Typhoon!

Hello Everyone,
Wanted to let you all know that things are well here in Hong Kong in spite of the typhoon that we are having. I have never been through anything like this, so I chalk it up to another adventure. I think we are lucky because it ended up not being a direct hit. It is still considered an 8 on their scale and I think it goes to 10.

The town is pretty much shut down and the barn as well. They weren't running the trains earlier so we didn't go to the barn this morning, but the grooms are staying at the venue and they said that everything was fine there. They were able to get the horses out to hand-walk this morning before it really started to come down. The jumpers were supposed to arrive this morning but because of this storm they took them off the plane in Amsterdam. The riders did make it in, I think that they will try to fly the horses tomorrow?

We have been riding the horses twice a day. In the mornings, we mostly walk and then come back and ride at night. By the time we get back to the hotel and eat a bite, it is 11 p.m. or later. In the afternoon, we have been doing some shopping. It is pretty amazing, because our dollar is stronger and you can find some pretty great deals. There are little malls all over the place here! We have been taking the subway to get to the venue once a day. That is a pretty slick deal in the morning, but coming back makes me a little uneasy, mostly because there are so many people that I worry about getting sick. We have a driver but only at night. It takes an hour if you take the subway and 30 minutes if you have a driver.

I'm getting excited about the opening ceremonies. We are not going to Beijing, but they are having a small version  here in Hong Kong. We also will be watching it live over a big screen in the stadium. They have a great night planned, so it should be fun. The nice thing about having it here is we will not miss any days with our horses, if we don't have any more typhoons! Hope everyone is well at home. Sending many thanks for all your support, from Hong Kong!

Deb