Seven

Yesterday, the number 7 had a significant meaning for George and I.

• There are seven wonders of the ancient world.

• There are seven continents in the world.

• There are seven colors of the rainbow.

• A ladybug commonly has seven spots.

• Most people in Europe, Latin America, and New England write 7 with a line in the middle.

• In “Star Trek: Voyager,” Seven of Nine (also called Seven for short) is one of the crewmembers.

• ProSieben (sieben being German for seven), a television network in Germany.

• The Marilyn Monroe film “The Seven Year Itch” is famous for the white dress blowing up.

But more importantly, we celebrated our seventh anniversary together. It’s amazing how time flies. And I couldn’t even imagine my life without George anymore. Thank you for an incredible ride of a lifetime. I’m hoping it’ll never stop.

Ich liebe Dich!

Hong Kong - Day 3

The third day of our visit to Hong Kong was mostly spent in Kowloon, which is on the mainland side across Victoria Harbour. We visited the Hong Kong Museum of History, some street markets, the beautiful Kowloon Park, and Nathan Road with its surrounding high-end stores, businesses and traditional hotels.

Inside one of the old double decker tramways in Hong Kong. These are one of the oldest public transportation vehicles still in operation. The trams started back in 1904 and run from one end of Hong Kong Island to the other. And they are lots of fun to ride on. Well, maybe not so much during rush hour...

The old Legislative Council Building in Central.

In case you always wondered how to spell “Slow” in Cantonese.

George enjoying the morning ride on one of the famous Star Ferries going across Victoria Harbour.

Give me the camera...give me the camera! Okay, fine. Snap away! Kowloon, here we come.

Heavy traffic trying to squeeze into one of many tunnels that goes under the harbour between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong’s skyline is seen in the distance.

The Hong Kong Museum of History covers the local history dating back to hundreds of thousands of years ago up until when the British returned Hong Kong to China in 1997.

An old junk boat on display inside the amazing Hong Kong Museum of History.


The museum exhibits the natural and local history, as well as ethnography. It is very well executed with tons of original artifacts and art.

In these halls the Chinese life and folklore of Hong Kong in the 1800’s was prominently displayed.

The World War II and post-war section of the museum were very elaborate. Here is George working on his teaching skills in a post-war classroom.

We were just fascinated by all these old and sometimes massive neon signs all over town.

George taking a break at beautiful Kowloon Park.

These trees where everywhere. And the roots would sometimes just take over everything. They would even grow through walls and come out of the asphalt.

More interesting architecture wherever we went. This one was on Nathan Road, one of the busiest roads in Kowloon.


An old-style junk boat, now used for harbor cruises.

A mix of diverse architectural styles, high rises and sparkling neon displays can be seen along the shorelines of Kowloon.

The Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower on the Kowloon side of the harbour. It is the only remnant of the original site of the former Kowloon Station and was built in 1913.

McCafé cappuccinos are actually very good, believe it or not. And quite reasonable too. But unlike its American counterpart, the Hong Kong McCafés serve them in real porcelain cups and the delicious pastries and cakes on real porcelain plates with silverware. Just as they do in Germany too. Can you imagine this in an American McDonald’s or McCafé?

Speaking of which...American fast-food and coffee house chains are everywhere, like here on Hennessey Road in Wan Chai. There are even Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Caribou Coffee outlets here. How did these companies ever get so successful all over the world? But is there an outlet of Peet’s Coffee, our most favorite coffee place anywhere? Of course not!

We’re not quite done yet. More photos to come. In the meantime, Happy Chinese New Year! It starts on Thursday, February 3rd. And 2011 marks the Year of the Rabbit.

新年快乐.