Fairy Adventures

So yesterday was the school dress up party for Halloween, even though there was no mention of Halloween,seeing as it's a Christian school. Hong Kong seems to have gone Halloween mad, there are decorations everywhere and has been since the beginning of October. I found it quite strange. The dress up party was so much fun. I was a fairy/angel. I had my wings, halo and a magic wand. Pink. It was a tiring day, as we had to do the same party 3 times in the morning (k1, k2 and k3) then all over again for the afternoon session. The party consisted of getting the children on the stage, 5 at a time, and get them to jig about. Then take photos of all the classes. So lots of ushering the kids about and getting them to dance. chaos, but fun.

Today, I went to Hong Kong on my own, without Jenny, shopping. Was rather bizarre, as I'm so used to having her next to me. Apart from school and sleeping, we tend to always be together. even if it's just sitting on the couch on our laptops not talking to each other for a few hours. lol. It was nice though tofay, exploring on my own. So i went to Causewaybay and bought a nice black dress, shoes and earings. Was a bit of a nightmare, because finding clothes that fit me is impossible, but this one shop and 3 dresses that fitted. which was just perfect, because i can obviously afford all the three. I then decided to get a random tram and see where it took me. I could have ended anywhere, but i ended up where i needed to be that evening. Central. I met up with Jules and we decided to try and find the Mid Level escalators, which was a lot longer than i expected. They went on for ages. It's like a raised walk way with escaltors. not one long one, loads of them. I thought we were going to end up at the Peak we were going up so high. Anyway the escalators go up through cool areas such as Hollywood road which has lots of Antique shops, and then Soho which had lots of cool bars and restaurants. We went past a mosque as well. The top was disappointing, i was expecting fireworks as it went on so long, but it was just a random street. So we just turned round, and walked down the stairs all the way down, which was a mission. I think the escalators switch direction at a certain time in the day. I'd hate to need to go up when the direction is going down. I would want to cry. Then we all went to 180 at the Vine for church which was great as usual.

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Mini update

Jo is excited that Amy's coming to visit her!!

Dress Up Party

Mini update

Jo is in Pacific Coffee. Soo much better than Starbucks

Mini Update

Jo is 2 months in!

Stanley and Aberdeen

Stanley

So today has been a busy day. I didn't get up till late, but we still managed to squeeze in a big trip to Stanley, which is on the south coast of Hong Kong Island. The bus journey was nice, we got to see a bit more of the Island which was nice. We're only really familiar with Central. We drove past this huge cemetary it was really hilly, in the centre of the city, and concrete. Was quite a strange view. We drove through Repulse Bay which is the big area where Westerners live. Beautiful, but pricy. Stanley Bay was really nice. I wasn't really feeling very well this morning as I had a migraine yesterday, so didn't really eat much yesterday, so the heat today really got to me, so we ate dinner really early.Had a really nice pizza, very italian style. What was bizarre was that we didn't feel like we were in Hong Kong anymore. The area seemed very mediteranean. It was a shame that there were building works along the sea front, but it didn't spoil the view too much. I was really annoyed that, I'd remembered my camera, but hadn't charged it up. We went to Stanley market, which was different to Mong Kok market in that it was under shelter. A bit like the Souks in Marrakech, but with the shop keepers dragging you into their stalls. I bought a few more pressies, so i won't be disclosing what I bought.
We then went on to Aberdeen, we had planned on going to the floating restaurant, but we'd already eaten, so we decided to save that for another day. Was nice to see the boats though. We were hassled by an old woman wanting to sell us a boat trip, and she seriously wouldn't take no for an answer. I've never known anything like it. We said no, and then she followed us, and stood by us while we sat down, blatantly trying to stop us taking the rival boat trip. She gave us the worst looks when we kept saying no. Was quite funny, but annoying. I did feel bad as it's obviously her livelihood, but sometimes, they have to give up and try somebody else. What was nice was that a Scottish couple (yes, Scottish, I'm in Aberdeen and I meet Scots, the first I've met in HK) came back after walking past us, to save us, but we'd just managed to escape.
We didn't stay long in Aberdeen, we had to get back to Central for 180 service at the Vine which was really nice.

