Dragon Dancers.

We are currently in Canada with my family, spending lots of quality time with my brothers and their families. Times like these we must store up for the coming two years that we will be in Beijing. I do love the colors that Hong Kong had to offer. I took this picture when I randomly walked up on some Dragon Dancers waiting for their time to perform. There was a building that was being open and the street was full of celebration. 

The Rainbow Row Of Hong Kong.

I like to lovingly refer to theses houses as the Rainbow Row of Hong Kong. Having lived close to Charleston, we were very familiar with the famous set of colorful row houses in that beautiful city, and as soon as I saw these colorful apartment homes it immediately brought to mine that what we left behind in South Carolina. 

Charlie Brown Cafe.

Auntie Andrianna took my daughter out for a little date in celebration of her seventh birthday, so while they were at the Moomin Cafe, I took my son down to the Charlie Brown Cafe in TST. My husband had introduced the kids to the original Charlie Brown cartoons from 1950 and they have been pouring over them. It was a lovely surprise for my son. We ordered themed desserts and some steamed vanilla milk while we watched some more Charlie Brown cartoons playing on the wall. 

The Spanish Moss Of Hong Kong.

Two years ago when I was riding a double decker bus for the first time down this particular section of Nathan Road, these trees took my breath away because they reminded me so much of the live oaks and the Spanish moss back in South Carolina. Pretty soon we will be back with the Spanish moss and live oaks in South Carolina, but each time I have been down in this area in Hong Kong, it has always reminded me of being back in the United States. 

Time With My Daughter.

I love spending one on one time with each of my children. I find that it's harder for me to accomplish since we've been homeschooling, since I am constantly with my children and when I get an opportunity to be alone, I would prefer to be alone. But I have remind myself that I am investing in the lives of my kids, and they greatly benefit from the time that they spend with one parent and the quality of the attention that they receive when they are out on a date with us.

Hong Kong Science Museum.

We asked our favorite Auntie Andrianna if she wanted to join us one Wednesday afternoon for a trip to the Hong Kong Science Museum. This is definitely a the preferred museum for my kids to visit. We managed to time our visit perfectly when school field trips were leaving and the museum was relatively quiet. The kids loved walking through the mirror room and participating in all of the hands on displays. 

High Tea High In The Sky.

For my birthday, my HK bestie Meg, took me out to tea at the {Ritz-Carlton}. Located on the 102nd floor of the ICC building, we had amazing views of Hong Kong Island and the ships traveling the Victoria Harbour. The Lounge and Bar where we ate was a beautiful restaurant and the company was perfect. I am so thankful for honest friendships and for the conversations we share with each other. 

Taekwando Examination.

Since we started homeschooling in August, our son has been taking Taekwando lessons each week. We have enjoyed having the time to participate in extra programs compared to when he was enrolled in the international school and spent the majority of his evenings doing homework. The other day he was able to pass off his first belt and will now have his name written on a wooden slat and hung on the wall. Having this time to learn a new skill is a fun experience for him. 

More Flower Market Shopping.

The Flower Market will be one of the things I will miss the most about living in Hong Kong. I love to frequent this place on a regular basis. This man is pretty great too. He just goes with the flow and lets me go crazy picking out flowers while he holds them all for me!!! Marriage is a pretty great thing.

Cocktails At Aqua.

The other evening I met my friend, Meg, at Aqua for drinks and to watch the sunset over Victoria Harbour. The bar is at the top of the One Peking building in Tsim Sha Tsui. We both ordered the "Kowloon Park" cocktail and settled in for a good chat. The views from this bar are amazing. Floor to ceiling glass windows encompass the whole restaurant. We talked while the sun went down and the lights on the buildings came on. 

A Day Of Coffee Shops.

We had made plans for an exciting Hong Kong weekend adventure and then it rained all weekend, thus causing us to change our plans to accommodate the weather! So I decided it was time to explore Hong Kong's coffee shops on the Kowloon side. 

