Day 77 Hong Kong

Wednesday, overcast and hazy. The sun almost broke through once. Last night: Finished reading Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns. The first 90 percent was all pain. The last 10 percent was ok.

The water taxi arrived on time to pick us up. The agent's assistant kept us cooling our heels on the dock for half an hour, before he delivered our passports from Immigration. The assistant did help us change money at a good rate, and suggested where one of the passengers could reload his cell phone minutes. Observed at least 6 street missionaries. Forgot to mention that we saw a young monk in orange in Thailand. Took the funicular up to Victoria Peak. Nice view, but hazy. We could see the ship at anchor on the back side of Hong Kong Island. We ate at the McDonalds on Victoria Peak. There is also a BK up there. So far, every place I have gone ashore has had the big yellow arches. Took the Star Ferry across to Kowloon. Walked to the Kowloon Park and visited the HK Heritage Discovery Center. Walked to the HK Museum of Art. The Chinese Antiquities collections were good. The special exhibition of a current artist, well, ahh, I'm not going to comment.

Ate supper at an Outback Steakhouse. Had a shrimp caesar salad and a good glass of wine. Found a grocery store and got 2 bottles of wine. The slop chest will be closed for almost 3 weeks until the new captain takes over. Took the ferry back to Hong Kong and managed to connect with the agent, clear Immigration, and get a ride back to the ship. Hong Kong has geared up for a big party. Many streets and docks are closed to vehicles. Many skyscrapers on both Hong Kong and Kowloon have animated Christmas and New Years images. Fireworks start soon. Not sure if we will be able to see it from the ship. Happy New Years! We are scheduled to weigh anchor at 02:00.