The Wedding

I thought I would briefly share that the wedding in Connecticut was everything I hoped it to be and more. It was a PERFECT day, weather warm but not hot, limited wind, no rain. And there were no last minute emergencies nor stresses. The group size was just right, an intimate gathering like we wanted.  Both venues were amazing, like from a story book. And the best part (besides marrying the Love of my Life of course) is that despite some scares about my DRESS not fitting at the last minute it fitted perfectly on the day and felt just right.

People are now asking how is married life going. Practically it is not that different besides not having to discuss wedding plans (for the USA wedding) and thinking more about moving logistics for next month, but on an emotional level it does feel different, nicer, life is just better and there is this warm tingling feeling deep in my heart. xxx

Chinese New Year and much more

Hello again!

I've been back in Hong Kong for a month now and I can confirm that I love living here. The city has become small and cosy in many ways but still captures my attention with all its sights, smells and spectaular array of things to do.

Some highlights:

* Climbing to the Peak along the Old Tramway route and doing Hong Kong trail part 1

* Trying new cocktail hangouts with friends and on our own.
 -  001, a New York style speakeasy that is hidden away in Central
 - California Vintage in Wan Chai
 - Hyatt Hotel in TST (K11 Mall)
and finding some new places to eat, high point was Sushi at Sushi Shin - so yum!

* Exploring the markets! Sham Shui Po, Mong Kok, Causeway Bay even and the great Shopping Mall displays.



* And of course Chinese New Year celebrations have been exhilarating  The New Year started started Sunday 10 Feb, and festivities roughly ends 21 Feb. During that time you can find numerous opportunities to join in the fun:  Lion Dances, Bamboo Theaters, street parades, fireworks and dragon mimes.  Lots of free entertainment walking around this week. =D

This is the first month in over two years that I haven't travelled, but no need, the tourists come here for this :-)

Wedding Fever

What's been filling my mind the past week?  WEDDING PLANNING! Wow, there is a serious business in this thing called a wedding and Hong Kong is no exception. In fact I would say they take it to the next level far more than I have ever seen it in South Africa or Holland.

There are wedding centres where all vendors collect and provide an easy place to shop for what you want - dresses (multiple), photographers, shoes, decorations, invitations. There is no ceasing. What I have discovered is that most brides hire a wedding dress from a package, which may or may not include a separate day for photos. If not, the the wedding photographer will hire out dresses.

But I am going with the simple approach of one wedding dress custom made. No frills and bows, quite simple and elegant. The chinese folk don't really understand me and want to get involved to help to dress it up. But for a simple wedding with around 40 people I don't need to be pimped out.

Another thing which is quite unique are the photoshoots before the wedding in their wedding dresses.  Beautiful photos but not quite my thing. However I am dragging J on a casual engagement shoot around Hong Kong just because ;-)

Kowloon Walled City

A fascination with the old Kowloon Walled City has emerged this week, I stumbled upon these old German documentaries and am so grateful the scenes were captured in time.  Some parts of Hong Kong give a faint whiff of times like this, but so far I haven't encountered anything quite like this.

Races and Farewell

On Wednesday we FINALLY made it to The Races in Happy Valley. Apparently this is the thing to do in Hong Kong and sure enough there was a large crowd.  The announcements were divided into language sections, which meant the English language area was an expat magnet. It was funny for me to see so many expats at one gathering in Hong Kong after living in Kowloon, it felt like being in London.  =P

The beer and atmosphere were excellent, and in summary it is totally worth going for a fun Wednesday evening out.  But rather eat before unless you are the betting kind, in which case the odds are not in your favour you'll be scoring with the food.

And the BIG NEWS of the week is that on SUNDAY 25th November J proposed and I said Yes!!
We are ENGAGED! =D  Here is a photo of us at the Races 3 days later.

Sadly this is my last night in Hong Kong this year, tomorrow I fly back to Holland for work and then we take a wonderful vacation in South Africa with my family.  But I will return to Hong Kong! Next year starts a new chapter in our lives together and I can't wait.

The journey of discovering this city has been an elaborate and vibrant one, and in the end I can honestly say I like it here. J did propose at the right time since I will admit I had my doubts earlier this year about whether I could really live here. But through writing this blog and opening myself up to new things, I can see that Hong Kong has a lot to offer and I like to think of it as a prism - depending on what light you shine on it, you'll see different colour beams shining though.

This ends my formal blog quest of writing during my three months stay in Hong Kong.  No doubt I'll drop a few nougats of information in the future as I haven't quite covered all ground just yet, but until then, FAREWELL.

