catholic gift shop

yesterday we went a catholic gift shop in central district to get something for one of my colleagues.  I also bought a small wood dove pendant for myself.  It is a small shop but pretty well stocked with typical catholic knick knacks. 

We then took the longest elevator in the world up to the mid levels of HK.  It is a set of elevators that go up the peak -- it really is quite long.  Skye and I are standing beside one section of it in the picture.  We don't see many panhandlers in HK, but there we saw two men, terribly burned, sitting and asking for money.  I"m glad Skye didn't seem to notice; they were very disfigured.  I've seen panhandlers on Nathan road in Kowloon also; people in wheelchairs and a legless guy.  But very few compared to the mainland cities I visited in the 90s.

At the top of the escalator we had to figure out how to get down, and we basically walked back down to central on very steep sidewalks and public staircases.  On the way down we stopped at a lovely catholic cathedral; immaculate conception.  We stayed there a bit and cooled off, donated a bit and took some virgin Mary cards.  Skye liked the interior and just enjoyed sitting in the cool quiet church.

It was hot and humid yesterday and I sweated my shirt until it was drenched.  I also almost lost my dove pendant when the knot slipped and it fell on the escalator, but I got it before a man almost stepped on it.  Later at home Poly tied a decent strong knot and now it's good to wear.  

Today (it's 11 am) it's been raining all morning.  We planned to take the tram up Victoria peak, but we'll see if the weather clears.  Today is the 120th anniversary and the ticket is only 30 cents HK, the original fare.