Another early start, our transfer bus was late and worse it detoured via
katong!
(no-one was at the hotel,so we left whoever it was behind :-)
The airport was incredibly crowded, even though we internet checked
there was a long long queue! guard sent us to alternative spot. Security
check was sloooow since the were checking 3 gates at once, and 1 xray
guy who was very vigilant and slowwww. Flight crowded but abi ok.
Went to Katong 5-star for the "best" hainanese chicken rice, then to Sim
Lim Square to look for camera case. Nice desserts in food hall eg: blue
jelly ice, jelly and fruit
Haze getting thicker, can hardly see to the other side of the river.
Packed bags furiously. Abi amused herself with toys.
After dinner, discovered a loud and not very nice sounding band playing
in the open air at Chijmes opposite our window. Priscilla phoned the
night manager while Abi conveniently cried in the background. Night
manager offered to get us to another quieter room, said others had
complained and that they had already requested a reduction in volume.
Amazingly Abi went to sleep after having a drink of water. Luckily for
us the 'band' stopped at 11pm
Abi slept at 4pm as soon as she was put into the stroller, then woke at
7pm & we went to Raffles city food junction (again!). PP mini-pot 100%
MSG and she couldn't eat it either (horrible). CW had simpler stuff
which Abi could eat
Chris & Abi swim while PP slept, then PP & Abi swam while Chris slept.
12yo girl is from Perth, Serena, and Abi let her hold her in the water.
Dinner with Di Buck Leung, Sun & family at the Singapore Swimming Club
Riot at the playroom with kids while chris watched Singaporean Chinese
soapy.
Quick dinner at the Kopitiam where we rushed it due to the Night Safari
tour pickup time at 6pm.
Waited till 6:30pm for the bus, this was a royal pain since they seemed
to have a lot of traffic. Once on the bus, we drove to the tour
companies HQ where people got on/off for their various tours and waited…
and waited… and waited.
Finally we left around 7pm, and got to the Safari around 7:30pm. Guide
pretty chatty but a bit inane. Tried to show us Malaysia, but due to the
haze, couldn't see a thing.
Night safari started with a tram ride, which took us through the various
fauna eg: lion, etc etc Abi whispered while other tourists proceeded to
tear through at full volume. The animals must be used to the loud
noise from the shows anyway. Abi made friends with a girl about 12
years old who was there with her grandparents.
Cousin Daniel phoned – he is taking the morning off and wants to meet
for lunch. He is some high achiever dude – where does he get the energy
from ? Walked to Suntec City and the underground eating area under the
Fountain of Wealth / traffic roundabout. Abi asleep for some of the
meal, woke and ate some rice and noodle and grabbed a pork rib. Then
had to be walked around cos she was bored in the restaurant – maybe we
should have sat out in the mall with a view to the Fountain. At 1pm the
fountain's external water jets are turned off to allow tourists (mainly)
to walk around the central fountain 3 times with their hands in the
water. An enterprising set up comprising photographer with wireless
transmitter taking shots of everyone going around the fountain, in the
hope of selling photos.
Visited the Koi Garden (set next to the walkway from one carpark), then
got into Daniel's car (leather baby seat and air conditioning). He has
taken the rest of the day off to drive us to the grave / ashes
repository at Mandai. A long drive, and so comfortable as Chris and
Daniel chat Abi and Priscilla nap.
Pay respects to ancestors, then Abi woke up and we went to show her.
Peaceful place except for the bizarre funeral music a bit like New
Orleans jazz band but out of tune.
Daniel drives to Katong area and dinner at Uncle Moo's house. Abi very
hungry and ate a lot of biscuits. Stop by Daniel's apartment (Hume
Villa) to pick up a few nappies. Visit next door mainly to pick up
money from Papa's account operated by Sun. Her eldest daughter Germaine
is 14 years old!!! Feel like time has flown (4 years since we saw them
at our wedding). Abi curious about their white poodle that ran up and
licked her face. Chris tried to buy some Ventolin cos the air pollution
was triggering his asthma. Need a prescription for the puffer. Abi
visited a neighbour with 2 japanese chickens, then walked to the end of
the street to meet Chris and Uncle Moo after their walk to the
pharmacy. Auntie Pat has expired packets of Ventolin – no thanks!
