City Hall, Midlevels, Synagogue

The signage in the MTR, at the exits, on the street and inside buildings is incredible. A consistent use of colour and typefaces makes it easy to look for directions. Large MTR stations, say, those with 6 or more exits, often have huge (say 2m x 2m) maps of the surrounding area with points of interest clearly marked. When you're near the MTR, there are signs pointing you towards where the entrances are. Elevators are clearly labelled with what's on each floor.

We made our way to City Hall in Central this morning to meet my uncle for dim sum. Because we got there early, and Gabriel was hungry, we found ourselves inside the empty Concert Hall where an orchestra was rehearsing. With seats that had arms, it made a decent place for Flick to feed the baby. Dim sum at Maxim's Palace was fantastic. An enormous dining room (room for 50 round tables, that's over 500 guests!) patrolled by waitresses pushing carts that had LCD screens playing a slideshow of what was available.

We stopped by the ifc Mall in pursuit of a tea that I've been searching for since my last trip to Hong Kong five years ago. Le Gouter Bernardaud was still in operation and we were able to pick up two tins of the quatre agrumes tea. This is another ultra-luxe mall full of designer shops and absolutely sparkling in its cleanliness.

Afterwards, we went up the entire length of the Midlevels Escalator, balancing our stroller on the moving sidewalks. At the top, we took a circuitous journey along Caine Road in search of the Ohel Leah Synagogue. Without any data plan on either of our phones, we feel a bit lost staring at the paper maps in our guidebook. After walking almost an hour, and getting directions from various local residents, we found the guard outside the synagogue. He questioned us very closely to ascertain our motives before informing us that, as it was a holiday and also shabbat, we would not be able to go inside the synagogue. Doh!

We ended our afternoon by taking a swim with Gabe on the rooftop, open-air pool. We had dinner at the Three Virtues vegetarian restaurant in the mall at the corner of Jordan and Nathan Road. Again, another high-quality Buddhist vegetarian restaurant. The dishes were all quite tasty: sweet and sour "pork", braised taro and pumpkin with coconut milk, and some others.