It is amazing how well humans (or at least Kenneth and I) seem to adapt to new environments and cultures that are quite different from our own. Although I was somewhat scared to venture out without my number one navigator and sightseeing partner the first several days we were in Hong Kong, I have grown quite accustomed to getting about town on the MTR and am starting to figure out my way around town. Unfortunately, I still continue to get myself turned around and a bit lost!
Kenneth discovered an article in the Continental Airlines magazine on the flight over about the Hong Kong Tourism Board, a great resource for everything that is going on in Hong Kong. While perusing the HKTB website, I came upon a group of culturally related classes offered every day of the week. Today, I attended the Jewelry Appreciation Class. After Mr. Alex Chan gave a PowerPoint presentation on pearls and diamonds, we looked at several examples of different qualities and varieties of each.
I was having a hankering for something not Asian or Indian for lunch, so I checked out the highly recommended Pizza Express. The restaurant sits on a street corner in Central, and has a very upscale café feel to it. I ordered the pumpkin soup and Torino pizza with fontina and grana padano cheeses, mushrooms, béchamel sauce, chili, and garlic. The pizza was very good and satisfied my appetite for cheese, which is something people do not eat a lot of here!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
It has rained all weekend! The rain definitely complicated things as we were out and about trying to see the city. We went to Tsim Sha Tsui (or as we refer to it, TST) area of town on the Kowloon side to schedule for a few cultural classes for next week. From there, we walked around for awhile and ducked into the Pennisula Hotel to escape the rain. What a lavish hotel! From the live orchestra playing on the balcony over-looking the entrance to the upscale shops and restaurants inside the building, I was very impressed! When we walked in, the band was playing “You Only Live Twice,” the theme song from a James Bond movie of the same name. Kenneth thought that was pretty awesome because the Peninsula is clearly the place that James Bond stays when he is in Hong Kong.
For lunch, we made our way to one of our favorite areas of town to eat, Central. We came across yet another stylish restaurant, called Tivo. It was an Italian inspired cuisine with wonderful fresh squeezed, mixed juices. I had a veggie omelet and Kenneth had eggs benedict.
After lunch, Kenneth wanted me to show him the Travelator. As Kenneth was busy getting multiple pictures of the largest, traveling elevator in the world, a young Taiwanese lady came up to him and asked if she could have her picture with him. I happened to be several feet out of the way of the entrance of the Travelator, so the group from Taiwan had no idea I was giggling to myself about the situation. I get such a kick out of Asian people and pictures with the peace sign!
We took the elevator quite a ways up the steep incline and then explored all of the side streets on the way down. We found a greenish colored Mosque, which looked so picturesque with the steps leading up to it and surrounding trees. We also checked out multiple restaurants that had potential before going home to dry out.
Later on in the evening we came back to Central with Eric to eat at Nha Trang, a very popular Vietnamese restaurant in town. The restaurant was packed so full; we ate at a long table with three girls on one side of us and a couple on the other side!
For lunch, we made our way to one of our favorite areas of town to eat, Central. We came across yet another stylish restaurant, called Tivo. It was an Italian inspired cuisine with wonderful fresh squeezed, mixed juices. I had a veggie omelet and Kenneth had eggs benedict.
After lunch, Kenneth wanted me to show him the Travelator. As Kenneth was busy getting multiple pictures of the largest, traveling elevator in the world, a young Taiwanese lady came up to him and asked if she could have her picture with him. I happened to be several feet out of the way of the entrance of the Travelator, so the group from Taiwan had no idea I was giggling to myself about the situation. I get such a kick out of Asian people and pictures with the peace sign!
We took the elevator quite a ways up the steep incline and then explored all of the side streets on the way down. We found a greenish colored Mosque, which looked so picturesque with the steps leading up to it and surrounding trees. We also checked out multiple restaurants that had potential before going home to dry out.
Later on in the evening we came back to Central with Eric to eat at Nha Trang, a very popular Vietnamese restaurant in town. The restaurant was packed so full; we ate at a long table with three girls on one side of us and a couple on the other side!
