Christine's Website

shack

I'm not sure what this is but there is laundry hanging so maybe someone lives there.

nice murals

A long stretch of the path had these walls to keep people out from the construction going on and I liked the idea that they put colorful murals on the walls.

bike path

heh, I am lame and had to take a pic of the actual path while I was riding on it :-)
For the most part, the path was nicely paved though there were lots of parts where peds can cross it, they expect the bicyclists to dismount. They had these ineffective barriers that you could easily ride around. They also expected bicyclists to walk their bikes while using the underpasses. Several did but I think it was because the underpasses were on an incline and they didn't want to ride up the incline. Most didn't get off their bikes, myself included.

on the path

I finally found a bike rental shop and this pic I took while on my bike for the day :-)

boat

take note of the fishing boat under the bridge

more bad graffiti

no fishing

This sign warns against fishing in the water as it may be contaminated. A few meters away, there were people fishing. Maybe they were just doing it for the fun and didn't plan to eat what they caught.

animal bushes

I found these bushes cut into the shape of animals, cute.

green

the bike trail I discovered

first graffiti I've seen

I did some more later on in Sha Tin but nothing well done or artistic about it.

cool tree

walking on rocks

In one of the estate courtyards, there was a little exercise/fitness section. You can't see it well in this pics but there are strips of smooth rocks and stones cemented in. It's supposedly good to walk on them barefooted to massage your feet. I tried it out the week before when I was with my coworker but only made it halfway since it hurt my feet.

cool fountains in a small park in Sha Tin

laundry day in Sha Tin

and there is a cute little bird on the light :-)

housing projects in Sha Tin

street in Sha Tin

wow, so my comments section was spammed. Anyway, I got my computer back today and this keyboard works a lot better than the one before, even prior to when the space key malfunctioned.
So, I'm going to post some pics from Sha Tin. To make my life easier, I'm going to post them in the order I took them even though I know you all wil l be seeing them in reverse order. I don't think the order matters to much but some pics may have a clearer explanation in a subsequent post.

keyboard woes

sorry folks but it'll be about 2 weeks until the keyboard gets fixed so no updates for now. I hope everyone has a happy holiday season :-)

weird day

I decided to take another bus trip- this time further south on HK isle to this area called Aberdeen. The bus ride was cool as we went through the harbor tunnel and the bus route wound around some very tall hillsides and Aberdeen is on the western coast. But when I got there, I was very disappointed as everything there was super overpriced and really not much new for me to see. I visited the promanade and there were ferry rides to get to a nearby island, tour boats and boats to get to floating restaurants. It looked cool enough but I'm not a big fan of boats and I saw some white people looking fancy so I know it's not anything I could afford anyway.

