A different kind of rain: February 2012

To the races!

Tonight is Susan's last night so we went to the Wednesday night races! It was great having her here and I plan to visit her in Korea in July!

Disneyland Hong Kong!!!!

Susan and I had a fabulous time at Disney Land yesterday! It was tiny but charming. What was great was how empty it was and how short the lines were. "Toy Story Town" was super cute too.

Angela hosted an awesome Mexican night last night. Complete with: tamales, tacos, guacamole, shrimp ceviche, jalapeno carrots, margaritas, coronas and flan for dessert. I finally got to meet Angela's other Hong Kong friends who were very nice. Mexican food is such a treat. Not only is it my FAVORITE genre of food, but nearly impossible to find in Hong Kong.

Playing Petanque!

Angela a dinner party tonight for "mexican food night" and then we headed to the petanque bar afterwards and by chance of luck it was the owner's birthday and petanque was free AND he showed us how to play. We played blondes against dark hair and lost miserably twice... but it was really fun! (I'll post some pictures of mexican food later)

Friday

Having a great time with my friend Susan! We went over to Kowloon tonight to see the light show and get some food.

Coffee Signs

Here are some funny coffee signs from the coffee chain. My friend from camp has arrived! So I have a visitor for a week!

Falling down is allowed

Bills

I just have to brag a bit about my electric bill. It is so cheap! There's apparently a government subsidy which makes it cheaper, but even before that it's not much! One month it was even $0.00! (I should of taken a picture of that one). This bill for electricity is a little over $13.00 US. It's also my ONLY bill in Hong Kong (my employer pays for my cell phone and internet). One more thing that's great about the electric bill- you can pay it at 7-11. (And there's 7-11s on almost every block!)

The Octopus Card

I've been meaning to post about how awesome the "octopus card" is. It's fast, easy, universal and convenient. You use it for: buses, ferries, the subway, trams and even some taxis. You can also use it at the grocery store, 7-11, Starbucks and many many restaurants or stores. And you can fill it almost anywhere that takes octopus cards. It will even allow you to go into the negative so you will never get stranded anywhere.
Hong Kong has the most efficient transportation systems I've ever seen (crowded, yes)! The octopus card helps everything run smoothly and quickly. I think the key to Hong Kong's transportation success is that the subways and buses are all privatized.