Friday and Saturday, June 25 and 26, 2010
Kenneth went to Macau for two days with his co-workers for a company retreat. I really wanted to go, but did not want to impose! Guess we will just have to go again another time!
For dinner on Saturday night, we ventured to the hip, Lang Kwai Fong area in Central. We decided on a Creperie, called Simplicity. The crepes were pretty good for the price, but Kenneth’s wine was spectacular as far as cheap wines are concerned. It is called Casella Mallee 2008 from Australia (cabernet/merlot blend), and it is one of our new favorites! It is very smooth and fruity with a subtle hint of brown sugar. Can you tell I am trying to use some of the descriptive words I learned in Wine Club this year? We have searched high and low for this wine, and sadly, we have been unable to find it! So, what is one to do when you can’t find something…you Google it! Come to find out, this wine is produced by the same company that makes Yellow Tail and the website states it is only available in Australia. I also found the professional description of the taste of this wine… “The palate shows hints of strawberry and raspberry flavours with a touch of spice. Oak tannins lengthen and soften the palate, making this a balanced and food-friendly wine.”
Not quite like eating crepes at the Hilton Moorea, but we'll take it.
For dinner on Saturday night, we ventured to the hip, Lang Kwai Fong area in Central. We decided on a Creperie, called Simplicity. The crepes were pretty good for the price, but Kenneth’s wine was spectacular as far as cheap wines are concerned. It is called Casella Mallee 2008 from Australia (cabernet/merlot blend), and it is one of our new favorites! It is very smooth and fruity with a subtle hint of brown sugar. Can you tell I am trying to use some of the descriptive words I learned in Wine Club this year? We have searched high and low for this wine, and sadly, we have been unable to find it! So, what is one to do when you can’t find something…you Google it! Come to find out, this wine is produced by the same company that makes Yellow Tail and the website states it is only available in Australia. I also found the professional description of the taste of this wine… “The palate shows hints of strawberry and raspberry flavours with a touch of spice. Oak tannins lengthen and soften the palate, making this a balanced and food-friendly wine.”
Not quite like eating crepes at the Hilton Moorea, but we'll take it.
Monday, June 21st: My first day out on the town (by myself)
After giving our apartment the “full-treatment” and figuring out what I am planning on doing with all of my time in Hong Kong this summer, I ventured out tonight for some dinner at the same food court-like area at a nearby mall. Usually, I stay at least 10 feet away from any “fast food” in America, but the “fast food” in Hong Kong is actually more high quality. Tonight I decided to go with the pad thai since Eric gave it the approval last night. I was so hungry that I didn’t notice until I was about halfway done with my meal that within my pad thai were multiple (20-30) bright red, ~1-2cm long crustaceans mixed in with my noodles- exoskeleton, legs, big black bulging eyes and all. Wow, did I feel less than observant at this point! When I was eating my meal I assumed they were red chilies because I was not familiar with this new sea creature. Not only were there full bodied critters in my pad thai, but there were scattered mangled fellas too! After finishing, I realized it was probably a good thing I didn’t know what I was eating. I think this is something that I will probably be experiencing quite a bit here!
Creepy crawlers in the Pad Thai!!!
As I sat there chowing down on my pad thai, I watched the ~4 elderly, food court attendants walking around with their surgical masks covering their noses and mouths waiting to jump on the next table that opened up. As soon as people were finished eating, I bet someone was their within 30 seconds to pick up their tray and dispose of the mess at the proper receptacles. I was able to test this observation when I realized I needed to take the rest of my pad thai to go but needed a to-go box. I waited for the line to go down at Yummy before I jumped up and walked quickly to the counter nervously looking back at my table to make sure no one was taking my precious leftovers. Of course the 3 employees at the counter were not just standing around even though they had no customers, so it took a few seconds for me to get their attention. The language barrier took a few more seconds, and just as the worker at Yummy was reaching down to get the container on the bottom shelf I see a food court attendant walking up to my food and going in for the kill probably not more than 15 seconds after leaving my seat! I got my to-go container and fled back to my seat, just as the Cantonese family next to me was explaining to the attendant that they didn’t think I was done. As I walked up to my seat I made eye contact with the mom and I gave her a big smile in thanks that she had saved Kenneth’s dinner for the night.