So, I start walking along after reading a sign about the ferry to Lamma, seeing I can't afford it and this old Chinese lady from another part of the pier comes jogging after me. She tells me there is a 30 min tour boat, very good and cheap. I tell her I'm not interested as I don't like to be on boats. She takes my hand and inisists in broken English that it's very good and starts walking me down to the boat. I tell her again, I don't like boats and I get sea sick. She tells me not to worry, no one has ever gotten sea sick on it. Umm, probably cause only people that like boats go on it, I tell her. No, no she says it's very good. So I bite and say okay, how much. She tells me 100 HKD (about $14 and 1/30th of my monthly pay). I laugh and tell her no way. So she asks me to name my price, I tell her 20 HKD, not to be a cheapskate but I really don't want a boatride. So she emphasizes it's 30 mins and I'm like that is 30 more mins than I'd like to spend on a boat. Her final offer is 50 HKD and at this point I just start to walk away and she finally frees me. I wonder if she charges the fancy dressed white people 200 HKD ;-)
Hong Kong is a place where one is expected to bargain and lots of things have no price on them because I guess they quote you the price they think you can afford. I'm rarely in this position as I hate shopping and when I do buy something, normally even if I could get it cheaper I wouldn't feel right. I'm willing to pay 10 USD for a nicely embroidered and lined linen dress.
One time, I had my shopping cart with me to go to the supermarket and just stopped by the Temple Street night market as it just started and wasn't too crowded. I needed to buy a backpack. I find a decent one and the guy tells me 120 HKD which is more than I wanted to pay so I say no thanks. He sees my shopping cart and says oh, you go to supermarket. I say yes and he tells me oh sorry, sorry, I meant 90 HKD, hahah. I guess the shopping cart showed him I'm not a tourist, heh. I consider but still balk at the price because now that I know he makes prices like that I feel like I need to bargain, to save face so to speak. So he asks me how much and I just arbitrarily say 75 HKD and he says deal. Maybe if I spoke Cantonese, I would have gotten it for cheaper ;-)
Later in the day, I joined a fitness gym called California Fitness. My mood is just effected too much but not being able to run or bicycle here and despite all the walking and stair climbing I do, I am gaining weight. Long story short, the 2500 HKD enrollment fee, 499 HKD processing fee gets waived and cause I only want 4 day a week at one center access as opposed to 7 days at all their 4 centers, the monthly fee comes down from 598 HKD to 398 HKD. Technically, it's a 12 month committement but they waived the required 2 month deposit for me and get this, without me giving them my phone #, bank acct # or a credit card! They don't even have my passport #, just my IL driver license number which is the only ID I carry with me. I know I ought to carry my passport and travel visa but I am afraid to lose them. They don't even have my address or employment information. I am glad they did all of that, otherwise there is no way I could have joined. As it is, 398 HKD a month is really pushing my budget but I figure it will get me out of my depression and I'll have more energy to do tutoring on the side. Also, I may not need to eat as much. I went in there with the mindset that I could afford 500 HKD a month so it worked out for me :-) I looked into cheaper alternatives but the YMCA is more expensive as you need to buy a membership and the HK parks dept fitness rooms near me are already booked through Feb.
Last bit on bargaining... tonight I walked through Mong Kok, an area close to me. I've been looking to replace a glass bracelet that a friend of mine, a parent of one of the kids, gave to me from Vietnam. The diameter of it is at most 3 inches and in Chicago, I had no success in putting it on. I went to give it back to her and she said, just relax and use some moisturizer and it'll work cause you have the same size hands and wrists as I do. I was very skeptical but tried again. I almost got it on but towards the end, I panicked and cause I was hasty it flew off my slippery hand and right into the sink where it cracked into 2 pieces. I felt really bad about this and always looked for a new one since then which was like 3 months ago.
So tonight, just wandering through this area, I happen upon a store that sells jewelry and usually I go right passed but this time I stopped to look at the window and find the same exact bracelet. So I go in and there is an elderly couple there who speak some English. I describe I want the brown sparkley glass one (they understood it to be "gold glass" though) and bring out 2 sizes.
I had it in mind to buy it if it was 100 HKD or less. They tell me the pair is for 130 HKD. I say, no that's too much and I only want one. They agree to let me have one for 100 HKD. Maybe I could have gotten it for less but 100 HKD was fair to me and since this was the first one I saw like that since I broke the other, I really did want it. I tell them I want the bigger one and they say but the smaller will fit and I don't believe them. I doubt even the larger one will fit at this point. But sure enough, they get it on me and it is too big, heheh. It was way too heavy and hung down too far, I knew I'd crack it by banging it into something. So they slide the bigger one off and go to put the smaller one on. Now my hand has already been a bit traumatized and expects some pain so I can't really relax. And this one is smaller. After some effort, my body felt the early signs of shock, heh, the smaller bracelet was on and it is much better for my wrist. They told me that I am too excited, I guess because I couldn't relax for the second time. They also looked kind of smug like, see we told you that you had a small hand and it'd fit.
I don't wear jewelry so it's taking me some getting used to but overall, I am really happy to have it on as well as to have the experience. I'd been wanting to get a tattoo lately but this seems to be a good substitute for now, especially since this experience also released some endorphins and as far as I am concerned, it's there permanently. I know if I need it off I can always just crack it but would rather not as broken glass anywhere near my wrist just doesn't appeal to me ;-) Of course, it's not the kind of glass that shatters into bitty pieces. The one I broke before, broke very smoothly so no need for worry about an accidental suicide. It's a nice reminder for me of my friend in Chicago,
that I need help from others sometimes, to trust other people's opinions and of course, it is very pretty.
I am too tired to post the pics from Sha Tin or the ones I took today but hopefully I can do some tomorrow.

