Kung hei fat choi = A prosperous new year to you!
On New Years Day our (very large) building – part of the Conrad Hotel next door – arranged to have two lions and a drum troupe come and perform the “green-plucking” ceremony to see in the New Year. You can see one of the pics at the top of this blog. So our lobby was full of people, cameras at the ready. Lots of traditions to be performed to ensure good luck in the coming year. The origins seem to be a bit obscure and everyone does it slightly differently, but basically the lions do a performance to show all the sides of their nature, gently, playful, masters of the jungle, inquisitive, angry, athletic, climbing etc. Then they are handed a handful of cabbage and other green stuff which they ‘pluck’ and throw up in the air. Small children were covering their ears at this point as the drums and cymbals were so loud. The movement s of the two guys in the lion costume were very well co-ordinated and made you smile when the lion batted it’s eyes at you and then leapt up into the air. Here is a video of their antics:
We managed to get the hang of another tradition at new year, that is the giving of Lei See packets. It is expected to give money to those who work for you or give you service. So we prepared red packets with Chinese messages of luck and prosperity with money for the maids, concierge and front desk people. They seemed pleased to receive it but Chinese tradition says it is us who benefits and not them as it brings us good luck for the year if we give Lai See packets to others. Children are allowed to demand “Lai See” from adults and singles are allowed to ask married couples.
We have only been here for 2 weeks and we have done so much it seems. We have found our long term apartment already in the Mid-Levels, right next to Central so Richard has a very short (10 min) commute to work and I am in the thick of the shops and bustle. Retail heaven.
We enjoyed the Chinese Lunar New Year a few days ago, not least because Richard got 2 days public holiday and a break from his hectic work schedule. We went to an Indian restaurant of all places and watched the fireworks over the harbour. It is a bit like the UK Christmas break here though, shops shut and people spend time with their families - not a big party. But plenty of people taking in the sights and walking the streets. We crossed the Harbour Kowloon on the Star Ferry, put our hands in Jackie Chan's handprints on the Avenue of the Stars and took in the sights and the lights....
Hong Kong is a very cool place. It is indeed as much like a big city as you would expect, but with a great mixing pot of different International influences with so many expats from around the globe as well as many Chinese people of course. But as it is a small island, you are not far from beautiful views over the water and lots of other small islands to explore. 40% of HK Island is in fact designated country parks, full of trees and hikes. It is quite mountainous and green. We are looking forward to getting out in a yacht and hope to join the Hong Kong Yacht Club.
The Chinese people are great, very friendly and hard working and on time. So it is a pleasure to do business with them of any kind. We are here in Winter, with it being jumper weather rather than coat weather. Some days it is very warm in the sun, others its overcast. Typhoon season is a way off yet, which will be an experience. They have a numbered warning system for how dangerous it is and whether you are allowed to go out and if you should expect windows to get blown in! I have been impressed and amazed by the bamboo scaffolding they use here. I was finding it hard to believe how many floors up they were building it and how much weight it was bearing. Steel has to be better right? Wrong! It turns out they still use bamboo as it is STRONGER than steel and much more resistant to the typhoons (same as a hurricane) than steel. Amazing stuff!! Richard pointed out that they tie it together with what looks like bits of grass and we just could not believe it is safe, but a few weeks in and none have fallen down yet......
There is some smog here, but the streets are clean and the city is well run. Transport is cheap and great. Our best bargain – and frequent – are the trams. They run East to West across the North side of the Island and it costs 20 pence for any single trip. I use it all the time now. More fun than a bus and a lot cheaper than taxis. But even taxis around the main areas of HK are only a couple of pounds.
The Chinese people are great, very friendly and hard working and on time. So it is a pleasure to do business with them of any kind. We are here in Winter, with it being jumper weather rather than coat weather. Some days it is very warm in the sun, others its overcast. Typhoon season is a way off yet, which will be an experience. They have a numbered warning system for how dangerous it is and whether you are allowed to go out and if you should expect windows to get blown in! I have been impressed and amazed by the bamboo scaffolding they use here. I was finding it hard to believe how many floors up they were building it and how much weight it was bearing. Steel has to be better right? Wrong! It turns out they still use bamboo as it is STRONGER than steel and much more resistant to the typhoons (same as a hurricane) than steel. Amazing stuff!! Richard pointed out that they tie it together with what looks like bits of grass and we just could not believe it is safe, but a few weeks in and none have fallen down yet......
There is some smog here, but the streets are clean and the city is well run. Transport is cheap and great. Our best bargain – and frequent – are the trams. They run East to West across the North side of the Island and it costs 20 pence for any single trip. I use it all the time now. More fun than a bus and a lot cheaper than taxis. But even taxis around the main areas of HK are only a couple of pounds.
Our temporary apartment on the 27th floor is lovely. Here is the view on one side, looking over the park and up to the Peak. Then Richard in the Park pointing right at his office in the Cheung Kong Centre. Then a view over Kong Kong after our tram ride up to the Peak.
It is the norm here to have a miniature kitchen – and I mean VERY small by UK standards – and to have as big a flat screen TV as you can afford. In fact most people’s TV is actually the same size as their kitchen. We are right in the thick of it with a big shopping mall below it, restaurants and the most expensive gourmet supermarket in the world. Makes Harrods look like Asda on a bad day. The food choice is unbelievable but the price ticket makes your ears bleed every time. How about HK$55 for a SMALL head of broccoli? Thats £5. I was very pleased to discover that the best vodka in the world - Grey Goose - is one of the few things the same price as the UK so I decided to forget the broccoli and the diet and get drunk instead. Marvellous.
