Hong Kong Day 7

I thought that day 6 was busy, but it was nothing compared to today. My brother and I got a wake up call around 7am to let us know that Grace's friends from Minnesota were leaving. Waking up, I quickly showered and got dressed, but by the time I got to the bus stop, they had already left. I'm sure we'll meet again someday, though. I then got a call from Grace's mother to let me know where everyone was. They were just down the street at a diner about to get breakfast. When I arrived, I found Ben, Grace, her parents, and my family waiting for me. I had a light breakfast, and then we parted ways. Grace and Ben went to get packed for their honeymoon in Fiji, and the rest of us went to catch the train. We rode the rails downtown and then caught a ferry to Cheung Chau island.

The ferry ride was about 30 minutes to the island. It was a really nice spot with a gorgeous beach, though it was a little too cold to go swimming. Cheung Chau also has an athletic school with a really nice track and soccer court. There were many students there on an excursion. I'm not sure if it was for training or an athletic meet. Around 12 o'clock we met up for a huge lunch that was absolutely delicious. So much fresh fish. It was great. We took a different ferry back to Central Hong Kong and it took about 40 minutes. It was a really nice view coming in, though, and I snapped some great pics.

Since we had to come back to Central that evening for the horse races, it didn't make sense to go back to Sha Tin. To kill time, we took a trip up to the Peak. I had been there 10 years ago, but to be honest I don't really remember much of it. The view was incredible, and the trip up there and back was also really exciting. Once we were back downtown and off the bus, we caught a street car to the race track and met up with Grace and Ben. Now, I have been to horse races before in Canada and the U.S., but none of the tracks can come anywhere to even comparing with the one in Hong Kong. They take their racing very seriously. Also, betting on the horse races is the only form of legalized gambling. I only placed a few bets throughout the evening and one once. My brother also bet on a few and one pretty big on one of the races. My parents did a fair bit of gambling, but ended up losing more than they one. Grace's parents had never been to the races before, and Grace's mother bet only on one race and won! It was pretty awesome.

Once the races were over, we took a long train ride back to Sha Tin and got some much needed rest. Tomorrow will be my last full day in Hong Kong, but I wish that I could stay much longer.