we looked at some more properties in happy valley today, and then we headed out to an area called the midlevels and saw six more properties. though we LOVE happy valley and would love to live here permanently, the prices are a little steep. the apartments we saw in the midlevels were spacious AND within our budget, and they were very close to grocery shopping and to the SOHO area. the SOHO area is full of restaurants and shops and is very lively. we saw a lot of restaurants with cuisines from all over the world while we were down there today, and the shopping looks pretty amazing.
oh, by the way, we have decided to stay in the thick of things and not live on one of the outlying islands :-) i like taz's idea about going to the islands when we need a little respite from the activity.
in addition to looking at properties today, we also FINALLY got ourselves cell phones. neither of our cell phones work here (mine works for data if i use the WIFI option, but i cannot use it as a phone), and it was becoming an issue to not be able to reach each other. ironically, just minutes after buying our cell phones (and before they were set up/usable), we had an issue on a double decker bus where were close to being separated, and having phones would have been handy to say the least.
that little incident on the bus? very educational. you see, many of the buses here are double deckers, and the bug thinks that is the coolest thing ever. so, we've been riding on the upper deck. today, i had quinn in the backpack and was carrying our stroller (folded up) when the bus stopped at our stop. i was 3/4 of the way down the stairs from the upper deck to exit on the lower deck when the driver closed the doors and started moving again (josh and livie were well ahead of me and just about to exit when the doors closed). when the bus started moving again, it jerked pretty hard and i lost my balance and fell down the last four stairs....not a huge deal, but painful and a little scary since i had quinn on me. so, now i know that when the kids and i are riding without josh, we will not ride on the upper deck...just takes too long to get us all down the stairs.
it is now time for dim sum. yummmmyyyyy! (taz, i promise a full report AND a pic :-)
Yummy dim sum! Austin doesn't have great dim sum but Houston does. I bet Hong Kong is amazing - out of this world. Taz is right, you are Andrew Zimmerman but much prettier. I would have voted for the resort-living with the kids. If it was just Neil & I hustle bustle all the way. SoHo sounds like a great compromise. I miss yer face too, gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteGlad you were able to decide. You're all doing so well so far!
ReplyDeleteSide note: LNS, there actually is a good dim sum place here in Austin. The Asian market off of Braker and Lamar, there's a place called Fortune Chinese Seafood Restaurant that offers dim sum for lunch on the weekend. Go early (they offer it 10-1) coz it gets pretty busy around 12.
i was off the computer a few days, and looks like i missed so much! exciting that you made a decision about where you want to find a place. i am still amazed by all you have managed to do -- with two kids tagging along!
ReplyDeleteLove that things are going well for you guys. Any chance you'll be able to Skype???
ReplyDeleteThere is a restaurant in SOHO called the Flying Pan. It has awesome breakfast food 24 hours a day. Its super small so going there at off-peak times is the wisest decision. We had some Thai food near Temple St that was super tasty and SUPER cheap. I'm so jealous! I wish we could live in HK instead of Korea! One more year until we move home!
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