Whenever we have time, the best way to see Hong Kong is just to walk around. First we found all the Chinese dried food which is a real delicacy here. SO many weird animals and veg dried and stacked for sale. Abalone, sharks fin, swallows nests, mussels, mushrooms, larks tongues, wolf nipple chips (OK I may have plagiarised the last one but the rest were all there!) I swear we saw a set of dried cows udders or at least it was from a cow-like animal. I have never been to Asia before and it is truly fascinating. After the shop is dried abalone (top left), birds nests (bottom left) and sharks fin (bottom right) and goodness only knows top right (answers on a postcard)...
Whenever we have time, the best way to see Hong Kong is just to walk around. First we found all the Chinese dried food which is a real delicacy here. SO many weird animals and veg dried and stacked for sale. Abalone, sharks fin, swallows nests, mussels, mushrooms, larks tongues, wolf nipple chips (OK I may have plagiarised the last one but the rest were all there!) I swear we saw a set of dried cows udders or at least it was from a cow-like animal. I have never been to Asia before and it is truly fascinating. After the shop is dried abalone (top left), birds nests (bottom left) and sharks fin (bottom right) and goodness only knows top right (answers on a postcard)...
Lizard on a stick anyone? No? Richard was up for it!
We took in the wet markets, where all the fish and shellfish are not just fresh they are all alive in tanks, ready to be whacked to order. The fresh food (vegetables!) looks great.
We took in the wet markets, where all the fish and shellfish are not just fresh they are all alive in tanks, ready to be whacked to order. The fresh food (vegetables!) looks great.
We went into the Man Mo Temple built to worship Man the Taoist God of Literature and passing of exams and Mo, the God of War. Mo was a general from the Tan Dynasty 2000 years ago and is worshipped now as the ‘patron saint’ of many different professions including policemen AND thieves. The temple surrounded by high rises...
Thousands upon thousands of incense sticks are lit in bowls and giant incense coils on the ceiling burn here as in ancient China this is food to the gods and local Chinese filled the place lighting great bunches of incense. Our eyes were stinging it was so thick.
There are fortune tellers here, but we didn’t stay long enough to find one. We walked around dodging fast moving Chinese who were making offerings of incense and fruit and other food to the gods. The temple felt open and welcoming, unlike a church. No one greeted you, it was just clearly a place that is meant to be full of individuals taking a short peaceful, spiritual break from city life. The atmosphere was wonderful, I found it very peaceful and calming despite everyone in it moving around.
So much to see and do - I don’t think it would be possible to be bored here. I hate to say it but we are struggling to really get into the traditional Chinese food. We have not given up trying though - in our travels we both like to get immersed in the culture and not stay too ‘British’. It turns out Japanese food is our favourite and luckily there is plenty here. Sushi, tempura and black cod. Yum! Update – found a dim sum restaurant now, so we are very happy.
We wandered through Hong Kong Park on a lovely sunny day and took in the scenery, koi carp and couples getting married everywhere! Nice to have it on your doorstep in the middle of the city.
We wandered through Hong Kong Park on a lovely sunny day and took in the scenery, koi carp and couples getting married everywhere! Nice to have it on your doorstep in the middle of the city.
On New Years Day our (very large) building – part of the Conrad Hotel next door – arranged to have two lions and a drum troupe come and perform the “green-plucking” ceremony to see in the New Year. You can see one of the pics at the top of this blog. So our lobby was full of people, cameras at the ready. Lots of traditions to be performed to ensure good luck in the coming year. The origins seem to be a bit obscure and everyone does it slightly differently, but basically the lions do a performance to show all the sides of their nature, gently, playful, masters of the jungle, inquisitive, angry, athletic, climbing etc. Then they are handed a handful of cabbage and other green stuff which they ‘pluck’ and throw up in the air. Small children were covering their ears at this point as the drums and cymbals were so loud. The movement s of the two guys in the lion costume were very well co-ordinated and made you smile when the lion batted it’s eyes at you and then leapt up into the air. Here is a video of their antics:
We managed to get the hang of another tradition at new year, that is the giving of Lei See packets. It is expected to give money to those who work for you or give you service. So we prepared red packets with Chinese messages of luck and prosperity with money for the maids, concierge and front desk people. They seemed pleased to receive it but Chinese tradition says it is us who benefits and not them as it brings us good luck for the year if we give Lai See packets to others. Children are allowed to demand “Lai See” from adults and singles are allowed to ask married couples.
We have only been here for 2 weeks and we have done so much it seems. We have found our long term apartment already in the Mid-Levels, right next to Central so Richard has a very short (10 min) commute to work and I am in the thick of the shops and bustle. Retail heaven.
Thanks to fast and expert help from Mary and Annie at Residences and Relocations we are now just waiting for our snowbound possessions to be delivered from the UK to catch us up. The apartment has 15’ high windows and a bath that looks out over the city. Really different to anywhere we have lived before and we are very excited. I have already been out furniture shopping and got some great bargains second hand. It seems household items here are very expensive new but cheap to buy second hand here. The sun is shining today and the sky is blue. A good time to go and explore some more.....
See more photos at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=61436&l=0de4c&id=544472824
Lots of love
Sarah and Richard
See more photos at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=61436&l=0de4c&id=544472824
Lots of love
Sarah and Richard