Creepy crawlers in the Pad Thai!!!
As I sat there chowing down on my pad thai, I watched the ~4 elderly, food court attendants walking around with their surgical masks covering their noses and mouths waiting to jump on the next table that opened up. As soon as people were finished eating, I bet someone was their within 30 seconds to pick up their tray and dispose of the mess at the proper receptacles. I was able to test this observation when I realized I needed to take the rest of my pad thai to go but needed a to-go box. I waited for the line to go down at Yummy before I jumped up and walked quickly to the counter nervously looking back at my table to make sure no one was taking my precious leftovers. Of course the 3 employees at the counter were not just standing around even though they had no customers, so it took a few seconds for me to get their attention. The language barrier took a few more seconds, and just as the worker at Yummy was reaching down to get the container on the bottom shelf I see a food court attendant walking up to my food and going in for the kill probably not more than 15 seconds after leaving my seat! I got my to-go container and fled back to my seat, just as the Cantonese family next to me was explaining to the attendant that they didn’t think I was done. As I walked up to my seat I made eye contact with the mom and I gave her a big smile in thanks that she had saved Kenneth’s dinner for the night.
Live Info-Mercials
At various street corners throughout town, you might here a loud voice above the hum of the people, taxis, and buses whizzing by you. As you come closer you witness a group captivated citizens listening to an animated sales person wearing a microphone headset and rattling off why their product is the best thing since the rice cooker. As our friend Vinny described one of his colleagues, these live infomercial people are “endlessly fascinating.”
People watching in Hong Kong
One of my favorite things to do is to “people watch,” especially in a foreign country. Even though we have only been in Hong Kong for four days, I have noticed several interesting mannerisms thus far. For whatever reason, I have always thought of Asian people as hard workers, and from what I have observed; the people of Hong Kong appear to be no exception. On Friday, Kenneth, Eric and I took a quick break from the heat to enjoy the wonderful air-conditioning in a skyscraper and rehydrate. As we visited, I watched the 3 teenage-young twenties aged attendants in the Circle K convenience store within the building who were working away like little bees. When they didn’t have customers, they were not hanging out chatting; they were busy mopping the floor, restocking, and yes, even taking products off the shelves to clean them! I was humbled and impressed that the Hong Kong people appear to take great pride in their jobs, even if it is a job that Americans would consider menial.
I have also been very impressed with Hong Kong’s emphasis on cleanliness. Even for me, at times, it seems a little over the top (and that is saying something since Kenneth always refers to me as “Melvin” from “As Good As It Gets”). When we entered the Tea Museum on Friday, for instance, there was a sign on the door that said that the entire museum was disinfected every four hours! We came across a similar sign when we were putting our ticket into the machine to get on the cable cars that read the waiting area was cleaned six times a day! As the moving tram cars came in to the docking area, an employee wiped the inside down furiously before the next group loaded up.
Not only do the people of Hong Kong keep their surroundings impeccably clean, but I also feel they have high standards of personal hygiene. Everyone is well groomed and tidy-looking. Despite the ridiculous heat and humidity you rarely smell wafts of body odor. Many women carry wash cloth-type towels to blot the perspiration from their face, and some carry them tucked into the back collar of their shirt.
With 7 million people in this place there is no shortage of opportunities for some people watching!!!
I have also been very impressed with Hong Kong’s emphasis on cleanliness. Even for me, at times, it seems a little over the top (and that is saying something since Kenneth always refers to me as “Melvin” from “As Good As It Gets”). When we entered the Tea Museum on Friday, for instance, there was a sign on the door that said that the entire museum was disinfected every four hours! We came across a similar sign when we were putting our ticket into the machine to get on the cable cars that read the waiting area was cleaned six times a day! As the moving tram cars came in to the docking area, an employee wiped the inside down furiously before the next group loaded up.
