My new home

Woo hoo! I have internet again!

I've just been adding a couple of pictures for the last few posts, since I couldn't do photos from the coffee shop.

And I can finally put up a couple of photos of my new place. I had some on facebook which were pretty much the same, but I took these after I had unpacked and made it feel more like home.

Quick update

Still no internet... Saturday is the day. So still hogging the computer at a cafe with people hovering over my shoulder waiting for me to finish.

I had a great weekend with mum and dad, although due to dad's visit being a surprise we hadn't planned much. We ended up checking out a shopping mall called the Dragon Centre - 9 floors high complete with ice skating rink, jumping castles, and a roller coaster up the top! (closed that day, bummer). They had some big shops, but a stack of shops were only as big as a double bed. Imagine standing on your bed and setting up shop in that space. No kidding!

We also dragged dad to the flower markets (which I LOVED!) and the bird markets, since we hadn't done that. And Chris took us to dinner in Rat Alley. Nice!

We spent Sunday at Ocean Park - a bit like Seaworld. Very hot but very worthwhile. We even got mum on the Wild Rapids ride! We also fit in the light show, dinner and Temple St markets all at Kowloon that night.

Mum and Dad did more touristy things yesterday (Monday) before I met them after my induction day (I'll save that for the next blog).

And then they left. It was the first time I'd been alone for over a month - the flat felt quite empty and lonely for a while!

Bring on Saturday... I can't wait to email people again, and not keep checking my watch on a time limit.

Surprise!

Dad told me he knew people coming to Hong Kong that were willing to bring some things that I forgot. Three ladies, all coming to shop for a few days. Mum and I were really nice and wrote out a fabulous list of hints and tips for shoppers - just little things we have discovered in the last 2 weeks.

So off we trotted to meet them at the train... but they didn't come! It was all a big fib. Dad decided he wanted a holiday in Hong Kong too, and surprised us by coming over for the weekend!

Ha ha! He thinks he is very clever! It's really nice to have him here as well :-)

PS Still not able to download photos. I'll update all these blogs when I can.
PPS I can still quickly check my hotmail at my brief internet cafe outings... so please keep emailing! It is good to hear from you all, I miss you!

PPS This photo is of the "wet market" near my place. I thought it was great! Beautiful fresh fruit and veg, and the fish and meat is so fresh it is still alive when they cut it up in front of you. Ok, that bit wasn't so great, but very interesting!

I hate this weather! except thunderstorms

I really really hate how stinking hot it is here. I would so much rather the 5 degree weather Cooma has been having. Except I love the thunderstorms! We had another one tonight that mum and I got caught in as we walked to the supermarket. Only across the road, and we were saturated! I am sure the thunder is 50 times louder here than back home. Maybe it's just because it has so many buildings to echo off!

Anyway we have being doing touristy things yesterday and today. We caught a tram just to see where it would take us, explored parks, went up the Bank of China tower, and explored our local streets a little more.

Today we caught a bus to Stanley, a little town at the bottom of my island (yes, I can call it "my island" now). It is a beach little town with some great markets. That's what the photo is of. We spent quite a few hours there, and came home with heaps of stuff we probably don't need!

And I am no longer friendless over here!! Chris is back, and we had dinner together last night. It is good to have him back!

I have TV again

Odd jobs day again.

I now have 2 english channels on my TV, and a DVD player that works. Yay!

I had the handyman come and replace things that weren't working. I counted the lights in my house - 39. They are everywhere, in all sorts of places!

Mum has beautiful hands and feet after visiting the beautician a few metres away from my front door.

I cooked my first meal in my kitchen. Success!

I also discovered that I am not receiving any text messages from Australia on my new mobile. Have to get that sorted!

And this internet cafe I'm at is really good - great coffee and free internet. Gotta be happy with that!

Monday

What a great day we had! We moved all my stuff over to my new home, then visited my school to pick up the boxes I sent from Australia weeks ago, full of lots of interesting stuff like the Australian tattoos, stickers, pencils etc that some people kindly gave me :-)

I did some unpacking, and it is finally starting to feel like I live there now.

We also had time to catch the Star Ferry across the Harbour to Kowloon for some great shopping (I know, I'm not usually a shopper, but there is something about this place). And we saw the Light Show - looking back across at Hong Kong Island while all the building flash their pretty lights at us. What an amazing sight.

And the first night at home... I liked being able to lie in bed and stare down at the street and watch everybody. It's true, this city never sleeps. I did. Quite well.

I have no internet access at home now, so am doing blogs from a cafe. I'll have to update the photos later. Watch this space...

Attention WOPS!

Hello to all my WOP friends! There had better be at least one of you reading this blog, since I have dedicated it to you... I think you know why :-)

Alex (property manager, the only person I know in Hong Kong right now!) told us a handyman was coming over today to fix the table. So mum and I went to the flat fairly early, and waited and waited and waited. Lucky we had the DVD's we bought yesterday, so watched one on the laptop.

So that was most of our day! I have started stocking my little kitchen... that didn't take long ha ha! It is quite fun exploring the little supermarket right outside my front door... so many things I have to try, and so many things I never will!

Oh, the other photo is for Julie, who commented on the view from my kitchen window. This is the view we've had from the motel - 2 walls, one of which is very green and mouldy. If we squash up against the window and look right up we can see a tiny patch of sky. A new view will be very nice :-)