[happy tourist] furniture shopping

When packing for Hong Kong we intentionally left a few gaps in our furniture shipment, with the plan of filling those gaps with Chinese furniture awesomeness.

Well, believe it or not, not all Chinese furniture is awesome.

So the hunt continues. This time I joined a shopping group, hosted by Home Redesign HK, on a 70 minute ferry ride into Zhu Hai, China to go direct to the source – the factories. Five factories to be exact.

Our tour guide, Jeni, kept reminding us that the factories weren’t controlled environments. Basically meaning that almost everything is built, sanded, stained, lacquered, etc. in a raw space with natural ventilation, natural lighting, and lots of dust. These were not sweatshops. There were no child laborers. It was totally perfect for their needs, and the furniture is great (if you’re into Chinese style).

Although I didn’t buy anything, I still have my eye on a few pieces…and it was an amazing look into Chinese life/work. And furniture.

[happy tourist] beijing the second time

Almost 12 years to the day, Hubs and I honeymooned in Beijing. This week we went back for more. Of course this time we had a few tag-a-longs.

In 2000, Beijing was a highly populated city (12.8M +/-), even more so now (20M +/-). And we could feel the population difference at every attraction. So. Many. People. Sight-seeing quickly became more about getting through the hoards (and I do mean hoards), and less about discovery and reflection. Not to mention that we actually had a “if you get lost” plan in place for the girls – because, you know, there are So. Many. People.

Part of Project Chinese History/Culture,  included going against every traveling instinct that Hubs has – and hire a guide. Turned out to be a solid plan. Frank, our guide, was/is well informed about the city and its history. He filled us in on Chinese symbolism, customs and more. We heart Frank.

Here’s a look at thousands of years of history, covered in four days in Beijing.

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An art district called 798, this was a great place to walk around, see some art, finds some crafts, and enjoy a variety of foods.

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The Great Wall of China makes for a great workout with its multitude of steep steps and slopes.

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About 150,000 tourists visit The Forbidden City each day. That’s about 1/4 the number of people that the ceremonial courtyard was built to host.

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We enjoyed a very nice lunch at a traditional Chinese themed restaurant. It was a beautiful place that created an authentic dining experience. The iPad menus and Coke cans were the only clues that we weren’t in the Ming dynasty.

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Manmade mountains surround this manmade lake which makes up the Summer Palace, used only a few days out the year by the emperors.

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Before going to the airport, we went back to the hutong neighborhood that Hubby and I had visited twelve years ago. Although it’s still a genuine look into how the Chinese have lived for hundreds of years, it was certainly a less quiet and intimate peek into the past.

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Just a little more.

[dear vanessa] louie

Everything in this note is the truth.

[dear vanessa] olympian masseurs

Everything in this note is the truth.

[love it] holiday bust

Our first official Chinese New Year in all it’s authenticity is over. A bit of a bust. Crummy weather topped with Hub’s ‘this-is-why-I-try-not-to-breath-on-airplanes’ flu really put a damper on our cultural exploration.

FYI, HK is a ghost town during CNY. Many shops are closed for at least three days, while almost all of China travels to spend time with relatives. “No way,” and “are you kidding,” and “maaan,” were my replies to repeated media reports about the number of travelers and trains crossing China during the ten day holiday. Make no mistake, there are a lot of people in China my friends.

Meanwhile, HK’s Tourist Board lined up all sorts of city-wide festivities. Open-air gift markets–didn’t attend. Traditional lion dance parades–we snoozed and loosed. And an international New Year festival with dance and float entries from all over Asia–maybe next year. Our first and biggest Chinese holiday of the year, and we stayed home watching re-runs of the re-make of Battlestar Galactica.

Frack.

Thankfully our building ended the 10 day holiday with a party. Here’s the breakdown.

Waiting for the Lion Dance to begin (with a friend in the building).

We were thrilled with the traditional Lion Dance!

The building staff grilled Chinese treats for everyone.

Building maintenance helped hang the offering for the Lion.

The Lion dances in your apartment bringing good health and prosperity for the new year. He takes the veggie and Lai See offering and ‘eats’ it, while you’re supposed to catch any vegetables that fall from his mouth for additional good luck.

Drummers helped with the excitement, and then it was time for pics with our friends.

KUNG HAI FAT CHOI!

[sweet girls] tea for two

Perry’s Hong Kong wish list item number one. To have a traditional Chinese tea. I know, totally sweet, right? Today we started our search with Lock Cha Tea House.

We cut through the Admiralty MTR station to get to Hong Kong Park (our version of Central park). Just after entering the Park, we reached the tea house, a very sweet building, with a tea museum next door. Jealous? We enjoyed vegetarian dim sum with our White Rose White Tea.