Not only do the people of Hong Kong keep their surroundings impeccably clean, but I also feel they have high standards of personal hygiene. Everyone is well groomed and tidy-looking. Despite the ridiculous heat and humidity you rarely smell wafts of body odor. Many women carry wash cloth-type towels to blot the perspiration from their face, and some carry them tucked into the back collar of their shirt.
With 7 million people in this place there is no shortage of opportunities for some people watching!!!
Sunday, June 20th: Lantou and The Big Buddha
On Sunday, we decided to visit Lantau Island, the island just west of Hong Kong Island. Unfortunately, Eric wasn’t feeling great in the morning, so it was just the two of us for the day. We took the MTR to the island, and from there we boarded the Ngong Ping Skyrail, a 3.5 mile aerial cable car ride that goes from peak to peak until it reaches a small touristy, white walled village. The village is nestled in a valley that looks up on The Bid Buddha.
It was quite the sight looking up at the largest outdoor, seated, bronze Buddha in the entire world, even though he kept hiding behind clouds! In front of the 250 steps leading up to the Buddha was a courtyard, where people were praying.
Past the courtyard and a large archway was a monastery, were we toured a temple and ate a vegetarian meal of noodles and a few pieces of dim sum including, curry sauce pastry, spring roll, mushroom pastry, and steamed rice cake with black beans.
Inside the Lantau Monastery
View from the cable car on the way back down
While we were in Lantau, Eric had discovered some restaurants close by our apartment. After surveying the options, we decided on “Yummy” Vietnamese Cuisine. And yes, I can confirm that it was in fact very yummy. Kenneth and I split a bowl of Tom Yum soup. This was not any soup. It was served in the largest bowl in which I have ever eaten (about the size of a basketball in diameter), so it was more than enough for the two of us.
It was quite the sight looking up at the largest outdoor, seated, bronze Buddha in the entire world, even though he kept hiding behind clouds! In front of the 250 steps leading up to the Buddha was a courtyard, where people were praying.
Past the courtyard and a large archway was a monastery, were we toured a temple and ate a vegetarian meal of noodles and a few pieces of dim sum including, curry sauce pastry, spring roll, mushroom pastry, and steamed rice cake with black beans.
Inside the Lantau Monastery
View from the cable car on the way back down
While we were in Lantau, Eric had discovered some restaurants close by our apartment. After surveying the options, we decided on “Yummy” Vietnamese Cuisine. And yes, I can confirm that it was in fact very yummy. Kenneth and I split a bowl of Tom Yum soup. This was not any soup. It was served in the largest bowl in which I have ever eaten (about the size of a basketball in diameter), so it was more than enough for the two of us.
Saturday, June 19th: Getting off the island
Today, we decided to venture off Hong Kong Island to Kowloon, which is a peninsula attached to mainland China and located directly across Victoria Harbour! According to my Hong Kong Guide Book, there was supposed to be a really good, hole in the wall restaurant called Friendship Thai in Lok Fu. It was more of a jaunt than expected, and the sunny, hot, and humid weather was wearing us out quick! We discovered quite quickly that the Hong Kongese use their umbrellas for more than just the rain. When the sun is shining, it is relentless since we are so much closer to the equator. According to the local weather the UV radiation index often reaches the level of “extreme.” Even though I am not quite sure what that means, it doesn’t sound good! Unfortunately, when we reached Friendship Thai they were not open, so we went right across the street to Hot Thai Basil. The experience was very enjoyable with awesome food and great service. Kenneth had pad thai and I had a noodle dish with veggies and a spicy chili sauce. Kenneth’s pad thai dish was the closest we have come to Thai Orchid in KC, but I think Thai Orchid still wins!
