The view from our buildings' roof

Our apartment has a rooftop area where we can go to get some sun. There is a patio table and chairs so sometimes we eat lunch up here.
The hard part is the 6 flights we have to climb to get here!
There is a nice view of the tree tops in the park across from us.
Before we move I would like to have a rooftop dinner party up here.

"Life is like a box of chocolates..."

Recently Suds I and played tour guide for a Jazz co-worker of Suds'.

We went up to the Peak where they have just completed a renovation. Now along with a view of Hong Kong you can eat at Forrest's restaurant Bubba Gump.





Not a bad day for Hong Kong. Not crystal clear, but definitely not overly 'hazy'



We also went to Mong Kok market to find a Coach wallet. The market is a long street with kiosks and vendors along both sides selling everything from clothing, towels, knick knacks, belts, sunglasses and bags. A lot of the time items like knock off purses for sale are not at the stall, but the seller has a catalog you can look at. So I ask one guy if he has any Coach. He says yeah but we have to go to his "store" So we walk a couple minutes away into an apartment building. There we catch the elevator to the ninth floor, get off, go to the stair's and walk down a floor to the 8th and into what you would think is an apartment. But inside from floor to ceiling are Dior, Gucci, Balenciaga, and LV purses and bags!!!
Only in Asia!

Half Moon Bay

Last week we checked out Half Moon Bay in Hong Kong.
We headed out to Sai Kung where we hired a sampan boat to take us to the beach and back.

There are lots of fishers at the wharf in Sai Kung. Their display methods are ingenious! They continuously pump in water to a container holding live fish. The containers have holes and the water flows from one container to the next and then back into the sea.


Here is our hired luxury yacht.










Half Moon Bay. It was the cleanest and clearest water we have found yet!! No garbage at all in the water! I will definitely return here many times next summer!

We thought it was going to be a deserted beach but there are lifeguards and changerooms.



It is nearing the end of the season, plus it was a weekday, so the beach was very quiet.






Our sampan returning to pick us up and return us to Sai Kung.
















This dog was on the wharf. He looks grumpy in the picture, but he was SO cute and friendly!! He hung out under the chair to try to get some sun.

This is the weather radar display.
It shows the intensity of precipitation, green is light, yellow is moderate and all the red areas are thunderstorms. This was a particularly stormy day. For a smooth ride, we try to fly our way around these storms. The airplanes route is displayed on the screen, which makes it easy to avoid the storms.




The 747 cockpit on a rare daylight flight.










These are some of the manuals that I have to study from. I do this every two months, at least, for the simulator. Some information is scattered over many different manuals. This is the fun part ; )

Ocean Park

On Thursday we went to Ocean Park here in Hong Kong. It is has a shark aquarium, some rides and dolphins.

The park is seperated into 2 parts. We took a cable car to get from one to the other.



This is a sign in the panda exhibit.


Notice the sentence at the bottom.









There are 2 pandas living at Ocean Park.

They were both sleeping.





Here I am on a log ride, about to start. If you think I look scared in this pic, you should have seen me on the rollercoaster!!



See the seal jumping over the stream of water?







The shark exhibit was amazing!!






















They had an exhibit called the Jelly Spectacular! The exhibit was dark and the tanks lit with different lights so the jellyfish were different colors. It was really neat.

Stained glass window

Here are 2 panes of stained glass art work Suds found in one of the buildings downtown. The plane is of course a Cathay plane. I cannot explain the oversize computer with a religious cross on the screen.

Local Artist

Suds always takes my picture like this in public. I am saying to him that I want to kill him for doing this to me. I am smiling imagining the pain I will inflict on him later.

See the painting in the background?
Yah, Suds is like a 13 year old boy every time he sees boobies. It's embarrassing.
So I have to have MY picture taken with the boobie painting?

Flash floods

Here is a little before and after. We thought the sign was funny, not imagining that with some rain a flash flood could really happen!!

The typhoon has passed. It didn't hit Hong Kong, we just got dumped on with rain. Yesterday afternoon I thought the rain had stopped and ran to the store (about 2 blocks away). Halfway there it started to spit a little and I had no umbrella. I figured I'd be fine...famous last words. When I came out of the store it was PISSING!! Just raining like you wouldn't believe! I waited under cover for a few minutes, but this was no passing shower. I decided to make a run for it. Ducking beneath awnings and taking brief cover in doorways, I ran for the apartment. It was about a 2 1/2 minute journey.
No joke, by the time I got home, I had rivers of water running beneath my clothing. I looked like I had taken a shower in my clothes. Not the most opportune time to be wearing a white t-shirt. I am sure I gave the local shop guys a good show! And possibly the neighbor cause I took my clothes and shoes off in the hallway. Whatever.

Mid-Levels escalator

Here I am the other day heading up the escalator.
You can't really tell, but it is pouring with rain!! The kind were you are instantly soaked. The thing that makes it different here is that it's warm as well, so your clothes dry really fast.
The escalator is great. Everything is built up a hill in this area. In the morning from 7-10:30 it goes down and then till about midnight it goes up. It must go for at least 10 blocks. It saved us from getting too soaked this day and when its hot it saves you a long climb up the stairs and a little extra sweat.
Today it is stormy again with 3 warnings issued already, a Thunderstorm Warning, an Amber Rainstorm warning and a storm standby Signal #1!! I am still waiting for my first real Typhoon.
**UPDATE**
Have now been updated to a Storm warning level 3 and a Red Rain warning! It is pouring outside with lightning and thunder galore! I don't think it is safe for me to go out, so I might have to skip the gym. Shame.

Rice Burgers at McDonald's

It's rice-tastic!!!

I cannot explain this. Why would I want nasty beef slices between smooched rice patties? I do not go to McDonald's for rice!

Lexi in Vogue magazine

Hilary found Lexi in September's Vogue!!

That model is holding a cat identical to Lexi!!!
Maybe I should enroll Lex in some modeling classes and put her to work!

Neither Lex nor I are models. Firstly I have no make-up. Suds the artistic director wanted a blacker eye (like the inspiration photo), so I smeared mascara all over. Then rosy cheeks meant lip gloss gooped on.

Lexi was even worse. She is so wrigley, definitely not the docile cat in Vogue. I don't think she has much of a modeling career in her future. (Which is just as well. As Cathy pointed out Lex would have become too much of a diva!)

Our apartment is famous

I was flipping thru a local magazine the other day, and look what I found!

Our apartment (the picture on the right) is being used in advertisements. Of course the view thru the window is totally photoshopped!

Suds and I are tempted to call the rental agency and demand to see the apartment from the ad and see what they say.

Baby Allen

Congratualtions Suzi and Chris!! They had a little baby girl (no official name yet) born August 26, 2007 at 8:38am. She weighed in at 8lbs 3 oz.

Isn't she so sweet??