Saree (or Sari) Shopping

Nathan Road is one of Hong Kong's well known shopping areas, and many of the stores are run by the Indian community, which have many tailor shops for suits etc.  Also in this area are the Indian shops selling cloth for Sari's. Vivian offered to take me shopping for a sari, so we met in front of the Chungking Mansions.  This is a somewhat dilapidated 17 story cheap hotel or guesthouse, where a lot of backpackers and people looking for a cheap place to sleep stay.  It doesn't have the greatest of reputations, but
is supposed to have a good Indian restaurant in it, so l asked Vivian about going there for lunch, 
but she said she wouldn't' go there without a man along!

The  shop girl was showing us how some of the saris are made now with the pleats already
sewn in.  Traditionally they are only a long 5m strip of cloth that you wrap around your
waist and hand pleat it on one side and tuck into the waist band and then drape the rest
 over your shoulder!!  A slip is worn underneath and the blouse on top is a lined
 cropped top.  Actually one end of the sari cloth is for the top to be made from.

She said lots of the young people don't know how to do the pleating anymore so that the whole
thing doesn't fall off!  Vivian said on her wedding day she used lots of pins to make sure
everything stayed where it should be!

On the wall where it looks like spools of thread, it's actually bangles, and you buy them buy the dozen!!

The tops and shirts are very fancy with lots of bead work.

Beautiful tunics! 

This was a cotton fabric with a embroidery design.  Vivian and her husband are from Bombay,
which is now called Mumbai and work at our school. She is an accountant but has been
taking her teaching degree and for the past two years had been practice teaching
with Blaine.

This sari had rich gold embroidery on it.

This one had lots of sparkle and beading.  The colors and cloth is rich and beautiful.

This is a top l had made (don't know if l'll ever wear it but was fun)  The top is called a kameez and the loose fitting pants are called shalwar.  The dupatta or scarf is always worn with this 
type of outfit.

The lady on the right is the owner of the shop, and stopped in for a visit, I think mostly to see
about this westerner who was interested in their clothes!!

This piece of cloth l had made into two different tops.  Thank goodness for Vivian because no on speaks
English here!  My Punjabi is as nonexistent as my Cantonese!

She let me take a picture of her earrings, and took them off to show me how they work! The long gold
chain hooks over the top of the ear and then attaches to the back studs of the earring!!  I hadn't
seen those before.  I'ts been so much fun to learn a little about other peoples cultures.

When we were leaving we stopped at a little store so Vivian could pick up some Tamarind.  She simmers it in water, strains it and uses it to make a sauce with.  It has both a sour and sweet taste 

apparently, depending on what you do with it.  In the west it is used in the making

of  Worcestershire sauce and HP sauce.  Not something l've knowingly used but used extensively

 here in the east and in Indian cooking.  So many things l've missed living in my little western world!!!

Tai O Stilt Village

A century ago this mostly Tanka Village on the west coast of Lantau was an important trading and fishing port.  Mostly salt and fish was exported to China, but as recently as the 1980's it traded in illegal 

immigrants brought from China in long narrow boats, and sending back contraband such as refrigerators, 

radios and tv's to the mainland.

Today Tai O is mostly a tourist destination.  Some older people still make their living duck farming,
 fishing, and making the village's well known shrimp paste.

This narrow foot bridge connects the island to Lantau.  Until the mid 1990's the only way to cross
 was via a rope-tow ferry pulled by elderly Hakka women.

Another thing they are known for is processing salt fish, which you can definitely smell as you
walk along the market.

A sand crab just waiting for someone to consume him!

We couldn't figure what these were, but they sure cost a lot!

Dried squid!

If  you're not hungry for squid, why not have some shark!!

Hau Wong Temple with neat statues along the top.

Snacking on  fruit as they walk along.

The sign says Snow White Spouse Wanted!!  Not sure how she and her many dwarfs  fit in but then you are never quit sure about a lot of things here!

Locals enjoying a game of Mahjong.

Checking out an alleyway!  Some of the shacks are made with corrugated iron held together
with ropes.

The center waterway still has some of the traditional style stilt village houses.  A fire in 2000 destroyed many of the stilt houses along the waterfront.  When the government tried to tear down the rest and relocate residents elsewhere, there was a lot of opposition, so these few remain. 

This old couple were trying to fish a woven basket from the bottom of their boat!

