It's officially Christmas here in Hong Kong. Merry Christmas Everyone!
Spent Christmas Eve Day mostly in relax mode. Didn't do too much today. Was feeling a bit under the weather the past couple of days so V took me to see a Chinese doctor. Same deal as before, Chinese doctor diagnoses me and then gives me some strange brew to make and drink. Well, I guess this time, it was a bit different. This doctor brews the stuff for you...or so he says. So, yesterday when I saw this doctor the first time, he told us to come back in about an hour and he'd have the medicine brewed and ready. So, we did a bit of shopping and killed some time and came back for the medicine. I was trying to figure out exactly where he had brewed the stuff, when all of a sudden, he climbs a ladder (which I previously hadn't noticed) at the back of his tiny store and disappears into the ceiling. Minutes later he returned with what I was told was the medicine or what I think is simply roof water. Whatever it is it seems to have worked though. Yay!
The rest of the day we sat about trying to figure out what it was we wanted to do today. After much time wasting and watching the Canucks get destroyed, we decided to hit the outlet mall out in Tung Chung. We finally convinced Tim to get ready and a millenia later, we were out the door on our way...or at least we thought we were on our way. I should have figured things might go amiss from the start, when we darted across the street to catch the bus that was speeding around the corner. Suddenly V realized that we were at the wrong bus stop and we hurried back through traffic to catch the bus on the other side of the road. We climbed aboard and were off to Tung Chung. Now, the bus that we were on is the same bus that I took from the airport to get to V's house. The trip from the airport to Lam Tim (where V lives) is a good hour and fifteen minutes with decent traffic. I should also explain that buses in HK are not quite like the buses in Vancouver. The closest thing I can think of is maybe the B-Line. Imagine if you will, a B-Line bus speeding along Broadway, but instead of the bus being twice as long, it's twice as high. Now, imagine instead of Broadway, it's a highway full of other super speeding cars. Now, imagine that the drivers have little or no regard for human life. If you can imagine all of that, you might understand a fraction of what it's like to ride a bus in HK.
So we're on the death bus to Tung Chung, everything seems fine, Tim is chatting long distance with his gf and V and I are talking about whatever. Now, I have a tendency to fall asleep in vehicles on really long rides. It's just something that happens. And somewhere between Lok Fu and Tung Chung I fell asleep. Probably a good 15 minute nap. Not really knowing where we were heading, I only knew that this bus' terminus was at the airport. I figured we were getting off somewhere before. Sure enough, V woke me up just before the stop she thought we needed to get off at. Oh, by the way, before I fell asleep, I remember Tim saying that he was starving. Try to keep that in mind as you read the rest of this. Anyway, V woke me up and we were preparing to disembark, or as they like to say in HK alight the bus, when everything went fubar. Seems V had previously taken this bus and was under the impression that there was another stop at which we could get off and head to the outlet mall. EPIC FAIL. The next stop was somewhere down the highway on the outskirts of the airport. But, she held fast to her belief that this bus would get us to the mall. As the bus snaked through the roads closer and closer to the airport, it seemed more and more unlikely that we would arrive at the mall via this bus. I think it was only when we were forced to get off the bus outside of Super Terminal One that she abandoned the idea that that bus would get us to the outlet mall in Tung Chung.
Luckily, it wasn't soon before long we were on another bus bound for Tung Chung and the outlet mall. This new bus we were on was suppose to speed us to the Tung Chung MTR station and leave us somewhere in the vicinity of the outlet mall. The bus took us past the Asia-World Expo, which none of us had actually ever seen before. The bus teased us by heading in the direction that we wanted us to. But, Tim and I were still wary of V's navigating skills. Finally, our goal was in sight, we could see the outlet mall in the distance. Soon enough, the bus returned us to the place where V woke me and said that we'd be getting off at the next stop. As the bus rounded the corner towards the MTR station, V rallied Tim and I and prepared us to get off the bus at the next stop and the end of our journey, the outlet mall. Once again, EPIC FAIL. As soon as we got off the bus, the starving Tim asked fairly puzzled, 'Why are we here?" He repeated this several times as we walked towards the outlet mall. Seems V had exited us from the bus a stop or two early, leaving us to walk to the outlet mall. Forgot to mention, while we were waiting for the bus outside Super Terminal One, I was telling V and Tim about an emote in the World of Warcraft. It's '/golfclap'. In game, the emote would read: 'Jeff claps for Veronica, clearly unimpressed.' We all had a good laugh at her expense.
