March 21 – 22, 2026
We spent both days in Hong Kong on bus tours. This was our second visit to Hong Kong, and we were surprised and very pleased to find that everything we saw on these tours was new to us. Our first stop was at a place called the Chi Lin Nunnery, which turned out to include a museum of models of oriental buildings and a park with very well-tended trees and shrubs.
We then went to a lunch where we had dim sum and a jellied dessert that demonstrated that Mal’s ability to use chop sticks is in fact, very limited.
After lunch we visited an apartment/condo in public housing. Here are pictures of the building and of an inside hallway. It was clean and well-tended, but we did see metal grates on the fronts of the apartment doors.
The apartment we visited had an area of 400 square feet, and it was originally assigned to a family of six – two grandparents, two parents, and two children. It now houses just the parents – the grandparents have passed and the children have grown and moved out. Because the parents are now over sixty-five, they are allowed to stay in the apartment. It has a living/eating area, kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms. Here are photos of the entrance, living area, kitchen, and one of the bedrooms. While there wasn’t much space, the apartment was very nice, and we were made to feel very welcome.
Our next stop was a market, where we saw dried shark fins for sale, as well as live scallops and snails.
Our tour on the second day included a view of the harbor that included what we think was a junk.
Our guide pointed out the scaffolding used in Hong Kong, which is made of bamboo. He said that they use it in buildings a high as 100 stories. That sounded pretty high to us, but we did see it in tall structures.
Our lunch was at our guide’s favorite fast-food restaurant, which included what we think were some of the world’s longest noodles.
After lunch we rode to the top of a 1200-foot mountain for a view of Hong Kong. We were impressed with how mountainous the area is and how many islands there are.
We also visited a park with statues of several gods. People lined up to rub one statue, to get good fortune.
On to Viet Nam,
Dottie and Mal