Xmas streetcar

and this concludes my batch from my last HK isle mini trip.
I'm too tired to post my Sha Tin pics from today. After Monday, I'll have almost 2 weeks off so I'll post those pics then as well as writing postcards and inviting people to this site I neglected to do with my first invite.

Ginseng board of Wisonsin?

I had no idea such a thing exisited but here you go. When my Chicago friend went back home to HK for a visit, one of the things her friends asked her to bring from the states is ginseng. According to them, American ginseng is a better variety.

wasabi taste

I found the silver foil pack around my job so of course I buy it to try out, not having any idea what I'm in for, just expecting wasabi taste. I open it and in a prime example of excessive packaging, typical of Japanese stuff, I find one of those "do not eat" dehumidifer things which baffles my mind as each strip of nori (roasted seaweed) covered with wasabi powder is individually wrapped in plastic, all in a plastic tray. I think there were 6 sheets with 6 strips each and wow, were these yummy and hot. Not every strip was hot but some were very hot, bringing tears to my eyes. Awesome find and I need to pick up more for myself as well as to send to my wasabi loving friends :-)

wasabi fried dough

I love the character on the bottom right with the flames coming out of his mouth. I found this snack and was very excited to try it but when I did, the taste wasn't good and it wasn't hot at all :-(

US imports

I found this store on Hk Isle and of course I checked it out. It turns out they only sell stuff like toiletries and food products that you get in dollar stores throughout the states, heh. Prices came out to about $1.50 to $2.00 USD for the products. I wonder if people actually buy this stuff, the store was pretty empty of people while I was in there.

pretty rooftop sunset 1

pretty rooftop sunset 2

street market in Sheung Wan

This on HK isle, look at how narrow it is.

late night rooftop sign

I just like the splash of colour from the main road, Jordan.

speeding ruins your life

I saw this on HK isle, first one I've seen. I've seen a bunch of PSA signs around parks that claim it is gambling that ruins your life.

rooftop sign

This is the sign on the door which leads to the rooftop. I have no idea what it says, heh. If it is prohibiting people from going on the rooftop, it isn't effective as people go up there all the time.

Police HQ in HK

So I'm walking around the northern part of HK isle and I notice this building and I'm curious as the architecture of this building doesn't fit with the surroundings at all. I do a little investigating and see the sign it is the police HQ, it makes sense now.

back on the saddle :-)

So this morning started out bad. I got woken up by this banging noise at 7:30 AM, which normally I'd be awaken by then but I was purposely trying to sleep in today, heh.

Anyway, I decided to take a random bus that stops on my block and take it all the way to the end of the route. Double decker buses, which are the only buses around here, are a great (and cheap) way to sightsee even if the ride sometimes scares me. Some of the roads are very curvy and the drivers are sometimes insane.

So I hop on the 81 bus going to Wo Che. I have no idea where that is so it works for me. I wish I could have taken some pics from the bus but the one I got on was air conditioned, so no open windows means no bus pics. Buses here are not always air conditioned and the fare is usually about $1-2 HKD cheaper for those buses. I prefer the AC buses as you don't have to breathe in the yucky exhaust and also these buses have TV, nicer seats, and electronic signs announcing stops in English too.

I check in my trusty pocket HK atlas to see where Wo Che is. It turns out it is in Sha Tin which is where I was last Sunday visiting my coworker. At first I was a little disappointed but then I thought it was for the best that I explore an area I'm already somewhat used to, I don't need that big of an adventure. And on my map it shows there is a rec center with a huge park near a river so that sounded like fun to check out.

