Ahh Phuket....

I tell you it's been a busy time, what with my parents being here and then when they left, I had a few days to get organised before we flew to Phuket. It was a last minute decision - sort of - to go away. Paul had managed to get a week off work so thought should make the most of it, especially before Victoria turned 2. Our last "cheap" trip but the good news is that Victoria gets her own seat !! Yay - I'll have more room.

Phuket was fabulous. It was low season so there was hardly anyone around. Where we stayed in Kata Beach, we basically had the run of the place. It was hot, so was a great introduction to what lies ahead of us for our first HK summer....

We spent our time mainly at the pool but we did go to the beach. The girls just loved it - playing in the water and the sand. Was a great break from the concrete jungle - just what the doctor ordered. One of the highlights for me - and this is going to sound rather sad but.... - was being woken up by torrential rain and a thunderstorm and listening to it on the roof EVEN with the air con on. Don't get to hear the rain like that in HK. I think the rainy season has begun and half the time you can't tell it's raining until you get downstairs. Looking out the window doesn't really help but that could be due to the building being all wrapped up for rennovation !!!

It's been a while..

I didn't realise how long it's been since I'd last updated this. Alot has happened since then too. My parents have visited us. It was so great to see them and for the girls to spend some time with them. It was a flying visit and boy, did the time fly. They were taken here, there and everywhere on Hong Kong island and we ventured over to Kowloon. One of the places that I showed them and which fascinated them was the Wanchi Wet Market. I remember when I first saw this I just couldn't get over it - meat, poultry, fish, fruit and veg - all sold in little stalls along 2 main streets. Not a fridge or a health inspector in sight !! It was great going with them as you get used to this site and accept it as part of everyday life. I do have to say that the produce is alot fresher and cheaper than what you get in the supermarket. And the fish - you know it's fresh. These Wet Markets are becoming a thing of the past and there's not that many of them around any more.

Another place that was enjoyed by all was the Flower Market. This is in Kowloon so to get there you need to get to the other side. We went by bus and it goes under the harbour. It's a great ride to get there and not that long either. You get to see some sights and the best part of it all is that the bus leaves from Happy Valley !!! This photo is taken while we were waiting to go into the tunnel. We're heading back home and you can see the buildings on HK Island in the distance.

The flower market is incredible as there are 2 blocks just full of shops/stalls that sell nothing apart from flowers and plants. The flowers are flown in from all over the world and get sold that day. It really is mind boggling. It's a fun afternoon out.

Stanley is a great place to visit. It's by the water and is a different aspect of Hong Kong. This is where I go to get the girls clothes. You get all the labels eg Gap, Next, Guess, Zara and I've even seen Pumpkin Patch for really, really low prices - ridiculous really. I'm saving thousands !!! It's a fun place and when you go on a mini bus - it's the best way. The photo that shows one of my favourite clothes stalls - that's what they're all really like !!

These photos were all taken by my mum - so thanks, mum, you did a great job !!!

Girls...

The girls were invited to a party today - a friend turned 4 !! Both of them looked so cute AND grownup that I thought I would take some photos. They have turned out exceptionally well !!

Sham Shui Po continued

It was back today to one of my favourite spots in HK - the craft area. I was on a tour today which was really good. Got to meet some other ladies, who enjoy the crafty side of things. Got shown some fantastic stores - ribbons, buttons, beads - and I hadn't come across them the last time I was there. Plus a number of different kinds of shops. There was one shop that just stocked paper bags. And you name it they had it. There were the plain brown paper bags, a selection I've never seen of party bags (you know the ones that the kids have at parties) I'm going to have to stock up on those that's for sure. It certainly far surpasses the selection at The Warehouse and believe it or not, alot cheaper too.

I think I'm going to have to visit this place at least once a month as I'm sure product just comes and goes. The photos I've attached are of a ribbon shop - unfortunately the photos don't do the place justice - but I've never seen the type of selection before. Downstairs was the ribbon and upstairs was the lace....

This place had the brocade ribbons that get used for belts that all the designers have been using (I've been studying the display items in the window - trully). Just around the corner are the shops for the buckles - you could have a fabulous new belt and be up with the trends for a ridiculously low price - and I do mean ridiculous !!

I stocked up on a few things so with the girls in bed and Paul out for the evening think I'll go and be creative and see what I can come up with.

Easter Break - Singapore

I know I'm abit behind the times so thought best get started getting up to date. For the first time in I don't know how many years Paul had Easter off !! It was very exciting as we thought about what we would do and managed to get to Singapore. Both Paul and I have been there a couple of times before but had forgotten what it was like. I'd forgotten how green it was, there were open spaces, not really high rises that we have in HK, clean air and great shops !!! It was warm and got hot on occasion but was better handled coming from HK than either the UK or NZ. We have friends who live in Singapore so caught up with them and had a great time. They've got 2 girls aswell and played with (or should I say looked after) our 2 fantastically.

We stayed at a fantastic hotel in Clarke Quay - great location and it was the Swissotel Merchant Court - would recommend it.

This is a view of the hotel looking back from Clarke Quay.

Transport was close by with the tube so getting around was easy, plus taxis are cheap AND air air conditioned !!

