An Elevator Review

Cleary New York:
A speedy elevator. During business owners the 45th floor had access to an elevator that had as it's first stop the 45th floor. Very convenient.

Cleary Hong Kong:
Pretty slow. Interestingly the door would stay open until the 'close door' button was pressed. Unlike North American elevators, the 'close door' button actually had a purpose and was connected to something.

Kim & Chang, Seoul:
Only need to get to the fourth floor, so speed is not much of a concern. The door does close without having to use the 'close door' button. A unique function of this elevator is that if you press the floor button again, it 'unselects' that floor. I surprised someone in the elevator with me, when I turned off the floor we were headed to.

Conclusion:
I like when the doors close automatically, as I would sometimes forget to press the close button. Additionally, the cancel the floor feature is neat, but it's utility is limited. The winner is, therefore, Cleary New York (especially if one is stationed on the 45th floor.)

Our Final Night in Hong Kong

Today was my last day working at Cleary Hong Kong. After work, Sejin and I decided to visit TST one last time. We ate cheap sushi, and walked around. We ran across an interesting sign. It was all in Korean. It was an advertisement for a 'sauna' and included a password.

Tomorrow we're off to South Korea.

Another Trip to the Night Market

After a nice meal (cooked by Sejin), we traveled to the night market (again).

Sejin and I bought the same item. Who got the better deal???

Take a guess:

1. I think Sejin got a better deal.
   
2. I think Dexter got a better deal.

How much of a better deal did that person get?

1. 10 Hong Kong Dollars (US$ 1.28)
   
2. 20 Hong Kong Dollars (US$ 2.56)
   
3. 30 Hong Kong Dollars (US$ 3.85)

Thanks for playing.

On the way home, Sejin and I saw a strange sign. It warned of breasts ahead!!

Sejin's Birthday

Today was Sejin's birthday. We started the day at Tokio Joe's restaurant (yes, for the third time.)

Here's what Sejin and I would look like in a black and white movie.

We took a ferry to Lamma Island. Here's Sejin walking to the ferry and here's a boat we saw. We started at Yung Shue Wan village.

On Lamma Island, we went to the beach.

Sejin then buried me, and then sat on my head.

After we were done at the beach, we went hiking to Sok Kwu Wan village. The trip to the beach was about 20 minutes. The trip to the Sok Kwu Wan was about about 45 minutes. Sejin took a picture of a nice flower.

Once we got to the village, we saw a temple (the insides were burned--we didn't do it).

We dined at a place called Lamma Mandarin Seafood. The food was pretty good, and the service was great. The view was nice. Here's me with with some prawns and here's Sejin being cute.

Lamma Island was really great. If you're in Hong Kong, you should visit!!

Happy Birthday, Sejin!!

iPod shopping

On Saturday, Sejin and I went iPod shopping.

We did a little experiment. Sejin and I would enter the store at different times and ask them the price of the iPod mini.

Here's a list of the prices were quoted at three different stores:

The above prices are without us asking for any discount. Notice any pattern?

New Rings

Sejin and I bought new rings today. We bought them at a nice shop in Wong Tai Sin. If you go, the shop's name is "Fook Moon Lam", and you should talk to Rocky Siu.

Before we went there, we watched a movie at Pacific Center. Sejin and I also ate at McDonald's. Sejin gained a lot of weight (animated)!!!

Sejin also slipped.

Nice Restaurants

Sejin and I stopped to smell the flowers. Sejin then used her camcorder and
broke the law!!!!

For lunch, we went to Tokio Joe's. (Yes, we were there once, twice before.)

On the way home, this car almost hit me.

In the evening, we ate at Ivan the Kozak. They served Ukrainian and Russian food. We had a couple of dishes... they were quite good. There was live Ukrainian music playing.

Pictures from Regina

As you may recall, David and Regina paid us a visit in Hong Kong.

Here are some pictures from that night.

Goodbye Party

Today is Chris Hale's last day at Cleary's Hong Kong office, so, of course, last night we had a goodbye party.

We first went to dinner. The meal was quite good. After the meal we had an interesting dessert. It was shaped like a fish and had mango in it. It was a specialty of the restaurant. So special, in fact, we were not allowed to take pictures of it. (If we had taken a picture of it, this is what it might looked like.)

