here are some of my absolute most favorite pictures from hong kong: plants and animals! philadelphia isn't really know for its extensive variety of wildlife, so being able to see brightly colored birds and huge tropical flowers was a real treat. i think i might have taken more pictures plants than anything else! the parks in hong kong were nothing like i've ever seen in the US. the bushes and trees were perfectly manicured, and the flower beds were exploding with vibrant flowers. the two parks that we visited (kowloon park and hong kong park) had huge aviaries.
i snapped this little guy in hong kong park; he was eating a mango and darting back and forth between the trees. the fruit was attached to the branch by little spikes and placed at eye level with the observation area. definitely a good lookin' bird!
some little oranges growing outside of a temple at ngong ping. there were several trees just like this, but the oranges were much larger and wrapped in red mesh. apparently, as the oranges get bigger and heavier, they're supported on the branch by this plastic (so that they don't rip off of the tree). 
some pretty pastel flowers in kowloon park. 
i wanted to take this little guy home so badly. there were a bunch of little shops and food stands outside of the temples and buddha at ngong ping; one of the shops had four dogs, two of which were puppies. the owners didn't mind that i played with them, so play with them i did...probably for a good half hour.
i love these! this little guy kept stuffing his head into the mango, making it all soggy with mango juices. he kept shaking his head violently while eating to remove the juice; it was spraying all over the place. you might not be able to see the droplets on a picture this small, but if you click on it, it should enlarge. doesn't it look like he's made out of plastic?
this guy was walking around lantau island, munching on trees and grass. i went up to pet him, but his large horns and massive body kind of scared me.
we used to have these plants growing at my dad's house - so neat, right? these were in the greenhouse at the hong kong zoo. 
water pouring off of rocks in nian lin.
can you see the dew drops?
another one of the pups in ngong ping; it sort of looks like a pug/pekingese mix to me. 
peek-a-boo! this turtle was hiding amongst the bushes in the zoo. 
i found this little kitty outside of the lei yu mun fish market. we were walking past the water and the cat was hanging out on the fence. he trotted right up to us and started meowing and purring and rubbing his head on our hands. after petting him for a bit, we walked away. a few seconds later, a man with a large cooler knelt down by the cat and pulled out some large shrimp. i bet the kitty was disappointed that we didn't feed him!
bamboo! i actually thought this was fake at first; i've never seen it this brightly colored and with such thick stripes. i poked at it for a bit and gently pressed my nail into it, and lo and behold, it was real! 
a banana tree (left) and a papaya tree (right). 
a huge snail i found in hong kong park - maybe the biggest i've ever seen!
two friends sharing a pear. 
see the bee? i wish i was able to get a bit closer to see the detail of it.
coming up next: people and places in hong kong!
