Muji to Go

When did Muji to Go open in the Central Station???

Things change so much in Hong Kong…and new shops open all of the time!

I love Muji…

Muji has a minimalist type of style to it.  It's a Japanese-based franchise that sells a lifestyle:  clothing, stationery, furniture, and snacks.  It's one of the shops that I remember quite well from living in Japan.  I used to visit Muji when I was down in the train station malls (which are the most awesome malls I have ever been too).

I especially like the Muji to Go at the Hong Kong International Airport because it always has stuff that you ABSOLUTELY DO NOT NEED (night lights or air purifiers!!!)  and also stuff that YOU MIGHT HAVE FORGOTTEN TO PACK (toothbrush or scarf).

Whenever I'm at the airport, I always stop in there to just pass the time…and, as a good consequence, always find a bunch of little things that I FEEL I NEED:  stationery!!!

It's pretty awesome that it opened up in the Central/Hong Kong Island MTR Station.  I feel like I'm gonna be stopping by this shop every time I head over there…on my way to the IFC Mall!

Dog Strollers

When did dogs in strollers become a thing?

All within ONE day, I think I saw 5 parties of people strolling around dogs in strollers.

Take photo No. 1:  Two dogs that could be terriers (correct me of I'm wrong!) being strolled around the mall.

Photo No. 2:  As not to be too much of a crazy person, I snapped a shot of the stroller more than the dog… but TRUST ME, behind this man with the black t-shrit sits another dog in another stroller.  You can definitely make out its head.

Photo No. 3:  Here's a couple, also strolling around the mall with their dogs sharing a stroller.

Is this a Yuen Long thing?

Ikea Day

The first time I went to Ikea was when I had moved to Seattle.  I used to think that the showrooms were amazing.  And they still are…when I moved to Beijing, I used to ride out to Ikea just to stock up on some coffee grinds.  It wasn't until I moved to Hong Kong when I started going to the Ikea Canteen and spending more than just a quick stop and shopping trip to the Mothership (as my Swedish friend called Ikea!).

We caught the bus over to the Shatin Ikea…where the store opens at 10:30 am (we got there at 10 am expecting it to be open.).  Because we were there early, we decided to just see what the Ikea Canteen had…Instead of just waiting around, we decided to sample some of the food and just hangout until the store opened.

Fun Fact:  The coffee has complimentary refills!!!!  Since I'm back at drinking coffee…it was quite nice to gulp down my morning caffeine fix.

We were at Ikea mainly to pick up storage because we're moving house.  But, we took our time just cruising the store and checking out all the cool furniture.  Here are a few of my favorites!!!

1.  I love how tables can be stackable to create space in the small spaces that we Hong Kong people live in.

2.  I love how the displays actually looked so lived in at the opening of the day…How often do the Ikea staffers remake and maintain the showrooms?  I FEEL LIKE they must do it a lot because there are always people sleeping in the beds and rearranging the showrooms!

3.  I  love these brain and eye ball designs…so different!  I like how there is something that caters to everyone!

4.  I  love these huge mosquito nets…I wish I could get one.  Then I could have a picnic outside at a park and not worry about getting bitten up by mosquitos in the summers…

5.  I love these little lanterns.  They're really nice to have in the summer as well…to light up a romantic dinner on a roof top!  …or just to decorate the house for a party.  These are really nice to have!

6.  I also love these Japanese lantern bulb covers.  I'm thinking, again, that they'd be nice for a summer party...

7.  Lastly, I love how Ikea has carts for wee people!  I am always impressed at how Ikea caters to everyone...

While checking out of Ikea, we also realized that there was a children's "day" care area.  This is really convenient for parents who have to make huge decisions like which bookshelf to get and how to arrange shipping!  These decisions take time…and I KNOW FOR SURE that kids don't have that long of an attention span to wait for answers.  So, dropping the kiddos off at the "day" care area is a really great option!

***A Look At The Child Care Area***

I've only been to the Shatin Ikea, but I wonder if the Causeway Bay and Kowloon Bay Ikeas have the same Child Care area…

Another fun day at Ikea!

Amazing Find: Allergy Season

It's S.P.R.I.N.G.!

It's that time of the year when my allergies start acting up.

I know it because my nose will be running and my eyes will be watering from the "cotton" fluff that these trees will be starting to produce…

All over Yuen Long…"cotton" fluff will be flying in the air, sticking to my hair, and getting caught in my mouth...