Stanley Market

One thing Im finding weird here, is that I'm meeting people from all over the world. Obviously - but we meet people who live here, and pop to Bangkok for the weekend, or fly out to Australia. We were sitting at our small church group on Thursday and one of the group had to leave early to catch a flght to Australia cos his wife was having a baby. I've never known this in England. Flying somewhere, is a HUGE deal, but here, it's a part of their lives. It's so strange. cool, but strange. It's like, we're so excited about our trip to the Philippines at Christmas, and anyone back home in England, would be like WOW. But here, it's like 'oh wow, thats great, the Philippines is lovely, go here." It's so funny.

Wow that's a long note.

Aberdeen

Floating restaurant

Thanks again for the photos, Jenny.

Check out my blurb!

http://www.spckg.edu.hk/siulun/teacher/teacher.htm

Lang Kwai Fong Carnival

On Sunday after church we went to to Lang Kwai Fong to find a secondhand bookshop but came across a carnival instead. I didn't have my camera so these photos are courtesy of Jenny - thanks Jenny!

Mini update

Jo is not sure she saw correctly - a cat on a lead????

what am i missing?

I've been thinking recently about what I'm missing from England and I must admit that it isn't as much that I first thought it would be. Ok, I absolutely miss everyone I know, that is number one. Obviously. I miss my dog, believe it or not, they don't eat dog in Hong Kong, it is illegal, and they love them out here. Everyone seems to have them. And there are four that live above me. I've already said that I miss the food. I miss comfort food and having an oven. I can't bake cookies. Ok Ok, i don't cook, but not being able to makes you miss baking. I miss roast dinners. How exactly can you cook baked potatoes without an oven. Everything tastes different out here. The chocolate isn't the same. But jenny did FINALLY find salt and vinegar crisps which was an awesome night. I thought that was it. I thought that was all I missed. T.V, well yes to some extent but we have a dvd shop downstairs so we've been borrowing box sets, so my love is still nourished. :-)
What is actually nice about Hong Kong, is that it doesn't seem so celebrity obssessed as England is. I think the US and England are unique in this obssession. I mean honestly, I've been living on Heatworld.com because I've missed Heat and I am really really fed up with this whole Britney thing. It's all I seem to hear. So i've given it up. Amy's sending me Heat in the post, and I must admit I am still quite, ashamedly excited. But I bet I'll feel cheap once I've read them. The media doesn't seem to have the same effect over here, surprisingly. It's nice. My my, Lil Jo is changing already. Shock.
But actually today I walked to work and i realised it was getting a bit chilly. But not to the extent it would be in England. And then I saw Millie's amazing Autumn photos and I realised how much I'm going to miss the Seasons. I know in England we don't get very good ones. But I like dressing up all warm. I like that cozy feeling. It's going to be a very strange christmas this year on the beach. I'm looking forward to it, so much, but it will be strange.

A Night out in Lan Kwai Fong

Lamma Island

Ok so today is National day, so we had ANOTHER day off. This is great. Today we went to Lamma Island. We had to get the ferry from Central, which was certainly an experience. I don't normally get sea sick, but i felt horrible. One little girl threw up next to me, poor thing. The way back was worse as it was REALLY windy and it had begun to rain. We were really lucky with the weather though, as our time on the island was only cut short by the rain, right at the very end.

waiting for the ferry at Central

at the dock of Lamma Island

Anyway, Lamma Island is really lovely. There are lots of restaurants on the sea front. If you don't like the smell of fish, I wouldn't recommend them. The food was a bit too salty for my liking, but was really cheap.

At the restuaurant we ate in at the dock.

the View from the restaurant

After a late lunch, we walked along the footpath, that goes around the island, heading to Lo So Shing beach. We passed a small temple, which had people burning incense outside.

Tin Hau Temple



A young boy burning incense.

The scenery was lovely and it was really nice to see greenery. You don't tend to see or smell as much in the city. The beach, was lovely as well, and me and Jenny had our swimsuits with us so we went for a swim. The water was really warm. Unfortunately our little nap on the beach was cut short by the rain, so we headed back to the ferry. Good job, as the weather really set in. Luckily it had calmed down, by the time we reached central. Shame the boat didn't have to be so rockety.

A cave

green! lovely


the beach where we swam