It turns out this bus stops where my coworker lives, heh. So I just could have taken this bus last week instead of the commuter rail which is a lot more expensive, crowded and much less convenient, cool that I know this now. So I head by the river and notice a bike trail. I recall my coworker mentioning we can rent bikes one day so I figure there must be a bike rental place nearby. So as I walked along the trail, sure enough I find one, most excellent :-)

Lucky I brought my Cantonese phrase book so I was able to ask about renting a bike. They set me up with a mountain bike that had a bell and basket. It was hard to find a bike that fit me okay so I didn't have a lot of choice but anyway I was just happy to be back on a bike. The rental was 20 HKD for 1 hour, 25 HKD for 2 hours and 40 HKD until 19:00 which at that point would give me 6 hours. I knew I'd want to ride for at least 2 hours so I paid the guy 40 HKD (about 5 USD) and was on my way. I would estimate I biked about 50 km as I just didn't want to stop. After 3.5 hours, I covered majority of the trails and decided I should head back as the bike path got more crowded and I was getting tired and irritated.
Here, you bike on the left just as you drive and that was weird. People would still go in the wrong lane which pissed me off, people do that with staircases and walkways too and it would make me think, why the hell am I able I abide by this when I'm a newcomer and people who haved lived here cannot. Today it dawned on me that most of the people who go to the right are probably from the mainland, where you stay to the right. It still pisses me off but not as bad but at least it makes a bit more sense now, not thinking it is native HKers breaking this rule they grew up with.
It felt so good to be back on a bike and it really helped my mood. I took about 80 pics of this little trip which'll get posted after I finish putting up my previous pictures from my HK isle trip several weeks ago.

amazing plant that grows in cement

I found this plant on my rooftop and as far as I can tell, I don't see any dirt. The plant seems to be doing well and I look forward to seeing its progress as I live here.
I wonder where it is getting water from as since I have been here- 1.5 months- no rain has fallen. Maybe those pipes carry water and there is a leak somewhere, I'm not sure. Water pressure for my apt is pretty low by my standards :-/ The temps have averaged about 23 C since I have been here but from what my coworker has told me the winter is unseasonably warm this year and average temp is usually about 15 C for this time of year.

pi rooftop pic

I took this at night on my rooftop, it shows the part of HK isle I can view from here across Victoria Harbour. I just liked how this came out as it looks like many pi symbols :-)

One and only

This sign, found in the trendy part of HK isle, struck me as funny. I just checked out the store from the outside and the artwork seemed pretty tacky to me but very expensive.

NYC parking lot?

heh, no it can't be as the sign doesn't say the lot is full ;-) Also, in USD, the price for parking in this lot, close to the big business part of HK isle (Central) is like $3.50 USD an hour. Owning a car here is a big luxury and most people rely on the public transit system which is very effcient, clean and economical compared to most in I've been on in North America.

No fakes

This was taken on HK isle. HK tourism industry has been heavily advertising shops that guarantee no fakes as well as the fact that the HK gov't is cracking down big time on production of knock off goods. Still, knock off goods are easily found here and quality is often better than the knockoffs available in the states.

A Che sighting in HK

heh, this picture is for Q :-) I haven't spotted any Che wearing people yet but Che's for sale in the famous Temple Street night market.

bike deliveries

Bike messengers in Chicago or NYC have a breezy job compared to the bicycle delivery people here in Yau Ma Tei. I wish I had a video camera just to illustrate how insane traffic conditions are here. The bike in the background if you notice has a natural gas tank on it. Bicycles deliver these tanks to street stall people who cook using natural gas. I can walk down the block and get chestnuts freshly roasted or yams if I wish.

green and blue blood

I hope the type shows up in the picture but I found these gatoraid type drinks in the supermarket that claim the green one is green blood and the blue one is blue blood, heh. No thanks, I'll pass.

The sign above it does not mean you'll get 95% off if you buy two. Instead it means that you'll get 5% off. Here, discount signs often reflect what you'll pay instead of what % the discount is. I know the printed English text says differently but it is incorrect. I once saw a sign like that in the same supermarket for buying 2 pack of Hi-C coconut soy milk and my discount was only 5% off.

my building's laundry room

well, actually it is the staircase that leads to the rooftop but many people here still wash their clothes by hand and hang them out to dry on the rooftop or out of their windows. I do have access to a ghettoish washing machine, I have to fill it myself, let it drain into the bathroom and then refill it to rinse. Still, it beats having to wash the clothes by hand which I did do several times before I found out that the boss' 10 floor flat had a machine. There are no self service laundramats but there are lots of places where they will launder your clothes for you but they are too expensive for me.

