Fun With the Burdett's

February 8 (Monday)

This week's blog is a memory test. I had 4 days of blogging written out. Then my computer froze and crashed! AWWW!?*&#!

Today is New Year's Day and we went for Dim Sum with Auntie May Soo and family. We got there early and the place filled quickly and was soon packed. There were red envelopes floating all over the place. Auntie was very generous. She was passing them out left and right to all the waiters, waitresses and hostess, as well as family.

It wouldn't be Chinese New Year without the little Red Envelopes.

After lunch we decided to go shopping because Ernest, Agatha's husband, said they had a great sale on at Mark and Spencer's. Steven decided he would accompany us. He loves to shop too. It was very interesting shopping with him. He would examine each piece of clothing I was interested in and tell me whether it was good quality of not. Steven is in the textile business and knows a lot about quality and make of clothes. He says he's not a fashion consultant, but he does know what the fashion trends are. It was great to have this time with him to get to know him better. During our previous dinners, he didn't speak very much. I ended up buying 2 pairs of pants and 2 tops from the M&S spring collection.

Welcome to the Chinese New Year Parade by Cathay Pacific

After waiting in line for 5 hours for parade tickets, today is the day, we see if it was worth it. We headed out to the staging area around 6:00 pm to avoid the crowd. At first I was disappointed with our seats since they were at the end of the row, not in the middle. But as it turned out, it was great because there was a big screen right in front of us, and we had a perfect clear unobstructed view. Also, we could see each act as it came up to the starting gate.

The MC's were very good, but had a hard time getting the crowd to respond. I think it was the reserve side of the Chinese people, who unlike American's get into it and whoop it up. We tried to get a wave going. The people behind us tried to join in and thought it was fun, but beyond that, no one else really got it. Oh well...show time...

Everyone who had bought tickets for the special viewing gallery also received a bag of goodies from some of the sponsors. One fun thing in everyone's bag was a flashing  laser glow stick. It would change colours and flash on and off or just be still on one colour. At one point, I noticed that everyone's stick was green. How did that happen? Then they were all blue? Apparently, someone had control of the sticks and could change the colour of everyone's stick. Oooo ... very eerie ... that we were being controlled!

Lots of Colour. Lots of Music. Lots of Dancing. Great Floats. Great Friends. A Fun Night!


February 9 (Tuesday)

Bishop Burdett, Sharon, Shane and Jaxson arrived Monday evening. They were staying in the Regal Oriental Hotel in Kowloon. It's sort of out of the area that we are in, so we were able to get them into Harbourfront. It's much roomier, modern and convenient. I'm so excited to have them visiting us. It may take a few days to get their sleep pattern adjusted.

We gave them a quick orientation on how to catch the shuttle and where it goes to. Rode it down to TST, walked around for about 1/2 hour, then rode the shuttle back.

Shuttle cards in hand

Harbour City decorated in Peaches, symbol of longevity

President and Sister Funk, the Asia Area President, were hosting a pot luck dinner for all the senior missionary couples. They live in the Church Headquarters building in Wan Chai. The Burdetts were invited to join us. It was a wonderful meal. Afterwards, we all went up to the balcony to watch the New Years Fireworks. Got a great view, and didn't have to fight the crowds.

We had taken the bus through the cross harbour tunnel to get to Wan Chai, but decided to take the MTR back so the Burdetts could see how the Octopus Card and subway system works. They caught on real fast.


February 10 (Wednesday)

Today is the 3rd day of the New Year, and is considered a statutory holiday so the Temple is open 1/2 day. Attendance was sparse for the first 2 sessions, but the next 3 were almost full. The Burdett's went to The Peak while we were at the Temple. The lineup to ride the tram was 2-3 hours, so they decided to hike up. Had a great clear day to view the city from above. Then hiked down.

Cafe de Corel - great artificial shark fin soup!

We met up for dinner at Cafe de Corel at Ladies Market, then explored this famous marketplace. Shane was excited when he saw all the runners stores. He also picked up a backpack for his mission and some ties. Jaxson purchased a sword. It was getting late, and we still hadn't made it through the whole market, but they planned to return another day.

A Temple Day with the Burdett's

February 11 (Thursday)

Bishop, Sharon and Shane came to the Temple today. We got to do the session all together. Tonight's excursion took us to the Temple Street Market. It's similar to Ladies Market, but a little smaller. Jaxson bought a drone. Sharon and I bought a little wooden carved jewelry box. There were a ton of food vendors along the street, and they were packed to overflowing. Apparently, it's a great place to eat, but we couldn't find seating anywhere. So we decided to go back to Hung Hom to a nice little restaurant by out complex. Food was good and reasonable.and it wasn't packed. Kinda nice to eat in a nicer environment.

Temple Street Market entrance

Crowded eating area - no place to sit.

Dressed for New Years

February 12 (Friday)

The Burdetts went out exploring on their own since we were working the late shift. They went to see the 10,000 Buddah's and IKEA. Nice combination. They just happen to be in the same area. After we got home, we decided to go for dinner at Food Opera, the food court in the MOKO Mall. It's a great place with lots of variety, all Asian fare. No McDonald's or KFC here.

Kung Fu Pandas at the MOKO Mall 

Bishop came to our place after to print out some temple cards since they planned on coming to do baptisms in the morning. Then he had a look at my computer. Really, not anything seriously wrong with it, just the person operating it. Dah...

Dreaming...

February 13 (Saturday)
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All the Burdetts came to do baptisms. It was wonderful! Shane got to perform his first baptisms and Jaxson was the proxy. How memorable to be able to do it in the Hong Kong Temple!

The afternoon was taken up by getting groceries and resting before the "big" dinner. Bishop had received a huge credit from the Regal Oriental Hotel to eat in their restaurant when he cancelled their reservation there. So he treated us to an all you can eat seafood buffet at their restaurant. They had an amazing variety of foods. We really felt like VIP's there because the manager just kept checking on us to see if everything was OK. He wanted to give us complimentary wine during our  meal. When we turned down the offer, he made up a couple of gift bags of wine and tried to send it home with us. He couldn't believe we would turn it down. I think he was trying to win back their business. They even bought us a platter of lobsters!

L O B S T E R S ! ! !

I can't believe I ate the whole thing!

Just 2 more to go...I'm working on it!

All fed up. We lost our appetite (haha). We rode a double decker bus #15 there and back. It was nice to see the city from the top deck and had a much better view than riding the MTR.

 February 14 (Sunday)

Happy Valentine's Day! Church Day. It was great to have the Burdett's join us for Church. We are so short of priesthood holders. It was great to have Shane bless the sacrament and Jaxson pass the sacrament. We all went to the Gospel Principles class. There were 4 investigators. So exciting to share the gospel.

Of course, eating days at church are supposed to be the 1st and 3rd Sunday. But as usual, Janet Obuono, planned a special meal today. On the Chinese calendar, it is the 7th day of the new year and is the day that everyone's birthday is celebrated. That's a new one to me. Anyways, another super spread and it definitely beat the tacos that I was planning for supper.

Our 15 course meal.

It's not fancy dining, but it sure tastes great!

After we got home, Shane and Jaxson decided to just chill out. Bishop and Sharon came over for dessert (almond jelly and fruit). Then we watched the Isaiah Prophesy. End of another great week.