On our way back to the MTR station, we realized we had completely missed a traditional Hong Kong Cemetery that sat back behind tall concrete walls and climbed steeply up the hill. We were a bit hesitant to enter, as we had no idea what the policy was on visitors and pictures. Because of the lack of land for burying the dead in Hong Kong, there is a 7 year time limit after which time the person loses their spot and must be moved or cremated. There were multiple grave stones, one after the other, going up the hill as well as multiple columbarium, where the ashes of loved ones are stored. It was interesting to see that each person had an individual picture posted where their ashes were placed in the columbarium. Apparently, there is quite a debate about Hong Kong’s need for more columbarium, but no one wants it near them!
Next, we found ourselves walking up and down the streets of the flower, bird, fish, and jade markets. It was amazing smelling and seeing shop after shop of beautiful bunches of roses, carnations, hydrangeas, orchids, lilies, and even sunflowers as well as decorative baskets and figurines made of flower petals. The fish market had aquariums filled with fish in addition to small individual plastic baggies (similar to what you would see at a carnival in the US) of fish. Gold fish seemed to be the most popular because many Asians believe they bring good luck, but there were beta and other tropical fish too. Several shops also sold turtles, frogs, and lizards. Since it was getting to be evening, the Temple night market was also starting to get set up. This market sold everything from electronics and other gadgets to clothes, purses, art, and jewelry. I found myself a nice Jimmy Choo handbag with a big flower on the front, but decided not to get it yet in case I found something else I liked better. Here are some pictures from the different markets:
Flowers in the flower market
Fish in a bag
Unfortunately, we missed the bird market, but we did have a chance to briefly swing through the jade market. It was a female’s jewelry paradise! There were probably about one-hundred small stands within one tented area with all kinds of beautiful jewelry and not just jade pieces. Of course I found several things that I liked, but I knew that I couldn’t spend too much time gawking since I had the two boys with me! Each of the vendors wanted me to come see their merchandise. I found a beautiful jade necklace, but the lady wanted $80 Hong Kong dollars for it. I talked to her for several minutes while I tried on the necklace, showed it to Kenneth, and made my best effort to get a better price! I told her I would pay $50, and she said “no.” Then she wanted me to get 2 necklaces for $150, and I said “no.” I countered, saying I would buy 2 for $100, and she said “no.” Finally after about 5-10 minutes of haggling back and forth with her, I could tell the boys were getting antsy and wanted to go so I just thought I would come back another day. Just as I started to catch up with the boys, the lady called me back and said that she would take $40 for the necklace! I was really excited about my great deal, but at the same time I felt a bit guilty because the lady seemed so defeated that she had not gotten more money out of us.
We were getting hungry, so we made our way near the Kowloon southern coast for dinner. Several places were already booked up, so we went to Shakey’s for a quick dinner so we could make it to the 8 o’clock light show. We arrived at the viewing area for the light show about 30 seconds before it was over, but we were not too disappointed as they have a show every day of the week since it is so popular. From what we did see, it was quite spectacular with the skyscrapers and other buildings on Hong Kong Island lighting up with various colors at different times and coordinated with music. What a day!
NOTE: Batman fans will recognize the tall building as the building Batman jumped off in the Dark Knight
On our way back to the MTR station, we realized we had completely missed a traditional Hong Kong Cemetery that sat back behind tall concrete walls and climbed steeply up the hill. We were a bit hesitant to enter, as we had no idea what the policy was on visitors and pictures. Because of the lack of land for burying the dead in Hong Kong, there is a 7 year time limit after which time the person loses their spot and must be moved or cremated. There were multiple grave stones, one after the other, going up the hill as well as multiple columbarium, where the ashes of loved ones are stored. It was interesting to see that each person had an individual picture posted where their ashes were placed in the columbarium. Apparently, there is quite a debate about Hong Kong’s need for more columbarium, but no one wants it near them!
