mcdonalds in HK

shogun burger: japanese theme; teriyaki pork patty with lemon mayo sauce

shogun burger with egg: same as above with an egg

mcnuggets sauces: kimchi, curry, sesame mustard, and a few others

special fries;  fries with a powdered flavor.  put them all in a bag and shake them up for curry fries, kimchi fries, seaweed fries, etc.

happy meals; Available all the time, including breakfast.  The toys lately are from keroro, a japanese cartoon about small aliens who try and take over the earth but instead are kept as pets.

red bean pie; sold alongside apple pie

cancelled view from the peak

yesterday we tried to get up to victoria peak for the stunning view of Hong Kong.  However, heavy rains at the top ruined our plans.  

it was the 120th year of the funicular tram, and the price yesterday was the 1888 price of 30 cents.  

Poly's mom, Lau, and auntie Ha were with us.  We took bus 15 from central district up to the peak; that in itself is a fun, windy trip with spectacular views of the city as the bus winds its way up the peak.  Towards the top the heavy rain started.  At the peak where the tram ends there is a station with a small mall of shops and restaurants.  We stayed in side there, as did most people.  Still, many were lined up, under umbrellas, determined to ride the tram and get the souvenir ticket.  we weren't that crazy.

We stayed a while, bought some snacks and ate, then took the bus back down the peak.  that's when the rain really started pouring -- just heavy tropical rain while our double decker bus navigated tight twisting roads down to central district.  Pretty exciting!

At central we got a bus that took us all the way to Lau's place via one of the cross-harbor tunnels.  but it was rush hour and we were stuck.  It took  3 hours to get from peak to Lau's place -- way more than usual.

then we had a nice late evening, night, dinner and went home via ferry.  a long day!

Above is Auntie Ha with Skye.

catholic gift shop

yesterday we went a catholic gift shop in central district to get something for one of my colleagues.  I also bought a small wood dove pendant for myself.  It is a small shop but pretty well stocked with typical catholic knick knacks. 

We then took the longest elevator in the world up to the mid levels of HK.  It is a set of elevators that go up the peak -- it really is quite long.  Skye and I are standing beside one section of it in the picture.  We don't see many panhandlers in HK, but there we saw two men, terribly burned, sitting and asking for money.  I"m glad Skye didn't seem to notice; they were very disfigured.  I've seen panhandlers on Nathan road in Kowloon also; people in wheelchairs and a legless guy.  But very few compared to the mainland cities I visited in the 90s.

At the top of the escalator we had to figure out how to get down, and we basically walked back down to central on very steep sidewalks and public staircases.  On the way down we stopped at a lovely catholic cathedral; immaculate conception.  We stayed there a bit and cooled off, donated a bit and took some virgin Mary cards.  Skye liked the interior and just enjoyed sitting in the cool quiet church.

It was hot and humid yesterday and I sweated my shirt until it was drenched.  I also almost lost my dove pendant when the knot slipped and it fell on the escalator, but I got it before a man almost stepped on it.  Later at home Poly tied a decent strong knot and now it's good to wear.  

Today (it's 11 am) it's been raining all morning.  We planned to take the tram up Victoria peak, but we'll see if the weather clears.  Today is the 120th anniversary and the ticket is only 30 cents HK, the original fare.  

Ipod case and pants

Yesterday we went shopping with Ee at some malls nearby Lau's place.  I bought two cases for my ipod nano, a hard case and a soft case.  five dollars total.  I also got another pair of pants that are a little looser and lighter material.

In the pic is Ee, Auntie Ha, Skye, and me.

We had lunch at the dim sum place at Lau's complex, and then dinner at her apartment.  I took some photos of the dishes which I hope to upload later.

Today this morning there is heavy rain, so we may stay home.  Ugh.  Also this morning Ee took the bus back to China.  Ha is still with us, as is Lau.  She's staying at our place while Ha is with us, for about 5 more days.  

