How to Train Your Dragons

Well the rumour going around is that teachers here in Hong Kong will be getting a raise. Apparently they give civil servants a cost of living increase combined with some sort of private sector calculation - if the private sector shows an increase the public sector is given one as well to keep parity. Seems like a nice system but I won't count the Dragons until they hatch.

Chinese New Year is probably the biggest holiday here and some stores actually shut down. Not the bigger stores mind you. Apparently, the rents are so high that they can't close for more than a day or two.

The people were everywhere. Hong Kong is a busy place - with a population of 7 million and an area that only takes about 2.5 hours to drive from one end to the other there are not a lot of instances where you can look 360 without seeing a person. Chinese New Years seems to double the population? See the following picture.

Granted this is in the heart of the city near Victoria Park. Ahead is the park where there is a flower market and toys and balloons for the kids. The fair area had about 3 times the number of people packed together. So my advice - stay home. The mainland Chinese visit Hong Kong on holidays which accounts for the numbers.

To be fair this area was about three minutes walk away and was not crowded. One fellow brought his remote powered toy boat and was racing it around to the delight of the kids - and me - a big kid.

There really is nature here in Hong Kong - it reminds me of a very very crowded Vancouver. Vancouver is a ghost town in comparison.

This is the park near my house and these tangerine trees are everywhere. You can buy them for your house but I didn't this year. Next year I will - they come in all sorts of sizes and they're only about $25-$30. And yes you can eat them.

Over the holiday - which is 10 days - I went to Macau. Macau is the gambling capitol of the world. They take in more money that Las Vegas. It's not as big or as grand to look at but the money going through here is incredible. I saw guys at the cash counters putting stacks of cash while their employee was holding the bag as the placed tens of thousands of dollars into the bag. Slot machines that would be over $1,000US per spin.

I spent 5 hours playing the slots and lost about $20 - so I can live with that.

The Sands hotel and casino. I didn't care for this place too much. Not as friendly to someone on my tax bracket.

The MGM was brighter and nicer inside and the food in their restaurants was reasonably priced and quite good.


Inside the MGM casino for the Year of the Dragon.

Below the dragon is a garden maze for people to walk through. I naturally thought of Jack Nicholson carrying an axe.