Sunday Brunch Date.

On a walk to the park, my husband and kids discovered a new Western cafe close to our house in Kowloon Tong and Kowloon City. It is called the Stone Cafe Houses with the cutest atmosphere and scenic setting. On a Sunday that our kids were making up their Taekwondo lesson, my husband and I got to spend some time together staring at each other across from our cups of coffee and eating our eggs.   

Tis The Season For Winter Fairs.

This is the time of year that schools host Winter Fairs and other holiday events. Friday afternoon, we visited the kid's school that they attended last year, who was having their big Winter Fair. We had a sheet of tickets, and our kids enjoyed playing the games that the different classes had put together. We listened to different grade levels performing and they were able to see some of their old friends. 

Parks Are The Senior Citizen Gym.

Here in Hong Kong, the public parks are filled with senior citizens early in the morning, using the exercise equipment to work out. I am impressed with the agility of some of these individuals. I know they are a lot older than they look, so it's hard for me to accurately guess their ages. My husband likes to join the senior citizens out there in the morning when he runs around the track. He told me he saw an elderly man using a tree to stretch, and his leg was completely above his head. Many mornings, you will also see the senior citizen's clustered together in groups performing beautifully synchronized tai chi. It's lovely seeing the senior citizen's being physically fit and taking advantage of the free exercise equipment that most parks have to offer. 

She Learned To Swim.

My daughter who has literally screamed for the past ten months every time she has taken a shower, earlier this month finally decided to stop making every shower a battle, and quit screaming. Up until our move to Hong Kong, she had never taken a shower in her life. She was a bathtub girl for the first five years. We tried everything to help her adjust to showers, but it was a no go. She didn't want to have anything to do with them. Until she made up her own mind that she would tolerate them.

The same strong spirit in her, also applied to swimming. Back in South Carolina, we had a pool in our backyard, and every summer, she would splash around in it, but she would never take off her floats and she would never venture to the deep part. Until two weekends ago, when we spent four hours at the public pool next to our home here in Hong Kong. She borrowed her brother's goggles and stuck her face in the water. Then she was sticking her whole head underneath. Five minutes later, she decided to start swimming, and just like that, she was swimming between my husband and I, with absolutely no trepidation. 

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to document the momentous event, because cameras are not allowed near the pool. Instead, I took pictures of signs, because I am one happy Mama to have two swimming children.

Lion Rock.

I see Lion Rock every morning from the windows of our flat when I wake up. I am also surrounded by skyscrapers, but being surrounded with a mountain view does not make me feel like I'm living in just concrete. From where we live, this is not the perfect view of the lion shaped rock, but from other angles in Kowloon, the rock resembles a lion that is crouching.

There is a hiking trail that one can take across the profile of the lion. There is a park named, "Lion Rock Country Park" after the lion. There is a road in Kowloon City named, "Lion Rock Road". Finally there is also a tunnel passing through the mountain called, "Lion Rock Tunnel". When we lived in Tai Po, we would travel through the tunnel on a regular basis.

The Tale Behind The Two Lions.

You can see these lions all over Hong Kong at the entrance to temples, banks, office buildings, etc. The lion on the left has its mouth shut and the lion on the right has its mouth open.

The lions are Buddist in origin and are meant to ward off evil spirits. The lion with its mouth open is said to be pronouncing the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet that has an "a" sound to it. The lion with its mouth closed is said to be pronouncing the last letter of the Sanskrit alphabet that has an "um" sound to it. The two lions represent the beginning and the end of all things.

These particular lions stand guard at the entrance to the Shang Sin Chun Tong Temple in Kowloon Tong.  

Color In February.

Back in Myrtle Beach, the grass typically turns brown in the winter {unless you have special seed spread out in the fall and you maintain your lawn throughout the cold months}, the leaves fall off of the trees exposing bare limbs, and there is simply not a lot of color outside. 

But in Hong Kong, we have green grass, some leaves have remained on the trees, and flowers are still blooming. 

I love walking down the street and seeing color in the midst of winter. 

Back Alleyway.

 

Hong Kong is made up of so many buildings built closely together. This also means there are plenty of alleyways to walk through as shortcuts to get to where you need to be. Some alleyways are more scenic to walk through than others. We've walked through some and a rat has run out in front of us! This particular alleyway was a lovely afternoon walk for me.

Chippy Paint Loveliness.

Another gate found in a back alley corridor of Kowloon Tong. Most residences have barb wire or some type or extra deterrent to ward off potential burglars on the top of their walls. A little peep hole on the gate for the ones inside to see who might be on the other side.

Red Door.

As soon as I walked past this door, I fell in love with the color and the design. An arched doorway? Yes please! I'm not exactly sure what's on the other side. I tried to look when the pedestrian gate was open, but all I saw were a bunch of different vehicles and a large shrine.

On either side of the beautiful red door, were the traditional lion statues. I am planning on writing a blog post about these lions that are found all over Hong Kong.

We're Not The Only Ones Decorating.

The malls here in Hong Kong put up elaborate Christmas displays throughout their buildings. Each mall seems to have a different theme that they have constructed their decorations around. I've seen a Disney Frozen theme, a Charles Dickens type theme, Moomin winter theme... you get the idea. The list could go on and on since there are so many malls here in Hong Kong.

This is the mall closest to where we live. And yes, that is a five story tall Christmas tree set up in the very middle. Carriages, white horses, and fairies are found throughout this mall.