Dinner with Cheryl, Denis and baby Dylan. Chicken rice and white
chicken, steamed fish, chilli crab, vege in oyster sauce. Abi too
excited / tired to eat, just wanted to drink cold milo and water – no
air conditioning here. Ate 1 piece of rockmelon. While playing with
Eugene she tripped and fell onto the tiled floor – another little egg on
her forehead! Iced it for a while then Abi forgot her pain. Took photos.
Driven home by Cheryl and Denis, Dylan asleep in his mother's arms (no
mandatory baby capsule here). Went via Deepavali celebratory
decorations in Little India area. Chris and Denis take photos while at
a red light, with cameras through the sunroof.
Walked around the swimming pool and function areas of the hotel with Abi
exploring.
Went to basement level of Raffles City for lunch at Subway (!) Abi
admired the 3 water features in the 3 atria.
Walked to Suntec City via Citilink underground shops to catch the SIA
hop on bus. Lots to see, Abi walked every now and then, lots of stairs
and escalators and changes of level which was annoying. Abi finally
asleep when we reached Suntec City Tower 2 shopping area with the kiddie
and maternity shopping zone and she had played a bit.
Went into some shops – clothes are definitely more expensive here in
Singapore than in HK. Chris bought a pair of Crocs after only a short
think. Abi tried on a pair but too big.
Finally made it to the SIA bus stop in the humid external atmosphere.
Driver didn't check our coupons and identification cos we probably
looked very touristy with the child and bags. Long bus ride around the
loop, abi started getting very restless and wanted to get off the bus
when she saw that other people were doing that. Distracted her for a
while with stickers.
Forced to change buses at Botanical Gardens – change of shift. Chris
grumpy. Abi explored the ramps and gardens.
Home to Carlton hotel for a quick wash, dinner for Abi at Raffles City
food court, then called Uncle Moo to co-ordinate being picked up to go
to dinner with them. Abi walked around foyer and stairs whilst waiting.
To La Pasat for famous satay dinner. Touts everywhere from the 14 satay
stalls. Eugene arrived separately from work in NW of city. Waterfront
area will be developed for casino and resort in the next few years.
Hope that this won't change the grungy atmosphere of satay street. Abi
didn't want to sit and eat, too much waiting already. Walked through
the eating hall to see the other foods on sale. Bought some rockmelon
but she only wanted to play with ice cubes from the drinks.
The only vegetables was roja, raw cucmber, pineapple, mango, fried
doughnut all smearedin peanut and soy sauce. Satays were chicken, beef,
mutton and tripe(!). Eugene drank pigs organ soup as a starter and had
pulled tea.
To save a seat at some satay markets you have to buy tissues from the
touts (no serviettes distributed), one place you use a packet of tissues
to reserve your table.
Home via mid-autumn lights of Chinatown.
Gave her the extra bags of clothes. We didn't have any problems with
the luggage allowance. Went straight to the boarding gate, didn't have
time to have morning tea with Auntie Pauline as planned.
Abi settled in to the flight and didn't struggle much on take off.
Distracted by in flight magazine. Luckily there was a spare seat across
the aisle so we got that too. Abi fell asleep in Priscilla's arms and
Priscilla ate her lunch while watching a movie (The Devil wears Prada)
until near to the end when Abi awoke and started to eat the chicken
rice. She preferred the baby meal dessert however which was vanilla
crème caramel. No to the chocolate icecream.
<>
Landed in Singapore and had a nappy change. Found the SIA counter for
the transfer mini-bus. Lazy driver wouldn't help Chris put our bags
onto the bus even though he helped others on our bus. Abi excited at
the window seat, waving to people in other cars / backs of trucks as we
drove to the city. Carlton hotel very nice, got a double width room
(1001). Pollution on the skyline is very hazy – due to Indonesian slash
and burn operations.