Hiking through the Butterfly Park and seeing much more

This week saw a fabulous combination of the work-hard, play-hard scenario. Monday to Wednesday were long hours in the office, only finishing around 1am and starting 9am. But then Thursday made up for it with a DOUBLE Thanksgiving celebration to mark the first time I celebrated this holiday. We attended one gathering in the afternoon and a second in the evening, both with a great mix of new and interesting people that intrigued the social side of me. And of course the food. Lots and lots of good food. Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, squash, mash potato, it was all there followed by perfect dessert items of cookies, pumpkin pie, key lime pie, pecan pie, apple pie, cupcakes, ice-cream. You get the idea. To compensate for this holiday indulgence another hike was in order this weekend! 

Today we visited and hiked through Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, aka 'the Butterfly Park', in the New Territories with friends. This is a park on one of the highest mountains in Hong Kong and we climbed almost to the top (to discover a very underwhelming statue I might add but of course that wasn't the reason for visiting).  The park is a working farm on terraced slops, with green houses and orchids. Originally setup to provide for windows and the poor, it has pioneered productive farming techniques for the type of land, climate and steep slopes. It is also a sanctuary for wildlife that have been injured or have been imprinted. In all, a good day out with a good cause. 

Photo impressions of the day:

A Muntjae:

Wild Boar:

The Hong Police take in snakes that are found:

Pink Flamingos:

Owl without it's wing:

 The vegetation reminded me of what I used to see in my Grandmother's garden in South Africa.

Man made waterfall

Chaozhou Chicken-Feet cuisine and other usual weekday activities

For the past weeks since I have returned from KL I have noticed a strange phenomenon:  a week-day routine has formed. Even with our crazy hours/schedules and haphazard adventures, there is a thread of expected activity of work, shopping, clothes to laundry etc, which in my case is a good thing.  My eyes are noticing the smaller details now during my walk abouts - a new dish on a menu, new dessert restaurant opening, even observing and learning some Chinese characters (I can read opening times- yay!). But even with the repetitiveness there are still interesting finds and delights, and this post is a collection from the past week.

1. Christmas decorations are appearing and Christmas jingles can be heard in the evelators and malls.
So with that are the inevitable Christmas Gift options popping up.
I saw this Marie Antoinette Action Figure in the stores this weekend. I like the originality but I can't see Barbie stepping aside just yet.

2. My favourite food item of the week: Rambutan. They are like a lychee inside, clear sweet juicy insides with a almond size pip. Good to satisfy my South African lychee craving.

3. For the street food sellers catering to Western tastes there are no waffles on offer but rather 'Checkered Cakes'. And eggs soaked in tea.  And egg puffs.  Very logical names I'd say.

4. One of the delights of shopping these days is seeing how many Happy Stamps I will get after paying. Usually one loyalty stamp for 60 HKD spent and when customers collect enough stamps they get the prize indicated at the marker. Each store has a special collection brochure printed for this season and their own incentive prizes and goals... So far I'm collecting Welcome stickers for a Blender and MarketPlace stickers for a Backpack. But with only two in the house to shop for numbers are slow, and the question is will I ever reach the goal in time before the end of the year. Only 10 days left in Hong Kong this year for me... Eeek, probably not going to make it ;-)

5. And on the subject of food shopping... anyone with a craving for pumpkin? These beauties will surely do the trick. I just can't see them fitting into any Hong Kong sized kitchen though.

6. And last week we were treated to dinner out with friends, Chaozhou cuisine style. Pronounced 'ChowChu' to my ear, this cuisine is from a fishing area on the east coast of China directly opposite Taiwan.  Surprisingly I enjoyed all the dishes!

On a side note: I say surprisingly because I will admit I'm not the biggest fan of Chinese food, sad I know considering I'm in Hong Kong.  But my recent diagnosis is that I'm not a fan of Hong Kong style Chinese food.  Eel, Jellyfish and Prawns with the shells on and then deep fried just don't blow me away like they seem to do for other foreigners. 

But with the Chaizhou dishes I ate it all -  Goose, duck, shrimp, even chicken broth with the chicken feet left in. Finally the noodle cake, with vinegar and sugar it was very more-ish.

7. Walking home one evening after sun set, the pink and yellow flowers with the streetlight shining through make a colourful composition. Some nature in the middle of the city.

8. And to end, Sunday's Cocktail treat with J at the Shangri-La hotel TST East. 

I had the Pomegranate Pineapple Martini, sweet and refreshing.

 Cheers!