Monday May 1 2006

Yesterday we went up into Kowloon and the New Territories to go to the IKEA flagship store. They had almost everything we were looking for so we decided to go for it and make IKEA rich. We bought a kitchen storage cabinet, another storage shelf thing for the maid’s quarter’s two filing cabinets with a desk top, a desk chair, and a table and chairs for the balcony. Now I will have a bunch of new IKEA things to put together, just like Legos!

The area was more rural (although that’s relative, believe me). And, until we got back to Central we were the ONLY westerners we saw all day. But still, language wasn’t a problem, and we were perfectly safe. It was just a little more country-like and a little less touristy (okay, a lot less touristy). It seemed more like somewhere that real people lived. Things were a little more beaten down, dusty (not in IKEA of course, but in the area outside it, and at the train station). That was the other thing; we took all kinds of transportation to get there. First we took the ferry across Hong Kong Harbor, because we wanted to go to this Dim Sum place for lunch and it was the easiest way to get there. It was in a big shopping area (what am I talking about, everything is a big shopping area in Hong Kong), but it was a bunch of buildings, one with Home Furnishings, one with Home Appliances (Lee was on a quest for things like speaker wire and duct tape, I’m continually searching for things that will repel moisture and moths), and another building that was all restaurants.

After Dim Sum (the real thing) we took a taxi to Sha Tin and did our IKEA thing. Then we took the train and the MTR back to Hong Kong Island. That’s the first time I had been on the train; Lee takes it sometimes to go to China.

Now today was more of a stay-at-home day. I did go out at 2 PM and wander around a little before going to Yoga at 3. I’m trying to get Soho and Lan Kwau Fong unscrambled in my mind, so I just picked a street, walk to the escalator, walked up a block, walked another street etc., until it was time to go to Yoga. It was fun – there are so many little bitty shops with clothes and jewelry and antiques. Eventually I’m going to end up actually buying something, but I’m still nervous about whether I am supposed to haggle or not. If it’s in a market stall I know I need to haggle, but what if it’s a shop with stuff out on the sidewalk?