CNY goodies

Got some really cute stuff at the CNY flower market today!

CNY updates

Chinese New Year is almost upon us! For about half a month before and after the first day of CNY, everyone speaks in terms of the lunar calendar. The whole city seems to be gearing up for this holiday. It's kind of nice to have two big holidays (Christmas and CNY) almost back to back. Since I've submitted a bunch of stuff right before Christmas, I haven't been doing very much at work lately. I've been taking it really easy at work and leaving everyday at a reasonable time. Haven't been to the office on the weekend in a while. It's really nice having both Saturday and Sunday away from the office. I really find it necessary to have two days to recharge. 

All the big malls have replaced their Christmas decorations with CNY ones. Lots of horses everywhere since this is the year of the horse. The flower markets have started and tons of people have crammed into the Victoria Park one over the weekend. So many flowers and other unnecessary junk. I'm always tempted to buy lots and lots of stuffed animals whenever I go. Now that I live right across the street from it, I can go as many times as I want! But I won't be able to go take advantage of the last minute sales at midnight of CNY though since I'll be going back to Zhongshan.

My Chinese visa has an expiration date of January 30th, which is CNY eve. This is really good timing since it basically means I don't have to take any time off and make the most of the public holiday. I'll be taking a ferry back to Zhongshan on Thursday afternoon and be back in HK on Sunday. I think this will be a nice break from the constant internet surfing, Facebook checking, and emailing that I do nowadays. I feel that my life happens at a faster pace since I got all these gadgets, especially that smartphone. My brain is always being fed some kind of activity.

Anyway, really trying to eat healthier these days and buying certain produce from the organic store. I think I only eat out about twice a week for lunch. Eating a lot of veggies and bringing salads and fruit to work. I've actually found that putting a salad together for lunch the next day is much easier than making a rice or noodle dish. It's so fast and healthy! The next thing is to replace the unhealthy snacks with healthy ones. The unfortunate thing is that I think work will pick up again and I'm going to be really busy again. Another big (new!) project has just landed at my desk. 

Library Card

I finally got a Hong Kong Library card! I've been meaning to do this since I now live really close to the Main library. One short form, ID card, and proof of address are all you need. It was fast and there's no "probation" period. The maximum limit for checkout is 8 though. I'm not sure I remember a limit for the Oakland libraries. But I think it's a matter of the number of people to the number of items available. Anyway, I have fond memories of pulling books off the shelf and borrowing them without any restrictions other than my own physical limit.

The main library here is really nice! There is a big atrium on the ground floor, along with a cafe that overlooks a green space. So it would be a pretty nice place to read your books after borrowing them. All around the perimeter of each floor is plenty of seating areas for people to read. I would have spent some time at the cafe too but I had just finished grocery shopping and was carrying a ton of veggies along with my books.

Tentative Japan and Korea trip coming up at the end of March! Stay tuned.