Friday 27th July

Today was Alex's last day in Hong Kong, and he wanted to take some photos and footage of Causeway Bay. Rachel just couldn't keep away from the Jardine St markets, and I'm sure she'd easily spend a day there, given the chance. So much to buy! So many bargains!

Alex and I spent a long time looking for a particular skate shop, which we never found - I WILL FIND IT, ALEX, I SWEAR! but we did see some interesting trays of squid drying in the sun in the middle of the city. We also decided to take a picture for posterity of the two figurines (religious, we think....) out the front of Times Square. We spared you the front view. Suffice it to say that one of the children pointed out that the male figure had undergone a particular procedure...

We thought we were very clever today, taking two buses so we could stop at a furniture shop on the way to Causeway Bay. We did in fact, end up at some distant point of the island, in a housing estate, but all's well that end's well, and we did eventually get to our destination. We are actually quite pleased with our transport efforts. The double decker buses are amazing - the kids really enjoyed sitting at the front of the top. Every time a tree thwacks the window, it is quite exciting. We are trying to use buses instead of taxis. Taxis are cheap, but buses are amazingly cheap. The 25 minute trip to Causeway Bay costs about $1 on the minibus. You couldn't get there substantially faster by car - the buses stop infrequently, and briefly. We did get a taxi yesterday, and it was quite interesting. This middle-aged Chinese guy had a penchant for American country and western music. It was a bit surreal.

David stayed home today to wait for the internet/cable people to come, as well the repairman for our bedroom's air conditionner so he missed out on our transport adventures. He has become a Cantonese expert, well, maybe I am exaggerating slightly, but he's really good. Our neighbour upstairs owns the Main Street US restaurant a few doors down, and she said to me today, "Your husband is very smart. He speaks very good Cantonese." He does, too. He is a real risk-taker, and has had quite a few compliments from Chinese people about his skills.

He's also developed an interest in boats. We have an incredible view from our flat - must post photos, and a huge variety of boats go by in the distance. This morning, David woke me up to see the aircraft carrier going past! It was fully laden with jets and other aircraft. He's going to get a good pair of binoculars to study the sea traffic better.

Apparently the pollution is extremely minimal at the moment, and our view may not stay this clear....

We now have a lounge suite to sit on! It is a crazy, wild, red leather slightly retro-looking set, which we are mad about. Our boxes from Australia arrived yesterday, so we have stuff! Our beds arrive on Monday - YAY!!!!!!!!! We are currently sleeping on these two inch thick things - WARNING: That's what our visitors will probably sleep on! We are so looking forward to real beds. On Tuesday, our dining suite arrives. We will nearly be complete then:)

As soon as we have a dining suite, we're going to invite some families over from church. We're very pleased that tomorrow night we've been invited to have dinner with a couple of teachers from school, one of whom I know via email.

My two inch mattress is calling...