More Hong Kong photos

As promised, here are the photos of the flowering trees with pink blossoms and little potted citrus trees. I mean, these things are EVERYWHERE. Every mall you go into, every lobby of a hotel or big office building. Everywhere! Even the decor in the lobby of this hotel has been enhanced by the flowering trees, potted flowering plants, and the little potted citrus trees with red paper ornaments. I will try to remember to get a photo of that tomorrow for you.

Matthias had the morning off, and we went back down to the flower market. It was amazing how many people were there. Everyone was carrying big bunches of flowers. It was difficult to walk down the sidewalk because of all the people. Matthias called it the "mosh pit" of flowers. The only difference being that even in large crowds, the people are very polite here. You rarely get pushed or shoved. It's more like you are carried along by the crowd, a bit like a leaf in the river of humanity!!
The hanging ornament and both of the pink tree photos I have posted are from the ifc mall. (a.k.a. the "nose hair trimmer") Like I said, it was a very ritzy mall, but it was beautiful in there. The center court had the large pink tree, with these standing chinese characters that looked embroidered or something. Each one had a bird, and flower, and the meaning of it in relation to the New Year. If you click on the purple ornament, you might get a better idea of what I mean. The little plaque beneath it was where the description was. Then, the large red and gold ornaments were hanging down from above. It is hard to explain what I saw - suffice to say that it was really fun to see, and BIG. I guess I need a digital camera with a macro lens or something.

Here are some shots from the flower market mosh pit. There was a point of being carried off by the crowd when I really wanted to take my camera out and photograph it, but I couldn't get to my camera, because there were too many people. I hope that gives you some idea what it was like. Most of what I am experiencing here I cannot describe, even with words and photos combined. It is just so much information, coming at you all at once. Sounds of cars, buses, people talking - even the streetlights make noise. Then, you are not only trying to find your way around, but you are seeing faces, shops, street stands, cars, etc. etc. Maybe one day, they will figure out how to transmit smells over the internet, and that might help, also. I do hope this is giving you at least a taste of the city. Constant motion. Have you ever seen so many gladiolas in your entire life? I really doubt that Americans would be spending this much money on fresh flowers, and it is a shame. There was something warm and fuzzy for me, seeing people flocking to a giant fresh flower market and spending money. I suppose it's because I am such a fan of fresh flowers. We did buy a beautiful bunch of flowers ourselves, which I have carefully arranged in plastic water bottles with the tops cut off. They look spectacular in the hotel room!