What's Craig been up to lately? (Toilets, boxing and Rolls Royces mostly)

Here's my wonderful family before leaving for church. (Photo taken by Lauren Fisher on our rooftop.)

Did you know that every apartment here in Hong Kong offers free clothes dryers? Yep, just open your window and hang your wet washing outside for the world to see. Just make sure not to drop your undies while you're pegging them out because it's a long way down to retrieve them.

The other night while in Stanley I had to leave the kids with Renee and bolt to find a bathroom in a hurry. At the entrance to the public facilities, I passed a toilet attendant so I was confident that the place would be clean and as pleasant as possible. This was what I found in the first cubicle. And the second. And the third. And the fourth. I had no choice but to give my thigh muscles a work out while I squatted. I recommend you install one of these in your own bathroom at home if you find certain family members are taking way too long while on the throne.

McDonalds in Hong Kong offer 24-hour delivery for free for any order over $60. We have yet to try it.




This photo was taken in a cool electrical shop like Dick Smith with plenty of lights and gadgets.





Can you tell what this shop is selling?

They're polished wooden coffins. Business had obviously died down for the day as the shop owner was falling asleep. I think this store was the dead centre of town, though. I was dying to go in and have a closer look, but I was scared to death of missing my next appointment, so I gave it a miss. (Sorry if my jokes are killing you!)

Two doors up the street was this store selling all sorts of boxing equipment. I also saw two opponents sparring in a ring right behind the merchandise. I wasn't brave enough to take a photo of them for fear I would end up in one of those coffins I mentioned previously.

While inspecting a vacant school property I noticed a familiar logo which I hadn't seen in two months. I didn't know the ABC had branched out into security alarms!

Hong Kong has a population of over seven million people but only 380,000 private vehicles. You can see why we catch public transport everywhere. Despite this statistic, Hong Kong has more Rolls Royces per person than any other city in the world.

We've noticed 7-Eleven stores everywhere here. (Two in one train station even!) When we looked it up we weren’t surprised to find Hong Kong has the highest density of 7-Elevens in the world, with a density of one per 1.38 square miles, as of 2007.

Having a wallet is so old fashioned. Nowadays, all you need for a fun-filled day in Hong Kong is a rechargeable Octopus card. You can pay for eight different kinds of public transport, KFC or McDonalds meals, vending machine Cokes, Starbucks coffee, 7-Eleven impulse buys, grocery items, gym entry, and even ice skating rentals. The card makes a "doot" sound every time you use it, showing the remaining balance on the card. The Octopus even comes in tiny, SIM card-sized chips that can be dangled on bracelets like charms or inserted into watches. You can see this parking meter accepts payment only by Octopus.

And by the way, isn't my lovely wife doing a fantastic job on the blog?!!