OK, time to play with Skye!  She's bored on a rainy day!

guests from the mainland

Last night Auntie Ha and her daughter Ee arrived to stay with us a few days.  Poly's mom, Lau, usually invites Ha over when either we're staying here in Judy's place or Judy herself is here in the summer.  We plan to visit Wan Dai Shin temple today or tomorrow, depending on the weather.  It's Poly's family's usual temple to go for fortunes and other chinese buddhist things.  We also are planning a trip to a temple with 10,000 buddha statues somewhere in HK.  

Auntie Ha brought some of my favorite steam cake from the village.  It's a desert, sort of the texture of a twinkie, made with simple local ingredients.  It's mildly sweet, and cooked between large leaves of some type.  Peel the leaves away and dig in!  MMM.  

Ha and Ee live in the village of Shintong, which is near HK in Guandong province.  I was there years ago, in the 90s.  

Pictured above is a slice of that delicious steam cake!

Maritime Museum

Today we went to the Maritime museum in Stanley, on the other side of HK island.  It's a great little museum with the history of ships in HK from the Ming dynasty to today.  Lots of wonderfully made models of ships from junks to cargo carriers.  Also a neat gift shop!

great interactive exhibits there.  In one you try and steer a simulated cargo ship.  tough job!  There's a big lag time  in steering.  In another you try and tap out morse code messages for various disasters.  Get it right and the guy lives; wrong and he dies.  I got "fire" but didn't get "overboard."  that guy drowned.

by the way, gas is 7.50 US dollars a gallon here.  Don't complain, USA!

back online, again

my internet connection is easy come easy go.  Right now it's Go.  It's raining heavily at about 5: 15 pm Monday the 26th.  

We went to Lamma island today by ferry; about a 40 minute trip.  Ate lunch at a small diner in the village and walked around a bit.  that was enough, and then we returned home.  Lau was with us, Poly's mom.  See it above.

Last night we had a meeting with Poly's high school friends.  Josephine and Jonathan, Moon and Patrick, Terrence and Sing, and the other Poly, and Alex.  All the girls are her friends; they went to a catholic girls' high school.  the men are the husbands, like me.  Also there were Moon's two sons, the other Poly's daughter, Terrence's daughter, and Josephine's son.  We had a great time at Terrence's apartment.  Later we went to the local rec center to play ping pong and jumprope and take pictures.  then we went to a local restaurant for a big seafood feast.  It was food from northern coastal Guandong province; a particular cuisine.  

I'll try and upload pics if I can; depends on the wifi.  

a sign seen in HK

I'll get a photo of it next time:

No Cat Feeding!

well, that just about says it.

health tips

The current fear is of hand, foot, and mouth disease, which children are vulnerable to.  The best advice is to wash hands often, so we have  a strict wash hands rule after every outing.

I've seen public signs about mosquitoes, because of Japanese encephalitis and dengue fever.  Don't catch it!

No talk of SARS now.  

Basically, don't touch anything and wash your hands!

back online

I've emailed most of my readers so far.  I"m back online using a wifi from somewhere -- either a near apartment or perhaps a cafe downstairs.  Judy's apartment, where we're staying, is on the second floor of the complex.  On the first floor are businesses like cafes, laundries, a 7-11, etc.  Several have free wifi so I may be picking that up.

After a few rainy days the weather is hot, humid, sunny.  30 C and 90% humidity.  You just have to go out and get sweaty!

transportation here is always fun.  Many days involve a taxi, a ferry trip across the harbor, a double decker bus, and the subway.  In what other city can that be done?

Outside in the park people practice tai chi, a sword tai chi version, and kick around a chinese hacky sack that looks like a badminton shuttlecock.  

