Singapore Sling!

Melissa was in Singapore last week for work and we decided to make a weekend out of it so I flew to meet her late Thursday night. Singapore, like Hong Kong, is a former British colony. Almost everyone speaks English so the city is very easy to navigate. We had pretty low expectations as we expected Singapore to be pretty much like Hong Kong but we were very pleasantly surprised. Singapore has a lot of things that Hong Kong is lacking - namely trees, grass and flowers....everywhere! 

Our to do list for our weekend in Singapore was short but at the very top of it of course was having a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel Long Bar (the drink was invented there)! So Friday night we made the trek to the Raffles Hotel which was absolutely beautiful - a magnificently preserved British colonial style complex. The hotel is one of the most expensive and most prestigious hotels in Singapore. Rooms range from $1,000 to $7,000 a night - needless to say, we did not stay there! However, we did make our way to the Raffles Long Bar to have a Singapore Sling - the Long Bar held its traditional colonial style all the way down to the peanuts on the tables that you just chuck the shells on the floor but all of this ambiance and history comes at a price...our 2 drinks were $62! We didn't order another round but we also didn't let that kill our buzz as we headed over to Le Pac Sat for dinner. 

Singapore is known for its food stalls which serve everything - Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian, Korean, Singaporean, Filipino and one of the food pavilions even had a Wendy's - no Mom, we did not have Wendy's! Le Pac San is probably one of the biggest and most famous of these food stalls. We had Indian for dinner and enjoyed (I use that term very lightly!) a Filipino cover band belting out the best (or most annoying) American songs of the early 1990s.

Fried Duck & Beer - Saturday Night in Hong Kong...

Saturday night, we decided to head over to Kowloon's Temple Street Night Market. They sell pretty much everything and well nothing at the same time and all prices are very negotiable. There are no prices on anything so you bargain for everything.

In the event that you are looking for an Obama shirt where he is dressed like Chairman Mao or a some Calvin Clein (not Klein!) mens' underwear, head on down to the Temple Street Night Market!

There were so many people there, including some US navy seaman and marines. The USS Boxer has been ported in Hong Kong across the harbor from our apartment for the last few days. It just left early this morning.

We didn't buy anything from the market but we did enjoy some San Miguel beer and local cuisine. No Cape Cods on Temple Street so San Miguel for Melissa as well!

Every corner had street stalls with plastic outdoor stools about 1.5 feet off the ground. And yes mom, I did bring my hand sanitizer! I had a sweet & sour chicken dish (the only sure bet on the menu) and Melissa had the fried duck. I guess they wanted to prove it was really duck being served so they made sure to have the head on the plate. Don't worry..neither of us actually ate the head! As we were walking home we passed an Indian/Nepalese restaurant that had chicken naggads! Yep, see the photo below.

Can I interest you in some duck head?

Pull up a stool and have a beer or two!

From Our Living Room - The USS Boxer aircraft carrier heading back out to sea

Summer Weddings?

Hong Kong's Lady in Red 

When you think of wedding pictures, you think of a nice park, flowers, pretty scenery.  Here in Hong Kong, they have a totally different idea all together, and it is BIG(!!) business.  In the central business district (near Melissa's office) on any given night of the week you will see at least(!) two wedding photographers taking photos.

Some of the scenes would shock you!  I have seen photographers waiting until the red light, then the bride goes running out in the middle of the street capturing the taxis, buses and trams going by.  When you go down that dark alley...yep another photo shoot.  I even saw a photographer pointing up at a catwalk connecting two buildings...you guessed it the bride and groom were up there! In front of the Gucci & Prada store windows - yep, they're there too!

Glad I am already married!!

Life is a Beach!

This weekend the weather was sunny and (incredibly!) hot (and humid!), so we decided to make it down to one of Hong Kong's 150+ beaches. Amazing isn't it? This concrete jungle is also filled with TONS of country parks, beaches and hiking trails.

So after a 30 minute walk from our apartment to Central, a 20 minute metro ride (Central to Shau Kei Wan), and a 20 minute (scenic!) double decker bus ride....we were finally there... Shek O Beach.

Shek O is a tiny, sleepy village at the far south-eastern corner of Hong Kong Island. It was a great spot to just relax and hang out for the afternoon. The view of the South China Sea is great....but most amazing of course is the fact that this place is in Hong Kong!

We had lunch at a quaint Thai restaurant - baked mussels and a chicken curry. The mussels were excellent...the curry not so much. The chicken was literally hacked up pieces of chicken - bones, skin and all - next time chicken curry...without the chicken please!

We also had some local entertainment during lunch - 2 women brought their dogs with them for lunch. Their dogs sat alongside them - in chairs! One of the dogs was "lucky" enough to have a visor and sunglasses! Maybe next time we venture out to Shek O, we should bring Bailey....err....maybe not!

It's Someone's Birthday....

 Hmm....is that for me? 

I guess so!! 

Yep, it is Bailey's birthday and she is 12 years young!

I found this shop just outside of Soho that sells homemade dog treats and we thought it would be nice to get her a cake for her birthday.  They had a bunch of different types and sizes, but we finally settled on a carrot cake in the shape of a bone.  Luckily for Bailey, we passed on the birthday hats! We figured her birthday celebration should be something that she would appreciate as well!


She was not so sure about it, but once she figured out she was not sharing it with us, she was all in!

Excuse the cake on my face. I lack opposable thumbs! 

Happy Birthday Bailey!! Thank you for coming to Hong Kong to be with us! We love you! 

Can't Rain all the Time... Well ...

Well...this is our first summer in Hong Kong and it has been quite a learning experience!

It's monsoon season here right now, no big deal right... we grew up in the hot and sticky Houston.  Wrong! First off, we don't just hop in our car to go to the grocery store, and we can't just open up the back door and tell Bailey to go outside.

The rule of thumb is take an umbrella, or it WILL rain!!

Can't see Harbor much less Across it!

We are totally unprepared too. All the locals have these HUGE umbrellas and rain boots.  At first I thought those boots looked so stupid, but when you get to where you are going with wet shoes and socks, it's definitely NO FUN.

We are currently in search of 2 HUGE umbrellas and Melissa is on the hunt for the perfect rain boots - which has been a little challenging in Hong Kong since she wears a size 10 shoe!

Got Manners??

Melissa and I found this little New York pizza place between our apartment and Melissa's office.  When I say little, I mean little!! There are a few bar stools across from the register..umm like 3.  Downstairs there are just 6 tables. This would not be a problem except for the fact that this place is super cheap and not too bad, even for US standards; therefore, it is always, always PACKED!

Last Sunday, the place was packed with Filipino maids on their day off and Chinese girls taking pictures of themselves eating pizza (don't ask me to explain it, because I don't understand it either but I am getting used to seeing it).  Two older ladies came downstairs and as there was not a place to sit, I offered 1/2 of our table to them. That was a total mistake. One of the ladies would put a piece of the crust in her mouth, eat the inside (white part) then proceed to spit our the dark part,  not burnt just the outside of the crust. It was like she was eating sunflower seeds, splitting the shell and spitting it out.

If she was at another table I would have pointed it out to Melissa and thought weird!! But we were sharing a table with her, yes we know we invited her!  Who do you feel more sorry for -  me sitting across from her watching her spit out every piece on her plate or Melissa sitting next to her?