Hong Kong

Hi everybody! Sorry for my prolonged absence. I was in Hong Kong, visiting (my brother) Joe! This is Joe in his apartment.


Where he lives with (his girlfriend) Kate:

I arrived in Hong Kong on a creepily foggy day (last Friday).
And Joe took me on a walk around his neighborhood, near Sai Kung, in the New Territories. We passed this fish market where all the "stores" are boats in the water way below the promenade. You point to what you want and the woman hands it up to you using a long stick. Can you find Joe?


The next day (Saturday), Dave arrived, and we stayed in the Conrad Hotel. Definitely in our top 5 best hotels of all time. Amazing view.


And also they put little teddy bears in our bed.

While Joe was at work (teaching English), Kate showed us around the little markets near the Soho area of Central Hong Kong.


What is this vegetable?

We stopped in one stall where we found some pretty amazing sunglasses.

And I got a present for (my grandmother) Plummy (what could it be?):
Speaking of Plummy, she will hopefully appreciate the name of this gallery:

Oh, and remember that temple we went to in Singapore? The one that I said was currently in use? This one in Hong Kong is really in use. The incense in the air was so strong we eventually were driven away. I love this photo.

Kate then handed us off to Joe, who took us on a little urban hike, about 45 minutes in one direction, all without touching the ground. Central Hong Kong is connected by a series of walkways that go through malls and around office buildings, never requiring you to actually put your foot on a sidewalk.


One of the walkways goes through a little park.

We then met up with Kate again, and had some drinks overlooking the bay. On the other side is Kowloon.
A little more walking to dinner

During which Joe had one of the craziest random run-ins I've ever witnessed. This guy on the left lived on Joe's dorm floor his freshman year in college. They hadn't seen each other since 2001.


The next day (Sunday) we had vegetarian dim sum in the morning. They put us in our own little white people room.




Joe and Kate presented us with panda presents (mine is a purse and Dave's is an apron)

To walk off breakfast, we headed toward the zoo and aviary. We were greeted at the zoo by flamingos.

The aviary was more fun because no cages. Or, rather one big cage that we got to walk around inside of.




We saw this guy:


We followed the zoo with some more wandering. This is Joe with his favorite Hong Kong buildings:

And this is our album cover if Joe, Kate and I were to start a band and I was the lead singer.


We took the ferry from central Hong Kong to Kowloon:

There's a great view of Hong Kong from Kowloon. Apparently at night, the building lights of Hong Kong put on a light show with narration from this observation deck.

Unfortunately, after this journey Dave had to get on a plane back to Singapore. So Joe and I took him to the airport, and on the way back we were surprised by what is now my favorite fountain in the world. Seriously, this thing is a hoot! You walk up and there's this innocent looking plaza with lights. And you think, hm, why is it all wet here? Maybe I should walk across this plaza.

No! No I should NOT walk across this! What is happening!

It's shooting out of all places randomly!
It's actually about a 10 minute show. That takes a moment's break and starts over again. Best. Fountain. Ever.

On Monday, Joe and I did the Dragon's Back hike. It was beautiful!

A view of Kowloon through the mountains.

This is apparently where people in Hong Kong surf:
Me in an awkward pose:
Joe in a creepy pose:
The hike was actually situated near a women's prison. Charming.
The signage in general was relatively entertaining:


After this hike, we were starving. So we headed over to Stanley market:
And had some lunch, and did some shopping among very cheap imitations of branded products.

On Tuesday, Joe wasn't feeling well. So we pretty much stayed home and relaxed. In the evening we went to the MegaBox mall to see a movie. They have crazy Chutes and Ladders-style escalators there. This one goes up four floors.

Finally, on Wednesday, I flew back to Singapore. The HK airport has these great trees that they have guided to grow in this pattern. All the branches have grown into each other at the joints.


So now we're both back in Singapore. Dave is off on a ship today (yes, Saturday). Possibly taking pictures! I promise to be better about updating now that I'm back in Singapore.