Karen's Craft Odyssey

Another great day in Hong Kong. Today we met up with Yan Li, who visited at the University of Queensland last year. It was great having a local resident to show us around. We met Yan at the Kowloon Tong MTR station and she showed us around City University of Hong Kong and Festival Walk. Yan is currently a postdoc at City U, having finished her PhD in Management last year. Festival Walk is an upscale shopping mall right next to City U. From there we took the train to Chinese University of Hong Kong where Yan got her PhD. Chinese U is built on the side of a mountain, with University train station at the bottom. Here Yan and I are standing on the plaza between the main administration building and the library:

We took the shuttle bus most of the way up, and walked all the way to the top. On the way we had a huge dim sim lunch at one of the staff canteens. Here’s the view down the hill:

Across the bay you can see the high rise apartment buildings where many staff and students live.

At the top there’s a reflecting pool called Heaven and Earth United. The pool is designed so it reflects the sky and sky, bay, and pool are indistinguishable.

We walked down the hill from the top all the way to the train station:

And at the bottom we were rewarded with a great view up the hill at the campus:

Last stop (though we spent several hours there) was New Town Plaza in Sha Tin. This is an absolutely huge mall, with a mix of large upscale department stores and smaller local shops. Outside they have a playground called “Snoopy’s World” with Peanuts figures and rides for the kids. As with most regional centers in Hong Kong, there are many tall apartment buildings nearby:

Having walked our feet off again, we stopped for a drink at the local Starbucks. I passed on the local menu addition:

Day 1 in Hong Kong.  It’s two hours earlier here than in Brisbane, so after our long flights we slept … and woke up at 4:30am (well, 6:30 by our internal clocks).  Problem is, Hong Kong is a city of night owls.  Many stores are open 10am-10pm.  Not many open as early as 6am.  Not even the restaurants.  We walked around the waterfront by the Art Museum and Cultural Center, and arrived at Serenades restaurant just as they opened at 8am.

The morning menu was no different from lunch: dim sum to die for.  Some were made into cute little shapes, too.  Like these fried lotus seed buns that look something like hedgehogs:

After breakfast we were walking towards the ferry when we were stopped by a young Welshman promoting holidays on Hong Kong’s Gold Coast.  He said we’d won a big prize, all we needed to do was listen to a 90 minute sales presentation and ride out to the resort (free ride).  Frank was skeptical, but I talked him into it.  The ride out was interesting.  We passed a big ship yard and lots of tall apartment buildings with clothes pinned out on lines right outside the windows.  The salesman quickly figured out that we weren’t going to buy what he was offering, but we had a nice chat then went up to find out what we had won.  Of the three possible prizes, we won the one we were least likely to use, and the one that cost them the least — 7 nights free accommodation at one of three resorts in Thailand (at least the prize is transferable, so if anyone is interested, make me an offer).  I would have rather had the US$1000 cash.

After that detour, we hopped on to the ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island, where we walked our feet off.  First we went to the top of Victoria Peak, for some lovely views.

Then we went to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange where they have a very interesting exhibit and you can view the exchange floor.  Of course, with electronic trading, the exchange floor isn’t nearly as busy as it was years ago.  No more open outcry trading, just screens.  In fact, only about 1% of the volume on the exchange goes through the terminals on the exchange floor.

From the Stock Exchange we walked all over the Central district of Hong Kong.  There’s a mix of old and new.  Here’s Frank standing in front of the old Legislative Assembly building with the newer iconic Bank of China building in the background

We also walked to Hong Kong Park and Pacific Place shopping center, took the MTR (metro) during rush hour and walked back to our hotel. All up it was about 12 hours out and about.

Well, my hour of internet time has expired and I had to finish this post on my phone. Tomorrow we visit Hong Kong University.

It was a very long day. No, really! It was two hours longer than normal. As I sit in my hotel room at 10pm in Hong Kong, it is midnight in Brisbane where I woke up at six this morning.

Haven’t seen much of Hong Kong yet, but what we did see, as we took the train and shuttle bus from the airport, was lots of neon and lots of shoppers on the streets (and stores open) after 9pm.

On the flight up here (Cathay Pacific Airbus 330, if anyone’s interested), I took advantage of the video on demand system and watched while I knitted. I got through 2 episodes of CSI, one CSI:NY, a Chuck, 2 Big Bang Theories and a Chinese movie with subtitles called “The Way we Live” about life in Hong Kong. Oh, and about 4 inches of sock for Alan.

Finally, I think everything is ready for our trip tomorrow. I’ve fit everything into one suitcase and one backpack. We’re leaving Brisbane winter — highs around 20C/68F, lows around 8-10C/45-50F — to go to Hong Kong summer — highs around 30C/86F, lows around 28C/82F. From there we go to UK summer, first in Leeds with highs around 20C/68F and lows around 8-10C/45-50F. I’m hoping it will be warmer in Canterbury when we get there mid July.

On the plane, I’ll be knitting socks.  Once in Hong Kong, any free time will be devoted to finishing the cardigan.  I’ve cut the pieces apart at the steeks and started sewing it together.  Here’s what it looked like when I finished the knitting:

Finished Knitting

(shhh.. don’t tell Frank how much handspun yarn I packed to knit up while I’m away!)

This post is only a test. If this were a real post, there would be real words here.

OK, lame jokes aside, I’ve been busy getting ready for the big trip. If this post works, then I’ll be ready to post from my phone when I can’t get to a computer.

Tonight we’re off to our last Lions game of the season. Tomorrow the packing begins in earnest.

On the craft front, I’ve finished knitting the sleeves of the blue and purple baby cardi. I’ve cut the steeks and started sewing it up. Unfortunately photos don’t work when I post by email.