CNY 2010 with Qualicum cousins

Day Two in Hong Kong began with a walk along the beautiful Ap Lei Chau promenade. Built as part of the 2006 Beijing olympics legacy program, it winds its way long the Aberdeen harbour. We visited the Hung Sei temple, which is an ancient temple in the midst of skyscrapers and busyness of a large city. Inside, it was hushed and shadowed and filled with incense. People were burning papers with pictures of ipods, furniture and cars, carried by smoke into the afterlife to await them there. The temple is maintained by a society, and a gentleman there, when hearing we were family, congratulated me on having a son! We watched in awe as one after another people lit their incense and bowed to the altars within.

Afterwards, we wandered through Ap Lei Chau gardens which were abloom with everything colourful! Mums, dahlias, impatiens, and many many shrubs, trees and flowers which I didn't recognize. Shea took a lovely picture of a brown and blue butterfly which flitted above us as if it wanted to come along.

We then hired a sampan ferry and tootled around the harbour, careening around junks, fishing vessels, other sampans and large ships. What a busy port! We saw a fisherman making his way along the harbourside which is dotted with boat docks, shanties and shacks. The sampan we were on was decorated for the new year and the woman who was piloting us smiled at all of our excitement!

On the other side we made our way to the mini bus, past shops and dimsum lunch stands, canaries, pharmacies and all sorts of interesting places. Many road side shrines along the way.