We spent some time at the outlet mall, less time than we had originally figured cause of our detour to the airport. All in all, the outlet mall was kind of disappointing, save the Christmas display with the mall mascot dressed up in pirate gear. There was a pirate ship that had a Christmas tree for a mast and pirates instead of Santa. After about an hour or so at the mall, we headed for dinner at V's aunt and uncle's house. You know how you go to a family dinner and you show up on time, but you have to wait for more people to show up before you can eat and then finally more people show up, but you still have to wait for the last few jerks to show up so you can finally start...we were those jerks. Although, V's cousin Matthew and his family showed up after us, negating some of our jerkiness. And I suppose they had started eating without us anyways...so that kind of makes them jerks instead. Nah, I'm just kidding. Dinner was fun, but it was super hot in the small dining room we were all crammed into. So, that was my Christmas Eve. I gave V her Christmas present, I made a book for her, I think she likes it. She didn't /golfclap me. :P
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Bazaar is a funny word
Not surprising that I'm behind in my blogging. Honestly, the past few days have been a bit of a blur. It's just been one thing after another. It's all been fun, but I'm just constantly on the go. Yesterday, I went to lunch with V's mom's side of the family. Hadn't met a lot of them before, so when V's mom invited me to lunch, I felt that I should probably go. Before lunch, I went to V's school to their mini-bazaar. It's like a little flea market inside the school grounds. Parents, friends and students flit about the fair buying merchandise with artwork designed by the students. Of course, there's food and carnival type games too. It's a tradition for their school and I'm sure it's great fun for them.
Soon enough though, it was off to the Kowloon Cricket Club for lunch. The club is pretty nice. I met some of V's cousins at lunch. V's cousin John is a pretty funny guy. As for her cousin Winnie, she didn't say much, so I don't really know anything about her. After lunch, I took Tim to see my tailor to get him a suit for the upcoming wedding. The tailoring didn't take too long, so we had about an hour to kill before we had to meet up with V. She was taking Tim to see an optometrist. So, we killed time by doing some shopping along Nathan Road. Following shopping and optometrist, Tim headed off to have dinner with his mom and his aunt's and V and I had some time to kill before meeting up with some of her friends for dinner. Her high school friend Ray is moving from Hong Kong back to Vancouver. So, it was sort of a farewell dinner for him. Dinner was a great time. Great food plus great conversation equals good times. Anyway, that was about it for yesterday. I don't think I'm going to do much tomorrow. Probably just watch the hockey game and chill out at home till V comes home.
Soon enough though, it was off to the Kowloon Cricket Club for lunch. The club is pretty nice. I met some of V's cousins at lunch. V's cousin John is a pretty funny guy. As for her cousin Winnie, she didn't say much, so I don't really know anything about her. After lunch, I took Tim to see my tailor to get him a suit for the upcoming wedding. The tailoring didn't take too long, so we had about an hour to kill before we had to meet up with V. She was taking Tim to see an optometrist. So, we killed time by doing some shopping along Nathan Road. Following shopping and optometrist, Tim headed off to have dinner with his mom and his aunt's and V and I had some time to kill before meeting up with some of her friends for dinner. Her high school friend Ray is moving from Hong Kong back to Vancouver. So, it was sort of a farewell dinner for him. Dinner was a great time. Great food plus great conversation equals good times. Anyway, that was about it for yesterday. I don't think I'm going to do much tomorrow. Probably just watch the hockey game and chill out at home till V comes home.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Birds are weird
Visited Hong Kong Park today. It's probably one of the most amazing parks I've ever seen. From spectacular fountains and miniature lakes filled with turtles and carp, to a conservatory full of plants from all over the world. The park even has it's own aviary. Both caged birds and an enclosed atrium filled with over 600 birds. I almost had a bird smash me in the head. The best part I suppose was when a flock of birds outside the enclosure was flying overhead. They seemed to rile up the birds inside the enclosure. It was like a scene out of Hitchcock's movie lol. Bird flying randomly everywhere. The noise was astonishing. Then the rucus died down and the birds were quiet again. Birds are weird lol.
