Hi I'm Alex: October 2009

lets start with the elephant show... it was awesome... and i got to pet her... felt like wrinkly wet leather with tiny hairs... not really that pleasant... much better to pet maia

here's the elephant getting a banana and walking around

here's she is doing a cool spin trick

here she is playing catch

here she is sitting and saying goodbye... right before we got to pet her

we saw an amazing tiger show but i wasn't sitting close enough to get any good video... so after the show was over i went closer and caught the white tiger swimming in the water to get meat... and discovered there's basically no hope if a tiger is after you... you can't climb a tree or jump in the water... they can follow you anywhere

here's a gigantic walrus monster clapping with some kids... we were told later he was doing this cause its mating season... creepy

here's the walrus right before swimming away... BYE WALRUS

there was a spot where you could go and watch the dolphins really close... but you couldn't pet them unless you joined a special program and gave the park lots of money... the screaming in the background are either people being eaten alive by dolphins or the roller coaster riders... we'll never really know for sure

here's the end of the crazy disco dolphin show... you can just catch the end of the last really cool trick... we asked and none of these dolphins were from japan and are not the dolphins from the movie "the cove"... some of our crew were very concerned about this... but most of these dolphins were rescued from bad situations... abusive mothers and drug addict fathers... stuff like that

oh yay... we found a cat cafe in the city... so many awesome cats and coffee and food to eat with cats coming over to say hello and ask for pets

hello hong kong cat!!!

hong kong cat in a different cat cafe location

kristie saw these two cats fight for a bit... but i missed it cause i was trying out the cat cafe bathroom which was very nice... it had a bucket that you use to fill up the toilet so that it would flush cause the plumbing wasn't good... lots of the plumbing in hong kong is no good so you have to use the bucket toilet technique

fuzzy chinese cat!!!

i picked a lilo and stitch lantern for the mid autumn festival

it was so crowded at the lantern shops... cause it was the night before mid-autumn festival time... actually everywhere in hong kong is crowded... it doesn't matter if lanterns are there or not

we went for dim-sum when i first got in, but all they had for vegetarians was custard desert things... really good though

banana and yakult shake... mmmm... mmm

a chinese pear... its like a regular pear except it looks like an apple and tastes nothing like a pear... it might not be called a chinese pear... i really can't remember... i remember its called "something pear"

the million dollar bathroom near the buddha statue... that's what the buddha people call it

below is the 5 dollar bathroom near the buddha statue... they don't call it that... but i named it for them

we flew in the sky... using cables and metal egg like things that we sat in

here is a picture of me about to eat a tiny panda... no special effects here... this is for real folks

high five panda!!!

the longest escalator in the world... it runs through a large chunk of the city where its super hilly... super awesome!!!

stairs in the city... there's lots of hills like san francisco and lots of stairs so you don't slide down the hills

on kowloon just north of the hong kong main city... its still part of hong kong... there's a crazy awesome view of the city skyline and lots of cool avenue of the stars stuff

we went to an arcade... this game was okay... it uses a gun... which should equal fun

i played tekken 6... which isn't released in the states yet... i won the first match... against someone on the other side of the game station... but just barely... then her boyfriend avenged her loss and demolished me twice in a row

i forgot what this was called so i called it the hong kong ferry building

i fought this rock monster to a stand-still... we agreed to disagree and went our separate ways

the wisdom path... with lots of wise stuff written on tall pieces of wood

take that richard!!!

hong kong is filled with some of the yummiest drinks you'll ever put in your belly... this is a delicious lemon tea

the bruce lee statue on the avenue of the stars... i didn't mean to have my hand there

more stairs

clock and watch... watch clock... what does it mean???

another yummy drink... at hong kong station

more contemplation of the wisdom

MEAT... there's a lot of meat in hong kong... poor babe

pretty grassy hilly watery landscapey goodness

more pretty hills

on our first day we met these murderous cats... luckily their murderous lust had been quenched before we arrived

in the cat cafe there was a super cute wall of cat photos

the city as it was getting dark

the city... not as dark

we watched some people play basketball for a bit

DRAGONBALL Z figures at the cool electronic mall place... i bought them for my little brother

cheese covered noodles... delicious!!! we ate with kay and noelle... two very nice friends of kristie's

we stayed with kristie's dad on an island called cheung chau...and took the ferry everyday to get to the city and other islands and peninsulas

kristie on the ferry with me

in the middle is my attempt to draw one of the cats at the cat cafe and also a previous customers rendition on the far left... did i mention that the cat cafe rocked!!!... it did

hello fuzzy cat from the cat cafe

WHAT THE!!! HONG KONG CORGIS!!!

DOW DOW and LAMB LAMB

little pomeranians... they were really sweet... but the male kept humping the corgis and the corgis had to run away all night

bbq for mid autumn festival... i had some yummy toasted bread with honey and some roasted veggies

we went to the wishing tree and put our wishes on some parchment and rolled them up... people used to throw their wishes into the tree and if they stayed up in the tree their wish came true... but the only way to get it to stay was to attach something heavy to the wish... and that eventually started killing the tree... so now they just hang your wishes up nearby... the tree seemed happier for it

jet li's handprints at the avenue of the stars

apparently mr. fat didn't have time to put his handprints here

tammy and kristie holding a lantern at the mid autumn festival bbq

MORE CHINESE CORGIS!!! oh no... these are the same ones... STILL SUPER-AWESOME!!!

LAM LAM and DOW DOW

tofu snack with brown sugar and syrup... delicious

two more wicked-awesome drinks... nestea with aloe vera chunks and some red fizzy drink

kristie's dad and step-mom under the giant buddha statue

a closer view of the buddha

here's the old tai o village on lantau island... really old and cool looking... reminded me of something... but i can't remember what

old village street with old red fire hydrant

old village street with old bikes

kristie in the old village street

in the old village they dry fish stomachs and sell them to people that need fish stomachs... the store owners live and work in the same house

italian food in china... it was quite good

more amazing drinks... this was red juice from the old village... some sort of purple herbal leaf juice... kristie hated it... but i loved it... although i'm not sure i want to drink it again... it was strange

on the bridge in the old village

more old village

one of the paths near the giant buddha statue

the gorgeous beach behind kristie's dad's house on the island

so pretty... the water was amazingly refreshing... especially since its soooooo incredibly hot in hong kong this time of year

shade is good

the beach at night... what could be lurking below the surface... gremlins?

hong kong view from "the peak"

the independent film channel mall... that channel must be doing pretty well

kristie with the chinese pear... and boba tea with no boba... so just milk tea, i guess... we had lots of good milk tea

tofu!!!

lots of fish and crab that i didn't partake in... this kid freaked when he found out i worked on animated movies... but then he wanted me to draw a car from cars... it looked so bad... i don't know how to draw cars... everyone at the table was speaking mandarin... i had no idea what was going on... they were probably all making fun of my drawing