Shanghai

Last weekend, I went to Shanghai to visit my friend S. She was in town for a job interview that I helped her get through my former company. It was an interesting twist of fate. Shanghai is very similar to Hong Kong but much larger. It has a strong western influence with some amazing European architecture. Much of the city, especially the main tourist areas, was under renovation in preparation for the upcoming Expo which is supposed to be similar to a world's fair. I definitely want to go back to Shanghai for a longer stay. It was a really fun weekend, and I had a great time with S. Shanghai is known for its xiao long bao, a dumpling filled with pork and soup. Normally, they are golf ball sized, but these were soft ball sized and came with a large straw to drink the soup. Fun!

2 Hikes

We had two nice hikes recently. The first was with Erik's colleagues from Shenzhen, and we hiked the popular Dragon's Back trail which I've blogged about before. The second hike was in celebration of my friend A's birthday, on Lantau island.
On Lantau island, there are wild water buffalo. This one charged at the men ahead of us on the trail. A small shop on the island:

After hike drinks!

Happy 2010

If writing this blog were my job, I'd be fired by now. Oh yeah, I already have two jobs! The end is very near, just another few weeks.

For New Year's weekend, Erik and I went to Beijing. We got stuck in a huge snowstorm, the worst in Beijing in 60 years. As a result, our flight was canceled which was a bit of a pain, but the beauty of seeing the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square covered in snow was worth it.

We love Beijing. Hong Kong is very superficial and glamorous. The endless wealth and shopping get old after awhile. Beijing definitely has more history, grit, and creativity. We went to the 798 art area which is a former Soviet weapons factory/compound that has been turned into art galleries and small shops. The architecture was ultra cool.

We visited the Heavenly Palace and the Yong He Gong temple which houses a huge Buddha carved from a single tree of sandalwood.

One evening, we had dinner with Erik's colleague in cool restaurant. Of course, we had to have Peking duck and went to a different place than last time but equally famous. It was probably the best Chinese meal I've ever had. There was no shortage of great meals, including a wonderful western dinner at a restaurant over looking the Forbidden City.

We hadn't planned to go to the Forbidden City again, but we had to go when we saw the snow.

There is still a long list of things we want to see in Beijing, so I know we'll be back.

Here is the link to Erik's wonderful photo show:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eschrei/sets/72157623180655318/show/

New Year's Eve:
Me and Erik's colleague:
Dinner at The Courtyard. The snowy "ground" just outside the window is the frozen moat surrounding the Forbidden City.
Looking out the hotel window on Sunday morning. It continued to snow for about 15 hours.These hats were very popular:
Forbidden City:
Tienanmen Square:A building at the Heavenly Palace:Steam coming from the subway. It was close to zero F for most of our trip.

Street:
The airport a few hours before we took off on Monday. Those planes were boarding--not much snow removal.

Christmas 2009

Christmas this year was very relaxed which was wonderful. I surely needed the downtime from the business of working two jobs. It was also nice not to rush off to a vacation like we did last year. We are going on a short trip to Beijing over New Year's weekend

For Christmas Eve, Erik and I went to an Irish pub and had a fabulous turkey dinner. Most of the restaurants in Hong Kong have special menus for Christmas which are very expensive and extravagant. It is similar to New Year's Eve in the US. We wanted something casual and enjoyed the pub. Christmas Eve night was super busy and was definitely a party night. We had a good time.

On Christmas day, we had brunch with Ruth and our other German friend Monika. All of us were feeling the effects of a raucous Christmas Eve, and we enjoyed a yummy brunch, went home and took naps, and then met up later in the evening. The small ball we are holding was a puzzle in the Christmas cracker. I was the first one to successfully assemble it. It was a running joke all day.

The weather was very warm as evidenced by our short sleeved shirts and enjoying the outside bar Christmas evening.

Here are some Hong Kong style Christmas decorations. I really don't understand this pink and purple fairies display, but people seemed to love it. They waited in line to have their picture taken next to it.

More tasteful decorations at the 1881 Heritage Building and the Peninsula Hotel.

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends!

East Asian Games

Hong Kong hosted the East Asian Games in early December. For the week of the games, there was a boat parade each night in the harbour—beautiful. For the finale of the games, there was a spectacular fireworks display. We only found out about the fireworks show twelve hours in advance. We invited friends to join us for the show, and a few were able to make it. It was an enjoyable, impromptu gathering.

Ruth: A Good Friend

Our good friend Ruth, who works with Erik and lives in the apartment block next to ours, is leaving Hong Kong soon to return to Germany. We are spending lots of time with her before she leaves. Ruth has been trying to squeeze in all the things she never did in HK, as well as, redoing her favorite things. We are happy to tag along, such as to dinner at Hutong where Erik and I went for his birthday.

Bling Bling Varoom

As I've mentioned before, glitter, glitz, and everything sparkly and bedecked is super popular in Hong Kong. This Swarovski crystal covered Mercedes convertible is completely outrageous and beautiful. It is in the mall by our apartment, and I think it is being raffled off, although I cannot read the Chinese sign.