Nearing the Close of My Third Year...

Popular ice cream trucks can be found in many areas of Hong Kong.  $1.25 will get you a nice little cone.

 
 Love the eyelashes over the headlights of the Beetle.

 Transformers are still hugely popular - A big Optimus Prime in the shopping mall near me.  They certainly got a lot of mileage out of those toys and the 1/2 hour commercial (err cartoon) every morning when I was a kid.  The truck is a store selling the toys and Soundwave and his 5 tapes were selling for $150 Canadian.  Wow I should have held on to that toy eh?  Eesh.  I still have all the original comic books though in a box someplace.  So I'll have to see if they;re worth a few bucks.

 A nice new cubicle as the teaching staff moves to a new room.  It's nice to have a little bit of space.

 And then the next day...

Discovery Bay is an area of the Island I live near and where many Expats live. 

This is the main beach of Discovery Bay - much larger than my little beach - but also a lot more crowded.

This is the kind of ferry that runs to the various islands

It was such a nice day here the other day.  In the distance under the bridge is downtown Hong Kong.

On the way home July 17th and get a little over a month in Canada to enjoy the nice B.C. summer.  Hope to see you all soon.

Getting Ready for Easter

The school year is now into the final leg with my class teaching duties ending the first half of June.

Here are a few pictures of Chinese New Year and my stay in Makati/Manilla.  No beach shots - Manilla is a city and not a great one.  If you are with a significant other Manilla is NOT the place to vacation.  Still, Manilla is a casino city (or soon will be) with several big casinos opening.  Due the peso and cheap flights from Hong Kong it is a very inexpensive holiday.

Hong Kong is divided in major regions.  Hong Kong Island is the city central region.  These two photos are taken from the ferry from my home (Ma Wan which is near the airport).

The photo below is during my ferry trip (25 minutes).  The number of ships carrying goods continuously is rather amazing.  I can't begin to tell you how tiny Vancouver seems in relation to Hong Kong in terms of pace, buildings, numbers of people etc.

A breather from the above is my little beach again on a really nice day.  Pollution is fairly high from December to April but after a rain it's usually quite nice here.

Chinese New Year brings out the artists - they had one piece for each symbol.  They appear to be carved and painted porcelain.

This is The Moulin Rouge in the Philippines. I didn't go in. This is a seedy part of town which of course makes it one of the most interesting places to visit.  The sign on the door is interesting.  It stated something along the lines of  "no firearms or drugs.  Please leave firearms with the doorman."  then several warnings about being underage.  My friend and I were reading the sign and a guard came out (with a machine gun) and I asked about the sign and nope - it's not a joke.  Fully armed guards on this street at every store including 7-11.  Nothing happens mind you but the Philippines' police force is simply really well armed.  I could see how it might make tourists nervous when you see cops with machine guns.  But I felt safe there. 

A note to the single guys:  The other reason not to go into these bars is that while it is free to go in - if you wish to get back out you will be hit with a tap of $100-$250 US.  Err and if you left your gun at the door - well - err - you're outgunned.

The Mall of Asia is the 11th largest in the world and way too big if you ask me.  I can't imagine the larger malls but it was something to see - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM_Mall_of_Asia

This was one of the restaurants with an unfortunate name.

Inside the Resorts World Casino - this is the restaurant area.

A little taste of the Hong Kong Airport - one of the best in the world.

 Near the computer market in Wanchai, Hong Kong.  Big loud drums going on.

Finally, a rest at my local Starbucks on my way to school in the morning.  Can you spot the one that doesn't quite fit - or perhaps is only fit for the fit.  It's just so wrong.

Some Pictures Around My New Flat

I have added a few more pictures

In the morning and after work I walk through Tsing Yi Park and see the fish and occasionally turtles resting on the rock - you'll have to click on the pick to see the turtles.  It's a small park but a pretty one with lots of birds and photographers with impressive cameras and more impressive lenses.
 

 My students a the annual camp out day and BBQ.
 

 A happy couple - Hello Kitty craze is not dying down.

 On our way to the mixed choral speaking competition and passed by my apartment (center). 

 Heading home on the bus going over the Tsing Ma bridge.  It's the second biggest bridge in the world - if you want to know more about the bridge check it out here http://www.cityu.edu.hk/CIVCAL/book/bridge.html

 

 Riding in the moving van to my new pad.  Google images has lots of great photos https://www.google.com/search?q=tsing+ma+bridge&client=firefox-a&hs=6Qk&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=WFmoUqGLGYTOiAfFuoHoBw&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=596

 The ferry from Ma Wan to Central - 25 minutes to the heart of Hong Kong.

 Tsing Ma Bridge from the other side of the ferry terminal.

 Arriving downtown Central pier.  This is the ICC building (International Commerce Centre) - the other similar looking building is behind me called the 2IFCi (International Finance Centre) - Hong Kong makes so much cash they need two of these monstrosities.  The building here is the 7th largest in the world and 118 floors.  The IFC is not slouch as the 8th largest building in the world.  The guys in Central are always saying how great they are - me thinks they have some building envy - Kowloon is bigger baby.
   

 Another photo heading home over the Tsing Ma bridge.

 My beach on Ma Wan - this is less than a 1 minute walk from my apartment.

I love the sand - no rocks here at all - smooth - another nice photo of the bridge.

