Monday, November 14, 2016

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Plus a Symphony Under the Stars

We had a busy Saturday, heading first to our friend's baby shower/brunch, and then followed up by a really fun night outdoors under the "stars" for the Hong Kong Philharmonic's annual outdoor performance by the harbor.

The theme for the baby shower was "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and was hosted at my friend's sister's apartment complex.  The nice thing about it was that it was not so much a "shower" as just a casual and fun occasion for men and women to hang out (which I love, because babies are as much a responsibility for the husbands as the wives, so the men should be there!) and no baby shower games.
 The pile of baby gifts!
They had a nice barbecue pit set-up and really tasty hamburgers and sausages.



 After stuffing our faces with the spread of food and drinks and cakes, we left to meet up with our friends for the Symphony Under the Stars event.  It was held at the harbourfront right next to pier 10 and the ferris wheel.
 As with all free events in big cities, the key is to get there early - way, way early - to snatch up good seats.  This was the line to get in, approximately two hours before the show started.  At one point people were running!
Alas, in Hong Kong there is no grass.  People have to make do with putting their picnic blankets down on gravel.  But at least there were no big rocks here.  We brought a thick yoga mat and a plush blanket, which helped soften the strain of sitting on hard ground for nearly four hours!

 The magic happened as the sun set and the lights came on.

 This was my view for a large part of the concert -


 We were happily snuggled on the ground.  I didn't care much for the view of the stage.
 The place was packed, with young and old alike. We passed the time before the concert with a sumptuous spread of cheese, prosciutto and salami, bread and crackers, grapes, apples and guava, as well as water (still and sparkling), champagne and wine and beer.  The best part was that our friends brought rummikub, a game we had never heard of or played before, but with which we quickly found ourselves completely engrossed.  It's a board game that I am definitely going to buy soon - it combines patterns and strategy and is very engrossing and dynamic.

 At the end of the night, there was a brief fireworks show, which was wonderful as well.




All in all, this was one of the best Saturdays we've had in a while!

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