I'm home

What a perfect weekend. I'm in my new apartment; I have unpacked and made it homely. It's my own little space in Hong Kong and I couldn't be happier with it.

I woke up early with anticipation of the day ahead. I set of for a run at 6:30 and ran for an hour and a half with a swim in the middle. I then made my way to church, which was an amazing service talking about letting go of anger and we read Jonah. I remembered the story from Sunday school and turned to my friend excitedly declaring 'I know this one, he gets eaten by a whale'.

I was invited to lunch after the service and all seven of us made our way to the little Vietnamese opposite St Stephens. It was perfect. I am beginning to find myself invited in to a family and community.

I packed up my bags and moved to the building next door. From the windowless room on the 5th floor to the lightest and much larger room on the 8th floor. It really was like the light at the end of a two month tunnel. It felt like home instantly and I knew I would be happy here. I unpacked, hung clothes, and allocated drawers for my bags and shoes. I decided to waste no time and headed straight for Ikea and a stationary shop I bought a mirror and a lamp and some blue tack so I could put pictures up of friends and family.

View from my room. Wan Chai Road. To the left you can see a green mountain, to the right, the SEA!!!
Very lucky girlie to have found somewhere with a sea view and greenery 

Hong Kong is celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival at the moment, and I wanted to see the celebrations and Richie agreed to come along with me, which was very nice of him as he'd been before. We met outside the giant teapot as we now have a small obsession with the giantification of random objects.

Victoria Park was alight with huge lanterns and lights. It was beautiful, if not a little crowded. Ruth would have loved this.

The Chinese do like a festival. From Victoria Park we made our way to Tin Hau where the fire dragon would be making its way down the streets with a procession of dancing and drumming. The dragon would be over a hundred meters long (I reckoned) and we found a spot to watch the dragon being lit. Thousands of incense sticks would form the dragon but we had to move as the smoke was filling our eyes and we couldn't see.

It felt like bonfire night with a Chinese twist. No wellies, Barbour jackets or sparklers but a summer’s night, flip-flops and crowded streets. I told Richie about Milland Bonfire night and the competitions between the two Harris families every year when we were young. I remember winning one year and receiving an array of Jurassic Park stationary, it must have been the year the film was released 1993?

The atmosphere was electric. We jumped on top of a bin so we could see above the crowds. The drum beat got louder and louder and then it appeared. Hundreds of people running around holding up the dragon and it's very very long tail. 'Puff the Magic Dragon' came to mind an I sang it to Richie, who was less than impressed.

Richie left and I received a text from Paul saying he was heading to Victoria Park so I waited for him, bumping into another friend on route. I love how regularly you run into people you know in this city. I decided not to stay but said hello to Paul and his friend and we made plans to go to Macau the following day. Another thing I love about HK, plans get made in a spontaneous instant and so convenient too. I need to go to Macau to validate my working visa and I'd wanted to go to Macau with Paul as he really is the best tour guide as he has so much passion and history to share.

I headed home to bed, weaving my way through millions of people back to my new home in Wan Chai.

What a lovely Sunday.