Noah's Ark.  No really this is Noah's Ark.  It's a tourist attraction on Ma Wan and sits on the end of the beach.  With all the typhoons in HK - at least I know I can get to the Ark in 1 minute.  Since only two of every animal is allowed - I can only take one of you with me - and sorry guys but it ain't going to be you.  Ladies - you have my number :-)

 Ma Wan from the other side of the island.

Don't have to tell me twice.

 The beach again.

 There are several restaurants right on the beach - the above is a German restaurant which has good food - not cheap for HK but it is good.  I had a German meatball with sauerkraut and a flat potato gratin with salad - it was about $13.  A pint of beer during happy hour is about $5.  That's about half of what it is most places so it;s good for Hong Kong but not if you've lived in Korea.

One of the 4 pools (the picture below is an extension of the above.  I would count that as five but they don't.  It's close for winter but this one looks more like those Greek pools.  This one is not deep - I think it's meant more for relaxing than any sort of swimming.  I believe it 0.9m deep

 One of the many walkways around my apartment complex. 

Walking down the path by the waterfall down to the stairs to the lower level.

On my way to the ferry is the small shopping district.  The P is for Park and Shop (no cars allowed so no parking) but it is a pretty big grocery store chain in Hong Kong and this one is one of the bigger stores.  Near the center by the trees there is a Chinese Restaurant, Pacific Coffee and 7-11.The bus depot and Mannings drug store is under and behind me.

Moved Again

I was growing tired of the old flat and decided to move to Ma Wan - a man made island trying to be, and largely succeeding in being, a 5-star resort.  The island is 15 minutes away from a big MTR train station.  Buses run every 5 minutes during rush hour (which seems to include weekends)  and every 15 minutes outside of those hours - 24/7.  There is a ferry which takes 25 minutes to the heart of Central that runs every half hour to every hour. 

 The walk to my apartment above

My view of the tennis courts - not quite as nice as before but between the two buildings I get a sea view - my HTC camera phone is responsible for all these photos and it's not as good as my main camera as you can see.  Still for a camera phone it's not too bad.

 This is called the Green Green club - and it is one of the two main clubhouses on Park Island (Ma Wan).  Inside is a nice indoor swimming pool with hot tub and sauna.  Their is a large gym, and various activity rooms to be booked.  Volleyball, table tennis, billiards, study rooms, squash etc.  I have not been to the other clubhouses yet but they offer more again - there are four swimming pools and I believe two are indoor.  They run from 9am to 11pm with lifeguards. It costs about $3 Canadian each time or you can buy monthly.  They also have a video movie box rental machine (in English yippee)

A kitchen with a double sink - a three tier fridge and the washing machine is the cabinet next to the fridge.  Three burner stove this time.  It doesn't look it from the photo but it's bigger than my last place by a fair bit. It's all just newer - Ma Wan (Park Island) is about 7 years old - my last place is 23 years old. 

 The landlord left some cabinets so I have since put them in my second room - it's nice to have a second room.  This is much wider than my last place.  This apartment is about 700sqf while my last place was 393sqf

 The second room - you could fit some bunk beds or a single bed in here - that's about it.  I'm such a guy - this is a walk in closet at best right ladies?

The bedroom is quite large for HK and I will be able to get my bed in here and even a TV stand if I put my wardrobe in the second room.  And I will so do that!

 It's a fairly big place but it only takes about 15 minutes to walk around the whole main living area.  There is an escalator for the upper level apartments and kindergarten and primary school.  The island is somewhat tailored to expats.

This recycling hub is right outside the exit to my building - glass, metal, plastic, paper.  Excellent!

A nice stroll and no a billion people like usual.  Many dog owners on Ma Wan

A view of the Tsing Ma Bridge - Bigger than the Golden Gate!  Looks kind of the same too - they love copying - maybe they ran out of red paint.

My lunch - here's a random picture but since it's here I will keep it.  You see in Asia - everyone loves taking pictures of their food.  And then apparently they will look at the food they ate - later.  I think this is the TRICK to staying skinny.  The Chinese have figured out that you eat one meal, take a picture.  Then when you are hungry just look at the picture of the food you ate and "imagine" you are eating it again.  Anyway - at lunch I usually head to the mall to have my lunch at one of three restaurants.  This lunch set runs me $60 HKD ($8 Canadian) including service charge.  The miso soup is rated best in town apparently as it has salmon in it.  It is usually quite good.  Real ginger on the green plate - yum.

 A vending machine for umbrellas.  About $10 each in a subway station. As you can see it is very important to match your umbrella to your outfit.

Move over Hello Kitty there is a new fur-ball in town and this cat has a heart shaped nose.  Just one of those random things you will see pop up in a mall for awhile and wonder what is going on.  I like being out of the loop - I can create my own story line as to what this is about.  HK is a choose your own adventure story.

 I have a full time class this year.  Here is my form 1 class (Grade 8) doing their discipline lessons after school every Monday.  Now if only they could bring that discipline into the classroom - which umm is the intent of the whole thing.  argh.  Still they're a nice class - MOSTLY!!

So we save the desert for last.  For about $1.25 the take a lemon.  Cut out the inside and fill it with lemon sherbert.  They then stick the top back on and freeze the thing to a rock hard levels.  Man I love this thing.  See it's healthy because you're eating a lemon.