UC Berkeley Summer Symphony Chorus

Tonight was our first UC Berkeley Summer Symphony Chorus rehearsal and it was so exciting! We're singing the last movement of Beethoven's ninth, which is an amazing piece. The orchestra is playing the entire thing.


If you're going to be in the Berkeley area on either Friday, August 8th or Saturday, August 9th you should come check us out. It's FREE!

Taking matters into their own paws

We returned home today to find a toppled-over, chewed-up cat food bag. Perhaps "someone" decided mom and dad were never coming home so they had to take breakfast matters into their own paws.

An amazing seafood dinner

On Saturday night we had a great final meal at a seafood restaurant where we watched our dinner get caught and then we chose how we wanted it prepared. Um, yeah, that was intense. I stuck with the tofu and eggplant.

Hong Kong Day 6

Since we had already explored Kowloon and Hong Kong Island we decided to go out to the New Territories today. We started at the Heritage Museum where we had fun in the kids' exhibit (we loved the "put your head in an aquarium" installment) and then we found a Snoopy's World inside the Sha Tin mall.





During a break from the rain we decided to climb (or escalate) up to the 10,000 Buddhas Monastery. It was very hot and moist up there. It felt like a rain forest!

Hong Kong at night

So, after taking the subway back to Kowloon and having a dinner adventure we decided to go down to the harbor to catch a view of HK Island at night. That's what it's all about, right? The tall buildings covered with lights all along the water were gorgeous! We were happy that the rain was still scarce.




So, did you catch all of our public transportation today? Shuttle bus, ferry boat, tram, taxi, double decker city bus, and two kinds of metro/subway lines (both above and below ground). We loved it!

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Noodle adventure!

Oh man! This noodle adventure was wild! We found a place where we could get some authentic ramen noodles super cheap. The only thing was, no English was going to be used in this interaction. Some hand motions, and some sketching of little animals all took place... and it was a GREAT SUCCESS! Yummy!

Stanley

After catching a cab and grabbing some lunch, we hopped on a double decker bus to ride on the top level all the way around to the back of the Island. We landed in a little town called Stanley. There wasn't much there, but the bus ride was great!!!

Peak Tram

Our first stop of the day on Hong Kong Island was the Peak Tram. This is a really cute little red funicular that takes you up to one of the highest lookout points in Hong Kong. Luckily for us the rain cleared while we were up there and we got some stunning views of the bay.

Hong Kong Day 5

Today we were determined to see as much of Hong Kong as possible, rain or shine. In the late morning we boarded the Star Ferry for a trip across from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. We got a little wet but the views of the harbor were still great.

Hong Kong Day 4

Today the rain was still coming down pretty hard all day so not many pictures were taken. There is only so many pictures of the mall one person can take!

Anyway, after the conference ended a gang of mathematicians and I (the usual crew) went on a dinner adventure. We were taken to a place where they put a pot of bubbling hot goodness in front of you and you drop stuff in to cook it yourself. Sort of like fondue, but not really.

It was exciting when the mushrooms went in, but I stopped partaking in the festivities when the live shrimp, pork neck, fish heads, raw beef and duck's blood went in. Thank god for Ma Po Tofu!!!

Hong Kong Day 3

Typhoon update: so, after an entire day of either hanging out in the hotel, a mall, the university or another mall, the typhoon warning level dropped or "hoisted" to 3. Hopefully it will stay low and the rain will subside so we can do more sightseeing in the days to come.

What Typhoon?

Last night we were told a Typhoon was coming. There are different Typhoon warning levels that you can read about online, and supposedly as we were coming home from dinner we were at level 8, but it hadn't started raining so we were confused.

As of this morning we're still at an 8. You can click here to check on the latest weather status of Hong Kong at any time. What an adventure!

Here is the view from our hotel window this morning.

Hong Kong Day 2

While Dave was conferencing I was hanging around the university. Here are some cute lockers.


And, you don't want to miss the "afternoon delight!"


After the conference we went back to Hong Kong Island for a private tour/dinner. We ate what seemed like a 20 course buddhist vegetarian meal. It was amazing. We definitely ate strange plants and flowers we had never eaten before.



A highlight of the evening was riding on the upper deck of one of these long thin trams. Weeeeee!

Longest Escalator EVER!

Tonight we decided to go find the longest outdoor covered escalator in the world! (Laura - you'd love it!) This escalator (or travelator) is on Hong Kong Island and it flows downward in the morning to accommodate the business commuters and at 10am changes direction to flow upwards for the rest of the day. What a cool way to commute to work!