March 17th, 2024 Day 19 of 24 Hong Kong, China Day 2

Hello from Hong Kong Day 2. May I be one of the first to wish you a Happy St. Patrick’s Day. As you are reading this I will have had my celebrations in Hong Kong and yours are just beginning. After our Sushi and Saki last night we slept so hard. But sadly, we had to sleep very fast. Our excursion met at 7:45am this morning. So it was up and ready, coffee and a bowl of Raisin Bran and we were off to the Main Stage to meet our group. Today we started our tour of Hong Kong at a Taoist Temple in the heart of Hong Kong. Today was a lot of viewing the old and historical with the new and improved in the same photo. Many old and decrepit parts of the city have been removed in the last 20 years. Those space have been replaced with high rises. But the old temples, monasteries, and historical sights remain right in the middle of them all. You’ll see a lot of that in my photos from today. We saw a hug section of government housing near the Temple. The plan is to place people needing housing in these temporary housing areas for three years while more housing in being built. Our guide said the new housing won’t be ready for six years, so it is highly likely they will been in the temporary structures longer than the projected three years. I will add that near the cruise terminal there is a ton of empty, temporary housing that was built for those who were quarantined during COVID. The government built and provided housing to those who were ill and now those structures all sit empty. Just a suggestion to the people of Hong Kong, maybe house some people there for now as well. While at the Temple Megan and I got paparazzi’d big time today. First two woman asked for a photo, and then two others, and then four, and I finally said, “O.K. only 1 more photo”. We only had about 20 minutes to see the temple and we needed to get moving along. It was cute and they were kind, I even made them take a photo with my camera too so we had the memory. Then we got back on the bus and headed to Nan Lian Garden. There is a beautiful Nunnery here and historical shrines. They are unique in that there were built out of wood using no nails at all. It was built using dovetail, several types of lenon, and inverted V-shaped braces. It is definitely an architectural accomplishment. The gardens around it are meticulously manicured. We watched an employee sweeping up leaves as they were still falling from above her from the tree. She was patiently sweeping them up as they continued to fall. Next, we went to the Kowloon Walled City Park. Our guide described how this part of Kowloon used to be the slums of Kowloon. Filled with crime, gangs and prostitution. It was surrounded by a large wall and even police officers did not dare enter this part of Kowloon. The walls have been taken down and the original structures removed. It has been tuned into a park with some original pieces to remind the city of the past and how far they have come. Our last stop of the day was to see the flower wholesalers and bird park. The orchids I saw today make me wish I could take the all home to California. They thrive here in the warm and humid climate. The bird park is a place where people to their birds for “a walk”as a lot of people in Hong Kong live in government housing they are restricted to what pets they may own. He said he lives in a 400 square foot apartment with 6 people and there is no place for a dog anyway. So residents bring their birds here and they hang them on a tree in the cages and they “hang out”. There is also a huge shopping area for everything you could possibly image you would need as a bird owner. You can even buy a bird here. It felt a little strange seeing so many birds in cages, but it is the culture here. We were back on the ship by about 1:00pm today. Megan and I put on our swimsuits and went and enjoyed some sun in the back deck of the Zuiderdam. About 2:30 they started setting up for the sail away party that began at 3:30pm. We decided it got too loud and too crowded for our tastes so we heading home for another attire change. I headed to the gym and Megan went and took a run around deck three where the track is. Then home for showers and yet another outfit change. We are eternally grateful for unlimited complimentary laundry on days like today. We headed to join Gail and Marty in the Main Dining Room for dinner. Tonight it was Irish tradition overload. I had Potato soup, corned beef and cabbage with mashed potatoes and carrots, and Bailey Irish cream cheesecake for dessert. I am happy to say this is my third St. Patrick’s Day aboard a World Cruise and the food has gotten better every year. Our conversation lasted until 9:00pm and by the time we wrapped up dinner we decided we were ready for sleep. Two days of excursions and many steps through Hong Kong and we are exhausted. We get to set our clocks back an hour this evening so we will get an extra hours of sleep. That is fantastic. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day to all of my American readers. I hope you have a wonderful day of celebration. Have a green beer, enjoy some traditional fare. I send you this Irish proverb to close; “May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.”