Can't resist a bargain!

On Sunday I attended the second tutorial. I cant help being late. Okay....I was trying to wake up earlier to attend mass before attending the tutorial but woke up late at 7:45 a.m. so I had to hurry up with a quick shower and a cab ride to the Macau Ferry Terminal. I did not go to Macau! Like I said, I attended a tutorial which was held just a floor above the terminal. Before I headed to the classroom I bought an orange juice and a ham and cheese burger at McDonald's. I only had two bites before I reach the door to the classroom. So I quickly put the burger in the bag while entering the room. The embarrassing thing is everyone stopped and the Professor even acknowledged my presence. Yikes! So much for being late and need to remind myself to be on time next time!

The Professor was correct in his comment last tutorial that students attending tutorial become less and less every tutorial. Last time there were 31 students but yesterday there were only 22 of us. The couple, who had their breakfast in the room last time, was having their usual McDonald's breakfast. Me? Well I had my orange juice in front of me but I only had one sip in the two-hour tutorial because it was really cold in the room. I was wearing a jacket already but it was not enough. Another reminder, need to bring a thicker jacket next time!

After class I attended mass at Mount Carmel Church. I was late of course but thankfully was in time for the first reading. During mass, the conversation behind me made me think I may not be patient enough to be a mother. Behind me was a family and this boy was asking his father: "What is a pharisee?", "What is exalt?", etc. It's amazing the father explained to him everything patiently.

After mass I went to Pacific Place to check out something I can buy at Lane Crawford with the gift card I received months ago. Although I have a gift card I still can't part with it to purchase something. What can I buy with the gift card? Well it's not enough to buy a pair of jeans though more than enough to get a t-shirt which starts from HK$800! Maybe I was not looking very hard at the goods available. I did like a pair of Colehaan/Nike air shoes though which I don't need. It would be nice to get a pair of pumps for office wear but I will need to shell out additional cash. No! No! The gift card will have to wait until Lane Crawford goes on sale!

I went to see four flats in Shaukeiwan. Yes, the property prices are moving up continuously for the past year and so I think I should act fast in looking for a home. Unfortunately I find the units I have seen so far not worth the asking prices. I am confused if I should wait till the market cools down a bit or should make a quick purchase now lest the market keeps going strong. On another consideration, should I buy somewhere in New Territories about an hour ride away from the office for 50% of the asking prices in the Hong Kong Island?

So after only looking at four flats, I decided to go home. But when the bus had a stop at the Central Library and most people are getting off, I realized I had to check out the Caritas Bazaar at Victoria Park just across the street. And so it is that I had my very late lunch at Delifrance behind the library and proceeded with a full stomach to the bazaar. I figured it's almost closing time of the bazaar and I won't be buying much with a full stomach. Last year, I bought lots of stuff toys at HK$5 each which ended up in the trash bin when I was moving. So this time, I was prepared not to buy any stuff toy. I was looking for a drink to buy but the snack tent was packing already. So I just had a look around where everyone was in their packing mode already, both sellers and buyers. But I still ended up with these:

At HK$5, a Nine West bag!

These toys bought at HK$1 each.

All in all I spent only HK$9 (HK$2 entrance fee). Not bad especially when everyone is having fun with their early Christmas shopping!

And they even have a program before the closing.

In the news last night, Cardinal Zen graced the bazaar too!

After the bazaar, I headed to Ikea. I really wanted to get a few things like study table, sofa and shoe rack but there's just no room for these where I'm staying. So I just ended up with this.


At least I have the catalogue to help me with future purchases.

Quarry Bay Tree Walk

Last Sunday I woke up in time to attend mass at Mount Carmel Church in Wanchai. After mass, I took the tram to Shaukeiwan hoping to look at some flats. But I ended up walking back from Shaukeiwan to Quarry. I had lunch at MOS Burger across the street from JUSCO. I then walk towards Greig Road and saw a trail behind the Mount Parker Lodge. And so it is that without a map or a bottle of water I took a hike. It has been a while since I had a long walk. Although there were moments when I felt alone, I would hear the distant shouting of kids.

Here are some photos taken along the Quarry Bay Tree Walk:

Plant boxes which were actually stoves built before the war but were never used.

I am happy to see this once in a while.

And I wonder the need for this sign.

Someone lives here?

A corner to pay our respect before the hike.

I wonder which came first the altar or the signages. I hope they will move the sinages or perhaps change them to new ones at a further spot from the altar.

I ended up at the Quarry Bay Market but it turns out I should have started from this point for an easier walk.

Oxy 5

Due to lack of sleep, blame it on the telly shows, acnes are out with a vengeance so I bought Oxy 5 at Manning's. It has dried up a few spots and seems to be working fine.

Over the weekend

Last Saturday I was up early to check Big Boss' computer and tv. It seems both were not working after her three weeks holiday. I did not know what was wrong as all seem to be ok. So I just unplugged whatever I can unplug - electrical plugs, cable adaptors, etc. and powered both on. I guess both were just in "sleeping mode" after a long rest and just need "waking up". Both are working fine now.

I joined Big Boss and Boss for dinner that night at Six Furlong of the Hong Kong Jockey Club. I ordered Singaporean Bak Kut Teh for starter. It was good but it would have been much better if I had rice for the way too tasty soup. For main course I had the roasted beef sirloin with vegetables. The sauce for the beef is good but the beef could have been much tender. And for dessert I had a scoop of Movenpick's mandarin and strawberry ice cream. It was too sour for my taste but I did finish it. Ambience was good. I like the quiet atmosphere despite the place filled to its capacity.