Chris' relatives (Uncle Moo, Auntie Pat and Cousin Eugene) came at 5pm
to our room, chatted and played with Abi. She had already started play doh.
Dinner at food court of nearby Raffles City. Food is cheap here, S$4 a
dish average. Abi enjoyed being the centre of attention from the oldies
who kept commenting that she resembled Carisse, Daniel's youngest daughter.
Back to our room and Abi fell asleep only after babbling a long time and
finally when Chris turned off all the dim lighting and closed the heavy
drapes.
Afternoon tea with Goo Ma at their place in Waterloo Road. Abi a bit
manic on their sofas and around their knick knacks, wanted to explore
the bedroom wing.
Persuaded to stay for a "quick" dinner before heading home – walked
halfway to Mongkok to a Shanghai Restaurant with booths, Abi very manic
and tired, wanted to keep walking outside and to upstairs restaurant.
Didn't finish the set meal cos it was too difficult to keep her
entertained/quiet. Taxi back to pick up our stuff from their apartment,
then taxi to Mongkok MTR. Abi asleep as soon as we started walking down
the first flight of MTR stairs.
Packed bags until 130am, too tired to stuff all our stuff into the bags,
but did it anyway. Scales borrowed from Auntie Cecilia show different
weights in different rooms, but we are over the limit of 50kgs. Set
aside some winter clothes for Auntie Pauline to take to Sydney for us.
Shopping at Tai Koo Shing while Chris went to Wanchai computer centre
for his new Clie. Abi ate rice noodle and shredded chicken then fell
asleep once we met up with Chris.
Night time walk to Causeway Bay and back
Fire Dragon and Lion Dance at Chinese Club and surrounding back
streets. Abi in backpack. Unusual atmosphere, lots of tourists and
locals with kids peering for a glimpse of the Dragon and Lion. Buses
still running past the parade
Auntie Pauline helpfully suggested a Chinese medical man across the road
for Chris' ankle in case it was going to turn rheumatic later, but he
manfully declined in favour of strapping and more salon sip. Then
Auntie Pauline suggested lunch at Island Shangri-La hotel in Central
which has chocolate fountain dessert bar! Did we need to think about
it? Quickly on to the top of a no.23 double decker bus, then up some
escalators to a very elegant and expensive looking lobby. The Café Too
was beautifully designed with delicious looking
bottles/dishes/glasses/food and strong colours everywhere. The dessert
bar was right in the middle with 3 chocolate fountains. Crockery had
round and triangular shapes, shot glasses of salad oils in 5 colours,
tilted shot glasses of rich desserts hand blown glasses for water.
Staff rather paranoid as they hovered and tightened Abi's high chair
straps and cleared dishes and provided tissues for messy eating (hers).
Table setting had chopsticks as well as cutlery.
Abi was excited as we toured the many cooking areas with chefs making
dim sims, tagines of indian food, pasta, pizza, mein, sashimi, salads,
Vietnamese rolls, crepes etc etc. She actually ate some of the linguini
that we ordered for her – white sauce, ham, mushrooms, zucchini, and
some salmon ravioli all hand made of course. Sensational, not to be
wasted so mum finished it off.
Dessert bar was lovely to view. Lots of cakes, strudel, shot glasses of
chestnut and truffle, fruit salad everywhere. Abi liked the look of the
ice cream bowls (blue rimmed handmade glass) and relished the vanilla
icecream that she was given. Then Auntie Pauline took her for walks and
they returned with gummi bears, pizza, pasta, and more ice cream. Then
the final walk was for dipping fruit balls and marshmallows into the
fountains via skewers. Abi lovingly licked the chocolate from each
skewer: milk chocolate, white chocolate, strawberry chocolate. Too
tired to have her babycino.
Went for a walk to HK Park, fell asleep within half an hour of leaving
the buffet. Nice breeze as the women walked sleeping child and chatted,
Chris rested his ankle seated on a bench. Good atmosphere for a snooze
if not for the mozzies. Wedding couples/ groups posing for photos.