Also, take note of the plastic garbage cans in the background, right hand side. We put our household garbage in these every night and by morning the garbage has mysteriously vanished. There are no recycling programs for trash in HK :-(
But I guess there are places that give money for aluminum cans (no deposit for cans or bottles here) as sometimes I find the bags are opened and cans removed if I throw out more garbage before it is removed.
On the streets, there are tons of garbage recepticles as well as for cigarrette butts. HK is a very clean city as far as litter goes.

snacks

so there is a company that puts out an assortment of weird snacks and traditional ones to North America (like peanuts and sour punch straws). I picked up some seasame cod fish slices (one on the left) which taste much better than I expected and chocolate stones, which taste so-so, kind of like the Sixlets candy.

On the top are Smarties, which come in a much smaller box than Canadian ones (though it is wider so maybe it close grams wise, these are 32 g). As far as I can tell, these are manufactured in Malaysia. You can make a car out of the box and I actually like the taste of these Smarties as opposed to Canadian ones, heh. Overall, I much prefer the candy available here as it seems they use better ingrediants here.

jesus is lord

This is on one of the buildings around the block from me and when I first saw it I cringed but these days I appreciate it as it serves as an awesome landmark for me.
I've been doing well with getting around, never been lost so far but still I appreciate landmarks.

if only it were in my size

I think it is cute that a superman dress is available here. Lots of adorable kids clothes here in HK for very cheap.

more engrish

Can anyone translate this for me in English? This was the back of a pack of pitted haw I bought. Haw is some kind of Chinese fruit that taste and looks wise reminds me of a cherry but when I ate one that wasn't pitted, the seeds inside were unlike a cherry pit. I've had haw flakes while in the states and those have a weird, undescribable taste and texture. I prefer these pitted, dried haws and can't wait until I can try some fresh haw.

some engrish

heh, so organic means just serving with love in the heart, thanks :-)

American nutrition?

heh, it struck me as odd to see these 2 words together as the name of a health food store on HK isle ;-)

sorry

yeah, I've been slacking off here. Everything is going as well as it can be at the moment. One good thing is the weather- it's mid December and I found myself hot today wearing windbreaker, heh. I had a good time in Sha Tin which is in the new territories, visiting my coworker and her family. We had dim sum which was great. I even tried eating a chicken foot! It had a strange texture for sure and not much taste to it. If someone offers me another to eat I'll take it to be polite but it's not something I really want to eat again.
I had to call the HK Department of Education and while I was on hold, they played video game sounds muzak, hehe. It seems that the HK Dept of Education and Manpower (official name) doesn't offer any assistance to parents, they leave that up to social agencies. I was inquiring about parenting workshops since a teacher said parents have come up to them, complaining their kids are hitting them at home and expect the teacher to talk to the kids about that.
I'm supposed to be going bicycling this Sunday with the coworker that lives in Sha Tin. This makes me happy as I really missed being on a bicycle. I think part of my blahness is because I haven't been riding.

things are looking up

The kids are still really into my lessons which makes me very happy. The toughest class (management wise) in my first days is now my favourite class to work with.
I had to talk with the bro in law this afternoon so I missed one of my classes to teach but when I got back, I asked the teacher if I could teach another period later that day. She said yes and told me that the kids love my class and were sad when I didn't come when I was supposed to.

I've been getting along very well with the teachers. I started to eat lunch with them and while I don't understand most of what they are saying, it seems to have made them feel more comfortable with me. Two of the teachers have started to teach me some Cantonese and asked me some questions about English. One of them invited me to her home on Sunday and she lives in Sha Tin which is a part of the New Territories. I'm looking forward to it as I can explore a new part of HK and also be in a HK home :-)

She showed me the books she is using to learn English and to me, the books seemed very dry and boring. I told her I thought the most effective and most fun way to learn a new language is by using it in conversations and she agreed.
So it'll be nice for us to get to know one another while we both learn new languages :-) She is an older woman, married with children, but we share a similar sense of humour and teaching style. And I am interested to hear about her life as I'm sure it is quite different from mine.