Next, we found ourselves walking up and down the streets of the flower, bird, fish, and jade markets. It was amazing smelling and seeing shop after shop of beautiful bunches of roses, carnations, hydrangeas, orchids, lilies, and even sunflowers as well as decorative baskets and figurines made of flower petals. The fish market had aquariums filled with fish in addition to small individual plastic baggies (similar to what you would see at a carnival in the US) of fish. Gold fish seemed to be the most popular because many Asians believe they bring good luck, but there were beta and other tropical fish too. Several shops also sold turtles, frogs, and lizards. Since it was getting to be evening, the Temple night market was also starting to get set up. This market sold everything from electronics and other gadgets to clothes, purses, art, and jewelry. I found myself a nice Jimmy Choo handbag with a big flower on the front, but decided not to get it yet in case I found something else I liked better. Here are some pictures from the different markets:
Flowers in the flower market
Fish in a bag
Unfortunately, we missed the bird market, but we did have a chance to briefly swing through the jade market. It was a female’s jewelry paradise! There were probably about one-hundred small stands within one tented area with all kinds of beautiful jewelry and not just jade pieces. Of course I found several things that I liked, but I knew that I couldn’t spend too much time gawking since I had the two boys with me! Each of the vendors wanted me to come see their merchandise. I found a beautiful jade necklace, but the lady wanted $80 Hong Kong dollars for it. I talked to her for several minutes while I tried on the necklace, showed it to Kenneth, and made my best effort to get a better price! I told her I would pay $50, and she said “no.” Then she wanted me to get 2 necklaces for $150, and I said “no.” I countered, saying I would buy 2 for $100, and she said “no.” Finally after about 5-10 minutes of haggling back and forth with her, I could tell the boys were getting antsy and wanted to go so I just thought I would come back another day. Just as I started to catch up with the boys, the lady called me back and said that she would take $40 for the necklace! I was really excited about my great deal, but at the same time I felt a bit guilty because the lady seemed so defeated that she had not gotten more money out of us.
We were getting hungry, so we made our way near the Kowloon southern coast for dinner. Several places were already booked up, so we went to Shakey’s for a quick dinner so we could make it to the 8 o’clock light show. We arrived at the viewing area for the light show about 30 seconds before it was over, but we were not too disappointed as they have a show every day of the week since it is so popular. From what we did see, it was quite spectacular with the skyscrapers and other buildings on Hong Kong Island lighting up with various colors at different times and coordinated with music. What a day!
NOTE: Batman fans will recognize the tall building as the building Batman jumped off in the Dark Knight
Friday, June 18th: Our first day touring Hong Kong
Although we were able to get some shut-eye for a while, Kenneth and I woke up at about four in the morning due to the jet lag! I am sure that our bed, which is not far from two plywood boards put together with some very strong springs, had something to do with it as well. I am pretty sure that Priya’s floor was softer!
We set out to explore the city in the late morning, and we were all astonished to find that there are markets that line both sides of the street outside our building during the daytime! I looked directly to the left as we stepped out the door, and to my surprise was a lady selling all kinds of fresh fish and other sea creatures. Some of the fish were even still alive and jumping about wildly! Well, that explains that smell and the rats too! There were probably about 40-50 small stands in total selling everything from pork, fresh fruit and vegetables, bakery items, and meat balls to clothing, shoes, and knick-knacks. Here's a picture of the fish shop right outside of our apartment.
Our first goal was to find the Deloitte office, where Eric and Kenneth would be working. Our North Point subway station is about 5-10 minutes from our apartment, and from here you can take the subway to almost anywhere on Hong Kong Island or the mainland. I am extremely impressed with the subway system. It is clean, efficient, and also air-conditioned. People just touch their pre-paid Octopus Card to the sensor to enter and exit the train terminal. This card is quite ingenious and definitely a must-have in Hong Kong. With this card, one can also travel on the buses and buy items at convenient and grocery stores.
After finding the Deloitte office in One Pacific Place and eating lunch at a fast Chinese food restaurant, we made our way to the nearby Hong Kong Park. Here we walked around the beautiful gardens and lake and toured the Edward Youde Aviary, Flagstaff House Teaware Museum, and Conservatory.
For dinner, we decided on a cheap Indian food restaurant called Chillie Garden that is in our North Point neighborhood. It wasn’t the best Indian food, but it was a nice change from Chinese food.
