Hong Kong, part II

It's been a busy Summer and now as I browse these pictures, my memories of these experiences have already dimmed!  Glad I took so many photos!  Sorry for the delay in posting these.  Here are the photos from the second part of my Hong Kong travels.

Landing in HK after our Maldives break!

Pastel colours of Wan Chai.

Lovely little speciality shops. Stationery...

china...

Entry way into the old days!

Interesting architecture.

A visit to Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens on a steamy hot and humid day.
Not the best idea.

Eyeballing the high end shops in Central.  This was the Fendi window.

Picking up souvenirs for the people back home!

You can find anything on the streets of HK.

Tutus, leis, and a giant yellow t-shirt with with Winnie the Pooh's face!?

The Peninsula Hotel, the oldest hotel in Hong Kong.  A reminder of the 1920's...

with a modern bar with padded walls at the top of it!

Favourite meal.  A simple and delicious bowl of lai fun with char siu (noodle soup with barbecue pork) at Tsui Hang Village.  Yum yum yum... could eat this now.

Love seeing the remnants of days gone by peeking thru all the modernity of the city.

Pretty floral soup pot turned plant container.

Alleyway juice spot. I favour these spots over the fancy trendy juice bars!

A taxi ride via winding roads.

Waterfront at Stanley.

Building and pier both painstakingly moved from Central to Stanley.
Above is Murray House and below is Blake Pier.

Stanley Market.

Lovey dovey speech bubbles, a version of love locks at the viewing deck of the shopping centre at Stanley.

Hot pot with my cousin and her family.  So good and so fun!

Korean grub at U-Hang on High Street.  Loved the decor.

At the horse races making picks based on jerseys!

A gai si, or wet market.

Tea shopping and tasting with Mom.

Dense green foliage amidst tall apartment buildings.

A three week trip was over before I knew it.  I didn't have any jet lag upon my return to Toronto, but it took me weeks to recover from the over eating and intense family time!  Now as I write this a couple months after the trip, I have witnessed a few more friends lose some very close loved ones. Reminds me how lucky I am to have two healthy parents that love to sidekick with me!  I am so  grateful to have been able to spend some quality time with fam especially in such exotic places!

Memories of New York City

It has taken over half a year to post these pictures!  But now I can appreciate the experience all over again. 

I had always thought I would move back when I left school at Parsons a million years ago.  At the time, I was worn out and just wanted to be back home for a while.  I told myself I would one day move back and do New York right, as in not the over worked grouchy student life way.  My time there was a time of transition for me and I don't think I had adjusted to all of the change in my personal life and my living situation that well.  By the time I had gotten into the swing of things, it was near end.  

So, two Summers ago I took two weeks to hang out in New York in a rented apartment with no agenda whatsoever.  Just wanted to see the friends I had there and wander aimlessly around town.  Loved it!  Then last September I wanted to do it again, but was only able to swing one week.  Still great!  Got to see some amazing friends, and this time my friend S.F. was able to join for a bit too! We walked non stop.  Think we logged an average of 20,000 steps per day.  I have no idea what is normal, but this sounds like a lot to me! Here are some snap shots from a beautiful week in the big apple in September 2014.

Strolling and stopping here and there in SoHo as soon as we landed.

Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. A first for me.  The weather was perfect in the mid 20's and sunny.  The three of us thought roadie in hand would have been ideal!  Haha!

 Admired the architecture.  Man oh man, they just don't build things the way they used to.

Imbibed at McSorley's with new friends.

Reminisced about passing Union Square daily while in school.

Perused ABC Carpet and Home

and Fishs Eddy.

Stopped for a bite and vino at Eataly as we are all about food!

Zoomed through Times Square to catch a show.  And spot a big baby.

Passed gaudy souvenir shops.  Added to my travel shot glass collection.

Had a *small* dinner at ACME.

Relaxed over a delicious brunch next to Julianne Moore at Café Cluny.

Grabbed a snack at Dominque Ansel Bakery.  Had the DKA.  Very tasty.

Ace took me to the Comedy Cellar.  Got cozy with strangers and had some good laughs!  

View from the apt on a cloudy day. 

Light Cave, the Friends With You installation near the Standard/Highline.

Late Bloom Necklace at rest on a drum!

Supply shopping bonanza.  Like Hoarders but all jewellery supplies.

Window shopping uptown.

Window shopping downtown.

Love a good pretzel.

Shiniest brightest blinding Indian restaurant.

Portrait Necklace and Glou Glou the fish.  Thankfully GG survived under our care!

Visited with the lovely ladies at Mariposa Communications!  Saw their sweet showroom and enjoyed a nice lunch with the team.

Wandered around on night time explorations!

Caught the Jeff Koons Retrospective, the last show at the Whitney's upper east side location.

So glad to have made it. Hard to believe these balloon pieces are metal.

And that was it!  Caught a flight back to Toronto hours later!  

Hoping to work out another stay sometime this year!  Reviewing these photos is giving me a big itch to visit! As they say, I <3 comment-3--="" ny="">