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Ahh! I actually got some sleep tonight! I still got up early but that gave me time to write my post cards.
I forgot to talk about the security around here. Because of the number of people floating around, anything not nailed down is caged, windows are barred, and even doors are barred as well. It's kind of scary walking into someone's home because it feels more like a prison with all those bars rather than a house/apartment/hole-in-the-ground.
The water and sewage pipes run on the outside of the buildings down here. There's no real risk of freezing since we're in a tropical zone, but it was odd to see (for me). The buildings are designed in such a way that all of the pipes for the apartments in one quadrant of the building have their pipes run down specially designed indents in the building. (It looks kind of gross actually.) I wonder what would happen if there was ever a blizzard in Hong Kong.
I should also mention that some of the things in Hong Kong are backwards. Their roads go the wrong way (á là the UK) and their light switches turn on when down. They've also got different sound effects for pedestrian crossings as well. Around TO, bird chirps are used (sparingly) to denote whether a person is able to cross the street or not (for the blind usually). Depending on which street to cross, you get a slightly different chirp. In Hong Kong, they have tickers. There's no distinction between which direction you would walk, but because of their placement, you can determine where you can cross and where you can't. (They're also everywhere in HK as opposed to in certain spots in TO.) Another difference bettween them is that the chirps will stop for a flashing stop or a full stop. The tickers keep on ticking: Slow for stop, stuttered for flashing walk, and fast for walk.
We went out to buy boat tickets to San Bu today. We decided to take the tram instead of the MRP. It's slow, but it's also cheaper and gives a better view of the city. Besides, I haven't ridden on the tram for nearly two decades!
Walking out of the building, I saw that the fenced off court was full of girls learning how to play tennis. *wiggles eyebrows* Hmm.. not a cute one in the bunch though.
On the way to the tram stop, I tried to hop over a sidewalk barrier. (It's about waist high.) I sat on top and tried swinging my feet over to the other side. Unfortunately, I tried throwing both of my legs over so when my foot hit the top of the barrier and got caught, I didn't have anything to balance myself and the momentum made the rest of me tip over the barrier. I landed on my shoulder, but fortunately the only thing bruised was my ego. Hey, at least I got a good laugh out of it!
Getting onto the two tier (covered) tram, I nearly knocked my head against one of the beams on the ceiling. Darned second level is only six feet high! (Not even actually. *brushes hair against celing*)
I find it kind of odd that everything in Hong Kong is high. The buildings are tall, the busses and trams are two levels, but the people are short. Mind you, it seems to be changing slowly as more and more people are eating better, but it's weird to be looking down on people all the time.
On the way to the ticket office, I was surprised to see a red maple leaf on the door of one of the buildings that we passed by. Apparently it was some sort of School of Canada. Whatever that meant. *shrugs*
After we got the tickets, we stopped off at a watch store to pick up some gifts. We found out that the proprietor was actually a not-so-distant relative! (One of my grandma's cousins.)
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