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Published: December 28th 2010
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It has been a while since my last blog so the following is a bit of a jumble of what has been going on recently in Hong Kong, and in the run up to the Christmas season...which leads me on to the topic of Christmas decorations...
The malls in Hong Kong go all out for Christmas decorations, but some are not as traditional as others! One mall I walk through frequently had a theme for it's Christmas decorations which was "Hello Kitty in London". Where that idea came from I have no idea, but the entrance to the mall had a model of Tower bridge with a giant hello kitty on it. Inside the mall was a display of all sorts of London landmarks that had been vandalised with Hello Kitty. A london bus, Big Ben, and a red telephone box! There was even "at home with hello kitty" where you could sit next to hello kitty in her house. Slightly bizarre in Hong Kong to be surrounded by landmarks from my home country and Hello Kitty! Bizarre as it was, there is no doubt it was popular. There was a constant stream of camera-wielding visitors wanting a photo in Hello
Kitty's London home.
Other festivities included a big Christmas dinner with friends before we all parted ways for the holidays, and this was no easy feat for the chefs. Hong Kong apartments do not have ovens, so there were about 4 table top portable ovens and a pre-cooked turkey delivered, it was a great success and a taste of home for those staying in Asia over the Christmas period. One bizarre observation on my way home from this event was a bunch of what seemed to be duck skins hanging on a railing close to my house and at 3am I had to stop and take a photo. Every now and then something still takes me by surprise in Hong Kong! I was walking home, and these skins were just on a public railing in the street left there to dry out!
Another delightful sight I take in every morning on my way to work is a basket of meat that has been delivered to the local supermarket. At about half past seven in the morning there is a basket of carcus that has been left outside, and if I am a bit late for work...there
Shopping Mall decorations
Hello Kitty in London was the theme for Christmas decorations at this mall. are nice markings on the floor from what was delivered that morning...no need for further explanation! Nice.
For the past five weeks I had been rehearsing for a Hong Kong flashmob which was so much fun! I have always wanted to take part in a flashmob and it was just fantastic! You can watch the video here:
We learned the dance over five weeks, and on the night before the flashmob we had an on-site rehearsal at midnight, before surprising the shopping mall at 3.30 on a Saturday afternoon! We pretended to shop, then burst into dance, and then continued to shop.....before returning to the bar upstairs to celebrate! What fun!
Just to explain a couple of other photos in the blog...no I did not end up in a Hong Kong prison! There was an art exhibition in the disused prison, and I have to say, visiting the prison was more interesting than the art itself! Located in the mid-levels it is a very colonial building surrounded by high rise apartment blocks. The prison is closed for most of the year so we were lucky to explore inside.
Another recent celebration
was a personal achievement of which I have attached a picture in this blog - I had a photo printed in Lonely Planet Asia magazine, so I was very happy about that!
As the long school term came to end, I was very ready to return to the UK for Christmas, and Hong Kong had begun preparing me for the cold! With temperatures in the 20's for the last couple of months, a sudden drop to 6-10 degrees was the talk of the town! That was nothing compared to the weather I was about to face in England! ......
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liliram
liliram
CONGRATULATIONS!
That was some feat. Your photo on a magazine! Wow. Congratulations, happy for u. Btw, my family has spent 2 New Year's holidays in HK and we enjoyed them so much. They really go big on Christmas decor there , don't they? Funny about the duck skin :))