Some of my kids have even started to joke around with me in English. Sure, it is basic level jokes such as saying with giggles "see you tomorrow, bye bye" 2 minutes after I enter the classroom or "Good morning cat" instead of "Good morning teacher" but considering when I first got there they parroted everything I said, it shows they are beginning to be able to think in English which makes me feel very good and even more rewarded.

for big feet

This sign made me giggle. I don't know if they meant it was a big healing centre for feet or actually a healing centre for big feet as it is in the gweilo (white ghost, lit/slang for Westerner, used to be a racial slur) section of HK island.

Another pretty park in HK isle, Central district

This is located in the business district of HK and the building it is nearby, I can see from one of my windows.

Canadian horse

In Chicago I saw painted cows, in Toronto I saw a painted moose and here in HK, I see painted horses. There were about 8 horses painted with the flag style of that country but I only took a pic of the Canadian one. I recall there was one for mainland China, for HK (which has a flag of the country flower on a red background), for Ireland, England and I forget the others. There was no USA one.
These horses were put up and paid for by the Hong Kong Jockey Club which is like the OTB (off track betting) in the states. Horse racing and gambling in general is huge in HK.

Jumbotron

the first Jumbotron I saw in HK but mainly I took this picture to gloat that I was spending a Saturday in early December in a temperature of 24 C ;-P

an ivory factory!

Can't say I've ever seen one of these before.

Hollywood Street on HK isle

There is nothing Hollywoodish about this street but south of it is called Soho and north of it is called Noho, heh. I think they should have named it Houston Street since it is more like that street in NYC than Hollywood in California.

Queen Rd in Sheung Wan, HK isle

mini temple in Sheun Wan, HK isle

street in Sheung Wan, HK isle

park in Hong Kong isle

playground on Hong Kong island

HK isle station overpass 1

The Hong Kong station is a major station of the MTR and this the last stop of the train line that runs to the airport. Connected to it are the Internation Trade Centers and lots of fancy shops, including an international food market where I can buy sharp cheddar cheese.

area around HK station overpass

gold needlefish snack

Ingrediants are: fish, chili, sugar, salt and spices and no I haven't had the nerve to actually try it yet. I did try this snack a coworker offered me. It was pieces of orange peel boiled, then dried with sugar and salt. It was actually really good tasting.

my new favourite gum

Ginger orange menthol flavour is quite yummy :-) Honey lemon menthol gum is good too but I didn't care for the black currant menthol one as it tasted like cough medicine.

water lilies

typical HK girl fashion

I think this pic will get the most comments, more than the A.S.S. bomb one ;-)
Anyway, I see lots of girls in cowboy boots or very pointy shoes. Cowgirlish skirts are also pretty popular too as are legwarmers and knee high socks.

I haven't seen anyone with rainbowish hair and I can't even find any unnatural colour hair dyes. They do sell blue or purple tints and lots of browns, reds and blondes. I did see several people trying to dred their hair, no one with braids yet but I have seen some permed hair.

trees outside of police station

I still haven't seen anyone get arrested here unlike living in Chicago where I averaged seeing one arrest a day. I see police on foot patrol all the time. I also see police vans and motorcycles zooming by when there is an accident.

Temple in park

sunset over HK island

taken on Kowloon side, Tsim Sha Tsoi

a subway

A subway= underpass here and as you can see they are pretty classy.

strung lights in Tsim Sha Tsoi

This is on Nathan Rd, the touristy section.

Beware of big bang

heh, this is a sign I saw on the highway, from the service road I walked along. They are blasting the mounds to build more housing and I guess this was a sign to warn people about the noise. It was about 17:00 when I took this pic so I guess the blasters were done for the day.

Block 13 of an estate

Here is a block of the housing project I work in- see how huge it is. I work in Block 10, there are 14 blocks to this housing project.

blocks 12 and 13

man vs nature part 1

man vs nature part 2

highways above and under

close up of a housing project

This are some of the apartments in the housing project I work in. It's typical here to hang clothes out your window- it's not just a housing project thing. From what I understand the government didn't provide the glass in the windows, the residents did that for themselves. My own windows have no screens which is weird to me still.
Obviously no storm windows needed here to keep out the cold ;-)

barbed wire

Here's a bit of barbed wire I found that protects the outdoor tracks of the MTR. I haven't seen much barbed wire around. The wall was maybe like 7 feet high and at least 4 city blocks long and all the barbed wire was in perfect shape- never have I seen that before. Usually there is at least one section cut into or bent but not here. Maybe an easier way inside has already been discovered, I didn't try to look.

