PicturesFromTheNet

Cheung Chau

2006-02-24T18:50:00.000-08:00

The One Where Toby Came to Visit

2005-10-24T06:31:00.000-07:00

Island living

2005-10-23T03:51:00.000-07:00

Lamma has a long-standing reputation as a hippie haven, but has become built up and now resembles a crowded holiday resort with ugly concrete houses. It still makes for a good day out though, only half an hour from Central on a ferry. We headed out to Yung Shue Wan, on the more popular side of the island, which has many seafood restaurants, cafes and shops. We were approached by a local, who spotted us flicking through our guide book, and directed to an excellent, lesser-known restaurant - Lamcombe.

After a delcious lunch of calamari and prawns, we started what we thought was an easy 'suitable for children' walk up and over the island from Yung Shue Wan to Sok Kwu Wan. This was back in June when it was still incredibly hot and humid and we resorted to local methods of sun-protection... the umbrella. We stopped for a while on Hung Shing Ye beach and then continued through plantations of ginger lily and banana trees to the top of what felt like a mountain. We joined many exhausted tourists in the pavillion at the top, thankful for the entreperneurial lady with her ice-lollies and cold water.

Down was of course much easier and quicker but we were too tired for more than a peek at the temple and a quick look around before catching the ferry from Sok Kwu Wan back to Central!

To the south side

2005-10-23T03:24:00.000-07:00

The south side of HK Island is very different to the north (we live on the north side). Low rise buildings, plenty of greenery, beaches... all make you forget about the hectic buzz of the city. We took a bus - only 30minutes - to Stanley and explored the market and seaside restaurants. Discovered some great deals on ski clothes! Apparently it will get colder... We bought the usual shorts and t-shirts though!

A day at the races

2005-10-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

...Dragon Boat Races that is

Dragon boat racing is a popular sport in HK, with an annual Dragon Boat Festival in June. Races happen all over HK (and in some parts of the world) and we made our way to Aberdeen on the south east side of the Island. Not really knowing what to expect we were just milling around looking for a good place to view the races from, when we were 'accosted' by an old lady who swiftly ushered us onto a sampan - a wooden fishing boat. Turned out to be a prime spot; on the water surrounded by dragon boats, cheering onlookers, and fellow tourists in sampans.

The Jumbo restaurant is a garish tourist attraction, it's distinguishing feature being that it is a floating restaurant, with sampans ferrying you to and from. We didn't actually eat there - the food is not very well reviewed - but thought it deserved a photo.

Apparently little birds make for lucky pets and it's quite common to see people taking their birds our for the day! Forgive my uncreative photo labeling, the humour came later...

Chi Lin Nunnery

2005-10-22T22:37:00.000-07:00

One of our first day trips. A beautiful old nunnery set in residential Diamond Hill. Such contrast between the wooden buildings and the city skyscrapers behind.

Filling up the skyline

2005-10-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

Land is very expensive in HK so the only option is to go up... Tall, thin skyscrapers perched vicariously in the wind (typhoons more like). I'm glad we're only on the 13th floor. Something interesting: the number 13 is not considered unlucky in HK. Most Chinese try to avoid the number 4, because 4 sounds the same as “death” (sie) in Cantonese. Character wise, 4 is written as though the sun is being obscured by a cloud, so pictorially, it stands for a cloudy day and bad luck. The Chinese do not like to have a house or a car with the number 4 or a combination like 14 “must die”, 24 “easily dying”, 44 “dying and dead” and 74 “surely dead”. So many buildings will skip floors 4, 14, 24, etc and sometimes 13...

Most of the buildings below are found in Admiralty and Central; orderly, shiny, expensive, spacious office buildings full of bankers, traders, lawyers and the like. Aiden works in Exchange Square (very shiny!). The more choatic, run-down, tiny "Chinese buildings" (ie no lift, questionable kitchens and bathrooms), choc full of locals, are found in Wan Chai, Mongkok, and further out.

Our humble abode of 474sqf is in Ka Yee Court, overlooking a mosque in the aptly named Mosque Street. Despite it's size... it still has a market value of HK$2.6m (only ZAR2.2 or £189.500). Larger apartments, low-rise buildings and the odd free standing home in the popular expat areas of Repulse Bay, Shouson Hill, the Peak, etc can sell for up to HK$340m!! Have a look! www.hongkonghomes.com/hong_kong_property/eng/for_sale/

An article about the cost of living in Hong Kong, if you're interested. http://www.geoexpat.com/about-hong-kong/information/cost-of-living-hong-kong-style/

Hong Kong Living

2005-10-22T07:09:00.000-07:00

So many people...

2005-10-22T06:30:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong is a crowded place. Very busy, very full of life, millions of people from all over the world rushing around - except when you need to be somewhere fast, then nobody's in a hurry. We often wonder if we are being 'seen' by the locals... they're always bumping into us as if we just not there.

The HK population is made up of many different people; the Chinese locals, a large transient expat community, the many amahs (domestic workers) from Indonesia and the Philippines serving the expat community, and plenty of tourists. Here are some pics of a few of the many people in Hong Kong.

Streets of Hong Kong

2005-10-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong is very diverse. There's no one area that describes it, although the long, thin high rise buildings and crowds of people can be found pretty much everywhere.