Daniel had to leave to go back to work in Taipei last Sunday, but Sarah has been here all week and we have been having fun. I thought she would start to go a little stir-crazy being with her parents all week, but she is either putting on a good face or decided that a 50’s (age not decade) lifestyle suits her just fine, at least for the short-term.
What have we done this week? Well of course shopping has figured highly on our itinerary. Hong Kong shopping is thrilling for Sarah because everything FITS. She still has some trouble with things being too big (the Chinese are getting bigger, it’s all those McDonald’s fries) but she can find pants that don’t need to be altered. One day we went to Causeway Bay, to the little boutiques on Fashion Walk. My friend Sherry, of wonderful traveling blog fame, was also visiting in Hong Kong, and went with us. Both girls were delighted with the selection and prices in Causeway. Everything and I mean EVERYTHING was heavily discounted. One of my favorite boutiques, Three Ring Circus, had everything marked at a 50% discount. I bought a little summer blouse and Sarah found some jeans that fit perfectly. We found another store that couldn’t really be classified as a boutique because it was huge. It just went on and on, further and further back into this building. I bought scarves; Sarah bought a little blue coat. It was hard to tear ourselves away!
I thought the crowds in Causeway Bay would alarm my guests (they often bug me, even now) but it wasn’t that bad along Fashion Walk. It got intense as we headed for the MTR but it didn’t last that long. I need to go back there more often, especially as we get closer to Chinese New Year, since the sales will only get better.
We ended the day at Happy Foot. We both enjoyed our foot massages. We might even decide to go back one more time. I was getting a lot of foot (and face and body) treatments this summer, but as the economy started melting this fall I pulled back from pampering myself so much. But foot massages don’t really cost that much and they really do feel good, although sometimes I have to tell them to go a little easier on me.
On New Years Eve Lee and I went to a party at one of the new 3Mers. We had a good time; this crop of 3M expats is really nice, both and husbands AND the wives. We made it to New Years too, but just barely. Sarah went out with Sherry and her friends, so she didn’t have to hang out with middle-aged engineers and thirteen-year-olds. She went to a party in Lan Kwai Fong and watched the fireworks. She saw them shoot fireworks off of the IFC Tower, which made it look like the building was on fire. When I talked to Daniel yesterday he said they did the same thing in Taipei, shooting fireworks from 101. He said the building looked like it was exploding. I think that’s kind of creepy, although the pictures certainly looked cool.
Yesterday (New Years Day) we decided to go to Lamma Island for a little walk. Apparently so did half of Hong Kong. We’ve never seen that island so crowded. It wasn’t exactly what we expected (a nice, quiet walk on a little island); instead it was a fairly crowded amble on a nice little island. But Sarah (and Sherry’s friend Veronique who joined us) had never been on the inter-island ferries, or to one of the little islands, so they were happy. Also the cool sunny blue-sky weather has returned to Hong Kong so it was a perfect day for a walk, even if that walk was a little more crowded than we were expecting.
We’ve had fancy Chinese food (Lumiere for dinner, Bo Innovations for lunch). We’re going to try the scary dim sum place (aka Lin Hueng Tea House) today for lunch. That’s where Sandy my Cantonese teacher took me several years ago and I ate chicken feet and fish stomach. Its also one of the places Anthony Bourdain tried when he visited Hong Kong on his “No Reservations” TV show.
Today we’re going to go purchase a Tibetan Chest at Horizon Plaza (one of the things Lee and I want before we leave Hong Kong) and possibly go over to Mong Kong and wander through some of the markets. We may even go back to the crazy lingerie store, for nothing else except the chance to watch my daughter be man-handled by the fitters!
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