for lunch.  I took pictures of some of my favorite dishes, I'll be missing.

Crispy pork

Birthday Bun

Inside the birthday bun.

 We had visitors from HQ later in the week which means more dim sum lunches.

 

I will miss the dim sum and the fun at our lunches.

Last Sunday I took a hike (to say the least) up Lantau Peak with my colleague Ninh.  This is the 2nd highest point in HK and the highest reachable point.

Me at the start of the trail.

As we hiked up to the peak, the Big Buddha was our landmark.  Watch as it gets smaller and smaller.

The path ahead.  It was amazing how well it had been taken care of.  There were steps all the way up.  They weren't evenly spaced, but we were thankful for the steps.

A resting place to catch my breath - with a beautiful view.

The top is the knoll on the left.  The spots (the red one) - those are hikers who passed me.

The Buddha and the Ngong Ping village.

This sign says we climbed 1 kilometer - completely vertical.  Longest kilometer of my life.

Ninh leading the way up.

The top

 Views in all directions from the top.

Walking down the other side.

Looking back up at the top.

Our greeting at the end - Lantau Island cows.

 Here are some pictures Ninh took.

 

What would the blog without one more dim sum lunch.

This is the ordering process.

A team favorite - chicken feet - They say they're good for the skin.

Whole table ready - waiting for the last few team members to join.

This past Friday my team held a Farewell Dinner for me at a Peking restaurant.

Judd told me I had to take a picture of the peanuts….  They start every meal.

It took 2 tables for all of us - here is the 2nd table.

Peking Duck in the center of the table.

Group shot of all of us.

A few of the girls.

So I am moving into the Intercontinental Hotel for my last 4 nights in Hong Kong.  The movers arrive tomorrow to start packing the apartment and put our things on the 'slow boat from China'.