Important Note for Those Visiting Mirador Mansion

Found this note in the elevator lobby of the Mirador Mansion on our first night in Hong Kong:

Note in Mirador Mansion Elevator lobby

In full it reads:

"Notice:  We are recently found that many tourist urinating and stooling at the corridor of the building.  This behavior is not only a health hazard, but will spread germs.  offenders will be prosecuted and handed over to the police for further action.  The guesthouse must remind your guest do not urinate and stool everywhere, in order to maintain the good health of the building environment.  Thank you for your kind attention."

Ummm.  Yeah.  You know how some Universities are party universities and some are more...studious? We moved to Chungking Mansion after three days.  The only stool in the hall there was the three legged one that the stoned guy from Fiji sat on all day while chatting with strangers. 

Views of the Hong Kong Skyline

Hey.  I just got a bunch more of our travel photos from Minxi.  Turns out we took about a hundred pictures of the Hong Kong Skyline from different angles.  Here are my favorites.

Skyline Looking South West to Hong Kong Island from Kowloon

Star Ferry Pier Hong Kong Island

Skyline as Seen from "The Peak"

Hong Kong Island as Seen from The Avenue of Stars

Funky Building West of Kowloon, does anyone know what this is?

More Trouble with Chinese Chickens

Have you noticed that Minxi and I write about chickens a lot?  First there was the epic Chicken Foot Soup Recipe.  Then yesterday Minxi told me the great story about a chicken standing in for her daddy when he and her mommy got married.

Well, chickens are back in the news today.  Apparently, there was a fracas in the Liu household one day when Minxi was seven.  It seems that daddy brought a live chicken home for dinner.  Minxi was very excited to have a chicken for dinner but horrified when told she was going to have to kill it.  She refused.  She says she was a child and was afraid that the chicken would hurt her.  But I can see the truth and I don't blame her, who knows whose husband she was being asked to behead?!!?!?   Can you blame her for not wanting to do in some poor girls husband just so they can have some soup.   Don't lay that on her man.

Hey baby, wanna date?

Is the Hong Kong Space Museum Worth Visiting?

Of all the stops we made in Hong Kong, we were really only let down by the Hong Kong Space Museum.

Hong Kong Space Museum

The museum is locate at 10 Nathan Avenue right on the harbor in Kowloon.  It is fairly small as space museums go.  The exhibits were mostly of demonstrations of the principles of space flight.  I was kind of let down.  There were quite a few hands on demonstrations for kids, a low gravity walker and space walk simulator for example, but not a lot to hold the attention of space buffs or adults.  

The one unexpected and cool display was a full scale mock up of the bridge of a US space shuttle.  Unless I had children or was into Imax, I would give the Hong Kong Space Museum a pass. 

The Day Minxi's Mom Married a Chicken

This is a true story of life in China in the 1930s.   Family and family matters are very important Chinese culture and were even more so in the 1930s.

As the eldest male in his family, Mr. Liu was expected to be the first to marry.  He was also very smart and got the rare opportunity to leave town and study at University.  This was a great honor for the family but caused a bit of a crisis when Mr. Liu's younger brother announced that he had found the woman he wanted to marry. 

In China in the 1930's, the mother and father had the ability to say yea or nay to a marriage but the elder Lius felt like the younger bother's marriage was a good one.  Only one problem.  The younger brother couldn't marry until the older brother was married.  A suitable wife had been found for Mr. Liu but there was no way to get him home for the wedding.  What were they to do?

In Minxi's home town there is a tradition. When the bride and groom cannot meet, they find a stand in for the missing spouse; a hen for a missing wife, a rooster for a missing ma.  So one day, in the green of the world, in Southern China,  Minxi's mom, this is completely true, stood up and took her wedding vows with a chicken.

The good news, from the chicken's perspective, is that it could now not be eaten until the real Mr. Liu got home some months later.  

I think a lot of men would like to cut the head off their wife's ex.  Only Mr. Liu can say he actually did it.