Beijing Inside the Wall

Other sights visited in Beijing were Tienamen Square, the Grand Palace, the Summer Palace and a Sichuan Restaurant with entertainment.

Pandas

It was really hot, but we had to make a quick stop at the Beijing zoo to see the pandas.

Artist at Work

On the way home from the Wall our guide stopped us by a cloisonne factory. The process was interesting and of course they wanted us to buy, but we controlled ourselves.

Past Culture Meets Present Culture

Since I've been in Hong Kong I've met several people who have gone to Beijing especially to see the Great Wall. I've seen the pictures of the magnificent ancient structure and heard nothing except how awe inspiring it is. All wall visitors will tell you which is their favorite section, how to take a picnic lunch with you so you don't have to eat questionable food from the stall vendors and what time of day to get their for the best photos. Not one person mentioned that the wall can be reached by ski lifts or cable cars and to decsend you can ride a bobsled. When I returned to Hong Kong and brazenly admitted that yes we went on the ski lift and braved the bobsled ride down, they sheepishly admitted they had as well. Did this Disney ride atmosphere ruin our enjoyment of the Wall? Hell no! Once you are up on the wall itself and realize that it extends over a thousand miles farther than you can see and you can see it for miles, it is an awe inspiring sight.

The ski lift up to the wall (1200 feet where we were) was an ancient artifact in itself. I tried to take pictures of the bobsled run as we ascended but people flew by so fast on the track I didn't get a good photo. To ride the bobsled you sit on a padded seat with wheels that glide on the metal track and you have a brake lever between your legs to somewhat control your speed. I couldn't get a picture while I was riding because of the death grip I had on the brake.

Laine Does Okinawa

Laine convinced us that it would be educational for her to take the summer off work and spend it in Asia with us. Her first side trip was to visit her Japanese college friend Nao in Okinawa. I suppose drinking sake in a bar with US sailors is cultural, right?

Nao is studying marine biology so Laine also got to take in the underwater culture.

Catchy slogan?

World Cup Hong Kong Style

It was great to experience World Cup soccer someplace other than the US. Even though China was not in the games it was the talk of the town. This is Hong Kong's Times Square during one of the matches airing at 11:30pm. This wasn't even a playoff game and look at the crowds.

Sai Kung Harbour

I trekked up a hill by our place and got a great view of our little harbour. The newer looking two-tone tan building in the center of the right photo is our place... "Costa Bello" is not a typo for those who know proper Spanish which obviously is not the Chinese developer.

Orchid Trees

I just love the Hong Kong Orchid Tree.

Enough Rain?

The rainy season is upon us.

Lotus Season

The Hong Kong Botanical Gardens did a really nice display in honor of Lotus season.

Don't Ever Try to Sneak in my House

I'm not afraid of any stinkin' cockroachs!!

D & D in Family Bar

We hardly ever see Denis' sister Donna in the states, we have to get together when she travels on business to Hong Kong. Here they are toasting their sucess in the Intercontinental Hotel bar...known as the Durgin family bar to our HK friends. The view of Victoria Harbour is magnificent here (so is our tab).

No More Dragons in Sai Kung

Part of the Buddha birthday festivities included a dragon parade to scare all the dragons out of Sai Kung for the coming year. Lettuce or flowers are thrown on the ground in offering to the dragon and the drums beat loudly to scare off the the dragons. What's really scary is that they don't block car traffic during the parade, cars still try to weave their way around the parade.

Opera in Operation

Once the opera house was open for business the vendors set up including roasted corn-on-the-cob. I think this is the chinese version of a county fair as a few weeks later the same opera house was constructed in the next town down the road. I noticed they had lots of rules for those attending the opera

These independent fishermen bring their catch each day to the harbor wall in Sai Kung and people comes from all over to buy their fresh fish. When you point out which fish you want the fishermen gut it and descale right there.

Cinco de Mayo here in Hong Kong is Buddha's Birthday. Our town goes all out and is setting up a temporary opera house. They blocked off a couple streets and a parking lot and are erecting this building. They sarted this just 5 days before I took this picture. To get an idea of the scale of this building look for the couple of men on the roof. I understand this is just for the opera next weekend and then it will be desassembled. They put it up 3 times a year for different festivals.
The entire structure is bamboo held together with strips of plastic wrapping the joints.

These sampans are my new transportation to go to town for shopping. They line up at the harbor wall just outside our building and you just go out, hop on and they take you across the harbor to town for the equivalent of 75 cents US. So from where we live now, when I want to go to Hong Kong Island (the big city) I take the sampan to the mini bus to the subway train. Takes only about an hour and is often faster and less hassle than trying to drive.

I've joined the Hong Kong Garden Society and it's the season that everyone shows off their gardens. So to gain ideas for my roof-top design I've been visiting other gardens. One lady was into recycling odd objects to use as planters on her roof. Here is an old waterbed frame she put a pool liner in and has created a home-made water feature.

We've finally moved from our service apartment (hotel) into our own flat. We are on the third floor with no elevator and the stairwell is not air conditioned. I hope this will take off a few pounds. The good thing is that the third floor is the top floor so our unit comes with the roof-top terrace. The owner who lived here (a German without a green thumb) did nothing with the roof-top so I have a blank slate to create my own oasis. I plan to become the queen of container gardening. Our building is right next to the harbor in the old fishing village of Sai Kung. This is where the seafood restaurants are that you go and pick your dinner out of the live tanks. There are a lot of westerners in the community so the local grocery store actually has a Mexican food section and there are plenty of non-asian restaurants and British pubs.

I haven't taken any interior shots of the flat because we haven't furnished/decorated yet. We have a bed and a sofa so far. Just got a couple bedroom night stands and lamp so we're making progress. Laine will help when she comes back with me for the summer.