Glittering Hong Kong by Night

Arriving back at the ship on Wednesday evening, we were exhausted and thought our Hong Kong experience had come to an end. But we then got a call from the Captain requesting that the two of us come to the bridge to “experience the sailing out of Hong Kong harbor.” We didn’t know what we had done to deserve this honor, but of course we immediately obliged. It was quite an experience.
When we first got to the bridge, there was still daylight and there were many preparations to be made before we sailed. There was an authority from Hong Kong there to assist us in getting out of the busy harbor (he is the guy with the coffee cup at right; the Captain is the guy in white). From the deck on the port side of the ship, we saw the ropes released and the Captain began navigating us backward away from the dock, which was quite a feat in itself.

When we finally fully backed out and were prepared to sail ahead, the Captain gave Joanna the task of “Saluting the Harbor” as we departed Hong Kong. This meant sounding the horns in three 4-count increments, separated by 2-count intervals. She took this job very seriously and pulled it off very well. We then stopped to take in the breathtaking scenery of Hong Kong’s glittering lights from the bridge as we left the Harbor. Again, we don’t know what we did to deserve this experience, but it is one that will not be forgotten.

(By the way, the Hong Kong guy jumped onto a tugboat once we got out of the harbor, so we have no hostages).

We arrive in Taiwan shortly.