Hong Kong - China (day2)

These ferries have been operating since the early 1900's.

We had fun and got some of Anh's "to do's" accomplished.  We started late and I had failed to advance my watch somehow.  So we took the ferry to Hong Kong from Kow Loon and then hopped the Green bus to Stanley.  The driver speaks no English so asking questions was a wasted effort.  Consequently, we missed the stop we had planned to get off at and continued all the way to Stanley.  It was a beautiful and scary ride.  Very steep terrain and narrow road at what seemed like high speed to me (I guess I really am getting old).  The damage to the trees is telltale of the damage from a recent storm.

There are several bus companies here in Hong Kong.  "Big Bus" is the one we were using.  There are several things that could improve their business.  The best thing they have going for them is the salespeople on the ground.  The advise and direct you to accomplish your objectives.  The problem is they can't be with you on the bus to tell you to get off.  There is no indication when you arrive at one of the points of interest on their little map.  The driver just drives and generally has little if any multilingual qualifications going for him.  The earphones they provide are obviously provided by the lowest bidder.  The prerecorded speel is rarely in sync with what you're looking at.

The taxi drivers are generally some of the boldest drivers I've seen.  Add to that the incredibly small places they thread their cars through.  Plus I think I'm more mindful of my mortality than they.  Today we got a sleeper though.  This guy looked like he should have been retired long ago.  He fell asleep at a traffic light and wandered from side to side in his lane at a relative snail's pace.  He scared me more the others.  I told Anh to fasten her seat belt and began praying specifically for a safe trip in his car.

When we returned from the bus ride, ferry crossing, and taxi ride with Gramps, we went to do some of Anh's shopping in Kwan Tong (pronounce Coon Tong).  Found much better prices than yesterday.  The tip was from Oliver (one of our taxi drivers yesterday).  It was there we met Wendy. 

Our new friend Wendy

 She was listening to Anh try to communicate and had mercy on us.  She took us by the hand and then walked us over to the place she recommended for Dim Sum.  We got her card so we can communicate again later.  Then tried ordering in a totally Chinese only restaurant.  What a hoot!  We both decided Ginger Bistro was better.  

So lunch in our tummies, we braved the taxis again and asked them to take us to the Cruise Terminal.  He kept calling it "Ferry Terminal", but he knew where we needed to be.  Now it's 1540 and I need to finish and get onboard.  Will post more pics later.