Skye is doing well under the heat and humidity.  Walking uphill in this weather is tough!  And on the mainland side in lam tin we go uphill often around Lau's place.  

lei yun mun fishing village

in English it's called "Carp Gate" village.  It's next to the ferry pier on the mainland side.  We go past it when visiting Poly's mom.

scene from double decker bus

a little out of focus -- bumpy road

subway

Skye and Poly on the subway, the MTR.

day after the rain

Yesterday it rained all day.  did nothing but stay at home and slowly go crazy... Well, the madness is over.  dry today.

What did we do yesterday?  Watch HK TV.  Most news reports were about the earthquake.  There are a few english channel stations.  One is VOA; voice of america is now a cable channel.  another is an HK station with media in English, canto, and mandarin.  Mostly the tv is boring.

today we took the ferry to Lau's; we were going to buy watch batteries but the technician is out.  this would have been in monkok district.  

HK on a rainy day is boring!!!!!!  Especially with a four year old to entertain.  Well, it comes with the territory.  May is in the rainy season.  At least it's not too hot yet.  70 or so, which is mild.

Maybe the worst is having no internet access at home.  That would have helped a lot.  We can get it at cafes or other places, but not in the apartment.  

rainy day

today it's been raining all day.  we left after breakfast for poly's mom's apartment.  Oh, this morning we woke up at 6 am, so our jet lag is getting better. 

 Last night was a little tough.  Skye slept all afternoon and evening, then woke up around 8 or and so had to stay up until after midnight.  Poly crashed around 9 or 10, so I stayed up with Skye until she finally got a little sleepy.  We watched The Mask on TV to pass the time, and played with her barbies and ponies.  

So, we went to Lau's apartment after breakfast.  We stayed and had lunch, then took a bus to a local mall.  Poly bought a few clothes and we also got some pastries as a snack on our return.  Now we're at Lau's, and it's raining; it gets heavy then less so, but never stops.  Typical weather for May in HK.

OK, a fire truck just pulled up to the apartment complex.  We don't know why.  

We will have dinner here then head back via ferry to Judy's apartment.  The usual dinner time in HK is 9, but Lau will cook us dinner early.  Peter, Winnie, vicky, and Becky will eat at the usual time.  We can't wait until 9!

double decker bus

at the top of the double decker bus for a ride down tram street on HK island.  Always a great fun, and a cheap tour ride for 50 cents!  Later we ate lunch near the Macau ferry landing.

me

a rare photo of the photographer.

the apartment

Judy's apartment where we're staying.  Very nice and roomy, with an extended balcony on the right.

mandarin duck fried rice

mandarin duck fried rice: egg white sauce on one side, tomato sauce on the other, in a yin yang pattern.  very tasty!

Poly and Skye on the Coral Sea ferry we take from Judy's place on HK island to Poly's mom's place on the mainland part of HK.

Dim sum with Poly's mom, Lau, and Poly's brother's daughter, becky.

Skye and Poly at the dim sum restaurant.  It's at Poly's mom's apartment complex.  Skye is drinking watered down tea.

I like Hong Kong.  It's a decent and civilized place.

Skye at the playground.  the apartment complex behind her is where we're staying, on the second floor.  Lots of kids play here and she has a great time.  Language is no barrier for kids!

monday may 19 hk time

did this copy post?

breakfast at McDonalds in HK

breakfast at mcdonalds.  poly has chicken and pasta soup -- micky D is better in HK!

wifi at mcdonalds

ok, i've got 20 minutes of free wifi here at mcdonalds this morning.  i will post a pic or two and email everyone to check out my blog.  things are great so far!

waiting

it's almost 7 am.  I woke up at 5, and got out of bed at 6:30.  Today we....wait.  Poly got us all packed and ready yesterday.  Our plane leaves tomorrow morning around 7:30 am; the taxi picks us up at 4:45 am.  yuck.  Then we fly to SF, wait a few hours, then fly to HK.  Arrive Friday evening HK time.  

The earthquake news just gets worse every day.  Now the toll is up to 15,000.  

June:  here's a photo of the Cathay Pacific jet that took us from SF to HK.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

We leave on Thursday.  Today we are packing.