Chris walked under the umbrella water fountain feature on an impulse
comment from Priscilla. Set precedent for others wanting to go off the
paved path, and an example for schoolboys watching.
Bus back to home was caught in a massive traffic jam from Wan Chai to
Causeway Bay. Abi and Priscilla sat in the back seat which was noisy
but not arctic.
Simple dinner at home for Abi only – adults were stuffed from lunch and
Abi only seemed moderately hungry around 6pm. Bed without too much fuss
– wanted the stuffed toys to watch her having a bath.
Chris went foraging – mindful of bus routes home from Kowloon side if
his ankle started to hurt.
Walked down the steep steps of Aroma Walk to North Point MTR, Abi did a
lot of walking so progress was slow. Trees and rocks and water trickles
were nice, apartments nearby are quite old and face onto the MTR stack
as well as the vegetated hillside. Chris tripped and twisted his ankle
trying to take photos of Abi. She joined her mother in expressing
sympathy.
Hobbled along to MTR via lots more steps then went to Mongkok. Chris
valiantly gave up going to Sham Shui Po computers cos Priscilla couldn't
have managed Abi and stroller simultaneously with no lift to the surface
at Mongkok MTR. Lunch at Café de Coral – Abi loved the white sauce
baked chicken rice dish. Everyone is buying and selling mooncakes.
After lunch Chris did computer shopping, Priscilla and Abi went shoe
shopping. Abi was interested in the shoes and sandals in a lot of the
shops on the sportswear street, then Priscilla decided against going in
to any more and gave Abi a chance to fall asleep. Bought a pair of
jogger sandals at Columbia while child was sleeping. Walked through
ladies market looking for the hand generator torches – 2 stalls had them
but one with only 2 LEDs as opposed to 8. $HK20 each without heavy
bargaining. Went to nearby playground after Abi awoke and she played
for a while on the equipment (nice rubber surface). Disgusting public
toilets with mostly squat cubicles and cisterns that eventually flushed
but mainly onto the floor.
Bought a cool drink $HK6 from a busy stall frequented by schoolkids.
Gee they talk fast and Priscilla was very very rusty with her Cantonese
– managed to buy what we wanted although the apple juice was just
cordial (Abi insisted on holding the cup and inevitably spilt it all
over herself). Bought strap guards from a car accessories shop that
Chris spotted nearby. Also wet umbrella holders for the car (Japanese
of course).
Ate leftovers for dinner – need to clear the fridge cos we will be
leaving HK soon. Unexplainedly Priscilla bought ice cream during her
evening forage walk. Also bought Fresnel lens for maps and strapping
bandage for Chris' ankle. It was iced then Salon sipped only when we
got home after a day of walking can carrying child. Didn't find a
medium sized elastic ankle strap – all small or large – but did find
self adhesive strapping material and copper impregnated elastic strap.
Had to cancel tomorrow's trip to Big Buddha (Po Lin monastery) due to
injury and thus afternoon tea with Auntie Pauline in Tung Chung.
Abi a bit bored so when Betty came to pick up the bowls from the sago
pudding Abi was keen to go off with her in the elevator. Spent some
time with Auntie Cecilia in Geoffrey's play room. Fell asleep after
Chris picked her up and walked a short distance towards St Paul's
Hospital to meet Priscilla
Nothing wrong with PP - after waiting over an hour for her scheduled
appointment – lunch at Fairwood opposite hospital. Small portions and
quality definitely not up to par with Café or MX. Positioned probably
mainly for nearby by school kids. Lotus leaf wrapped rice for PP was
dry and salty with undefined meats nothing like the photo. Abi liked
Chris' regular chicken and boiled rice, was kept amused by the window
view over the traffic intersection with lots of double decker buses and
trucks and cars turning past the shop.
Went to Tai Koo Shing City Plaza cos Causeway Bay was confusing and
crowded. Access via MTR much easier than via tram. Bought some toddler
clothes – Abi wanted to walk around the kiddie stores barefoot and play
with all the toys. Chris went to buy underwear.
