Elements

what?! it's new years eve already! this year have definitely gone by so fast... is this what happens when you get old?!

2008 for me has been a bit of an odd year... lots of ups and downs.
a good year for travel though with 7 overseas trips to China, Japan, Bangladesh, Thailand, and New Zealand.
i work to live, not live to work so i hope 2009 with me kind to me on the travel front again!

oh yeah, i started this little blog this year too, only into my 5th month and still have hardly any followers.... but i plan to ignore this fact and continue into 2009!
for my loyal few followers, thanks for the support!

and then here we are, the last day of 2008. guess what i'm doing. ...
i'm in the blimmin office! this is Hong Kong after all and yup, we have to work right up until the last minute.
but i'm blogging from my seat, i mean come on, who wants to work on new years eve!

Christmas came and went like a flash.
i've made a mental note to make sure i'm near family next year. Christmas is definitely the time to spend with family and friends.
i did howevere go out for a delicious meal with my better-half K.

and then on boxing day my friends G and S came to visit us in Hong Kong from London.
they were only here for a few days; part of their 5-week holiday! WTF! how does that happen when i only get 12-days paid leave a year here in Hong Kong!!
if you're reading this G and S, great to catch up and hope i gave you a good insight into my life here.

i met G and S at Kowloon station, so went early for a bit of window shopping at Elements; a 123-shop shopping mall above the station.
i'm not going to start a blog about shopping malls in Hong Kong as Hong Kong is addicted with them, they are everywhere..... not complaining though as they are a great place to escape the summer heat and are often home to some superb bars and restaurants (before i came here i would have never gone out for a meal in a shopping mall!)



Elements is kinda special in the fact that it is made up of 5 "zones"; each one relating to the 5 Chinese elements (hence the name); fire, metal, wood, earth and water.
each zone is designed with a distinctive interior architectural theme that responds to the element.



but apart from this interesting theme, i was most impressed with the toilets.
well. not the actually tolet, but the amenities.
the men's toilet was stocked with colognes, aftershaves and electronic shavers and with staff on hand to ensure that all these personal items are kept hygienic.
and there's more!
just outside of the toilets was this little lobby with a seating area for guys to wait for their wives, girlfriends or whatever.
this lobby was decked out with magazines, drinking water, mints, and a shoe-shine machine. now that's what a man wants! nothing worst than hanging around in front of toilets looking like you are trying to pick someone up!



and to top it off, elements has Hong Kong's largest cinema complex, an indoor ice skating rink and a nice roof-top alfresco dining area.

alfresco dining at civic square


ice skating and cute kids car-trolly at supermarket


Elements
1 Austin Road West
Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon



i was meant to be blogging about the end-of-the-year but got a bit off track...
so my last post for 2008!
time to go now and suss out where is the best place to see in 2009, and the fireworks display.


so......


☆☆☆!!HAPPY NEW YEAR!!☆☆☆