Money and Toast

By coincidence when I pulled out the 20 dollar note for the taxi I noticed it had the Mid Autumn Festival featured on it.  You can see children building and lighting rabbit shaped lanterns, this is just as my colleagues described.

J kindly model it for me while I took a picture;  I think he is getting used to all my random picture taking now and patiently pauses for me to capture the moment :-)

The streets are quite dressed up and the mooncake sales are on the rise. Just in time for us to head to South Korea for 6 days. Whew, after my 3 day work week I'm ready for a holiday! No sarcasm there, it has been a busy few days.

So yes, that means the next couple of days will be no new Hong Kong content, but I'll perhaps pull up some favourite HK moment from my earlier trip.

In the mean time, I have to share this strange sight I captured while running an errand - Mona Lisa mural made out of TOAST! Toast that had been burnt to varying degrees was stuck on a wall in a shopping mall. Oh wait, its Mona Lisa holding an Ice Cream made out of Toast. 
Definitely weird but fun. 
So next time the kids are burning toast, perhaps it is just for the next school art project Mum :-)

Teaching Award

On Tuesday 25th September I had the opportunity to go to J's university to see him receive a teaching award.  The candidates are nominated by students and colleagues for recognition of teaching methods and approaches above and beyond. Given there are over 500 teaching staff, and J was selected, I was very proud!!!  He received a metal plate with the award details engraved on it, and a magnificent bouquet of flowers that have this warm, buttery fragrance mixed with vanilla and sweet almond tones. 

My observations as a non-local were that Hong Kong has a higher level of formality with events like this than what I'm used to. Also a big deal is made of awards, which I think is nice but after living in Holland for so long I'm not used it; I would say the Dutch way is not to push anyone too far in front.

Some of my sketchy pictures from the event are below taken with my phone camera because I had left the battery of my proper camera, that I had dragged with me to the event, in the charger at home. Duh. I was feeling very sick though from a cold bug that had hit on Saturday, so I was just grateful I didn't look too red nosed.

What's on the Menu for today?

One of the things I enjoy about Hong Kong is that pretty much any time of  day you can find something to eat within easy walking distance. Coming home late a snack is within easy reach, like last night stuffed peppers.  CHILLI HOT fried peppers. Let's just add the positive spin that it was good training for my palate ahead of the upcoming Korea trip.

The 'Sea Urchin Ball', the 'Fried Intestines' and 'Burn Cowboy Bone' are for another day ;-)
I also have to smile that 'Health' and 'Fried' are tagged together in one menu item choice.

Another convenience is the array of vending machines with different things, even Umbrellas.
 Perfect for last night's sudden storm.

Oh, on a side note, J treated us to those gorgeous cupcakes I showed in yesterday's post :-)

 The carrot cake is still my favourite.

Kowloon Diversity

Today's walk highlighted the diversity of life in a short walk around Kowloon. These photos were taken in less than 10mins walk from each other.

There is a new bakery downstairs that once you step in opens up another world - French music playing softly in the background, gorgeous cupcakes and porcelain teasets on display.

I take two steps further in the same street and there is a lantern shop, displaying these bright paper lanterns all year round.

Then turn the corner and the flags for the upcoming festival have been put up, brighting up an ordinary street.

And WoW poster with Kung Fu Panda?

And finally the local McDonalds isn't complete without seaweed seasoning

Mid Level Exploring

Saturday was a slow walk around Hong Kong Island from the Mid Levels through to Kennedy Town to explore and check out the areas and apartments. 

For those not familiar with Mid Levels, the first two pictures are from Wiki to set the scene:

Because of the steep roads up the hill, there are outdoor escalators to save pedestrians some effort getting around.

ADDED NOTE 25TH SEPT:  I found this article gave a good description of what has evolved in HK

 Hong Kong's City without Ground

Despite the land appearing to have reached capacity, there are still new apartments planned and some mid construction:

This was a picture on the wall of one of the real estate agents from 50 years ago, showing how flat Hong Kong was not that long ago.

Ladder Road (very steep road of stairs):

We wandered through Hong Kong University on Saturday and the following day around Polytech University on Kowloon side, thought I would mention them together.

Both universities were impressive - on the weekend they were buzzing with students, the coffee shops were open and the campus had ample space.  Also there were several little ponds and many benches in quiet locations, an oasis in the city and something to keep in mind next time I am looking for a spot to stop and reflect.

