Bird Garden and Jade Market

Today I headed out for another adventure. I got off the subway at Prince Edward station and went to the bird garden. There are stalls selling birds, live food, and bird supplies. There were awesome wooden bird cages, but I felt bad for the birds that lived in them because they were so tiny. The bird garden is also a place for people to come and talk about their birds, mostly old men who bring their birds out to 'socialize' in the garden.

One of the small wooden cages...many of the birds there seemed to be sparrows and other types that we wouldn't typically keep as pets in America.

This guy was awesome, though he probably didn't have a very good life living in the bird market waiting to be sold. Although it was an interesting place, I don't see how any of the birds could have been in the best of health.

These guys had come to the garden with their owner and were drying off after a morning spritzing.

This parrot was a talker. I'm not sure what he was saying but it was loud.

I'm pretty sure these are Myna birds...so neat!

Of course there were love birds. I couldn't believe how many birds they fit into each cage. There were also parakeets and finches at the market.

The flower market was right next to the bird garden. This part was less crowded, but further down the sidewalks were just filled with flowers.

After the bird garden I headed down to Yau Ma Tei to go to the Jade Market. I stopped to eat lunch first at a small restuarant, and was momentarily surprised when the waitress seated me at a booth that was already occupied by a man. Then I remembered that in Hong Kong, they just seat you where ever there is room. So, I had lunch with an architect that lives on Hong Kong Island. He was quite nice and we had a good conversation. He did ask me about Obama...lol.

At the Jade Market there are about 400 stalls with vendors selling anything from watches featuring Chairman Mao to strings of pearl and jade. The best part is bargaining with the vendors. One of my purchases was this cricket box. It was just too neat for me to pass up. The top is glass and there is a wooden cover that can slide into place on top of it. There is another compartment on the other side as well.

I loved this necklace so much that I bought four in different colors. It only cost me $11 for all of them.

Lazy Day

Well, I didn't do much today besides reading. Heather's been in bed with a fever for the past three days and I feel like I might be getting sick too. Lillian made cashew chicken and it smells delicious so I'm off.

Playtime

Lillian and I took the girls to the playground downstairs in the morning. They are both just so darn cute that I had to take pictures.

From the playground we could see monkeys running on the hill. I'll try to get a better picture soon.

Anika and I climbed up the stairs on the hill trying to see the monkeys better. We didn't see any, but we found a bunch of these monument type things that I think used to be graves...the center looked like it had been dug up though.

At night I went to Mong Kok, which is a shopper's dream. You can find just about anything you need there, and it's not as expensive as the malls because you can bargain with the vendors. They close down the streets at night and there are people everywhere. I bought a new digital camera. I brought the price down about HK$400 (just over $50 US), and he threw in a case and a 4 Gb memory card...score!

The Peak

The Peak is the highest point on Hong Kong Island. To make our way up there we took the Central-Mid-Levels Escalator which is the longest covered escalator system in the world. Some people even use it to commute to work.

This bamboo scaffolding is the norm for construction. You'll see it on 20 story buildings...aparently it works...

We took a taxi after the escalators and the view was spectacular. This is looking out towards Hong Kong and the New Territories where the Melvers live. If you can see through the smog, Tai Wai (pronounced 'dye why') is just beyong the hills in the distance.

This is one of the ritzier apartment buildings. Mucho dinero to live here.



Heather and Erik enjoying the view...

Anyone recognize the tower? It was used in The Dark Knight...apparently Batman jumps off it.

This is the view looking out the other direction into the South China Sea just around sunset...




Here we have some of the most expensive real estate in the world. With a 360 view of Hong Kong, it's a very desireable place to live. This article talks about it more: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Housing/Story?id=2773844&page=1

The Island

We went to Hong Kong Island today and the weather was beautiful. There are Lunar New Year decorations everywhere, including this golden bull which I decided to kiss for good luck.




We stopped by the US Consulate so Heather and Eric could get some documents notarized for their move to Saudi Arabia in August. I was expecting some grand marble building, but the only marble I saw was this wall outside.




Hong Kong Island has steep hillsides that have been built on over the years. I love these stone walls with trees growing out of them.

We stopped by Hong Kong park in the afternoon which included this courtyard dedicated to those who had died fighting SARS. This picture was taken on a 30 m tower that we climbed 105 steps to get to the top of...fun...

This picture is dedicated to Glenda Wycoff. It was part of the "artificial lake" (they are very specific on their maps)

This was so exciting! Sulfur-Crested Cockatoos fly around wild in the park. They are an introduced species to Hong Kong.

This giant walk through aviary was closed when we walked by. I'll get some pictures of the inside another day.

The buildings in Hong Kong amaze me. This one has grass on the roof.





This is an example of a very typical apartment building. People hang their clothes out the windows to dry them.

The Lippo Towers are just neat...

I'm not sure how well you can see this, but the side of the AIG building was lit up like a rainbow. Every night at 8pm there is a light show with music on the sides of all the buildings...quite extravagant.

Ramon the way it should be...

Time for a few pictures...

This is Lillian and Saskia. Lillian is also known as Auntie around the house and is a wonderful cook. She looks after the kids and keeps the household running while Heather and Erik are at work. She is also one of the nicest people I've met. Saskia missed the memo about smiling but she is a little under the weather so I suppose that's okay.

Next is my favorite picture of the day. Anika has gotten so big since I last saw her, and she never stops talking. She loves to show people her dance moves and how high she can jump.

This is the view from the living room. The apartment in on the 23rd floor. There are so many people in Hong Kong that almost everyone lives in tall towers like these ones. The elevator and hallways smell like white rice...it gives the building character.

Say good morning to Heather and Erik. They were still a bit sleepy because both the kids are sick right now. I feel like I might be getting the cold too, but I'm trying my best to stay healthy.

I the afternoon Heather, Erik and I went to the mall to pick up some groceries (yes, they have grocery store in the mall). We stopped to have lunch at a ramon restaurant that was delicious. This is definitely the way ramon should be served...with veggies and pork in it. It came with octopus balls also but I didn't enjoy those as much. They were basically fried balls of octopus...yum! This is my audition to be the ramon poster girl...

At 9:30 pm we went out to see Benjamin Button which I highly recommend. The funny part about movies in Hong Kong is that people buy their tickets online mostly and you have assigned seats. We bought our tickets late so we were in the second row, but it was still fun. The strange thing is that not everyone shows up and there are empty seats.

We're headed to the island today so I'll have more pictures soon. Send me requests if there is anything I'm forgetting to tell you guys.

24

It's Wednesday the 28th in Hong Kong, 9:51 pm and I just got to the Melver's apartment. For those of you that don't know Heather and Erik, they worked at PLU my first two years there and moved to Hong Kong to teach at an international school the summer after my sophmore year. I came with them for the first three weeks and watched the girls (Anika and Saskia) as they settled in. When I graduated early, I decided to come back to visit.

They met me at the airport (surprise!) after a 15 hour plane ride. Fortunately I had four seats to myself so the flight wasn't too uncomfortable, just long. As soon as I got off the plane I smelled the scent of Hong Kong. I can't describe it in words but it felt like I was here just yesterday and not a year and a half ago.

It's time to go to bed after a long 24 hours of travelling. Thanks for reading!