Get your masks out! It's monky time!

One of the funnier things about Hong Kong is how it is deemed socially acceptable and in fact totally appropriate to don a gas mask/surgical mask in public.



I guess if we went through a bird flu/SARS scare, we'd understand it too. But we didn't. So we don't.

To us, these Hongkys are just totally silly.



You know what else is silly...that stupid saying that "imitation is the highest form of flattery."



So we went to the bird market.



Birds, birds, everywhere.





And maybe a little avian flu.




Next we went to Genki Sushi for conveyor belt sushi.






Got my stitches out...

Went to temple...



And then I brought Anne in to meet with this Hong Kong modeling agent that I work with.

They loved her look and I wouldn't be surprised if you saw her on some random Asian billboard sometime soon.




Next, dad brought us to the Hong Kong Botanical Gardens where they have a mini-zoo full of monkys!

Everything from orangytangs to baboons to marmosets to cotton-topped tamarins to little baby monkys.

ME LOVE ME SOME MONKY







Also there were stupid flamingos.



Took the Star Ferry to cross the harbor back to Kowloon...





Walked down the Avenue of Stars...



And finally returned home where Mercy and Jo were cooking up a massive New Year's Eve feast.





And Zoe was writing a Christmas card to her biggest hero of all time: Iron Chef Cat Cora.




Asked why she admires Cat Cora so much, she replied: "Because she's so stylish!"



Ok. Time to rest up for a big night out.

Happy New Year!

Macau is not Vegas

We woke up nice and early to make an early ferry to Macau.

Zoe is always such a joy to wake up to when she is in a good mood.



Another nice thing to wake up to? Ridiculous Asian hair while waiting for coffee at McDonald's.



We had decided to get "Super Class" tickets since originally we had planned to go out last night. Felix, however, got a little tummy trub-trubs and everyone was a little jet-laggedy, so instead we sat home and watched Hairspray.



Waiting in the makeshift lounge we almost missed our boat.



But with the help of a silly boat conductorman we made it on with just seconds to spare and an hour later we were in beautiful smogful Macau.

Behold the Grand Lisboa (below), which looks like one of those radishes from Super Mario 2. (My favorite because it's the first game where you can play as the Princess.)



Our first stop was the somewhat newly built Venetian which is a big steaming pile of frog turds compared to the actual Venetian in Vegas.

Seriously there is nothing Venice-like about it.



Only atrium featured half-assed faded-looking frescos (Vegas Venetian is covered with them).




The rest of the hallways and ceilings were all just boring and white.



It was infuriating and I had to leave immediately.

And so, we went over to the radish building.



Anne went and got a massage while Felly and I played roulette.

After losing a couple of rounds, he asked me which number to bet on. I told him to bet on 28 and he put a $40 bet on it and it hit and he made off with over $1000 more than he started with and I rule.



Then, we hit up McDonald's.

You'd be surprised (or maybe you wouldn't be) at how quickly one can tire of the China food.




Then we found a sweet pj store with lots of Engrish pajamas.





We walked around the crazy-crowded streets of Macau.






Saw some Portuguese-style buildings (it was once a colony I think).







And I posed with some random Asians who insisted on having their pictures taken with me.



Goodbye Macau.



First visit...and probably my last.