Lastly, Hong Kong is also about the

F-O-O-D! 

So a little feature of the Little Chicken Eggs - these remind of my the Dutch Poffetjes.

There are a LOT more local food items to feature, but more on that in later posts.

Business Conference in Central

Today was invigorating! I attended a business conference with a few hundred people, including many high profile Hong Kong business people (HR director of Goldman Sachs, CEO of CityGroup etc), to discuss issues like leadership, career management and work-life balance. 

Good food for thought as well as a fabulous networking opportunity. Also I  got a glimpse into the Asian business culture. My impression is that flexible work arrangements are not as advanced compared to EU/US and also equal career opportunity for women with families are not as mature too. However I saw that the spirit of entrepreneurship and new business ventures are far richer in The East that what I have seen in Europe.

The conference was in Central and a little walk during lunch, one of the quieter times of the days, demonstrated again this city is always busy!

Friday evening was superb! J and I went to Elements malls and tried out three bars including the world's HIGHEST Hotel - The Ritz Carlton Hotel bar on the 118 floor.  

View from the top (foggy evening)

Lift button - reception on Level 103

Cocktail with ice frozen on the outside of the glass at the WOO Bar

City's Changing Shape

The one constant in Hong Kong is that it is continually in construction, endless building sites are part of the city's DNA and dodging of scafolding is a key skill walking around this city.

The picture for today is the contruction site near Kowloon station, the building of the High Speed Rail terminal. The yellow cranes in the pool of light brown sand remind me of giraffes in the savannah, standing tall and proud. Ok, perhaps I'm over selling it here since they are also dusty and the site is noisey, but hey this African girl can dream :-)

Kowloon Bay exploring and Night Market

So it was back to Kowloon bay where I saw for the first time a car elevator to save space of ramps in parking lots. 

And I was treated again to another Dim Sum lunch by another colleague, so yum!

Walking home through the night markets, I realised how I appreciate how they add life and color to my walk home from the MTR station.

New Territories

Meeting new friends today at lunch I learnt that expats do successfully live in the New Territories, and with children. Good to know there are more options than just Hong Kong island, which is lovely but VERY pricey for accommodation (Hong Kong has the highest accommodation costs in the world)

My photo of the day is from the Tsing Yi mall/ MTR stop - a mural made from buttons! Creative, colourful, fun. Love it. In fact the MTR malls are a real treat, the bathrooms are clean and the whole mall is spacious and cool.

 

 

And also one last thing, gotta love Starbucks - they provide a glow of familarity in among strange settings. Today's daily offereings - Salted Camamel Mocha. :-)

Working Late

My work schedule with the EU and US time zones means that on Monday and Tuesday I work late. But today I got the corner office looking over Kowloon Bay at night. Not bad if you have to work late.

Local Sunday

Sunday morning was relaxed at home but by the afternoon I had gathered enough energy to try out a BodyPump class for the first time; at a gym I've signed a contract with so good that I start using it!

 The class was given in half Chinese half English. Fun, and different - biggest difference was the expectation around how much weight a girl can lift is MUCH lower in Hong Kong compared to The Netherlands.

My funny moment of the day was seeing the LIFT POLICE in action. They control the people who enter and exit the elevators, wearing white gloves and use hand signals like traffic police. People have to queue up and wait to get ushered forward by one of these lift police people on duty.

And Sunday ended with a visit to friends after church. We had a 'lekker' BBQ with enough food for three days, and ended with a dessert that is so yum I have to mention it here although it is not strictly Hong Kong. 

It is one of J's creations - Ameretto and Lady Finger biscuits on the bottom, layer of fresh figs, blue berries and strawberries and Mascapone cheese topping. YUM yum YUM.

Exploring Lantau

Saturday was all about exploring Lantau Island to get a feel for living in some of the towns / villages there.  First up Tung Chung, where we even got to view apartments by walk-in appoitment, impressive.  Conclusion is that town such as Mui Wo are expat friendly and probably offer good quality of living away from the city, but not what we are looking for this stage of our lives. ( commute too far )

High rise apartment blocks in Tung Chung.

Welcome to Mai Wo.

Expat bars showing South African rugby are even avaliable in these villages.

Beach areas