Hong Kong no Phooey TR (Apr 2012)! The Yee's have it....TR finish #1101, 07/09

[usnuzuloose]

You might try the 3 in 1 laundry sheets. I really like them for traveling. I always take extra ziplock bags. You never know what you may need a closed bag for. Safety pins, small sew kit. I like those little lights that hang on key chains. It will be here before you know it.

 

[PrincessInOz]

4 weeks...

I must not have read the part yet that list the actual travel dates. I agree. Avoid Easter.

I wanted to get my scraggly ducktails (love it) lopped and lose some weight before my trip too, but sadly I never accomplished either. Looks like you are ahead of the game.

Thanks.

You might try the 3 in 1 laundry sheets. I really like them for traveling. I always take extra ziplock bags. You never know what you may need a closed bag for. Safety pins, small sew kit. I like those little lights that hang on key chains. It will be here before you know it.

I'll keep this in mind. Thanks.

 

[PrincessInOz]

OT - Montsalvat


This weekend, we went to a classical guitar concert held at Montsalvat in Eltham. For those of you that have been subjected to my previous jaunts, Eltham is where the Wattle Festival is held...so you may already recall that it is a very pretty suburb.

Eltham, for those of you that don't know Melbourne , is located about 40 minutes north east of the CBD and is pretty much at the base of the foothills where the Great Dividing Range starts. It is hilly, green, semi-urban country where city meets country. The residents that live in Eltham are fiercely proud of the greenness of their suburb and rightly so.

There was an artist community that was set up in the 1930's and the original band of artists bought the land that is now Montsalvat. I think that there is about 20 acres to this property, it is National Trust lists and comprises a number of cottages and buildings for various artists-in-residence to create and teach.

The guitar concert was good, albeit a little on the long side for an afternoon concert. I didn't take any pictures during the concert but I did take some pictures of Montsalvat.

I hope you get a sense of what a wonderful space it is from these.


Somehow, I missed taking a shot of the front entrance. But this is the back entrance to the main gallery building.

The stage is to the right of that doorway.

Inside the main gallery, which is set up for our concert.

This is the Long Gallery room.

Look what the cat dragged in!

This building is the Main/Grand Hall.

The front entrance to the Grand Hall.

The main level has been converted to this space, very popular as a wedding venue.

And downstairs is a function room. Lucky for me, it was being set up for a wedding that night.

This is pure icing on the cake!

There is a chapel on the property.

The area around the pool, no longer in use.

Some of the other buildings that caught my eye.

It was late afternoon when the concert finished. We were STARVING....so we found a pub to stop in and have dinner.



DS had the fish and chips.

DH had the calamari salad.

I had the chicken fillet stuffed with a creamy lobster sauce.

We all headed home well satisfied!

 

[dgbg100106]

Beautiful, beautiful..

 

[usnuzuloose]

Oh those lovely buildings! I am curious as to what is inside. Your food looks amazing. Thanks for sharing!

 

[kmedina]

What a beautiful place. For once, I am not envying your food porn. Other than tuna salad, I do not like seafood. The cake looks good though.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Beautiful, beautiful..

Oh those lovely buildings! I am curious as to what is inside. Your food looks amazing. Thanks for sharing!

Some of the other buildings are used by the artists-in-residence as their workspaces/homes etc. There seems to be painters, a dress designer, a luthier etc on site.

What a beautiful place. For once, I am not envying your food porn. Other than tuna salad, I do not like seafood. The cake looks good though.

I think I eat your share of seafood.

 

[PrincessInOz]

“If I don’t do laundry today, I’m gonna have to buy new clothes tomorrow.”…..There’s no such thing as Chinese Laundry!


My research on where to do laundry in Hong Kong has not been fruitful.


I’m not even sure there is such a thing as a public Laundromat in Hong Kong so with Google as my friend; it seems that my options are:

• Use the hotel laundry $$ervice
• Use a dry cleaning service and get them to do my laundry

No offence – but I do not relish the thoughts of have my dirty laundry ‘aired’ in public only to come back with a note pinned to my underwear advising me to “use more toilet paper”.



I’ve also checked with my mother. In the two or three previous trips she’s made to Hong Kong, she’s never done laundry there so she wasn’t able to provide any more intel. My mother was rather pragmatic about the fact that there is no such thing as Chinese Laundry. Bring more underwear and go shopping.



Just as Anna Paquin pointed out… “If I don’t do laundry today, I’m gonna have to buy new clothes tomorrow”.

What.a.hardship.that’s.gonna.be.in.Hong.Kong.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Yikes! Well maybe you could buy new undies over there. Maybe I can get your question answered for you tomorrow. If I can I will let you know. But what a shame new clothes. What is that like? Outside of undies I have only bought one thing new.

This may be a rough crossing.

 

[dgbg100106]

So sorry that you might have to go shopping.....

There is always a sink and Woolite.

