Shanghai'd in Shanghai

Friday brought us to Shanghai. We spent two days in town, hanging out with Rebecca and Hang Feng. A large thanks to them for tugging us around. We stayed at the Astor House Hotel, right off the Bund. It had good location, a decent price, and enormous rooms. A lot of famous people have stayed in the hotel, as it's been around for over 100 years.Inside.
Friday night we went to dinner at a vegetarian restaraunt. It was the best vegetarian I've ever had. They had mock chicken that tasted just like the real thing. The texture was a bit off, but close. The food was all delightful. Afterwards we went to the Glamour Bar, which was cool.

Saturday we walked the Bund, so here's the mandatory picture.
We then headed to lunch for dim sum, and then to the fashion market. This place was crazy. Three floors of material and men's and women's clothes. Lots to look at, but a lot of it was custom made stuff, and we weren't in town long enough to get fittings.

After the fashion market, we headed to the Museum of Contemporary Art, which was having a private showing, featuring some BMW Art Cars. This is the V12 LMR by Jenny Holzer.
An 850 CSi by David Hockney.
A 535i by Matazo Kayama.
My personal favorite, and the first Art Car, a 3.0 CSL by Alexander Calder.
Now it's off to Beijing.

Girls In Hong Kong!

So you're sick of reading about Transformers, blah blah blah. I'm sorry that I haven't blogged for a bit, but obviously I've been busy doing things with my guests! For the one or two of you that aren't aware, Kelsey and Caitlin came to Hong Kong on Tuesday. Here's the picture of them arriving. They haven't seen me yet.
We didn't get back to my apartment until after midnight, so it was quickly to bed. Wednesday we headed out to Stanley to hit the market and do some shopping. Here's the bay.
No pictures of the market (too busy shopping). But we got lunch at a place on the bay. I enjoyed a tasty Hoegaarden.
After a slight rest, we took the bus over to the other side of the island, and walked around a bit. We missed the stop for Wan Chai, so we ended up walking thru Victoria Park.
Over to Causeway Bay, where the Times Square mall is. Much like any mall back home, it's time to break out the Christmas decor. They had a large display out front, with tons of lights and stuff. To fit in with the locals, we took a picture.
Thursday brought another trip over to Hong Kong. We started with the mid-levels escalator. It's said to be the longest escalator in the world, but it's just a lot of them in a row. But it will take you from the piers (almost) up to the mid-levels, and past a lot of good eats. Here's Caitlin and Kelsey at the first section of the escalator.
An overview shot of a busy HK street from the escalator.
We grabbed a bite to eat at a little Mexican joint. It was good, and they had lots of Chinglish on the menus. More on that later. We were near the Peak Tram station, so we headed that way.

At the top of the Tram, they have a new shopping center (surprise, surprise). But it did have a wax museum, with Bond, Pierce Bronson Bond.
"Awww, what a lovely picture!" is what my parents will say.
Hong Kong. Not a great day, but not too bad.
A funny sign.
We walked down from the Peak along the trail on the south side. It's quite a hike, even going down. I've got a fair number of pictures, but didn't put most of them up. But here's a crazy tree growing out of the side of a brick wall.
And that brings us to the end of Hong Kong. Friday is a flight to Shanghai for a couple of days, and then off to Beijing. Finally!

Toys

I make no apologies for this. While walking around Saturday night, Sarah and I happened upon a toy store. Like most toy stores in Hong Kong, it was completely filled with Gundam stuff, which I don't really get. But hidden on the top shelf, out of sight, something caught my eye. It was a truck, a semi truck. Maybe a Convoy, if you will. There, with the shining Autobot face, I knew I had found a prize. It was the Masterpiece Series Convoy, known as Optimus Prime to us in the states. I nearly shreiked in sheer joy. And next to it was the Masterpiece Series Starscream. I had to have it. HK460, gone. For a little over $50, I had a sweet toy. I would've gotten Optimus, but it was over $110. I may go back...

