Dinosaurs and Ice Skating in Tai Koo

Today we went to CityPlaza Mall in Tai Koo. It’s about five MTR stops east of Time Square. It seems to be one of the malls that the locals go to. There are fewer high-end stores like Armani and Channel and more reasonable shops like Marks & Spencer. Maggie’s wanted to get some new jeans, so we figured that we’d have the best luck shopping with the locals.

This summer, CityPlaza has a display of dinosaurs on loan from Beijing Museum of Natural History. During the July 1^st holiday, over 100,000 Kongkongers visited the exhibit. There weren’t quite that many people there today, but it seemed close! Since the girls are girls and not five year old boys, they thought the exhibit was just “ok,” so after glancing at the dinosaurs we went shopping and found two pair of jeans for Maggie.

The girls thought we should do something else while we were there so we went to the skating rink. The price for admission and skate rental was very reasonable (about seven bucks a person) and the kids had a great time. Katie hadn’t been skating since she took lessons about six years ago, and Maggie’s only been once in the last five years. I sat in the gallery above the rink, took pictures and watched the girls go around and around and around and around and . . . . well, you get the picture.

After skating we waited to watch the Zamboni machine. (Sound like we’re a bit desperate for entertainment, doesn’t it?) I don’t know what it is about Zamboni machines. Maybe it’s just nice to see something that looks so messy get cleaned up so quickly. The Zamboni makes the rink look so shiny and new again . . . but I digress.

After the excitement that is a Zamboni, we went to Marks & Spenser’s to look for shoes. Let me tell you about shoes. EVERYWHERE we go, Maggie wants to look at shoes. And we’re not talking sandals and tennies. Maggie wants to see the Manolo Blahnik’s and the Gucci’s and the Ferragamo’s. She’s going to have to become a wealthy attorney or doctor or marry rich attorney or doctor because someone’s going to have to satisfy her shoe fix. But on this trip, I was the one who brought shoes home but Maggie did help pick them out.

Katie was feeling a bit left out so we headed for Esprit. They were having a 50% off sale so she bought a new pair of jeans and a pretty new olive t-shirt. Both looked very cute on her.

So that’s as exciting as life was today in Hong Kong. Tomorrow, we go to Page One in Times Square to pick up our copy of “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.” We’ll have it a whole fifteen hours before the U.S. does, but don’t worry; we won’t call anyone to tell them how it ends!

P.S. - Look for new links on the right-hand side of the website with each day's new entry.