Day five: My massage was AMAZING and I felt like a new person by the end of it. A tiny Thai lady called Susan gave me a right going over and cracked my back, shoulders and my toes - as well as kneeling on my legs and back to make this happen! Hands down the most thorough and worth every penny massage I've ever had.
Days 6 - 11: I spent the morning wandering around the IFC mall near Central and found some kooky and pretty much Asian-only items in one of the department stores there.
Left: tiny bottles for kiddies salads. Right: Tiny forks for tiny hands to eat veggies with.
I love these!
And sticking to the veggie theme...
Who knew that You could small vegetable shaped casserole pots from Le Creuset?
These are cases to protect the top of your toothbrush (they're aimed at kids, but I SO want one!)
These beauties are actually evening clutch bags.
Chinese New Year is fast approaching and this year is the year of the Tiger and everywhere is covered with stuff for it.
These were at least 8 feet tall - with a cherry blossom as a money tree next to it.
Then in the afternoon off to Kowloon, I walked along the 'walk of stars' along the water front and spotted my hotel opposite.
Lifesize bronze statue of Bruce Lee, one of HK's most famous (and favoured sons), I had to jostle with 10 Russian tourists as well as the locals to get this shot! There is a store dedicated just to him nearby and I think there is some kind of Elvis theory regarding his death (see pic below)
I decided to do a open top bus tour of Kowloon to help reacquaint myself. You pretty much take your life in your hands when you get in a taxi/bus etc in HK they are pretty crappy drivers...
I love the old and new in Honkers and its everywhere you look.
Egg-like Science Museum.
I had two different religious experiences, sort of... A buddhist monk surprised me in the MTR when I was reading my map and I gave him $100 and asked for world peace (no really, I did). He gave me a gold Buddha card....
On my way back to the MTR I got accosted by a guy who told me I had a 'lucky face', maybe I should have kept on walking... He told me that he was a travelling yogi and proceeded to tell me my future for 2010. March apparently, will be a good month for work and love - my, I'll be busy fighting them off! I had a fleeting thought of 'how much will this cost me', he then scribbled some notes on a bit of paper and got me to hold it in my fist. He then asked me to pick a number between 1 and 5 (3) , think of a flower (lotus), colour (blue) what I wanted in 2010 (a man please) and my age (36). I then had to touch my fist to my forehead and blow on the paper and read it - now by this point it was a bit blurred in my recollection as he'd been talking at me for 10 minutes verrrrry fast, so not entirely clear on the order of this bit - as all the things written on the paper in my hand were freakily correct apart from my age which he had down as 35. At some point he also told me to avoid beef on Wednesday (I did) and then to pay him HK$300 (I didn't I gave him HK$100 which annoyed him, ha ha). I was totally played!
I have also managed to squeeze in some actual work this week (the reason why I am in HK, after all). So, I am back in the world of data and 3D pie charts and a lot of French people (our client is Suez Environnement)
Day 8: Heritage Museum in Sha Tin. This was a nice little trip on the MTR and then a train to the New Territories, and a chance to get away from the smog!
There was a beautiful chinese calligraphy painting show, this pic is a back lit panel with closeups of some of the paintings.
I went to see a design exhibition called 'Antoine + Manuel Design Village' which was a bit nutso.
200 meter long Chinese dragon on the steps when you enter the museum.
The best part was the Cantonese Opera exhibition, there was a booth where you could get your very own operatic 'virtual' make up done, and these are probably two of my favourite self portraits I've done in a while, and yes, I was the only white person sniggering away there...
I look fierce!
The detailing on the costumes and accessories was amazing.
I have also managed to squeeze in two of my beloved Pilates classes this week,which was an achievement in itself as they were a bit of a hike to get to, the one I did today was worth it and I will be going back there next week for sure. The terminology is all different and the classes are much faster with little prep, but I have missed them terribly so will just have to get used to it! I'm also going to try and get a few swims in this week - unfortunately the pool is right next door to the restaurant where they serve dinner and breakfast and this is putting me off...
Next: Out for drinks tonight with Lena, the lady I met during my pilates/yoga face off with Tony in Stanley last week. Tomorrow, catching up with Billy for Dim Sum, who is here with work for a few days from Sydney.
Misc: Amusing public signs...
In a ladies loo.
And my personal favourite, a sign outside of Tony's apartment block.
Hello Adriana
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