Same, same but different

Something I have learned here, is that people want to please you. A quote that I have grown to love is "same, same, but different" this is a common thing they will tell you when you ask a question or are looking for a particular thing. They will tell you or show you something that is not at all what you asked, but to them, they want to please you, so they find some commonality in it and will tell you "same, same but different". This is a quite common thing to say here. Emily and I were out the other day and saw a Chinese man with a shirt on that said "same, same" on the front and the back read "but different". We had a good laugh!


The last few days have been somewhat chill. I have been hanging out with Bruce, Emily's friends while she has been working. He just bought a new flat on the 62nd floor of a beautiful building in Kennedy Town. So the other day I went light fixture shopping! I had a good laugh, thinking of all the times I went with my dad and was so bored, now here I am doing it on my own will! We did find some great light for he apartment, so maybe all those year listening to my dad talk about lights have paid off :)

This is a view down into Kennedy town from the 62nd floor

This is a view off the balcony looking up at the peak.

Also a view from the balcony, but looking the other direction toward the harbour

On Wednesday, we went up to the peak via the tram. It reminded me of being in Switzerland! There, we went to this really nice restaurant and had gin and tonics... my favorite! We then were planning on meeting of with a friend of mine from the navy who was to be in port here for Thanksgiving. But turns out they were not granted diplomatic clearance, so no Hong Kong for them. Big Fat Bummer! It is pretty sad, many of the sailors families had flown in to be with their loved ones, only to find out they weren't coming!

Emily and Bruce at the fancy restaurant.

We found this great statue while searching for my friends Hotel... so in true Sanna fashion I needed a photo with it! Bruce thanks for joining in!

Yesterday I decided to hike the peak again, so I walked from Emily's apartment in Wan Chai. I walked over through Pacific Place, a huge mall with lots of Hotels. You feel like you are back home here! Then I cut through Hong Kong Park. This is popular place for school trips so there were herds of small, cute little Chinese kids running all over the place. I went through the aviary and also by the marriage registry. It is common to see couples all dressed up taking there wedding photos there.

Some turtles in the park

One of the pretty birds in the aviary

Class picture!

The bride and Groom walking through the park.

One of the many wedding cars parked at the registry.

The hike up is quite steep and draining, so once I got to the peak I was hungry! So I treated myself to some ice cream... and it wasn't until I was walking down that I realized I had just paid nearly $6 for 2 little scoops! oh well.. you only live once right, if a girl needs some ice cream, I am gonna get some ice cream;)This is how the whole way up the peak looks! Nice and steep!

After hiking back down the peak, which only took about 15 mins, contrary to the 4o it took me to muscle my way up to the top, I stopped in at the tea museum. Mom you would have absolutely loved this! I wished I could have made you magically appear just for a moment so you could have seen some of these tea sets. There was a competition last year, for the greatest, most creative tea set. I took a few photos of the ones I liked, before getting told that photos were not allowed!

This was the computer virus set

Just one of the many displays!

Tomorrow Emily and I are heading into mainland China to a town called Guangzhou. We will stay the night at a spa which all costs around $50 US. We plan to do some sightseeing as well!

I will be sure to update the blog when we get back!