In the box.I can't read that, oh well.
You should see the detail.
Whooooosh!
The pride of the Cybertronian War Acadamy. (yes, I had to look that up)
Nobody messes with Starscream.
Well, it was worth it. I don't care what any of you say! He's badass!

UPDATE:

Well, the urge struck again. I didn't buy the full size Optimus, yet. I did buy the cheapest of cheap Chinese knock offs, though. Devastator is just that cool, that Chinese manufacturing can hardly hold him back. Of course, I couldn't get Devastator (the Constucticons) without someone for him to fight with! So Defensor (Protectobots) was the logical choice.

These toys were the most obvious of knockoffs. I got both sets for HK60, or about $8. And it showed. I already broke part of one. And the transforming is pretty crappy. The stickers are absolutely ridiculously bad. And the Chinglish on the packaging is quality.

The Protectobots, aka Fireeninebot (huh?).
The Constructicons.
Defensor, in all his glory. I didn't have too much trouble with this one.
Devastator. I remember this one being hard when I was a kid, and it's still difficult, especially because of the crap construction quality. Like I said, I already kind of bust one of these.
Fight!
The new display.
After this, I think the pictures speak for themselves. These things are awesome! Oh, and bring on the name calling. You're just all jealous.

Living Quarters

So I finally moved into the new apartment this week. It's in Aberdeen, which is really close to the office. One benefit of living in Aberdeen is I get a room with a view. My apartment faces the south harbour.

Here's a picture to the east.And to the south.
And finally, the west. The office is over thataway.
The southern nighttime view.

It's not a huge place, and I've already identified some serious design flaws. But overall it's pretty cool, and has a neat design. I like the windows, which seems to be a rarity for places in Hong Kong.

Stanley

So as you know, I'm finally in Hong Kong. Friday night I went out for a burger, at a place called Shake 'em Buns. Yes, that is really the name. They had great burgers, with awesome names! The standard burger: Missionary. With cheese: Cushin' for the Pushin'. Chicken sandwich: Hot Chick. Veggie burger: Sissy Boy. Hot dog: Doggy Style. Anyways, I wish I would have taken a picture, because it was absolutely tiny. After food, I walked down the street, and ended up in Wan Chai. Now, that's not the nicest district. Quite a few girly bars, and they're not shy about getting you to enter the bar. A number of the "hostesses" grabbed me and tried to drag me in. I politely declined. But here's a couple of pictures of Hennessey Road.Yes, that's the Cockeye Club there.
I just grabbed a coffee and spent some time at Pacific Coffee Co. Honestly!

The next day I decided to head out to Stanley, a small town on the south side of the island. It's known for having a great market. It actually was a very good market on Saturday, with lots of cool stuff for sale. Mostly art stuff, trinkets, and clothes. Lots of places had "No Picture" signs up, so I didn't get any. I did get a picture of a realty office, though.
Take the prices, divide by 7.75, and you have US$. Housing here is NOT cheap. But I'm sure you already knew that.

This picture might look familiar to Derek or Kim. Just like the children in London, the kids here all wear red hats!
Obviously the above picture is not in Hong Kong, or anywhere even close, unless you count driving on the wrong side of the road.

Here's a picture of the South China Sea. That's some sort of Maritime History Museum in the frame.
There was a path that lead to the Pak Tai Temple. Wasn't much to look at, pretty tiny. And I didn't find the ancient well.
But I did find this picture perfect scene. I just wanted to climb down there, but there was a fence.
Saturday night, I found the perfect video game, Drum Mania V2! No, I didn't play, but I totally could've kicked this guy's ass. Except that it was totally based on technical follow the notes, without any improv. As Derek or Mike knows, following sheet music is not my forte.
Well that's it for this installment. This week should bring the relocation to my apartment. Next week brings Kelsey and Caitlin to Asia. FINALLY!