Mid Autumn Festival

My Dear Great Ones,

One of the best holidays ever is the Mid Autumn festival in Hong Kong. It is always celebrated during the time it is a full moon in September.  Not only do you get a day off, but the lanterns that the kids carry around late at night is fun and amazing.  There is also a very interesting lantern/plastic shapes/designs/live concert/food spectacular at Victoria Park on Hong Kong island during that time.  This year the main attraction was a moon made of blue water jugs, which turned different colours every 15 mins or so.  You could also go into this moon, but the line up was so long I passed. 

Have a great week.  God bless you!

Love adios and peng on!

Dirk 

 Chinese characters lit up.

 Happy, Happy.

 Chinese moon cakes and other foods.

 Note real size kids.  Fish balls with sauce.

 Beautiful lanterns.

 Chinese orchastra.  Sounded ok.  When they sing though it is time to clear out.

 Various animals.

 Oink, oink.

 A tunnel of lanterns.

 Love Hong Kong.

 She's a beauty.

 In front of the water bottle moon.

 Up close.

 Changing lights.

  

Yuen Long

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

I had Friday off due to mid autumn festival.  Check previous blogs about that one or just google it to find out more.  So I went with Celia and Celia's friend Jolly to Yuen Long, which is in the western part of the New Territories.  It is also close to the Chinese border and one can see the high rises of Shenzhen from afar.  As usual the little excursion once again confirmed what I have been preaching for the last three years about Hong Kong.  IT IS SO INTERESTING!!

Yuen Long has a marsh area called Nam Sang Wai.  One way to get there is to take a san pan ride across a muddy creek.  Kind of fun and interesting and only 5 dollars Hong Kong.  About 75 cents Canadian.

 Hard to believe you are in sophisticated Hong Kong.  Looks like Viet Nam

 On the other side were lanterns swaying in the breeze and a host of bikers waiting for a ride back.

 Bikes of all shapes and sizes.

 There were a few restaurants on Nam Sang Wei.  This is the kitchen of one of them.  Gag.

 Still lots of people ate there.  Here is a group eating fishballs.  The middle container on the table is full of chili powder.  Yum.

Hard to believe you are in Hong Kong.

Celia and friend Jolly.

Trees with bark that sheds.  Hmm.

People gathered by "romance pier."

Hard to be romantic with a hundred people taking pictures.

A wedding photo shoot.

Bride in tennis shoes.  Huh?

What is so interesting…..

…a sunset without highrises!

This goat was a major tourist attraction...

…and popular with the girls and their iphones

Back to the San Pan...

…and Yuen Long.

A store in Yuen Long selling lanterns for mid autumn festival.

A sweet tea booth.

Drinking tea out of a bowl.

I live in a strange and wonderful place.  Have a great week.

Love adios and peng on!

Dirk

Astro Boy

Dear Great Ones,
While I have raved on and on about Hong Kong's natural and cultural wonders I would be remiss not to mention the multitude of malls that make it one of the shopping meccas of the world.  Think London, Paris, New York, and Hong Kong.   People actually come to Hong Kong to shop.  Hard to understand since I personally hate shopping, but when you visit a mall here they are packed with people.  So obviously going to the mall is an important part of daily life for many.

One of the unique things about going to a mall is they often have some pop art display, which I assume is a way to attract customers.  I did not go to a mall to see Astro Boy believe me, I was looking for some jeans, but hey when I saw it I could not help but check it out.  I have a vague recollection of  watching Astro Boy as a kid.  The show was created in Japan back in the 50's.  Astro Boys legs were basically rockets which billowed lots of smoke and fire when he flew.  His hair was quite jelled cause it never moved even when flying at super sonic speeds.  And he was often half naked.  Actually more than often.  Why?  I don't really want to know.  Nevertheless I had some fun posing with Astro Boy.  Sadly I did not find any jeans at the Astro Boy mall.  I had to go to the Hello Kitty mall for that.  What a bizarre Hong Kong can be.  Thankfully it has enough  jungles, beaches, and real culture to recover ones sanity.

Have a great week

Love adios and peng on!

Dirk

The little kid was whacking Astro Boy much to my amusement.

 Astro Boy and Astro Man 

 Astro Boy and man showing some attitude.

 Singers singing with a multitude of Astro Boys.

 Astro Boy looking up into the mall.

 The display from on high.

Festival City

My Dear Great Ones,

Last December I moved to a new apartment complex called Festival City. It is located in Tai Wai,(Big Wall) which is in Shatin.  To get there from Kowloon one must take a train/bus/taxi ride through a mountain.  There are three tunnels carved through this mountain to Shatin.  Amazing.  There is a nice picturesque road as well that goes around the mountain, but that takes time.  Tai Wai and Festival City is the first stop on the subway once you get through the mountain.  Tai Wai is rather rural compared to my old abode located in Skytower in Kowloon.  My apartment at Festival City offers a great view of Lion Rock Park and Amah Rock, whereas my old place gave me a great view of Kowloon and Hong Kong.  

Festival City itself is a massive complex of 12 apartment towers of 52 floors each.  I am on the 19th floor of one of these towers, a little low, but less time on the elevators is nice.  To get to my apartment I need to go through security and ride two escalators up to the "podium," on the third floor.  The podium is a well landscaped garden area with a carless road down the middle.  The apartment towers give the podium a canyon like feel when you walk along the road.  The podium also has an excellent club house complete with aquarium, gyms, indoor swimming pool and a bowling alley.  The best part of the podium is the outdoor pool and the lazy river.  They are big and great and very enjoyable. Underneath the podium is a three story carpark.   

Festival City is close to the bike trails and there are also some great trails in the hills nearby, which gets you away from the hustle and bustle of HK's 7 million people.  A few excellent restaurants and downtown Tai Wai is nearby, so eating and shopping is a breeze.  I feel very fortunate  to have a home at Festival City and you are all welcome to visit any time.

God bless you.

Love adios and peng on!

Dirk

 The lobby.

 Water garden.

 The Podium.

 A great place for kids.

 I am up there some where.

 The lake of a pool.

 Floating on the lazy river.  A current moves you through the jungle.

 Great bike trails nearby.

A view of Fesitval City from the hills.