 

[skier_pete]

Re: Monsalvat

But were there any people there? It looks like you walked into a ghost town.

re: Laundry
Second the vote for just buying the underwear. Isn't that the cheapest part? Could always just "go commando" as we say here in the states! (Not!)

 

[kmedina]

I've never done laundry on vacation. I hope I can say that forever.

 

[franandaj]

So sorry that you might have to go shopping.....

There is always a sink and Woolite.

I'm thinking this too...although undies take up the least amount of space in a suitcase. My rule is pants can go twice, shirts need to be washed after one wearing. And socks (nylons) need to be changed daily, 11 days with no washing is tough. I would plan on washing in the room.

 

[dgbg100106]

I've never done laundry on vacation. I hope I can say that forever.

3 weeks on vacation with weight restrictions, you learn to do laundry on vacation.... Now it is a norm for me.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I usually wash clothes and hang dry. I could do laundry in a sink and hang dry.

 

[kmedina]

3 weeks on vacation with weight restrictions, you learn to do laundry on vacation.... Now it is a norm for me.

If I am able to afford trips that long, I might do laundry. My longest trip ever was 11 days (which I have only done two that long). I've done a few 10 day ones as well. Most of our trips are in the one week range. Although if I am ever able to afford a three week trip, I would probably pay for extra bags and buy more underwear. I can never enev talk DH into taking two weeks off from work either. We'll see what happens.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I would never send my undies out for laundering. I would just buy new. I guess I better budget for anything that long. Well I have never been gone for more than 9 days, and always have access to a washer and dryer. Come to think of it I havent really been out of the country unless the carribean counts.

 

[kmedina]

I would never send my undies out for laundering. I would just buy new. I guess I better budget for anything that long. Well I have never been gone for more than 9 days, and always have access to a washer and dryer. Come to think of it I havent really been out of the country unless the carribean counts.

If it does not count, than I am with you. Other than the Bahamas on a cruise ship, I have been to Tiajuna by car once when I was around 11 or 12. Got a spiffy passport for the Dream and hope to get a stamp in it before it expires.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Re: Monsalvat

But were there any people there? It looks like you walked into a ghost town.

Australia is nearly the size of the US (if you exclude Alaska) and there are 24'ish million people living in it, less than the population of New York City!


There were people...it's just that Montsalvat is not high on the tourist visitor's list of things to do when in Melbourne; so I could afford to wait until people left the area before taking a shot. Besides, the next group of people coming into the area would always be polite and wait until I was done before moving in.

Yikes! Well maybe you could buy new undies over there. Maybe I can get your question answered for you tomorrow. If I can I will let you know. But what a shame new clothes. What is that like? Outside of undies I have only bought one thing new.

This may be a rough crossing.

So sorry that you might have to go shopping.....

There is always a sink and Woolite.

re: Laundry
Second the vote for just buying the underwear. Isn't that the cheapest part? Could always just "go commando" as we say here in the states! (Not!)

I've never done laundry on vacation. I hope I can say that forever.

I'm thinking this too...although undies take up the least amount of space in a suitcase. My rule is pants can go twice, shirts need to be washed after one wearing. And socks (nylons) need to be changed daily, 11 days with no washing is tough. I would plan on washing in the room.

I usually wash clothes and hang dry. I could do laundry in a sink and hang dry.

If I am able to afford trips that long, I might do laundry. My longest trip ever was 11 days (which I have only done two that long). I've done a few 10 day ones as well. Most of our trips are in the one week range. Although if I am ever able to afford a three week trip, I would probably pay for extra bags and buy more underwear. I can never enev talk DH into taking two weeks off from work either. We'll see what happens.

I would never send my undies out for laundering. I would just buy new. I guess I better budget for anything that long. Well I have never been gone for more than 9 days, and always have access to a washer and dryer. Come to think of it I havent really been out of the country unless the carribean counts.

If it does not count, than I am with you. Other than the Bahamas on a cruise ship, I have been to Tiajuna by car once when I was around 11 or 12. Got a spiffy passport for the Dream and hope to get a stamp in it before it expires.

Looks like quite a conversation on the dirty laundry topic!


Yes, underwear washing in the sink might be something I might end up doing. It just depends on the windows in the room. I prefer my room not to smell of wetness. I'm pretty sure that there will NOT be a laundry line in the bathroom over the tub.

But we'll be taking enough underwear with us for the duration. Outer clothes - we can use a dryclean or professional laundry service for and that'll be fine with me.

 

[PrincessInOz]

3 weeks countdown and to-do checklist



Hey, Hey! It's another Saturday and that means that there is now 3 weeks to go.

I have 3 weeks to go.





OMG​

At this stage of the planning game on any other PTR, I guess I better start thinking about what we would possibly be doing on a day-to-day basis.....


(But only because that would probably keep those of you that prefer to have mapped out days happy. I suspect that my time in Hong Kong will be much more free and easy and spur of the moment. )