Here's a picture of the light show.

After dinner we went to the bar upstairs for some drinks. After that bar we went to another, and then finally another. Phew!

Here's a picture of Sejin and I. Here's some pictures of most everyone else.

Sejin Visits a Temple

Sejin visited a temple near Mong Kok yesterday.

She took some nice pictures and even saw a turtle.

Sejin at Dinner

Sejin and I stayed home tonight. (We downloaded a CD off of iTunes.)

Shirts

On Thursday or Friday, my tailor-made shirts will be ready. Hopefully they'll be good quality. Here is the website of the shirt-maker I used. Prices are very good.

Night Market

After a nice dinner of gnocci, Sejin and I met a few people from work for some drinks. After a few pints of beer, Sejin and I decided to visit a night market.

In order to get to the market, we took the subway from Central to Jordan. Once at Jordan, we walked toward what looked the most market-like, and after a few minutes found the market. On the way back, we got on the subway at Yau Ma Tei (conveniently at the end of the market).

The market was really long. At one point, it became a fortune teller's market for about a block, before reverting back to a normal market. There was a lot of walking, but we had fun.

Tokio Joe (again)

Sejin and I went to Tokio Joe (again). The sushi was very delicious today. A tip: In Hong Kong, tell them to leave off the mayonnaise when you order sushi. They tend to put too much in the sushi rolls.

After a nice meal, Sejin and I were beers.

Shen Zhen

The city of Shen Zhen is a special economic region of China. It is similar to Hong Kong in that it generally has a capitalist economy, although it is not as developed as Hong Kong. English is much much rarer than in Hong Kong.

Sejin and I took the subway to Tsim Sha Tsui to catch the ferry to Shen Zhen (apparently there's a train too). Along the way, Sejin met a bottle of juice and two very large hands.

When we got to the ferry terminal things started going wrong. First, they didn't take credit cards for the ferry. I had to run to an ATM to get cash. Second, when we arrived in Shen Zhen we had to buy travel visas. A website mentioned the visas we supposed to cost about $12 US. Instead they were about $38 US. Plus, we had to pay them to take our picture.

We ended up not having much money, and had to go to a restaurant to get cash!

Next, we took a cab. He didn't understand that we wanted to go shopping. We saw a sign that said "shopping mall" and pointed at that. He then thought "shopping" meant "shopping mall" and so we ended up there. It turned out this mall was in the expensive part of Shen Zhen, we was hardly different from Hong Kong (except less English.) We saw a nice ring and a nice dress we were interested in, but they didn't take credit cards.

We hopped in another cab and headed to Shen Zhen book center. This was an interesting place full of cheap software, DVDs, and electronics (and books in Chinese.)

Unfortunately, we had little time to explore as we had to get back to our ferry. (Even more unfortunate was the fact the ferry was so far from central Shen Zhen.)

Our taxi driver took us to the wrong ferry terminal. We finally made it to the correct ferry terminal, and he demanded full payment (even though his detour had added money to the fare, and we were paying in HK$ which are worth more than Chinese Yaum). Our arguments did not convince him, and we ended up paying the full fare.

The trip home was uneventful.

A few lessons: (1) When traveling to China plan ahead; (2) Figure out how far the arrival point is from where you want to go, this can really cut into the time you have to enjoy your visit; (3) Don't trust websites too much as they may be out of date.

Overall, it was an interesting trip. It was rushed and stressful, but it was fun to see inside a Chinese city, even one that was a special economic region.

Shenzhen

Oh, I have a long and complicated story about our journey into China. That'll have to wait for now.

Pictures and more details to follow....

Cheng Chau

On a whim, Sejin and I decided to visit Cheng Chau (an island of Hong Kong).

Before we boarded the boat, we visited Tsim Sha Tsui. On the way to the dock, we noticed a sign on the subway that said "no food." Unfortunately, Sejin had food!!

During the ferry ride, we passed by many boats. On the island, we walked around. We saw a nice looking beach, many restaurants (with cheap beer), and a Chinese performance.