We set out to explore the city in the late morning, and we were all astonished to find that there are markets that line both sides of the street outside our building during the daytime! I looked directly to the left as we stepped out the door, and to my surprise was a lady selling all kinds of fresh fish and other sea creatures. Some of the fish were even still alive and jumping about wildly! Well, that explains that smell and the rats too! There were probably about 40-50 small stands in total selling everything from pork, fresh fruit and vegetables, bakery items, and meat balls to clothing, shoes, and knick-knacks. Here's a picture of the fish shop right outside of our apartment.
Our first goal was to find the Deloitte office, where Eric and Kenneth would be working. Our North Point subway station is about 5-10 minutes from our apartment, and from here you can take the subway to almost anywhere on Hong Kong Island or the mainland. I am extremely impressed with the subway system. It is clean, efficient, and also air-conditioned. People just touch their pre-paid Octopus Card to the sensor to enter and exit the train terminal. This card is quite ingenious and definitely a must-have in Hong Kong. With this card, one can also travel on the buses and buy items at convenient and grocery stores.
After finding the Deloitte office in One Pacific Place and eating lunch at a fast Chinese food restaurant, we made our way to the nearby Hong Kong Park. Here we walked around the beautiful gardens and lake and toured the Edward Youde Aviary, Flagstaff House Teaware Museum, and Conservatory.
For dinner, we decided on a cheap Indian food restaurant called Chillie Garden that is in our North Point neighborhood. It wasn’t the best Indian food, but it was a nice change from Chinese food.
Thursday, June 19th: Getting to Hong Kong
When we arrived to our apartment in North Point we were greeted by the congenial Mr. Chan, who showed us to our apartment on the 16th floor. I knew it was going to be small, but for some reason I was still surprised by how small! My bedroom in Wichita is bigger than our entire apartment! We also have a bathroom, kitchenette, and “closet” area. Proportionally speaking, it was ironic to find that the largest thing in our bedroom is the massive flat screen TV with only 4 Cantonese channels. I am actually glad that we don’t have a wide range of TV channels and that I can’t watch TV or Netflix movies on my computer out of the US. Otherwise, I would be very tempted with all of my free time on my hands!
Eric, Kenneth, and I decided to walk around our area of town and find somewhere to eat dinner for the night. As we walked outside of our apartment towards the main street, my senses were taken aback by several things. First, our side street outside of our apartment reeked of a “fishy-fish” smell. Secondly, about 25-50 yards from our apartment were multiple rats scurrying around! Fortunately, this would be our first and only rat sighting!
The main street was lined with neon-lighted signs in Chinese characters that none of us could understand, but eventually we came across the same hole in the wall Chinese restaurant that Eric had eaten at during his first time to Hong Kong.
Eric, Kenneth, and I decided to walk around our area of town and find somewhere to eat dinner for the night. As we walked outside of our apartment towards the main street, my senses were taken aback by several things. First, our side street outside of our apartment reeked of a “fishy-fish” smell. Secondly, about 25-50 yards from our apartment were multiple rats scurrying around! Fortunately, this would be our first and only rat sighting!
The main street was lined with neon-lighted signs in Chinese characters that none of us could understand, but eventually we came across the same hole in the wall Chinese restaurant that Eric had eaten at during his first time to Hong Kong.
Catching up
So even though we haven't been posting a lot on our blog, we have been documenting our trip fairly well. Melinda has been writing a lot of stuff offline that we are going to start posting. Keep in mind that much of this has been written gradually over the course of the past few weeks. Enjoy!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Saturday in the City
OK, so this blogging thing is much tougher than I expected. Actually, that’s not true, I knew that it would be difficult to consistently devote time to documenting our adventures. More appropriately, I should say that my poor time management skills have completely lived up to expectations and the quality of my blog has suffered immensely. Whoops. Realizing that I have skipped a few weeks, here is a quick recap of yesterday’s activities…
After spending Friday night strolling through the Temple street night market looking for a cheap tripod and a particular Jimmy Choo knockoff purse, we got around a little later than expected on Saturday. When we finally ventured out, we made our way to the Tourism Office at Tsim Sha Tsui where Melinda signed up for some of the Cultural Kaleidoscope classes. She took 2 classes last week, and really had great time learning about jewelry and tea. More to come from her on those topics in the not too distant future.