Metrosexuality hits HK

I saw this ad at an MTR stop and found it funny. I first heard of the term metrosexuality a few months ago in Chicago. I think the idea is pretty silly but it seems that HKers love silly ideas from the West ;-)

LUSH in HK

For my birthday, I treated myself to some bath stuff from LUSH. Sadly, it was only a kiosk in a big mall so the selection was limited but still the smell was still the same and that made me happy :-)
There was a male salesperson along with a female one which is fine but weird for me to see at a LUSH store. They were a bit overbearing with their help but that seems to be HK style. The prices were comparable to the one on Queen Street.
The one I visited in Chiba, Japan had much higher prices.

Xmas in HK

yep, there is no escaping Xmas. All the malls and streets are decorated and the shops are filled with Christmas gift buyers since just before Thanksgiving. It's kind of funny to see snowflake decorations as I doubt many Hong Kongers have any idea what snow is like, heh. The coldest it's been here is 18 C and that has made dealing with the xmas season much more pleasant for me ;-)
Some of the displays are very elaborate, even including religious themes like the Nativity scene.

Cool tree roots in Kowloon Park

I found this big tree there where it's roots grew over a brick wall. It's weird looking cause the bottom half of the tree is much flatter than one would expect a trunk to be. I tried taking a few pics to get a good angle but this was the best I could do. Hopefully some of you will get to visit and I can show you this great looking tree.

maze of shrubs in Kowloon Park

It's so cute to watch adults and children run around in this. It's not made like a maze with only one way out. but it's still a neat idea.

Welcome to IKEA Hong Kong

The next few pictures were taken at my field trip to IKEA in Hong Kong, which is actually really close to my job. That is odd because where my job is located is a really poor area but across the street, there is a very nice shopping mall and that is where IKEA is. It's not like most of IKEA's stuff would fit a typical HK housing project apartment and this area, ex pats don't even go to it. So I'm not sure how well their sales are doing. It is new and I went on a weekday after work and it was almost empty.
I was told I couldn't take pictures but I was slick and managed to get some shots anyway ;-) I didn't take many pictures of the stuff because it looked like typical IKEA stuff, nothing HK specific or that you couldn't find in a catalog. It was strange to see the IKEA mock kitchen without a rice cooker, heh.

IKEA HK couches

The prices are in HKD, conversion being $1 USD to 7.8 HKD.

clever ad for flooring

somewhat typical HK bathroom

as you can see there is no bathtub or shower door. My place does have a bathtub but if you use the shower in the downstairs apartment, you let the water go down the drain in the middle of the floor which means water gets everywhere, heh. Most bathrooms aren't even this big but so far in Hong Kong I've only encountered western style toilets, unlike Japan.

largest sq ft fake apt I saw in HK IKEA

My place is about 400-450 sq ft

a bit of the decor of the 520 sq ft fake apt

HK style floor plan

It was pretty impressive to see how they managed to furnish this fake apartment. You can only see the floor plan from this pic, which I took so you get a general idea of how HK places are. I would have taken more pics but I didn't have enough space to get a full shot and besides, I was trying my luck as photography isn't allowed in the store.

creepy bedsheets

how can anyone feel comfy sleeping on bedsheets covered with the image of ants?!?

paper lamps in IKEA HK

IKEA HK escalator

There are 3 floors to IKEA HK and the size of each floor is maybe the size of your typical supermarket in the states. There were no shopping carts therefore none of those creepy wagon escalators that spooked me the one time I went to IKEA in the Illinois burbs.

finally, a useful thing for a typical HK home

Places here are much smaller than your average North American home. Not as bad as Japan, but still small.

IKEA in store ad

I just thought the white blued eyed babies in the ad looked kind of out of place in this Hong Kong IKEA, heh.

IKEA HK says it's okay to mix porcelain and glass

IKEA HK cafe

no Chinese food here

menu at IKEA HK cafe

note: prices are in HKD which is 1 USD to about 7.8 HKD

floor sign in IKEA HK

View outside of a window in IKEA HK