We started our morning off in Kowloon City at Glady's Estate Coffee. The coffee was decent, the price was high, and when they refused to take my $500 HKD bill for our $200 HKD tab because they didn't have enough change in their register, I wrote them off. I ended up walking two shops down to a bakery and purchasing $14 HKD worth of doughnuts where the shop owner didn't blink twice when I handed her my $500 HKD bill. I then had to go back to Glady's to settle up our bill. 

The second shop we visited was Knockbox Coffee Company in Mong Kok. I had read really good reviews on them, and we were not disappointed. Their pastries were delicious, and the hot chocolate was a hit for all of us. My husband is eating a vegan diet at the moment, and he was able to order something to accommodate his needs as well.  

We ended our coffee shop tour in Jordan, walking down Parke Street looking for Kava. Unfortunately it had closed down already. After calling a friend of ours that lives on that street and confirming that it had been turned into a Korean restaurant, we decided to call our adventure quits. We were wet and tired from walking through the puddles. We opted for a movie at home!!!

Temple Street In The Rain.

There is something magical about Hong Kong when the rain pours down and everyone is running for cover with their umbrellas. I had Indian food for dinner with a friend out on Temple Street and when we left the restaurant it was beautiful to see the rain falling through the market stalls.

Clockenflap 2015.

My husband's love language is attending live concerts, an event we have been regularly participating in together since we started dating back in 1998. Now with two kids and almost two decades later, it has become a family event and something we all enjoy doing. This past Sunday we attended Hong Kong's annual music festival, Clockenflap.

Between the three main band stages, the movie theatre, the craft making station, and many more kid friendly activities, it was an event perfect for family fun. The kids did great, made friends with the other kids around them at the shows, and participated in as many activities as they could. We walked between the different stages, catching different bands performing. My husband had a list of who he wanted to see, and we managed to make to each band. At the beginning of the day, we had told the kids that they would be given caffeine in the evening to help them stay awake. The promise of that future drink was exciting for them, but after two Pepsi's our daughter was passed out asleep, having had a completely different effect on her than what we were hoping for!  

Nathan Road.

I love Nathan Road because it gets us so many places. It is the main road on the Kowloon peninsula, so naturally we take it a lot. The parts of the train line run underneath Nathan Road. Apparently, Nathan Road was the first road that was built in Kowloon back in the 1860's. In the early 1900's Hong Kong named it Nathan Road after the thirteenth Governor who served three years. His name was Sir Matthew Nathan.

Star Ferry.

Here in Hong Kong they have many a ferry that will take you from one island to another. There is one particular ferry that brings you across the Victoria Harbour between the Hong Kong Island side to the Kowloon side. We live on the Kowloon side, but seem to spend most of our weekends on the Island side.

Most of the time I forget that the ferry is an option for transportation. We find ourselves relying more on the train or bus system. But the other day we took the ferry across the water and I was reminded that this is a fun and inexpensive way to travel from one side to the other.

This is a popular tourist attraction as well. We love to sit on the top deck and look out over the water from the open cabin.

West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade.

The other evening we walked down to the West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade so that the kids could play on the playground equipment and rent bicycles. When we took the ferry to Macau, I noticed this area from the boat. My husband had been there for a music festival in the fall, but it was the first time for our whole family to visit this area.

The weather was overcast and the sun was barely making its presence known. The kids loved renting bikes and riding them around the promenade. The promenade appears to still be a work in progress, with a lot of potential.

Mall Displays.

I have to share the cutest mall display for Chinese New Year. As you've read on this blog, this is the year of the sheep/ewe/goat. Apparently it's the same word for all of those animals. Every mall has some type of prominent display up for CNY. We were meeting a friend to go ice-skating in Elements, when we saw the cutest animal interpretation for the new year.
 

A giant sheep knitting it's own ball of yarn coat. Smaller sheep made out of different wool designs. In some small way it reminded me of a yarn bombing. The knitter in me got really excited and fell in love with the theme for the whole mall. My personal favorite interpretation was the sheep with the different balls of yarn as the coat {pictured with my son}.