we had a great time shoe shopping in hong kong. we splurged. i’ve always thought the reason i can never find shoes is because my feet are gorked. it turns out they’re only partially gorked (love my orthotics); i just have unusually small feet for north america. i bought a pair of super cute but somewhat impractical sandals because they were a SIZE FOUR !!! however, this does reinforce the fact that i can never find shoes: usually size 6 is the smallest available in the store, and on a really good day, maybe one pair of size 5. sigh.

Jet-lagged but hungry, we made our first stop for food. The restaurant had autographs by various Hong Kong celebrities all over the walls. On our first full day, we started with exploring Kowloon, found jumbo size lemon Vita and hung out with Charlie over coffee and Bruce on the Avenue of Stars at Victoria Harbour.

day at the market
To get a better taste of Hong Kong life, we wandered through a few markets including the bird market, flower market (where we found ’shiao ding’…little tings!), goldfish market, jade market (knick knacks galore), and one of many temples. This temple was to Tin Hau, the Goddess of the Sea.

lantau island
We visited Lantau island, where we saw the Po Lin Monastery, climbed up to the Big Buddha and walked the Wisdom Path. Too bad I don’t feel any smarter.

Afterwards we went to Tai O village, one of the last authentic fishing villages in the area. It was interesting to see the locals live pretty much free of modernization…except for the crates and crates of empty Coca-Cola bottles waiting to be picked up.

hong kong island
Downtown was impressive. My favorite was the ‘Lippo’ building, which looked very sci-fi. We were able to visit Joe’s dad at work before having lunch together in trendy Soho, where there is the longest covered escalator in the world, connecting the streets together. Truly a great invention.

During our last day, Joe’s dad drove us all around Hong Kong for a few extra sights, including the Peak for a view of the city (very foggy). Naturally, in between all the sightseeing during the week, we had plenty of good eats and retail therapy. Thank you Joe’s dad for having us!

(we’ll post pics later when we get a chance).

after 24 hours of traveling, we arrived into Hong Kong and immediately went with joe’s parents to….eat. somehow we stayed awake for the food, which was really good of course, at 1:30 AM. yesterday we explored Kowloon, found jumbo size lemon Vita, hung out with Charlie Brown, ate some more, and did some shopping. we’re loving the selection and lack of taxes.

the apartment is clean and the fridge is empty, except for a few ‘vita’ drinks, eggs and pine nuts. i’m not really sure why we always have to leave the home super clean whenever we go away, even if the trip isn’t for very long. psychologically i feel better. anyways, packing is almost finished: underwear, check…passports, check….jolly ranchers, check. fortunately our flight will be in the early afternoon tomorrow, so we’ll be able to get up at a decent hour before starting the two hour bus/train commute to o’hare airport, and the 14 hour plane ride to hong kong (yay for short legs). it will be joe’s first time back since 2001, and my very first time ever!

i’ve noticed that Chicago is filled with interesting art on the side of buildings, bridges…basically anything flat. i’m really fascinated by the use of space, and i love the colours and texture, especially the ones on a brick surface. finding new murals is becoming a mini project of mine. our header art is from the wall of an underpass just down the street from our apartment. these two pics are also from around Hyde Park (the area around the University of Chicago, where we live).

we’re pretty accustomed to the everyday noises we hear from our apartment; muffled talking at the bus stop, the occasional subwoofer from normal traffic and of course the trusty talking chicago buses. however, this week has been particularly noisy, especially after bedtime. we had a throng of screaming teenagers cheering for every bus that drove by, then we had the sound of persistent clanging of metal from our old building heaters, then last night we had a happenin’ friday night party above us with gut-vibrating-brain-numbing music until 1 am, and then another group of i’m-too-cool-for-school people creating havoc on the street until 3 am. don’t get the wrong idea, it’s not usually that crazy here…or maybe i’m just getting old. in any case, i’m very happy i can hear my thoughts again.

if you’re wondering where joe has been, you’ll find him under a pile of books. one more week left in the quarter, and then we’ll be off to hong kong!!

a thirteen pound chinese newborn baby. although the dad claims there were no “special nutrients”, i bet it was the rice…and lots of it. click here to watch the video.

yesterday there was the first total lunar eclipse in three years, and Chicago was supposed to get a glimpse of it. we tried checking it out at the planetarium with our friends Bethany and Romulus, but unfortunately it was too cloudy. at least it was a nice view of the lake, while we froze our little tushies off.

i had a double-take when i saw this in the grocery store. initially i thought it was just our store’s fault, but then i learned that this is actually a normal price for organic avocadoes. i wish i could buy more organic food, but i’m not sure my wallet could handle it.