We arrived here on Christmas eve after traveling through the night. Left home at 10pm, Hyderabad airport at midnight, Bangkok airport from 4am to 8am, and arrived in Hong Kong around mid day. Laurel and Caroline were at the airport to meet us. They have been awesome hosts.
After three days here, Jo and I concur that this is another place where we could see ourselves living (though I have to remind myself that it is China). The city ("Central") is very urban but manageable. The food is terrific. Prices aren't too bad. People and weather seem nice. The big surprise however is the large swathes of greenery. Hong Kong is reputed to be one of the densest cities in the world. Here are two pictures - that red smudge is Vivian and behind her I'm carrying Evan on my back walking up a trail which starts about 20 steps away from Laurel's door. The next picture is looking further up hill. I wouldn't be able to find a place like this in Austin.
We have done a bit of the usual sight-seeing but we are mostly enjoying hanging out. Evan and Caroline have had a somewhat adversarial start but seem to be settling down now. Vivian declared this morning that she wasn't going to return to Hyderabad or Austin and wanted to "live between London and Hong Kong". I asked if she meant some place in between the two cities and she clarified that she meant a few days in London and a few days in Hong Kong.
We had a very leisurely Christmas morning. As usual the after-thought gifts were the biggest hits. Natural Malaysian organic rubber balloons that burst at the slightest disturbance and cheap Chinese drawing boards with markers were the undisputed winners. Evan did like Caroline's grunting tail-wagging pig and called it a "dow" and tried to sit on it.
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