From there, we set off in search of a few tailors that I had heard about: Raja Fashions and David Fashions. Both stores run pretty slick operations. In addition to making bespoke suits in HK, they make frequent trips to the US, London, and a few other hot spots, to visit old customers for repeat business and find new customers. Although they can make suits in as little as 2 days, I’m hoping to spend a little more time with them to get a high quality suit that I really like. After flipping through swatches of fabric for almost an hour, I settled on a navy blue with subtle pinstripes. I didn’t pull the trigger on the suit yet, though. This week I will spend some more time looking through various styles to make sure I know what I’m talking about when I talk through the style that I want. It’s a pretty interesting process that is pretty fun if you like clothes and don’t mind taking a little extra time to really figure out what you want.
The next stop was intended to be a nice dimsum meal at Maxim’s in City Hall, but the restaurant was booked. We found another restaurant in the area, though, as well as some great views of some of the buildings downtown.
Hong Kong at night is a pretty amazing sight. To get some more great views of the city, we took our first trip up to Victoria Peak on the Peak Tram. The tram has been in operation for around 100 years, and climbs at a 45 degree angle up the mountain. Here’s a picture of the train at the station.
It’s a pretty cool ride, and the view at the top is even cooler. I got to put my new $12 tripod to the test, and although I definitely have some more work to do on night photography, I was pleased with the results.
OK - enough for now. Like I said, we'll try to do better. Also, Happy 4th of July. Kind of crazy, but this is our 2nd year in a row celebrating the 4th of July overseas. Last year we were in Bora Bora on our honeymoon, and this year in Hong Kong.
After spending Friday night strolling through the Temple street night market looking for a cheap tripod and a particular Jimmy Choo knockoff purse, we got around a little later than expected on Saturday. When we finally ventured out, we made our way to the Tourism Office at Tsim Sha Tsui where Melinda signed up for some of the Cultural Kaleidoscope classes. She took 2 classes last week, and really had great time learning about jewelry and tea. More to come from her on those topics in the not too distant future.
From there, we set off in search of a few tailors that I had heard about: Raja Fashions and David Fashions. Both stores run pretty slick operations. In addition to making bespoke suits in HK, they make frequent trips to the US, London, and a few other hot spots, to visit old customers for repeat business and find new customers. Although they can make suits in as little as 2 days, I’m hoping to spend a little more time with them to get a high quality suit that I really like. After flipping through swatches of fabric for almost an hour, I settled on a navy blue with subtle pinstripes. I didn’t pull the trigger on the suit yet, though. This week I will spend some more time looking through various styles to make sure I know what I’m talking about when I talk through the style that I want. It’s a pretty interesting process that is pretty fun if you like clothes and don’t mind taking a little extra time to really figure out what you want.
The next stop was intended to be a nice dimsum meal at Maxim’s in City Hall, but the restaurant was booked. We found another restaurant in the area, though, as well as some great views of some of the buildings downtown.
Hong Kong at night is a pretty amazing sight. To get some more great views of the city, we took our first trip up to Victoria Peak on the Peak Tram. The tram has been in operation for around 100 years, and climbs at a 45 degree angle up the mountain. Here’s a picture of the train at the station.
It’s a pretty cool ride, and the view at the top is even cooler. I got to put my new $12 tripod to the test, and although I definitely have some more work to do on night photography, I was pleased with the results.
OK - enough for now. Like I said, we'll try to do better. Also, Happy 4th of July. Kind of crazy, but this is our 2nd year in a row celebrating the 4th of July overseas. Last year we were in Bora Bora on our honeymoon, and this year in Hong Kong.
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