After wandering about Hong Kong Park, we walked up (stupid hills and stairs) to the Hong Kong Botanical and Zoological Park. Again, the park is filled with amazing flora and fauna. Saw a lot more birds. Thankfully they were different than the birds in the Hong Kong Park aviary. Saw some monkeys and lemurs too. It was a bit disappointing though. We were at the zoo around twilight, bedtime for the monkeys. So, they weren't too active and I think some of them had actually retired for the evening. Although, the lemurs are nocturnal so they were already starting to stir. In fact, as we were wandering around the monkey cages, we heard a massive racket coming from the lemur cages. We rushed back up, but it was too late. Whatever fight had broken out was mostly finished. There was few lemurs chasing each other about, but nothing too exciting. Oh yeah, when we were passing by the other cage of lemurs, I had gotten out a protein bar to eat. The sound of crackling plastic packaging brought a lot of the ring-tailed lemurs over to the side of the cage were I was standing. I had a lot of lemurs eyeing me up lol. Good thing they were in the cage.
After the two parks, we headed back to Kowloon Tong to meet up with V's cousins and her brother. Her cousins wanted to see Madagascar 2. The movie theatre was at a mall called Festival Walk. If you've never been to a mall in HK, it's quite a site. Nothing like the malls in Vancouver. It's really hard to describe. You just have to experience it I think. Shopping in Hong Kong is like a gladiator's sport. The malls are the arenas in which the combatants battle to find the best merchandise. Anyway, if you haven't seen it, Madagascar 2 is quite a funny movie. Although, I wasn't expecting that much, so I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. The movie is worth seeing just for all of the stuff with the penguins and monkeys. Hmmmm...seems like my day was filled with birds and monkeys lol.
After wandering about Hong Kong Park, we walked up (stupid hills and stairs) to the Hong Kong Botanical and Zoological Park. Again, the park is filled with amazing flora and fauna. Saw a lot more birds. Thankfully they were different than the birds in the Hong Kong Park aviary. Saw some monkeys and lemurs too. It was a bit disappointing though. We were at the zoo around twilight, bedtime for the monkeys. So, they weren't too active and I think some of them had actually retired for the evening. Although, the lemurs are nocturnal so they were already starting to stir. In fact, as we were wandering around the monkey cages, we heard a massive racket coming from the lemur cages. We rushed back up, but it was too late. Whatever fight had broken out was mostly finished. There was few lemurs chasing each other about, but nothing too exciting. Oh yeah, when we were passing by the other cage of lemurs, I had gotten out a protein bar to eat. The sound of crackling plastic packaging brought a lot of the ring-tailed lemurs over to the side of the cage were I was standing. I had a lot of lemurs eyeing me up lol. Good thing they were in the cage.
After the two parks, we headed back to Kowloon Tong to meet up with V's cousins and her brother. Her cousins wanted to see Madagascar 2. The movie theatre was at a mall called Festival Walk. If you've never been to a mall in HK, it's quite a site. Nothing like the malls in Vancouver. It's really hard to describe. You just have to experience it I think. Shopping in Hong Kong is like a gladiator's sport. The malls are the arenas in which the combatants battle to find the best merchandise. Anyway, if you haven't seen it, Madagascar 2 is quite a funny movie. Although, I wasn't expecting that much, so I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. The movie is worth seeing just for all of the stuff with the penguins and monkeys. Hmmmm...seems like my day was filled with birds and monkeys lol.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Devil's Peak
Day after the wedding, luckily I don't drink, so no hangover. I went to bed last night, determined to go adventuring today. I had a few places in mind, but wasn't really sure how long it was going to take to get to any of them, how much time I would spend there, or just exactly which of the the things I would go see.
I woke up this morning determined to go exploring again. And after breakfast and a few chores, I headed out on another trek about the city. This time I headed east to Yau Tong. It's no where near as spectacular as TST or Causeway Bay, but it has a certain quaint little Charm. It's one MTR station away from my home station at Lam Tin. So, not far away at all. The plan was to hike up Devil's Peak to see the Devil's Peak Redoubt. I wasn't totally sure how I was suppose to get there. It's not exactly a popular tourist attraction. There was a small map in V's Chinese Hong Kong tour guide, so I took that with me just in case.