Friday Night

Friday night was a night of couples. Here's Wonbin and his date. Here's David and Regina. Chris, unfortunately, was dating a Japanese poster girl. (Finally, here's me and Sejin.)

Wonbin and Chris went to different places. Sejin, David, Regina and I went to a dance bar called "Dusk till Dawn."

We took some nice pictures: Group Picture; Sejin dancing; Sejin again; David and Regina.

(Actually, we didn't take that many pictures because Regina had a camera.)

Sejin Parties

I had to work late one night. Sejin went out with Wonbin, Matthew, and Jane.

They had a little bit of sake, and some food. I guess they had fun. Eventually I had to come and accompany Sejin home.

Atop the Bank of China

Today we went to the top floor of the Bank of China tower. Normally that floor is closed to vistors.

The view was wonderful.

ABBA Again

Sejin and I couldn't resist. On Sunday we went to the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and watched Mamma Mia (again!).

Here we are with the Mamma Mia poster.

The production was pretty good, although I think the New York version was a bit better. At the end of the play, Sejin and I were two of about six people who stood up to clap. During the final number (when the entire audience is supposed to stand) people did not stand until instructed to by the cast. Once they stood, however, some people really danced.

In order to get to the show, we took the Star Ferry. It was a nice trip. We took some nice pictures.

After the show, we ate some local food. It was cheap, but a bit oily.

Here's me near the Cultural Center.

Korean Market

On Saturday, Sejin and I went to a Korean market.

We also ate at a Korean restaurant. Here's Sejin. Here's me.

Mandarin Oriental

Thursday night we went to the Mardarin Oriental.

The group consisted of: Sejin and I; Rupa; Chris Hale; Wonbin; Jacob; and Dan.

Chicago Restaurant

Sejin and I went to the Dan Ryan Pub (a Chicago-style restaurant) in Hong Kong.

Before the restaurant, Sejin made dimsum at a YWCA class. (It was very tasty.)

After the restaurant, we went back to my office. I did a bit of work, and Sejin drank some water. (I think she was a little bored.)

New Territories

A group of people from my work visited the new territories.

We saw an old house, saw some interesting statues, and a big bridge.

Korean Restaurant

Just finished eating at a Korean Restaurant (Myung Ga). Very full.

Duck Day

Sunday was duck day.

We went to Tsim Sha Tsui . We had duck (here's it wrapped up), an oyster pancake, some rice, and a fish. It was a lot.

Macau

On Saturday we took a day trip to Macau with Cleary HK.

We visited Macau Tower, the Maritime Museum (another picture), a fort, and other places.

We also ate (alot!).

Here's us getting ready for racing go-carts.

Typhoon

On Friday there was a typhoon warning. I got to leave work early.

Sejin and I didn't realize the warning was lifted at 7:45 pm and so we just stayed at home. Too bad.

Tokio Joe

We went for sushi on Thursday night at a place called Tokio Joe. (Yes, the spelling is right.) (The place was recommended by a stranger Sejin had bumped into.)

Here's Sejin with a grumpy guy (not me). Here's me with the same character.

After sushi, Sejin had a drink.

Causeway Bay

We explored Causeway Bay on Wednesday night.

On the way we walked past my workplace. We took the subway to get to Causeway Bay.

We saw a Coke-a-Cola collector's shop and a Korean restaurant. Sejin prayed.

Up the Peak

On Monday Sejin and I went up the Peak via tram for our dinner.

Here's a picture of two princesses.

Later Sejin attacked a man. (I also had to attack the man.)

Hong Kong: Day 1

We were tired our first day in Hong Kong--very very tired.

We tried to vist a sushi place, but instead ended up in an Irish pub named Dublin Jack's.

The food was nice. Sejin had potato skins. I had something else (I forgot the name).

We also walked by my workplace. It's in the Bank of China Tower.

Here's a picture of the first room of our apartment. We also have a bedroom. Most importantly we have air conditioning and two televisions.

In Flight

The flight to Hong Kong lasted about 20 hours. We had a brief stop over in Vancouver.

Here's Sejin.

Here's me.

In HK

Sejin and I made it safely to Hong Kong. Pictures and posts to follow.