O hi, Asia!

On my way to F.A.B. to meet Ian and Jessica, I saw various people shielding themselves from the sun. I don’t see how walking down the street buried under your own shirt could be worth the few minutes of UVA reprieve. I mean, you’re walking down the street with your shirt draped over your head. As for carrying an umbrella, those suckers are bothersome enough on a rainy day; you’re going to lug an umbrella around all the time?! And for the elderly lady on the right: You’re old. What’s the sun really going to do to you at this point?! Free your hands! Get some sun; who cares!

The walk to F.A.B. is seriously only 10 minutes and I saw all this. Here’s a bride just chillin’, eating some lunch at the sidewalk cafe up the street:

Aaand here we are. Once again. And Ian with his phone, as always. I got Eggs Florentine. Jessica got a salmon thing. I was like, “Wait! I have to get a pic first. Here, move your plate. Hang on…” Jessica says the bride-at-the-cafe was a photoshoot the bride was doing in not-her-actual-dress for photos to hand out to guests at her wedding. Apparently it’s a thing.

After F.A.B. Jessica and I headed across the harbor to the Kowloon side of HK to do some shopping. After 6 weeks, I’m pretty bored with the selection I brought with me. Here’s the scene looking down on the subway on the way over:

I didn’t find anything. Seriously, on one particularly tragic rack of clothes I was like “grandma blouse, stripper shorts, pajamas, wtf – Is this for a grown up?!” It was a large, light yellow onesy jumper with boats on it. I guess I was too shocked to take a pic. (sorry!) We walked the entire mall, ‘The One” it’s called, and found nothing. The few things that seemed ok were really overpriced (like $60 US for a basic tank top.) We did find this nice rest-spot with weird chairs and a nice view..

This  is overlooking Kowloon Park. The harbor I see out my window (from the opposite side) is behind the buildings and you can see Victoria’s Peak in the distance beyond that.

On Sundays Filipino domestic helpers hang out in parks all over HK because it’s their day off and they basically have nowhere else to go. Their work permits require them to live in the houses where they work, so on their days off they want to get out or else they’ll just have to work. Some roads are even blocked off and they spread blankets out and hang out all day.

When I first saw this phenomenon, it seemed like a strange, leisurely mass picnic. Now that I know more of the story, I’m not sure what to make of it.

First subway train back. I took this pic on the subway ride back to further illustrate that there just isn’t anything I’ve seen here in HK that I want to wear! I’m sure these girls are lovely and all, but there’s not one thing on their bodies that I want to borrow. I really miss Marshall’s, TJ Maxx and even Target!!

Here’s a subway billboard which raised more questions than it answered. (And questions that I don’t necessarily want answered.) What is with the plaid goofs on the far left? And the creepy bouffant on the front row by himself?! And the priest! The two guys on the right have crazy eyes. What could “men of totality” possibly mean??? And of course, Champion Spirit. Seriously, if someone knows what this means, don’t tell me.

Second subway train back. When the subway arrived my eyes were met with this sight: a kind of monk in a black robe with beige leggings, a girly handbag, fanning himself feverishly.

And finally, my new neighbor friend, Timmie. Oh… this one makes a ton of noise at all hours, but I don’t mind cuz look how cute! We’ve got a mutually pavlovian thing going on where, when I hear him in the hallway I open my door and go, “Baaa-by! Hi-ii!” And he gets all excited and says “Hi! Hi!”

He’s usually with his Filipina nanny but since she clearly had the day off today, he was running around like a wildman.