Dinner at Café cos Abi said "sik sik" when we walked past the shop
around 530pm. They have a tea set menu with smaller portions just right
for us.
Abi excited to hear Owen's voice on the phone
visit to Tai Koo & Kornhill plaza/ Cityplaza. Spent most of the time
lookinf for food (afternoon tea) Food court is really nicely fitted out
with dark timber furniture and light panels for tables and lighting.
Abi loved the chicken pho which was a family shared dish. Priscilla
forgot to bring nappes!! Rushed to Tin Hau to buy more, then home to
change, then straight out to nearby restaurant.
Dinner at Hong Kong Old Restaurant (Newton Hotel) with A/Cecilia &
U/Kwong cos it's a public holiday and Betty has her day off. Abi well
behaved at the table with the help of stickers and a small sketch book
before the food arrived, then ate some plain buns at the sides of the
roast duck dish, then tried the roast duck. Lovely food finished with
chicken wontons in chicken soup which Abi drank with gusto. Took
leftovers home. Walked home with our hosts. Abi very well behaved
during her exploratory walk up the stairs with Uncle Kwong and made her
parents proud.
DB lunch (brunch buffet)
Kids playing especially with Tim & Alicia. Coin rolling. Wolf. Jeffry
accident.
MTR home. Big nap.
Victoria park and lantern/mid autumn displays. Abi walked excitedly
towards and around the main display with birds and dragons. Fascinated
by the shadows from the spotlights above us. Wanted to go to the fabric
cones with smoke and music but the change of music from gentle arcadian
lullaby to drums mad her scared.
Fireworks (not) viewed from Central library upper forecourt. Better
fireworks in Sydney.
Uncle Kwong invited us up to give us 2 bowls of sago pudding left over
from the meeting dinner yesterday. Shared photos with Chris, made him
jealous of the quality of his shots. They didn't get a good view of the
fireworks from their balcony either!
Kathy moon cake – bing pei refrigerated type with modern fillings eg.
tiramisu, mango, chestnut
Wanchai computer centre? Smoke? reaction from bun. Clothes shopping.
Dinner at Café de Coral, with Banana Split. P walked home wanted to show
Abi Victoria park displays but she fell asleep at causeway bay.
Chris night out at computer place 298 Hennessey
PP doctor, chris & abi at library
Justco
lunch at Pho Saigon, gauntlet of spruikers
Mongkok shopping, ladies market
Kathy dinner (not). Dinner at Macau restaurant Fishermans walk
Symphony lights at TST
home via wrong exit
Yes Abi still eats Petit Miam yoghurt – Priscilla found out at midnight when her highness started crying for food. Seems like Abi doesn’t like food that is oversweetened – maybe that’s why she doesn’t like the bread from Maxim’s or Saint Honore (but is ok with the western style bread from the supermarket – “garden” brand)
Today is museum day. Wednesday is the day when museums are free, so naturally chris wants to visit the most expensive ones first – the science, then history, then space museums in Kowloon side. A late start (they don’t open till 1pm), so lunch is in Kowloon park where Abi goes hyper looking at the fountains. Chris lies down on a bench gazing at the bamboo fronds above when a wizened guard tells him in Cantonese to get up (“jo sarn”). Despite Chris’ protest that he wasn’t asleep the guard insists he sits up, so he does. That’s when he notices that all the other sleepyheads are nodding off sitting up.
Sadly they have drained the fish/turtle pond for some displays for the mid-autumn festival, so abi doesn’t get a chance to try catch fish. She’s a bit tired (that’s why she’s manic) so naps in the stroller till we reach the science museum. Since this place is interactive, we visit the history museum, and in particular, the “Story of Hong Kong” exhibit instead. We see the geologic history display (lots of granite) and the prehistoric (paleolithic) display when hordes of screaming noisy %(&^*&amp;%&(Y students pour in. So much for the signs saying no eating, no smoking, no noise.