So, when I start seeing these red flowers dropping all over the sidewalks…I know…

Spring is now in full force!

I'll be one of the millions who will be wearing a surgical mask around the next couple of days…weeks…(until summer comes).  And isn't that the most attractive look in the world?

Amazing Finds: Flying Home

An Amazing Find!

Today, while just walking around the town, something up in the sky…

...caught my eye.

It was a flying V of all things…

...A hundred birds with two hundred wings.

What brought my eyes from the ground to the sky?

I stood on the corner and wondered why…

My mind cleared of all the stress of the day...

As I looked at the sky that reminded me of Seattle's gray…

 Were these birds coming or going?

I continued walking to Yuen Long Plaza without knowing…

 More flying Vs came, wave after wave…

And wave after wave the joy of the sight of these birds gave.

As I extended my eyes back to ground level, I noted that others' turned their eyes to the sky,

And that's when I decided to say goodbye.

It was nice to see these birds pass by…

But, it was high time that I got my afternoon cup of tea and pie!

Amazing Find: Oral History

I was wandering the stacks of the Central Library and came across this book:  An Oral History of Hong Kong's Colleges of Education.  The thing that caught my eye was the fact that this book was titled an "Oral" history…but how can a book be an oral history?  Shouldn't it be a video or audio recording?  Another Amazing Find in Hong Kong!  Happy Monday!

Amazing Finds: Lone Bee

I was walking around Yuen Long town, still up-keeping my New Year's Resolution of keeping myself moving, and I came upon the wonderful smell of some osmanthus bushes around the Yuen Long Swimming Pool.  I absolutely love the smell of osmanthus in the air.  It's also one of my favorite dessert dim sums to order at the dim sum houses.

Nearby the osmanthus bushes was where the beautiful flowers of spring caught my eye.  And then I realized that the area was filled with bees…busy collecting nectar from these beautiful orange flowers that were spiraling around the sitting areas.

I went to sit down a little ways away to just enjoy the view of the spring flowers…and realized that, where I was sitting, there was one lone bee that was just laying so absolutely still in front of my bench.  I was no where near the flowers…and no where near any other bees…that's when I realized that this lone bee had flown over here to pass away…

…or he was just tired and decided to rest as far away from the other bees as he could…which I can totally relate to.  There are days when it just gets too crowded to be around people.  And I just absolutely love finding places where I can have time to myself and space to myself…which is why walking around Yuen Long Park has been a good option for me to walk every other day…it's just peaceful and not loaded with crowds of people.

I'd like to think this bee was probably feeling quite overwhelmed with life and decided to just fly away from society to get some peace and quiet…

It was nice to just watch him…even though he might have been wanting some alone time…

Hopefully, he wasn't so bothered with me staring at him every so often...

Amazing Finds: MTR Signage

Usually, I'm reading a book on my commute to and from work.  This past week has been quite tiring for me, though.  So, I can only handle a good 15 minutes of reading before my eye lids start getting heavy and my head starts bobbing.

To prevent any public displays of embarrassment, I decided to just people watch.  Whilst people watching, I started noticing the signage on the train.  

There are the usual No Smoking signs and the No Eating Burgers or Drinking a Soft Drink…

There are the awesome signs that mark a specific train car as a Quiet Section, which never really is truly quiet…and the signs that let us know that we can contact MTR staff through the telecom if we feel unwell…

…then I started noticing some new signs that I had not noticed before.

There is this really nice one that promotes offering your seat to those in need, which I totally love because, recently, there seems to be a lot of promotion going on for giving Priority Seats to the elderly, pregnant, and handicapped.  So, pushing for non-Priority Seats to be offered up is pretty awesome on a rush hour kind of day.

The next bit of signage that made me laugh was this one (below) that not only gives a maximum penalty of $5000 HKD for putting your feet up on the train seats, but also rhymes…

I've seen many a people resting their feet on the buses, but I've only seen kids putting their feet on the train seats!  Can you imagine a toddler getting a $5000 HKD fine from the MTR staff!

Lastly, one of my favorite signs that I found this week was the one that said No Sitting On The Floor of the train.  I have only seen it in the East Rail so far, but this is definitely my favorite sign so far.  I haven't actually seen many people sitting on the train car's floor, but I have seen a few.  It's just so tough to stand on days when your legs just can't hold you up.

This was a pretty nice way to pass the time on my commute.