Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Efficiency

Today, we headed to Kowloon, which is a city across the harbour from where we are in Central.  We decided to try and take the MTR, which is the mass transit system here. I have never seen a cleaner, more efficiently run system. Everyone was polite, quiet, clean...it is perfectly safe to take and there is not a piece of litter to be found anywhere. People move here at an alarming pace, weaving in and out of people traffic like taxis on the street (which are a little scary to ride in...not from a cleanliness standpoint but the taxi drivers are very aggressive and very fond of the quick gas to quick break routine).  People mean business here and everyone looks like they are in a serious need to get to wherever they are going efficiently and quickly.  It took us awhile to figure out the system and eventually enjoyed the quick ride to Kowloon.  We ended up changing plans at the last minute as our intended goal of going to a 100th floor observatory didn't pan out.  From there, we took a taxi to Kowloon Park...again, not our intended location, but it was as close as we could get with the language barrier with the taxi driver. This just means we will have to venture over to Kowloon again soon.

Kowloon Park was gorgeous. As we entered the park, we were met with swans, flamingos, and colorful ducks. This was similar to Hong Kong Park as it is also a beautiful green space in the middle of a busy city. The kids loved playing in the park and, if we were more prepared for going to this park, we would have brought bathing suits as there is also a public swimming pool there.

I'm loving the colors here!






A reflection of the city in the lake at the park.

The girls were thrilled when we saw the swans at the park.


The flamingos were a highlight for everyone! 


Posing for a picture before we head to the children's park. Syd was my photo assistant for the day!

The trees and tree roots are fascinating...definitely not something we see at home.




Cole loves to "drive" at any opportunity. He loved this wheel at the park . We had to convince him to explore the rest of the play area.



Syd loved hanging out on the children's exercise equipment.





The kids are officially trained to say "cheese" whenever I pull out the camera.



After lunch, the kids stayed with Noelle to rest while I did some much needed grocery shopping. Again, the efficiency here is to be admired. The line at the grocery store had to be 50-60 people deep. At first, I thought of turning around and walking back to the apartment as I immediately thought of how long a line like that would take to get through if I were home.  Since we desperately needed food and I was alone for the first time since we got here, I decided to go for it.  I went during the traditional Hong Kong lunch hour which is from 1 - 2 p.m. and there were masses of people in and around the mall (our apartment is located on top of a four story mall). Much like the MTR, people moved quickly and purposefully, not waiting for anything that may be in their way.  Most people in line at the store had one or two items in their hands to purchase. I got a few looks as my cart was overflowing with enough groceries to feed six people.  Unbelievably to me, it took less time for the line of 50 people to go through the many registers than it would take me to get through a line at Meijer at home with only one person ahead of me.  There are many employees getting you where you need to be quickly. And, the best part....free delivery for the groceries. It was definitely time well spent.

Overall, it was a day where we had to think quick on our feet and figure some things out, but we had a ton of fun doing it. Noelle is amazing with directions and figuring out how to get to where we need to go. She has the ability to remember how to get somewhere after we have been there once.  This is not my strong point at all, and I am so grateful she is here. Not only for help getting around, but for the unbelievable help she is with the kids. They absolutely love being around her and they're having a blast playing with her everyday.  I, too, love her company! We will definitely feel a loss when she leaves here in 2 weeks.  I feel like we hit our groove and are working really well together as a team. She brings efficiency to our lives!

It's bedtime here as the day is just getting started at home. We can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.
Noelle and Cole have quickly become best buds. He loves to "gawk" with her.

2 comments:

  1. great post, michelle! we have not checked out kowloon park, but now it's high on our list!

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  2. You directionally challenged? I would never have guessed!

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