Sunday I was up early at 6a.m. to get to St. Joseph's Church in time for the 7a.m. mass. I left home 5 minutes before 7 so I had to take a HK$15 cab ride. I was still late so I missed the first reading. The priest's sermon was about gratitude. More like multiplying gratitude. One good deed leads to countless other good deeds. I do hope I am able to take part. Unfortunately I was not able to. More on this later. Mass finished early at 7:45 so I walked to the HSBC Building tram stop. Outside the church I counted four persons selling bags and pants. And then numerous sellers from the Court of Appeals towards Duddell Street. They were again selling bags and pants for HK$20 each. The "Nike" and "Adidas" body bag even comes with a wallet. There was one selling slippers at HK$15. Noticed also t-shirts being sold. I had wanted to take a photo of the scene but was afraid to do it so obviously. So here are two taken from the stairs going to the bus stop across the HSBC Building.

Photo of the HSBC Building from Queen's Road Central.

Instead of taking the tram, I took the #2 bus to the Macau Ferry for my first tutorial class with the Open University of Hong Kong. The two-hour tutorial for B862 - Corporate Finance promptly started at 9am. There were 31 students including me. One arrived though at 10:45. I guess she thought she is with the next class. There were only less than 10 females. Most of the students are older than me, several with graying hairs. The tutor was saying "OK" in every sentence that I was tempted to count how many times he said "OK". I was tempted only as he was not boring. But he did say the first unit is the hardest so I have a lot of reading to do as I have read only the first chapter!

After class I went to IFC mall to see if there is any Apple shop as I am looking to buy a laptop. No luck there so I went to Elements, the new mall atop the Kowloon Station. Only saw one Apple laptop at Fortress shop there. It was a bit crowded that day but I did not like the layout of the Elements being Fire, Wood, Earth, Water and Metal. I prefer Pacific Place for its simple layout. Of course this is expected as Pacific Place is smaller than Elements. There is an H&M store but it was a smaller version of the first H&M store at Queen's Road Central.

I headed home after spending an hour there as I was carrying a very heavy book of about 2 kilos! My shoulder hurt last night. I am still feeling some pain now.

Anyway, I immediately got back on the MTR to go to Yau Tong as I am still checking out places to get a flat. Yau Tong is not for me as the buildings near the MTR station are Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) units. So I took a bus headed to Lam Tin. Sorry I did not like the bus terminal nor the MTR station. So I did not even had a look around the area and took the MTR to Tin Hau station. I visited two temples. And here is where I was not able to do a good deed. Upon leaving Tin Hau temple,


an old lady called me out. But i just ignored here. I immediately felt regret as soon as I stepped out of the temple gate but I did not turn back. So I was not feeling good afterwards. I then headed to the other temple.

This one has beautiful and well-lighted interiors. I did not take a photo inside as I do not want to look very touristy among the several locals praying there. So I again only have one photo.

I had a walk around the area behind the Central Library and noticed a few interesting food shops that I would like to try next time. Most of the buildings are walk up buildings meaning no lifts/elevators. And there were many car repairs/accessories shops. But it was quiet and has a homey feel. I even saw two mothers having a leisurely walk with their toddlers in baby strollers.

Since this is Causeway Bay already, I went to SOGO to check out some kitchen utensils for my mom. Got her three items which I would bring home in January! I hope they can be of some use to her. I was hoping to buy this orange juicer. Prices ranging from HK$148 to more than a thousand. I was eyeing one already but the saleslady was a bit on the not so nice attitude. So instead of getting one now, I'll just buy it when I encounter a more pleasant sale staff.

I left SOGO at around 7p.m. and took the tram home in time for the 7:30 news. My feet and legs were aching after several hours of walk. But I had a good night sleep so it was worth the mild pain.

Although my mission for the weekend was to go flat hunting, I was not able to see a single unit so perhaps the next weekend would be the good time for this.

Coincidence?

I am apartment hunting at the moment and found there are nice and affordable ones in Tuen Mun, New Territories. I decided to move to Tuen Mun because prices are within my budget. So on the 6th of October I went to Tuen Mun to time the travelling and bus waiting time. I waited only for about 5 minutes for bus # 960. So I am off with a good start and comfortably seated on the upper deck for my one hour travel. Unfortunately the one hour travel time turned to 2 hours! One hour spent on a standstill because of this

on Tuen Mun Road near Chi Lok Fa Yuen. In the news that night, the report says the 23 year old driver was killed in the crash.

So I still went on to check the time it takes to walk from Tuen Mun Town Centre to Hoi Tak Gardens where the unit I am interested in is located. Whoa! I need to walk for about 20 minutes to get there! This means to get home I would need at least 1 hour and 20 minutes not even counting the bus waiting time. But I am determined to give it a try.

Unfortunately on my way back to Admiralty on bus # 962B, I encountered another traffic jam near Castle Peak Road because of this

Did not hear about this in the news so hopefully there was no casualty.

After encountering two traffic accidents which turned the usual one hour travel time into about two hours, I began thinking if this is just a coincidence or a warning sign that I should not move there. Unit prices are 50% cheaper than those on Hong Kong Island and offers bigger spaces. But after giving it some thought the past few days, I decided to give up on moving to Tuen Mun and would really like to concentrate of getting an apartment on Hong Kong Island.