Lock Cha is on the tourist maps. But don’t let that hinder your tea time. You can learn about tea and tea service, or enjoy traditional Chinese music with your tea and dim sum (schedule). Charming traditional setting with ornate, dark wood dividers and screens. And of course you can buy blocks of tea, tins of tea, banana leave wraps of tea, etc. Everything reasonably priced.

And yes, we did walk through the museum too. Lots of tiny tea pots to be seen.

It was wonderful. Mostly because of Perry.

Lock Cha Tea House
Main Shop  //  UG/F, 290B, Queen’s Road Central, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong  //  t: 2805-1360
Tea House  //  G/F, The K.S. Lo Gallery, Hong Kong Park, Admiralty, Hong Kong  //  t: 2801-7177

[love it] our first public holiday

Two days off from school. Mooncakes. Paper lanterns. And a dragon.

More Mid-Autumn Festival stuff later.

[phase 1] happy tourist

I’ve been told there are three phases in the expat experience.

1) the happy-tourist phase, 2) the cry-in-the-shower-this-is-not-like-home phase, and 3) the yay-we-live-here phase. We’re of course in Phase 1. And here are just a few of the touristy things we’ve done.

^Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market:  this wholesale fruit market in Kowloon was listed as one of the ‘themed’ streets to visit on an HK web site. It’s a maze of stalls in an old, tin-roofed type warehouse building spanning about a block.

Mostly selling wholesale, these vendors sell to individuals too. As we walked through, we quickly realized that this place must be listed in all the tourists books as one of the stall owners tried to sell us a crate of six mangoes for $150HKD. That’s $19.23USD. Good thing I took my anti-sucker pill.

Rumor has it that all the open-air markets in HK will someday be forced to sell indoors due to hygiene concerns. I simultaneously like and hate this plan. These markets are part of the charm of this great ‘old with new’ city.

^Maxims Palace: come on, it has ‘palace’ in the name (like almost every other big restaurant in HK). Listed as a must for dim sum, I’d say this was not a must, but a if you’re in the neighborhood. Please note, there are about a gazillion and five dim sum restaurants in HK. We are in China after all. The girls were great and tried almost everything!

^Nan Lian Garden + Nunnery: we didn’t see a single monk or nun, but this place is amazing. And free. Each building/temple structure was pieced together like a big puzzle, not a nail or screw lives here. Buddhas around every corner, complete with monk chant soundtrack piped throughout. It really is peaceful and does settle your mind (if you’re not dragging three young girls around who are complaining about the heat and would rather eat at McD’s for lunch). Cross a bridge over the busy street and you’re in well manicured, winding gardens. If you’re hungry they have a vegetarian restaurant – it was yumalicious.

^And we’re not the only ones being tourists. In our first week we’ve had visitors! My Aunt Sue first (from LA), then her son/my cousin, Aaron (USC) with his pal, Cody (Berkley). It appears that it’s a requirement that USC students vacation in HK, because Aaron has been running into them left and right.

Getting around is pretty easy, but it includes a lot of walking (I’ve lost 2 kilos in a week, you do the conversion). The girls are pretty pumped about having their own MTR passes (aka Octopus cards) – or as they like to call it, their ‘debit card’. Not only do these get you through public transportation, you can use them at tons of shops.

There have been a lot of other touristy things that we’ve done as well, it seems to go on and on…but we’ll save them for another time.

[different but the same] let’s go to the market

So we’re here. And somewhat settled (as much as you can be in four days).

We’re in a ginormous complex with about 18 towers. It’s a small community. If I were the non-adventourous type, I would never – never – have to leave this complex. It has everything (including a pre-school and Botox services at the spa across the street).

Our first to-do was to stock up on food items. So we walked across the street (I like the sound of that) and ventured into the international market/grocery store. It has great stuff from every place around the world. Including some of our all time favorites.

It made me giggle though to see how things are just a little different, but of course the same. And if you look closely at the Snap, Krackle and Pop’s eyes, I’d swear there was more of a ‘slant’ to them than in the States.

[love it] less is so satisfying

From sprawling American digs, to snug, efficient city living.

This move has been a great exercise in necessity. And on more than one occasion, I’ve been quite embarrassed by the amount of sh*t we have. What do we really, really – I mean really – need and maintain the same lifestyle? I’ll let you know what I find out in a few months.

So when I found these White Charcoal items at one of my fav online shops, Merchant No. 4, it made me think about my water filter pitcher. It helps in the Michigan house because we’re on well water (yes we have running water and indoor toilets). White charcoal is one of the main ‘ingredients’ in water purifier thing-a-ma-jigs.

Less unnecessary plastic? Sculptural sticks in one of my many glass pitchers (see ‘amount of sh*t’ comment above)? Sounds pretty good to me in my current simplifing-life state of mind.

images via: Merchant No. 4