Instagramming 4

In all honesty, I've not been taking any proper photographs using my camera lately. I find it so much easier whipping out my phone and snapping a picture. So here is the latest Instagram round up post plus a few other iPhone pics which is a good example of how I've been spending my days now that I am more settled in Hong Kong!

On Sunday we stayed at home and had congee at home. We bought some local take out food from the cafe downstairs including Cheung fun (rice noodle rolls) and some plain fried noodles. Black Sesame ice cream is one of my favourite things ever and I gladly devoured a pot with my family for dessert! This commercial building is opposite our apartment, no matter what time I look out, there is always some poor individual working over time in front of the glare of a computer screen. Last week was my first week of the next few months working in HK. Catching the bus in the morning and every single day hearing the 'doot doot' of the Octopus card (an even better version of London's Oyster card). Why is the Octopus card better? Well because you can use it on a crazy amount of transport but you can also buy things using it....like cake (oh yes!), plus mine is in this cute pass holder I bought in the UK from Paperchase. Next we have some Chocolate Milk from the fridge at work...the fridge is like a vending machine, it's FULL of different drinks for staff to drink from Coke to classic Vitasoy.

One of my favourite things is walking to Causeway Bay after work to catch my bus home. Often I have a look in the shops but it feels awesome because A- work has finished and B- it's the realisation that I am back in my favourite city. I love people watching when I am waiting for my bus. We live on the 24th floor of the apartment building, which is different to life back in the UK! My aunt's Japanese colleague helped her buy some Matcha Green Tea Kit Kats, a real treat because these are only available in Japan. The centre image is a random side street in Hong Kong, high rises, bright lights, taxis and people. Next is some yummy hot and sour soup which I had for lunch at another Shanghainese restaurant. So good!

At the weekend, it's time to chill out and mooch around the shops! Sogo is a Japanese department store in the heart of Causeway Bay and I've grown up walking around this place with my parents whenever we visit! One of my favourite places is the food hall (always) and I admired the chocolates at Lucullus and of course we bought a few. Unfortunately they're cute but not quite as tasty as they looked! On Saturday we have our weekly dim sum which is a bit of a change from the usual Sundays back at home in the UK. After our dim sum we wandered around City Plaza at Taikoo Shing. There is a great Muji there and I spent a little while looking at all the snacks on display. Forget stationary and homeware, in HK (or Asia in general) it's ALL about the food, all packaged in the easily recognisable Muji style.

Apita is another Japanese department store and the brightly coloured Japanese packaging is always fun to browse, yummy ice creams and lots of cartons of juice! Next, my aunts took me to one of the small traditional restaurant/cafes downstairs (different to UK cafes because they sell Congee/noodles/sandwiches etc. These kind of places are always a bit run down and I'm not sure I would actually go into them if my aunts didn't take me, it's definitely more for the older locals! I had some hot milk tea which is one of my favourite things! It's super strong though. I was super surprised to receive this card from my friend Carly back home! Yippee. I had some Yuzu Shu sake which is a citrus sake, really yummy, especially when mixed with some Sprite. We also had some traditional Jasmine tea at home and I particularly love the traditional style of this teapot.
Below the more contemporary commercial building is this older one in the picture above. Also used for commercial businesses, the different coloured offices are also full of people working overtime! I only noticed the different colours when I looked at the image on my phone which is kind of cool.

Lastly, this is the lunch I had today. I had a plateful of dumplings and a couple of side dishes for only about £3. HK is bargainous if you look in the right places but if I didn't have family here, I wouldn't even know where to look or what to order! I'd be forever lunching in Starbucks probably (oh dear!). I also couldn't help but do some window shopping after work today. There are so many little malls in Causeway Bay and they all sell fashion that is influenced by Japanese and Korean fashions. This shop on the right had lots of items from Japan and these shoes are adorable! So far, I've been good and not done any shopping but I feel that this is about to change...