Abi wakes up (due to the noise and running students) in the geography section (display of trees and animals of HK), and admires the black bear, the snake, the tiger (!) etc. We then visit the “ethnic” display – the Hoklo, Tanka, Puntei and Hakka. They have a full size clan hall and a full size Hakka house inside. The Cheung Chau “Bun Festival” display is amazing, with 3 x 2 storied high towers covered in buns.
Finally we see the opium war/colonial period, Japanese occupation and then rush through the modern/handover period displays.
No time to see the Science museum, as we are tired and sore, so quick (!) trip home and Chris forages for dinner for his family via the local “Wellcome” supermarket.
Trip to one of the outlying islands today cos it’s a lovely sunny day. MTR to HK station – a long walk via travelators from Central MTR. Good thing Chris had Abi in the backpack cos it allowed us to walk quite quickly through the ends of the morning work crowds. No signs for the ferry pier (no.4) until the final escalator at the IFC Mall. Chris is good at navigation thank heavens. Rushed to make the 10am catamaran to Lamma Island. Lots of ferries docked but they didn’t stay to pick us up. Our ferry actually loaded lots of groceries as well as 3 dogs out for a walk with their owners. Abi was sauntering up and down the waiting area along the tactile indicators.
Quite a bouncy sea as we sailed around the NW tip of HK island past Kennedy Town. The haze was getting thicker as we ploughed through the shipping traffic. Islands are lovely and green, some rocky bits, some squatter huts. Abi jumped around the catamaran and gave her parents palpitations as her head approached metal bits. Sok Kwu Wan is a small village with lots of fish farms along the approach to the jetty, and a cement works on the opposite shore. Small dinghies and fishing boats are their main form of transport between towns (no cars, just tractor-trucks that share the narrow paths with pedestrians at breakneck speed). Main street was quite deserted as we walked through the line of open air seafood restaurants with their glass tanks and the supermarket shops. Slathered sunscreen on everyone cos it is really hot now. Abi didn’t mind being in the pack once Chris started walking. Soon she was asleep!! Started at a Tin Hau Temple that had a massive concrete plaza in front – yukky and hot. But then we came across lots of nice shady parts on the walk around the bay. It got steeper as we headed up the hillside: concrete paths hard on the feet. Arriving at a pavilion overlooking Sok Kwu Wan we had a lovely view to HK (tried to crop out the cement plant) and enjoyed the sea breeze with 6 women chatting away. The usual comments about cute Abi in the backpack. She woke and managed to enjoy the vista before we headed up and up the hillside. Biscuits – the start of a day of snacking. Good thing we bought some towels in anticipation of swimming, cos they covered Abi’s exposed legs nicely until she decided she needed some snuggling cloths. Had to use my trusty umbrella instead to shade her delicate skin. Chris keeps on ploughing ahead the baby backpack must be very hot to wear.
Took the next detour to a pavilion overlooking Hung Shing Yeh Beach – lovely except for the enormous power station across the bay. About a dozen container ships in the sea. Beach below is quite shallow due to the granite rock substrata, but appears clean. Haze is so thick that we can just make out Cheung Chau Island towards the horizon and the outline of Lantau Island beyond that barely registered. Vegetation is dense some acacia plants. The power company sponsored the pavilion that we stopped at! Great view hey. Abi seemed hungry so we stopped for her lunch but she only dabbled at the cheese spread and kept eating animal crackers only.
The walk around this bay was hot, had no vegetation shelter at all and was on the west side of the mountain – only mad tourists walked here under the midday sun. An enterprising local had set up a cold drinks stall under 2 umbrellas at the end of this stretch. The path continued to wind around and down and up and down. Some rocks had been painted in tiger stripes – to warn that they were dangerous? The path had no real shelter until we approached a village before the destination town of Yung Shue Wan. The main road/path passed very close to the houses/villas, market garden land, and banana plantations. Every now and then there would be a cold drinks vending machine – going rate $HK6 for a can / tetra pack and with sheltered seats and tables nearby. Imagine the weekend crowds filling these areas. I’m so glad Chris is carrying Abi cos my hip muscles are aching from pushing myself up the hills.
