New Eyes to See the Beauties of Hong Kong--May 6-12, 2013

We met with Brother Luk, the Family History Country Adviser for Hong Kong. We are trying to find ways to promote family history work in Hong Kong. We offered our help.

We worked with Sister Gloria from our Branch to input names of her family into Family Tree. It is nice to work with a member on family history instead of answering e-mails all day.

Tom had cataract surgery this week. He is amazed at how much more vibrant colors are and everything is clear and bright. He noticed many new wrinkles that he is sure weren't there the day before! He is so pleased with the results that he is having the other eye done next week. The doctor came highly recommended from the Moran Eye Center in Salt Lake City. We were pleased to learn that our insurance will pay for most of it. If we home then it would be covered 100% by Medicare.

We decided to walk the Promenade on Friday morning. It was 80 degrees with 92% humidity. That was a mistake, at least from Garnalee's perspective. No more walking the Promenade for her.

Tom has been busy writing words for a farewell song for Sister Ruth Ann Hamilton. We enjoy the fun and the "roast" that is given to the departing person. She is a 70 year old single sister who is very active and fun to be around.

We took the Halls, a young couple in our Branch who are here for six months, and the Cowleys to Big Buddha.

Tom (notice no glasses), Matthew Hall, Seantay Hall, Sister Cowley, and Elder Cowley waiting to catch the 360 Crystal Gondola. It is a gondola with a glass floor and walls.

 The gondolas pass each other. The ride is like a chair lift at a ski resort.

 The path that hikers choose to walk to Big Buddha. If you are adventurous it is a beautiful walk. The picture was taken through the floor of the gondola.

 Parts of the hiking path are stairs that go straight up the mountain.They don't believe in switch backs. The path was built to service the gondola towers but is used by many hikers. Tom is considering doing this hike when the weather turns cool in the fall.

Tom and Garnalee at the Big Buddha.

Turtles sunning themselves on the rock.

I asked Tom to go stand by the bird so I could take his picture. He said, "You mean with the chicken?" It is actually a peacock.

 One of the areas that we missed when we went to  Big Buddha the last time was the Wisdom Path. There are 38 split logs planted along the trail. Each had a Chinese proverb written on it. Each stella was about 20 feet tall.

 The Chinese characters craved into the stella.

Tian Tan Buddha statue (informally known as the Big Buddha) was erected in 1993. Sitting 34 metres high and facing north to look over the Chinese people, this majestic bronze Buddha draws pilgrims from all over Asia.

Sitting in the harbor is the world's largest rubber duck promoting world peace. It was created by a Dutch artist. The duck is 16.46 meters tall and weighs 600  kilograms. It would be a great promotional gag for the annual Idaho Falls Great Duck Race, but it cost over $1,000,000 HK or $125,000 US to bring it to Hong  Kong.