"Happy Ending" Haircut

Okay boys, not quite that risque, but it was good! For the past five or more years I have always had the shop owner as my stylist. I have loved the attention and quality of customer service, but I can't say I have been going to the salon for my cuts. Yesterday I learned the difference. I wanted a haircut, after all we have been here for well over a month and with it short it doesn't last six weeks.

I called down to the new salon behind the Wellcome (Kroger for us Americans). I asked for a haircut with their first available stylist. (They heard the available first stylist. Prices vary according to tenure) I got an appointment within the hour with Matt, one of the owners.

Now Matt has a shampoo boy that gave me a scalp massage that lasted longer than my normal haircut slot! And the shampoo chairs were actually comfortable. Instead of that God awful crutch that supports your entire bowling ball by your neck, there was a platform. My head was actually bearing the weight and my neck was relaxed.

Then Matt took over. I probably couldn't say much, because I was absolute putty after the shampoo! Native HKer trained in the UK, he has a pretty good grip on finer, curlier hair than the locals. He offered me a drink (no I didn't accept and it probably wasn't a Belini), but the customer service was impeccable. He took his time and snipped and fluffed for another thirty minutes. Now I am fighting to keep my eyes open....

I am certain that was the most I have paid for a haircut ever - $350HK. Too, bad it was raining. What an awesome cut and do. I guess it won't look the same til I see him again.

this is high tech

Okay, maybe not real high tech, but I am posting from my Kindle! I had just finished this week's Summer trash novel and I thought I would experiment for a bit. Now I have yet to figure out the problems with the video on the laptop, but this is adding a little variety in my hour at the music studio. It helps tune out the harsh notes from the trumpet before Maddy's!

New message in the lobby

This is a stand-by signal, indicating that a tropical cyclone is centred within about 800 km of Hong Kong and may affect the territory.

Action - If you are planning an outing, remember that there is a tropical cyclone near Hong Kong which may affect your plans. Beware that strong winds may occur over offshore waters. Listen to radio and TV broadcasts or browse the Observatory website on the progress of the tropical cyclone.

Now for translation, there's a tropical storm about 390 miles south to southwest of us. Sounds like Savannah, right? You can check out the details on Wunderground. For now, we'll go for a swim

Friday Night Lights

It was a low key weekend. Tom had to work both days at a college fair so the girls and I tested the waters at the residents' club. We did get our HKIDs on Friday as well as cell phones! The girls are excited about their new gizmos and hope to start adding friends to them soon.

Since we were in the city til 7:00, we met Tom (with a change of clothes) and headed up to the Peak for dinner. Thank goodness for Bubba Gumps as Maddy is still a little apprehensive of local food. The view was awesome and look forward to another trip up on the cable car during the day.

Swimming in the South China Sea

You could say some things are universal. For the Forth of July, SCAD HK rented a "junk" for those of us who had started their little adventure. Now the classic wooden hulls were all booked for the day, which left us with a shiny little number that held all twenty-one of us (and two dogs) quite comfortably. The captain took us out about an hour and a half to an island that boasted white sands and a small reef. What we found was that and about twenty other large junks out for the day of sun and fun - just like Altoona....



After a week of threats of bad weather, possible Amber warnings and even severe heat, we had a perfect day. Not a cloud in the sky, and when we got too hot, there was a quick jump to cool us off.

The water was clean, the food was expansive, the beer was cold, all we missed our friends and family.

Another Public Holiday

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day is celebrated every 1 July in Hong Kong since 1997. The holiday commemorates the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China and the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The day is customarily marked by an officially organised extravagant fireworks display in the evening, and is also the platform for political rallies demanding universal suffrage.

Okay, we missed the fireworks and we were actually in the Harbor! What were we thinking? It's a Thursday off to explore with Tom and the girls of course-and HKers were out to shop. We walked the flower market, bird garden, goldfish market, Temple Street, and finished off the evening with a big American style hamburger.