My daughter Stella surprised me by taking me on a trip to Hong Kong.
Stella told me that Herman wanted to fly with us to Hong Kong; unfortunately, he himself couldn’t make this trip with us anymore; that's why she wanted to fly with me to Hong Kong.
And this was really a great surprise for me, because I know that it was Herman's wish (my late husband) to travel with us to Hong Kong and so I was very happy about Stella's idea.
It was in 2007, the year of the pig.
Stella had prepared everything until the last detail: she had booked the flight with Cathay Pacific Airline, reserved a beautiful hotel, the Eaton Hotel, Nathan Road, Kowloon, and she had arranged for us to be picked up every morning by a guide who made with us nice and interesting sightseeing tours.
The first evening alreadywe made a wonderful city and harbour tour by night. The Victoria Harbour is located between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon and is especially beautiful in the evening after sunset, because from the boat you have a great view of a light spectacle on both sides of the harbour 'World’s Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show'.
The next morning, wedid the 'Land Between Tour - New Territories of Hong Kong'. Our guide showed us many nice places and how the past has shaped the future of the island. He explained us how Taoist, Buddhist and Confucian ideologies have shaped the life of the population. We drove along hugeplantations and rice fields and climbed up to the highest mountain in Hong Kong‘Tai Mo Shan’ from where we had a fantastic panoramic view. We also stopped at the border between Hong Kong and China. The border is formed by the 'Shenzen River' that separates the cities of Hong Kong and Shenzhen. At least we visitedan old fishing village and wonderful rural markets.
The next day we were picked up for the 'New Lantau Island Tour', an island with beautiful beaches and breathtaking mountain ranges. We saw a traditional fishing village built on stilts 'Tai O', visited the monastery 'Po Lin' (precious lotus) and the' Tian Tan Buddha'.
Of course, we made a ride on the Sky Rail cable car between the village of 'Ngong Ping' and 'Tung Chung' had to be done too. From the cable car we had a spectacular view of the giant Buddha, saw green landscapes, the Tung Chung Bay and had a look at the international airport of Hong Kong.
Very nice was also our trip by ferry to Macao, a former Portuguese colony with many sights from the colonial era.
Gambling is very popular in Macao. The construction of the modern casinos forms a great contrast to the churches in Baroque style, traditional temples and the small alleys.
Landmark of the oldtown is the ruin of St. Paul's Church; during a typhoon it burned almost completely down; only the façade remains.
The old town of Macaobelongs since 2005 to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage.
Also worth mentioning is our trip to the racecourse, the Hong Kong Jockey Club. We ate there very well and of course also bet on a horse - and won 😊 (only a small amount, because we know nothing about horse races – we were only lucky) 😊
Afterwards we visited a disco with great music but unfortunately the evening didn’t end so nice forme, because I fall off a stairway and had broken my foot – a reason to visit Hong Kong again to have a nice finish from this wonderful holyday.
The staff in the hotel was very courteous and called immediately a doctor for me. He gave me a very effective injection, so that I could fly home the next evening. Until this time, I was allowed to stay in my room in the hotel.
Now, of course, I would like to share some delicious recipes with you:
'Coca-Cola ChickenWings' and 'Melon with Coconut Milk'
I am a member of the 'International Women club Breda'. They organize a lot of events and workshops. I took part in a cooking workshop and it was my job to prepare the 'Coca-Cola chicken wings', for dessert we had 'melon with coconut milk', very tasty!
Here are the recipes to download:
More recipes from other cultures you can find in my children books with nice and interesting short stories.
Beside nice recipes the children hear that food is delicious and that it is fun to try something 'new' with friends from different cultures.
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All books are alsoavailable as e-books:
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B08HHBSNDN/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_apa_l0twFb7ZMJK8Y
This is the link forPippa and Paul, stories for the little world citizens
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B08HHBSNDN/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_apa_l0twFb7ZMJK8Y
The link for theGerman book: Pipke & Popke, Experiences of Little World Citizens
https://www.kobo.com/nl/nl/ebook/pipke-popke
This is the link forthe Dutch book: Pipke and Popke, verhaaltjes for the little World Citizens
The link for the Italian book