Finally, the strings of shops joined up and we had reached Yung Shue Wan. Crazy tractor truck drivers and cyclists would just zoom past without bells or any notification as we walked along the narrow path. Some locals were covered up against the sun, tourists sometimes had umbrellas. Suddenly very hungry. Resisted the urge for an ice cream cos Chris is terrified of food poisoning. Stopped by a café with western style food as opposed to the obligatory seafood (less food poisoning risk?). Spruiker quickly switched to English for us and we decided the prices were reasonable). Sat out the back facing the bay and ferry jetty. Quite pretty with villas stretching up the hillside in a typical Mediterranean style. Lots of curved metal framed awning structures on top of the villa terraces. Then there would be a squatter shack amongst the thick banana trees and vines.
There was a 1 metre wide sandy beach in front of the sea wall under the café eating areas. Some guy was net fishing on the beachlet guided by his friend on the sea wall. We wondered about next door’s café which was crowded and ours which had just us. Never mind, at least the service was quick. Abi tried the rice vermicelli noodles from Priscilla’s beef satay soup and also the mediocre chips from Chris’ fish and chips. We all enjoyed the ice cold drinks as we watched little fishing boats and the locals dashing about with flags waving all along the distant jetty.
Walked to the ferry jetty with a stopover at a rest park so Abi could walk a bit after sitting all day. She wanted to climb on the timber seating, then was transfixed by the lapping water on the stony beach below. Managed to steer her past the line of seafood restaurants with huge covered outdoor eating areas. Scampi were huge prawn things, lots of large colourful fish and crabs and lobsters and stonefish. Saw pans of salted fish tied to the side of the balustrade drying in the sun. Lots of bicycles chained up along the jetty – commuters to Hong Kong probably. One baby stroller, one bike with rattan child seat at front!
The air-conditioned ferry to Aberdeen has quite a lot of people on it compared with the morning ferry from Central. Abi was temporarily calmed by the Spider book but otherwise wanted to be everywhere on the ferry at once. Picked up some westerners at the tip of Lamma Island (Pak Kok San Tsuen?) including a topless man with man-boobs bigger than some women’s. Luckily he put on a shirt once he was on board. Uggh! Tickets are sold on board instead of the octopus system for this remote stop. Abi managed to elicit a smile from the gruff ferry man, and then she beamed back at him as he sold ferry tickets.
On approach from the sea, Aberdeen has a line of high rise like the rest of HK. The harbour was crowded with old style timber fishing boats and manufacturing boats etc. Some crazy people were trying to fish in a dingy amongst the traffic. Couldn’t see the Jumbo Restaurants cos they were in the next harbour (the shuttle boats were in this harbour). Disembarked and walked to the bus terminal for the no.38 back to Fortress Hill. Quite a fast trip through the Aberdeen tunnel back to familiar HK and Causeway Bay. Abi wriggled throughout on the front top seat while eating biscuits in contravention of the no eating rule.
Bought some buns before staggering up to the apartment – my feet hurt! Abi doesn’t like sweetened bread. We hit the house and she immediately launched into play doh stamping and megabloks. Where does her energy come from? Only ate some ya pear and biscuits for afternoon tea. Tried dinner at Maxims – usual mess of rice etc. She didn’t like Priscilla’s very salty chicken wings but enjoyed the fungus soup as part of the meal set.
Walked home via the Seven Seas shopping arcade – finally seeing the inside after walking past the car park at the front for so many times! Interesting small boutiques – hmmm!
Chris isn’t too tired after carrying Abi all day plus the supplies backpack for part of the day. He is off to the library after dinner to get a copy of some map for more hikes. Oh boy. Also bought some Petit Miam baby yoghurt and fromage frais imported from Oz. $HK30 for 4 petit miam vs $HK10 for 2 local sugar sweetened plain yoghurts. Hope Abi eats these.
