Christmas in Hong Kong

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Fast forward to December 24th and Christmas in Hong Kong...... the remainder of my blog will not be in chronological order!

I arrived back in Hong Kong (from Bali) on December 21st. The next morning I took Jon to work - which means I road the ferry with him across Victoria Habour, left him at his downtown office building and went exploring for the morning. My wanderings took me through the expensive shopping district, the busy side streets full of fresh fish and produce and eventually up the series of escalators that transports thousands of commuters up the steep hills every day. An extremely efficient system.

In the afternoon Seye booked a hair appointment for me with a stylist recommended by one of her friends. An upscale shop in Soho (the trendy part of town) it was a pricey and fabulous hair cut. My hair was washed and my head massaged for fifteen minutes. The stylist, Kate, spent an hour and half cutting, shaping and styling - Jon and Seye gave the results top ratings! There is something nice about doing the everyday things when visiting a new place. Getting a haircut was one of those experiences.

December 23rd Jon took the day off and we did some exploring together beginning with a 30 minute ferry ride to Lamma Island. Lamma is a small and very quiet island. We took the ferry to one end, then walked across the island (about 1 1/2 hours) to the ferry terminal on the other side. There are no vehicles allowed on the island so the hundreds of people that commute to Hong Kong every day leave their bicycles locked up at the ferry terminal.

We left the tranquil island life to return to Kowloon and the extremely, extremely busy street markets for some Christmas shopping. In the evening we met Seye for noodles and a concert of school children singing Christmas carols - lovely in the warm night air.

Although only 10% of Hong Kong residents officially celebrate Christmas, many people have Christmas day off and there are lots of decorations and festivities. Walking through one of the malls today I saw an amazing 'Christmas' performance by Cirque d'soliel in the middle of the mall!

Tonight we make the gingerbread house and tomorrow we are hosting an international 'potluck' dinner.

Wishing you and your loved ones a joyful Christmas.

Susan

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