The flight to Hong Kong (Monday 1:30am) was smooth and uneventful, but not quite long enough ;o) It was only just over 5 hours which wasn’t enough time to get good sleep. We landed at about 9:45am local HK time. Hong Kong is about 3 hours ahead of India so we lost a bit of time. By the time we got through customs, picked up our luggage, and hopped the bus to the hotel, it was almost noon. The hotel said our rooms wouldn’t be ready until 2pm so we decided to hit the Hard Rock Café for lunch. The restaurant wasn’t very close to the hotel so we had to ride the MTR and walk around a bit before finding it down a not-so-main road. We made it back to the hotel close to 3pm, but only one room was ready :o( While we waited, we sat down and exhaustion overtook us. Didn’t matter that we were in the lobby of a nice hotel, our eyelids just would not stay open. Once we all had our rooms, we decided to meet at 7:30pm to shop at the local night market and then find some dinner. The night market is very similar to the street fair like at Aquafest or the Strawberry Festival. Lots of booths with all sorts of trinkets and treasures to buy. The main difference is that everything is “over-priced” and they want you to bargain with them. Since we were planning a trip out to the Stanley Market the next day, we more or less just window-shopped and got an idea of what prices were. For dinner, we decided on KFC. They served mashed potatoes and gravy and corn on the cob, and that is about where the menu similarities to American restaurants ended. Toto – I don’t think we are in Kentucky anymore! :o) It was interesting to see the different takes on menu items for American fast food places, both in India and Hong Kong. After dinner, it was time to lie down and give our bodies a chance to rest for more than just a couple hours.
Tuesday morning, we were greeted with clouds, a bit of intermittent drizzle and rain showers forecasted for most of the day. Thankfully, much of Stanley Market is covered and the rain would have minimal impact. We took a double decker bus to the market and it was about an hour’s ride out of town. It was a beautiful ride. This is on the outside edge of one of the peninsulas and there were some sandy beaches and a few marinas. There were also a few of the coastline islands and they made a pretty scene shrouded in the low-lying, misting rain clouds. Stanley Market is also full of booths similar to street fairs and had many of the same wares as the night market. Many booths had the same things so it was like a mini treasure hunt finding which one would give you the best price. The rain started to fall pretty heavily but for the most part, you could stay relatively dry. After a couple hours, we decided it was time to head back to the city. Another couple hours to rest and freshen up, and it was time for dinner. We went to the Spaghetti House and had a really lovely meal. Bryan gets the bravery award for stepping outside his comfort zone and ordering the Squid Ink Risotto with Seafood. He said it was interesting and not bad. I like Risotto but I am used to it being white, not bluish-black. Over the course of the meal, we discussed the trip. We all shared several items that stood out for us, whether it was culturally or spiritually related. It was a good discussion and demonstrated how individual our experiences are even though we are on the same trip. God made us all unique, so we are all different, and He loves us just as we are. We spent 17 days in fellowship with, loving on, and ministering to people in a far-away land where everything was different – weather, language, food, landscape, customs, and accepted behaviors. What is important to remember is that these are God’s people, too and He loves them just as much as He loves us. Do you know anybody who is quite different from you? Do you normally hang out with this person, or do you avoid them because they make you uncomfortable? Our differences are what make life interesting and I encourage you to challenge yourself. Smile and greet them rather than avoid eye-contact and pretend you didn’t notice them. Show a little grace, rather than impatience, if they do things differently than how you would do it. Here is a humbling thought. Jesus is vastly different from all of us, yet He works on his relationship with us all of the time. He smiles on us, greets us, and shows an amazing amount of tolerance and patience. Shouldn’t we honor Him and do the same?
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