13 september 2009: Bel-Air and surroundings

Bel-Air is a complex in one of the more recent developed areas of Hong Hong. It is close to 'Cyberport', a part of Hong Kong that focusses on modern technology and computer networks. Bel-Air is one of the "5-star" places to live and the developers have tried to make that visible in various aspects of the area. A lot of attention has been given to the design of everything and at various places they have put modern art. There is 24 hour security and you can find staff for assistence with almost anything. Every tower has it's own reception with staff for management and administration. Click on the photo on the right for a number of photo's of Bel-Air.

3 oktober 2009: Mid-autumn festival

In oktober most of the chinese people celebrate the Mid-autumn festival. This is one of the important festivals and hence everyone will get a day off from the office if the actual day falls on a week day. Unfortunately this year it was a Saturday .... Traditionally mooncakes are eaten and a lot of companies give their staff and business partners a box of mooncakes.

Bel-Air organized a small party for the children at the night of the festival. The children could play games and there was a bunny you could use to take pictures with. See the photo's on the right.

21 October 2009: Holiday Macau

This week Emily's school has a mid-term break. Hence Henk has taken a week leave as well and in the beginning of the week we have been to Macau. Macau is part of China and the easiest way to get there is by boat. It takes only about an hour to get from HK to Macau. We have booked a room in the Venetian hotel, a huge complex with a large number of (large) rooms in Italian style, inclusive of Gondoliers that float through a Venetian canal. At Ground level there is a big casino, just like in any other hotel in the city: mostly chinese people come to Macau specifically to gamble. Besides this Macau has a number of historical things to see. See the foto's by clicking on the one at the right.

24 October 2009: Car and Disneyland

Although public transport in HK is quite convenient and gets us anywhere we still decided to buy a car: a 2001 Volkswagen Golf. With a car it's a bit more convenient to quickly go somewhere; especially at HK Island it's quicker (with 2 kids ...) to get to the beach or to go shopping. Cars are quite inexpensive in HK and also prices for tax and maintenance are reasonable (cheaper than Netherlands). Price for petrol is similar to The Netherlands but because we don't drive long distances it's not going to be an issue.
The main expenses for having a car in HK is parking. Because of the lack of space, parking is very expensive. In the city you'll have to pay 20-25 HKD per hour and even here in Bel-Air parking is 14 HKD per hour.
Our apartment has a dedicated parking place included in the rent, so we don't have an issue with the cost. Henk also has a parking spot at work.

Having a car has the advantage that it's a bit more convenient to go to Hong Kong Disneyland. Using public transport it takes us about 1,5 hours to get there, with a car only half an hour. Because of the school holidays we decided to go there at the end of the day to be able to enjoy the daily fireworks above the castle at 9pm.

11 January 2010: Aberdeen Country Park

Although most people think of Hong Kong as just one large city, there is a lot of nature available. On HK Island as well as at the other side of the harbour there are a number of areas with tropical rain forest and hills/mountains for walking and hiking. Last Sunday afternoon we have been to Aberdeen Country Park, near to our home in Bel-Air, and we have been walking in (part of the park) for about 2 hours. The trails in the park are still relatively even so it is possible to take a stroller (with Sophie inside...). The weather was quite nice: about 20 degrees and sunny !