Typhoon Watch

August 13 & 14 -

In Hong Kong hurricanes are called Typhoons.
Over the weekend we were under a typhoon watch
and Amber Rain notices were posted everywhere.
We are such Floridians...
it's a "watch", not a "category" storm - we are going out!

Graphic tracking path of the storm.
The storm/typhoon was named Sanvu.

This graphic, showing the first storm of the season,
is from the Hong Kong Observatory website.

"Amber Rain" notices posted at Gold Coast Apartments.

August 13 - We went to Mong Kok to do some shopping.
We went to the Ladies Market and Sporting Goods Market.

Lunch & weather break at a Japanese restaurant
in the Ladies Market area.

Me, Sherry, Todd, Joan and Kari

Busy street in Mong Kok.

Closeup from previous picture.

Sporting Goods Market

August 14 - On our way to Central via Bus 962

Sherry, Todd, Kari and Joan

After walking around Central we took the Star Ferry
over to Kowloon from Hong Kong Island.
The skyline behind this boat is Hong Kong Island.

More of Hong Kong Island.

The building with the curved roofline is the
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Looks very impressive along the waterfront.

Passengers on the Star Ferry.

Me on the Star Ferry.

Kowloon Skyline - Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) section of town
Buildings in picture: PCCW (phone company),
Clock Tower, Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Sherry, Kari, Joan and me
Hong Kong skyline behind us.

Housekeepers are usually given Sundays off.
These ladies are enjoying their day off near the harbor.
Did you notice the sign overhead?

Wall from the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
This building was so interesting and had great structural lines.

Clock Tower
The Clock Tower used to be part of the former
Kowloon-Canton Railway Terminus.
The terminus was relocated to a larger building in
Hunghom. When the terminus was demolished in 1978,
the tower was retained and it has since
become a Hong Kong landmark.

Enjoying a local band and refreshments.
Todd, me, Sherry, Kari, Joan and Chiqui (Todd & Joan's friend)

Delay...

It turns out that Brighthouse is not coming to hook my
cable/internet until Sept 27th. Lovely!
So I'm at my local Panera taking advantage of their Wi-Fi.

I was looking through some of the pictures I haven't posted yet
(The Peak, Star Ferry, typhoon/Mong Kok weekend,
Hong Kong Disneyland Opening Day, Intercontinental, a couple of trips to LKF)...
and now Blogspot is not uploading my pictures.
It shows the upload screen, teases me with the
prospect of posting my pictures and then it goes blank.
I may try again over the weekend but for now
I'm heading home...night night.

Home again...

In my last entry I mentioned writing again in 15 hours...I was wrong. When I arrived at the San Francisco airport it turned out you had to have a T-Mobile account to log on and I don't. Our journey home was long...25 hours to be exact. On Thursday (Sept 15th) the bus from Gold Coast picked us up at 8AM (8PM eastern, Sept 14th), we flew out at 11:35AM (11:35PM eastern, Sept 14th), arrived in San Francisco Sept 15th at 9AM (Noon eastern, Sept 15th), almost a 4 hour layover and then arrived in Orlando, Sept 15th, at 9PM (9AM Hong Kong time, Sept 16th).

Before I left for Hong Kong I had my cable temporarily disconnected until Sept. 20th, which also included my internet connection. So yes, I am using dial-up...very retro and annoying. I have pictures I want to post to the blog so I am hoping in the next day or two to get to a place where I can go wireless and do another update.

Stay tuned...

Bon voyage...

We're sitting in the United lounge waiting to board our flight. I hope to post some pictures during our layover in San Francisco, so check back in about 15 hours and you may see something new. I have lots to share...