Hong Kong 6

First Trip to Hong Kong With Nara

Happy New Year!

We got off the plane in the morning and that evening was New Years. Even though I was tired, I decided that New Years was too good to pass up so I went down to the Star Ferry Terminal. I arrived around 6pm and the place was already full - tripods and camera everywhere. A kind photographer let me stand next to him and we waited for 6 hours for the fireworks to start. People were really nice - I saw an MacBook Pro charging three iPhones that had run low on batteries and lots of people were "saving" spots when another person needed to go to McDonalds for food or a drink. I was quite civil. Tour boat after tour boat left from our location and near midnight high end boats arrived for the party going on above us.

Fireworks from buildings were quite cool. There wasn't a lot of variation, but it was certainly cool to see.

The neat part was what happened next. Three hundred thousand people all decided to leave at the same time to get on the same MTR.

The crowd was dominated by young (univeristy aged) and there were certainly patent. Unlike Vancouver post fireworks crowds, there didn't seem to be much alcahol involved. The crowd poured into the streets and got caught in a traffic jam. We probably stood there for 15 minutes waiting for humans in front of us to get out. Once we got moving, I saw the extent of the crowd - streets were packed for blocks and blocks.

Nathan road was curb to curb people and there was a long line up just to get into the MTR station. I decided to walk to one of the further MTR entrances and the line up was much better. The MTR wasn't crazy and soon enough I was home in Mong Kok ready for sleep. Helen and the Grandparents watched the fireworks on TV - they may have had a better view.

Walking Around With Nara

Apartments in Hong Kong aren't huge so it's common to go for a walk to get some space. Nara was often in a state of shock and awe when we went outside so I decided to take some photos of her and the world. In all of these photos, she is strapped on my chest (in a soft carrier) and I'm taking photos by putting the camera behind my shoulder and just randomly shooting - no preview.

Helen's Grandparents live in a thriving neighborhood in Mong Kok that caters to walking traffic. There is lots of competition and stores do their best to attract customers with delicous looking products. Nara was of course into everything.

Nara also seems to like birds. One morning I walked up to the bird market so Nara could look at the birds. I think she likes flying birds more than caged birds, but she was still pretty interested in what was going on.

Visiting People

We go to Hong Kong to visit people. Helen's Grandparents live there as does her Aunt Jenny and her family. On past trips everyone was always happy to see us, but we noticed a change this time - everyone wanted to visit with Nara - we were just her care takers!

We stayed with Nara's Great Grandparents who have a traditional (in the 1970's) appartment in Mong Kok. The place has lots of air conditioning, but not a lot of heating so when the weather gets cold, you bundle up (or go out shopping!)

I bought Helen a new camera for her birthday and this one includes video! We took some video of people with Nara.

Nara's Great Grandparents were really happy to see Nara. They have photos of her up and every day wanted to hold her and interact with her. She is a bit of handful, but I think they came to an understanding.

Jenny joined us in Canada when Nara was born so it was nice to get back together. You got the feeling that Nara remembered Jenny, but since Nara can't talk yet, it's hard to be sure.

We had one other lucky meet up - Sean and Catherine happened to be in Hong Kong at the same time as Sean finished up his term at Hong Kong University. We went out for brunch at the Hotel Intercontential - a fantastic meal. Somehow we forgot to take a photo of Catherine! My bad - sorry!

More...