Central Oasis

When walking from Central's IFC Mall to the Mid-Level Escalators, there is a really neat little creative space called the Central Oasis that you pass through.  

It's a great place to chill out and have a break when walking the city all day.  

It's a great place to check out some local art.

It's a great place to see exhibits that change out every so often.

It's a great INDOOR outdoor space that is quite calming.

It's also a great place to catch up on the local news.

It's a great place to find some of Hong Kong's pigeons.

It's a great place to let children run around.

It's a great place to read.

It's a great place for tourists to take photos of!

It's a great place to have some quiet time and reflect on life!

It's a great place to escape from the blistering sun and Hong Kong heat!

It's a great place to meet friends (as it is a really great landmark).

It's a great place to pass through to get to the escalators!

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!

Dragon Boat Races, Mui Wo

Over the weekend, we went to Mui Wo to see the dragon boat races.  Walking from the ferry pier, we could hear the beating drums at 10 am, see all the teams stretching and strategizing, and hear the races being announced over the blaring pa system.

This is the second time that we've been to the Mui Wo dragon boat races…usually, we're in Shatin around this time of the year.

Fun Fact:  The dragon boat races begin around the dragon boat festival (aka the Tueng Ng Festival), which takes place on the 5th month of the 5th day of the Chinese lunar calendar.

This year, the official start of the dragon boat festival is June 9th, but in Mui Wo…it started earlier!

Besides Mui Wo, other places that host dragon boat races:
1.  Sai  Kung
2.  Shatin
3.  Cheung Chau Island
4.  Tai Po
5.  Aberdeen
6. Stanley
7.  Discover Bay and Tai on on Lantau Island
8.  Tuen Mun

It's pretty nice to have so many places where you can view the dragon boat races.  That means that the beaches don't get too crowded…imagine Mui Wo packed with people from inch to inch.  That wouldn't make such an ideal race watching experience.

Takes me back to Cheung Chau during the Bun Festival (too crowded for my liking).

I am not a fan of the sardine living situations!

We only stayed a few hours, but the races were fun to watch.  It was really nice watching the teams stretch and mentally prepare for their races.

Back in Seattle, I have some family who are really into dragon boat racing.  They took it up mainly for exercise…and they would also see the dragon boaters practicing in Lake Union weekly.  They invited my husband and I to do dragon boat racing one weekend, which was one of my favorite memories of the past few years.

That was such a great experience…I'd never really rowed with ten other people, but it really didn't WORK my shoulders as much as I thought it would…probably because we're all working as a team to move the boat forward.  I remember that the mix of the cool Seattle summer and skimming the water on  Lake Union was awesome.

A weekend well spent!