Ho ho ho

Yesterday I suddenly felt like the only westerner around. I think all the tourists and even many expatriates have gone home for Christmas. We have just one more day in Hong Kong and fly home on Sunday. The past two weeks have been a decorating frenzy here. Robb joked that at the end of every workday the crew hopes that they are finished. But the boss just replies, "get back out there tomorrow and find something else to wrap up in shiny stuff!"

Enjoy!








Small shops get sparkly...



Statue Square is now the Snowy Chapel (sort of New Mexico adobe style snowy) ...



Merry Christmas from the Stanley Tin Hau temple...



And from her...

Hong Kong miscellany

Sing along now:

Turtles on toilets and whiskers on kittens
Bright shiny shoppers, how do they all fit in?

Beautiful people all lit up in ads,
These are a few of my favorite things.



Yes, it's true. Robb took this picture in the public men's room in a restaurant.



Just a typical crowd waiting at a crosswalk.



Laundry is fun!



But the Court of Final Appeal sounds ominous.


And I'm just not sure about the Precious Blood Kindergarten.


Ultima II Clear White makeup. Maybelline White Stay mousse makeup. SK II whitening facial mask. Everything you put on your skin here includes "whitener" - even deodorant.



Friendly bird flu and dengue fever reminders in every park.


And gnomes on a boat. We know why but it would be downright diabolical to reveal the secret behind this amazing boat race.


And here are the whiskers on my favorite kittens. Thank you Malini for taking care of them and sending me photos so I know they are okay.

Lantau and Buddha

This week we successfully avoided the lines and rode the Ngong Ping cable cars to see the Big Buddha on Lantau island. This island is many things: the home of bronze age rock carvings and of Hong Kong Disneyland. The Lantau trail winds around and over mountains and is apparently a favorite of hikers. But we took the cable cars above it all.





See the Buddha in the distance? That's our destination. It's an amazing cable car ride. We walked through Ngong Ping village, past tourist shops and a fake village with plastic trees, on to the Po Lin (Precious Lotus) monastery. The easy mix of tourism and worship was interesting. People lit incense offerings and bowed, then pulled out cameras inside the temple.







Behind the temple is a residential area and a lotus pond full of turtles.





The Tian Tan Buddha is at the top of a hill, looking down on the monastery community. He sits on a lotus surrounded by Bodhisattvas holding offerings.







This is not an ancient sculpture, but a recent one, built with the intent to rekindle an old art. And perhaps to compete with Disneyland. It is a beautiful place and hey, even monks have to make a living.

Kowloon Walled City Park

As you know by now, we love to visit parks. This is one of the best anywhere. Once upon a time, like in the 15th century, Kowloon Bay was an important outpost for imperial China. In 1668 a signal station was built. (What the heck is a signal station, I ask? Robb replies, to signal that European ships are here and we'd better fight them. Or something like that.)

Here's all that remains of the original walled city.



Okay. So somebody built a fort in 1810 and the British occupied Hong Kong in 1841 and in 1898, China leased the New Territories to the British for 99 years and the walled city became a notorious haven for prostitution, gambling, drugs and - OMG - unlicensed dentists and Japan occupied Hong Kong from 1941 to 1945 and tore most of the walls down to build an airport and between 1994 and 1996 both Britain and China agree to clean it up and rebuild the park and in 1997 Britain hands over Hong Kong to China.

Exellent historical spot for a school field trip.



But mostly just plain beautiful.

Speedboats and Flowers and Birds, Part 3

Now part 3 - the birds.

At the end of Flower Market Road is the entry to the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden.



This is where pet birds and the (mostly) men who love them spend a few leisurely hours. You bring your bird to the park and hang the cage on a pole or in a tree, so that your bird can enjoy some fresh air and see its bird friends...





...while you settle in for a nice long talk with your own friends.



It is mostly a guy thing, but there were two women out with their birds the day we visited.



Of course, there is also bird shopping. Hmmm, what would our cats think if we brought home a bird?



These birds really need a new home.





Pet the cockatoo.



After watching this scene, a bird seller approached me holding a little green canary-sized bird cupped in his palm. The bird was lying on it's back, tummy up, while the man gently petted it under the chin. He gestured to me to try it. I did, trying not to think about bird flu. That's a poultry farm thing, right? Anyway, I had no idea how much birds love to be cuddled and petted by people.

This man and his bird are heading back home.



We moved on, too. Coming up next, the walled city of Kowloon.

Speedboats and Flowers and Birds, Part 2

Part 2 is all about the flowers.

In Hong Kong, shopping is very organized. There are big malls full of everything, but stores are organized into boutiques. A drug store has a Max Factor boutique with its own counter and staff. In the Lane Crawford department store, there is an Aveda boutique. Only tester samples are out for customers. If you want to buy something, a staff person will go get it for you. This may take a while, so in the better shops (like the Aveda boutique at Lane Crawford) you are offered a cup of tea while you wait. Yes, I know this from pleasant experience.

Outside of the malls, shopping is organized into districts and streets. There is the line of jewelry vendors on Nathan Road, where you waddle along with the crowds as men ask, "copy fake handbag watch?" There is the street of goldfish shops. One of the best is Flower Market Road.



As on all the best street shopping streets, the sidewalks are jammed with people.



And the shop aisles are jammed with people...



Another shopping challenge. These orchids are only let's see, $100 Hong Kong dollars divided by 3 divided by 7.78 to convert to US dollars...



I love this shop name.



One little bit of Cantonese that I have learned is that sum means heart. So these are are not just some flowers. These are heart flowers, flowers for the heart, maybe flowers from the heart. And dim sum is heart's delight, dumplings that touch the heart. And I think choy means leaf. That's it. The end of my lesson in Cantonese.