We took the girls to the Singapore Zoo and they had a ball. Hannah had the map and pointed out where we were to go and had to take her there. We weren't very popular if we didn't follow her instructions !! One of the must-see animals to see were the white tigers. Hannah was very disappointed to see that they were having their morning nap and weren't running around.

The other must see animals were the elephants. Our timing was pretty good as the show was on. They were both fascinated with seeing them and with the tricks that they were doing.

We spent abit of time at the hotel pool. It was fabulous as they had slides. I didn't realise until we were there but there was a childrens pool (I thought that they was just a big one) and it had it's own slide. Hannah was in heaven !!

We visited Sentosa Island. The girls loved the cable car ride. It just was abit quicker than the one we usually go on at Oceanpark. We visited the Butterfly Park and the Underwater world which they both loved. But it was a trip to the Dolphin show that was a highlight. The dolphins were pink - which is Hannah's favourite colour !!

Playing on the beach while waiting for the dolphin show.....

The last place we visited was the Jurong Bird Park. We went in the morning before we flew out. Hannah wasn't too happy in the beginning as she had the map and weren't really following her requests. But she did come right - eventually. Victoria just loved the penguins. She was fascinated by them and was so excited to see them. Hannah loved the owls - so did we as it was indoors and cold !!

A great time was had by all. It went by so quickly. I managed to "escape" in the evenings and stroll around Orchard Road and found some shops that surprisingly aren't in HK. So had to stock up on a few things.....no surprises there.

Tomorrow is going to be a rather good day as am off to Sham Shui Po. I'm on a "tour" this time so will get to find the really good shops and will get a map - always a good thing to have over here. Best remember to take the camera as you never know what gems I'll spot !!

Sham Shui Po

This place is the mecca for all those who love crafts. There are streets and streets AND streets of shops full of things that make the creativity juices flow.... There are streets just of buttons, there are streets just of fabric, a street for ribbon, a street for buckles and belts, street full of beads - you get the idea. And the beauty of it all is that it is really, really cheap. I went there with a friend recently. Very easy to get to from Happy Valley - I just walk down the hill to catch a bus and stay right on it until the very end. This place is over on the Kowloon side and is very much the "true" Hong Kong - wet markets right beside shops full of fabric (no health inspector in sight), all the Chinese writing and not much English spoken.

I'd heard about this place and wanted to check it out as I wanted to see it all plus I can never have too much ribbon or buttons for my scrapbooking.... I was only there for a couple of hours and didn't really see much of it so have to go back - funny that I'll be there next week !

This is one of the MANY ribbon shops that I saw. This one was a favourite...

!

This is one example of a fabric shop. There are literally hundreds of these as they display all the swatches of material. There was some really funky material that I'm sure will be seen made up in clothes a season from now.....

As you can imagine, I stocked up !!

Catching up

I've realised that it's been a while since I've last updated the blog but we've had a pretty busy few weeks. The girls Petone Nana has been for a visit so showed her some of the sites of Hong Kong. We visited many of our favourite places. Hong Kong Park is a great park right in the heart of CBD area of HK. It is a favourite to visit as it's surrounded by tall buildings, which is a pretty impressive views, has a large lake and goes over 4 levels ie has a huge green house, aviary, childrens play area - lots to do. The lake is full of turtles, unfortunately, one of the photos that I took, one huge stone with at least 30 small turtles on didn't turn out too flash so will have to go back to do it again....that's a shame...as the Park is just behind one of my favourite malls - Pacific Place !!

I love this photo of Hannah - shame about the bin in the background. Will have to try my hand at Photoshop and see what I can do.

One of THE things to do is to see the lights of Hong Kong. There are 2 places to do this. One is on the Kowloon side - a ferry boat - and the other at the Peak. The night we did this was fortunate as the weather had been shocking - very misty and rain . We had a clear night, admittedly abit chilly (18 degrees) and got some great shots.

This is the view from TST looking back at Hong Kong Island, in particular the CBD.

This is the view from the Peak looking down at Central.

No trip to HK is complete without a trip to Disneyland, especially if you have little children. A great day was had by all. We went on a Sunday and I was expecting it to be rather BUSY but I was pleasantly surprised. This time round Victoria was abit better with the characters up close in person but the only one that was trully special was Cinderella.

On the MTR to Disneyland - the sunglasses had to come - of course!!

The Merry go Round was the first ride of the day. It was smiles all round.

Hannah loves these - especially the fact that she can make the cup spin round and make it go fast. Suffice to say this was taken BEFORE the ride.

The highlight for both girls were seeing the princesses. I know Victoria doesn't look happy but believe me sitting on Cinderella's lap is a huge milestone. I was abit slow in capturing the smiles as there were some. With these 2 photos I should have charged a fee - as all the mainland Chinese came and took photos of the girls. The "official" photographers even had to step in and tell the mob to move back !!

As you know, Hannah just loves her sunglasses. And on some occassions (very rare ones) she is happy to share them with Victoria - who also has a thing for them too !!

It's now Easter holidays here so 2 weeks of keeping the girls entertained. Best start thinking of things to do.....