Welcome to Golden Week。 October 1st is National Day （think 4th of July） for China and most schools are out for the entire week。 What would a middle class Chinese family do？ Travel， of course。 And for many， where？ Shopping in Hong Kong， of courseï¼
This place is packed。 Which isn’t so bad。。。 but the heatï¼ It is 92 degrees and 90 percent humidity。 Yikes。 Summer is back。
We stayed at the Longham Palace Hotel which has one of the longest escalators that we‘ve ever seen。 The base of the hotel is a shopping center that extends up 12 levels。 You might have thought the Mall of America was big until you‘ve seen Hong Kong in all of its glorious stores。
We found some good dim sum at the Shamrock Seafood House along Nathan Road。 It is sort of a Denny‘s of dim sum。 We tried to eat at Maxim’s on Sunday， but with the crowds we picked up ticket number 595 when the display read 215。 We figured that would be over a 3 hour wait for a table and bailed。 I‘ve never seen so many people in a single cityï¼
We wandered the streets and had a great time just taking in the sights and sounds of the area。 Checked out the Hong Kong History museum for a few hours and escaped just as a double group of junior high aged school groups were about to enter。 They were a formidable， giggling sight to behold： all girls in white school dresses bouncing around in line at high rates of speed。
We had a surreal moment dining near our hotel on the top floor of the Ozone level of the mall at a Chinese restaurant overlooking the crowded night market streets below。 The food was great， good and spicy。 The music was another matter。 They had Frank Sinatra on repeat。 No， not an entire album， just one song。。。 the entire meal。 We were dying by the time we left。 No shortage of diners at the restaurant， though。 What a strange place。
We found the nightlife section of Central， but being on jet lag， anything past 7 PM was a stretch for us。 We are pleased to say that Sierra Nevada beer from Chico， California is now available。 Go figure， the world is getting smaller。