Bridge that was constructed in 1979.

A lot of the local people ride these three wheel bikes with little trailers on the back. They have a
bell on the handle bars that they ring to let you know they are coming.  I think l need one of 
these to use for getting groceries once l get home!

Grandpa and his faithful companion (who looks so tall there!)

A treat to finish the visit to Tai O with!

Pink Dolphins!

Heading out to try and see the pink dolphins.  Once we got out of the harbor, Hunter was sure we
 were going to sink and kept saying we're sinking, we're sinking!  Once he got a life jacket on
he felt safer.

That got Keegan going and he would then say "but dad l can't swim!.  Are we sinking?"

The white building on the hill was the old police station that has been renovated into a hotel and is
very pretty with a great view.

The rock that is sticking out from the hill is supposed to represent a soldier but you can't really see
it from the angle of the photo.

Guide only spoke Chinese!

I see one!!  I didn't, but Jill was good a spotting them.

I wished they had been jumping but most of the time it was only the fin and hump we saw sticking up
out of the water.

They are really bubblegum pink!!  Amazing!  I've heard different versions of why they are pink, from being albinos, to what age they are to chemicals in the water!  

This is what Wikipedia says about them and why they are pink. We almost got all of him in this pic!
The Chinese white dolphin (Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, Sousa chinensis chinensis; Chinese: 中華白海豚; pinyin: Zhōnghuá bái hǎitún) is a humpback dolphin species, one of 80 cetaceanspecies. An adult is white or pink and may appear as an albino dolphin to some. Uniquely, the population along the Chinese coast has pink skin,^[2] and the pink color originates not from a pigment, but from blood vessels which were overdeveloped for thermoregulation.

This picture l took off the net so you'd get a better view of them.  Apparently they are black when born, and turn grey, then pink and finally white as an adult, which takes about 10 years to maturity.
 Because of pollution and the fishing boats, the population of these neat creatures are dwindling down.

Fishing trawlers docked inside the harbor.

Coming into the harbor of Tai O.  The actual village is further along.

A few docks on stilts.

Back to the dock.  We were very fortunate to actually see the dolphins, because even with the big
tours which are run by Hong Kong Dolphin Watch organization, you don't always see them. It was on my
list of things l really wanted to do before we left so l was thrilled we saw them!!

Strange Sightings Around Town

You see these ladies pushing carts everywhere.  Sometimes they are loaded with cardboard
 higher then they are!

Anyone know what philatelic means?  Couldn't find it in the online dictionary.

These are the handiest machines when it's raining.  You push your umbrella inside and voila your
 wet brolly is dry and easy to carry!

Love this babies bare bottom!  Saves on diapers but it seems to me it could be messy!! Until
recently diapers weren't used and on the mainland they quite often still aren't.

                                                             

Please don't use the tables and seats if you are not maternal!!!

I was thinking of buying meat at the market till l saw the whole carcass lying on the floor, and the
 mangled one hanging from the table!

Many strange types of dried sausages here and it's always hanging outside!

This is a chicken wing with a sausage stuffed inside!  Not the greatest! 

I was dyeing to see what was on the front of this sweater but she never turned around!! 
Looks like she has some kind of large animal hanging under her coat!

These dudes were all dressed up for the Rugby 7 games that were going on!! 

Pretty much anything goes here.  Bamboo poles stacked on top of a van.  They weren't tied together, and if the van has to stop quickly it's not a big deal to the guy standing on the poles!

OH! OH!  His poles are slipping off the top!!!  Nobody cares, the traffic just goes around and people walk in between the cars if there is a lull in traffic! 

Notice the N and E turned around on the word entry!  We laugh at some of the English on the signs here
but l sure wouldn't want to try and write anything in Cantonese! 

It's not every day that you see fish drying from your clothesline!!

This caption was in a restaurant in Phuket and was referring to people coming in and taking food out!!

In case you're not sure what he is trying to be, he's wearing a viking hat with horns on top of
his bowl helmet!!!!

I took this picture on Sept. 28.  This is one of the busiest roads near our place, and as you can see there is
hardly a car on it.  This was the one and only typhoon day we had while we were here and everything really does shut down.  People and cars were beginning to come out when l took this picture.
Only 5 1/2 weeks till we come home.  The two years have gone so quickly but l think there are
still a few things left to see before before we head back!