Mathew

What an experience Hong Kong is. While we have been here, I have had the privilege of attending the wedding of Paul and Riba Stevens (tho she was once a White). Who is Siobhan's sister. I have traveled to the top of the Hong Kong peak and watched the firing of the 'noon day gun' as well as watching the spectacular Hong Kong light show, where all of the buildings on the waterfront participate in a giant choreographed light and sound show.

Arriving from Vietnam on the 1st of December we were greeted by the soon to be couple who took us to the gathering point known as 'Cross roads'. Cross roads is a massive charity complex where companies and individuals from Hong Kong and neighboring areas can offer used furniture, clothing and goods which are then all sent into areas were local and global schools and charities can use the goods to benefit the community.

Dropping off the bags we ventured off into the city of Hong Kong, which to those of you who have not been is huge and vast. As one, if not the largest shipping port in the world you are greeted by thousands upon thousands of 60 foot steel containers all full to the brim with goods and products that have been manufactured in mainland China and are now due to be exported to the the rest of the world. At the top of the island lies 'The Peak' an open scenic area that allows for great views of the city, the port and of the south China sea:

At night the harbor of Hong Kong is illuminated by the giant skyscrapers, the most noticeable of which include the HSBC building, bank of China and the international monytary authority.

As part of the trip several members of the wedding party took a trip to see 'big budda' who is quite literially a very big budda, built around 1990's big budda houses a mueseum of rare local and chineese art some of which was drawn in blooddddddd, so was quite interesting to see:

As the time drew neerer to the wedding everyone became more and more excited. Hair needed styling and dresses (and suits, thank you Mrs White) needed ironing before the big day, and then before you knew it, the big day was upon us and we the people stood by as witnesses to the wedding of Riba and Paul Stevens. The Bride looked lovely, the reception speech from the father of the bride was spot on (so was his kilt, but we wont go into that) and so was the weather. If ever their is an element of unpredictability in planning an outside activity the weather is always on the top of the list. But for the wedding you could have not picked better weather yourself, vanilla sky with a warm breeze put everyone to rest and allowed the wedding to proceed un-interupted.
But now the wedding is over and the world must return to work, or in my case continue the travels around the world.