It appeared that there were two ways of getting there. Either directly up the hill from the Yau Tong MTR station or some how weaving through the coastal fishing village along the waterfront called Lei Yue Mun. It's a little confusing, cause both sides of the waterway are called Lei Yue Mun. I was on the Kowloon side. Anyway, in the spirit of adventure, I picked the latter.
Following the signs from Yau Tong station, I made my way to Lei Yue Mun. The area has a rich seafaring heritage, including fishing and piracy. Apparently, the area was a hot spot for pirates back in the day. Thus the need for the redoubt up Devil's Peak and the redoubt at Lei Yue Mun on the island side. Winding down the streets of Yau Tong, I finally found my way to Lei Yue Mun. It's famous for the seafood stalls and the restaurants attached. Entering the labyrinth of seafood stalls, I worked my way past fish and crustaceans that I have never seen before. I would have loved to snap some photos in there, but it was hard enough getting through there without getting hassled to by some fresh fish. I wandered through the maze of seafoods for quite some time before I found another sign directing me towards my destination, the Tin Hau Temple. Tin Hau is a goddess of the sea and the protector of fisherman and sailors. So, I carried on through this makeshift village past the tiny shack like houses.
The temple itself was nothing special, but you could feel the faith of the people who frequented this temple to pray and look for guidance from Tin Hau. As with all spiritual things, I found the experience quite humbling. I left the temple feeling spiritually refreshed, and walked back to where I thought I could begin my trek up to Devil's Peak. After, passing by the most decrepit dog I have ever seen and slightly fearing for my life as I did not want to startle it and receive a bite from it's dire fangs, I started my way up the hill along a path that would lead me to the Wilson Trail. The Wilson Trail is one of 4 major hiking trails in Hong Kong, each of them multi-staged, each stage varying in difficulty. I had read that the Wilson Trail traveled near Devil's Peak, so I figured I was headed in the right direction. Winding my way up a staircase, I continued to walk past small tenements and shacks. I finally reached the top of the seemingly never-ending staircase, only to have to climb another hill. With the noonday sun beating down upon me and feeling a bit of fatigue from the stair master workout I had just received, I took a break at a covered shelter and tried to refocus myself for my journey up the peak.
I finally reached the bottom of the hill and the start of the Wilson Trail. Unfortunately, the map wasn't particularly clear nor were the signs on the post over head. Had I been able to understand Cantonese, my trek to the peak would have been much more direct. There were three signs, one pointing to the Lam Tin section of the Wilson Trail, one pointing in the opposite direction to Yau Tong and one pointing to Pau Toi San. Having come from Lam Tin, I had no need to follow that trail. The Pau Toi San sign pointed in the same direction as the Lam Tin sign and I figured it was just another area back towards Lam Tin. I knew that the Devil's Peak looked out over Yau Tong and Lei Yue Mun, so I started out in that direction following the familiar Wilson Trail markings that had gotten me this far. But, my trust in Wilson would soon fail me.
The trails atop the Devil's Peak, are like other passage ways in Hong Kong a winding confusing maze of pathways with little direct signage and a lot of room for interpretation. So, like I said, I followed my instinct and continued on along the Wilson Trail. The trail took me in the right direction towards the peak. I could see the redoubt and everything. As I climbed the hill towards what I thought was the peak of Devil's Peak, I found myself looking out over the Tseung Kwan O Chinese Permanent Cemetery. The link to the map shows where the Devil's Peak Redoubt is and to the east of that, you can see the cemetery. And from my vantage point, I could only see a portion of the entire thing. I have few words to describe it. It is something you'd definitely have to see for yourself.
But, that's where my trail ended. The next part of the Wilson Trail, started back down the peak to parts unknown. So, having abandoned my once good friend Wilson, I back tracked down the hill to try to figure out where I needed to go. As I made my way back down, I found a small path just off the main path that looked like it went in the direction I wanted to go: up. So, I made my way up through the bush and found myself reconnected with a hiking trail. It seemingly was heading up the peak so I made my way along it. Finally, I was on my way to the peak. As I made my way up towards the peak, it became all to clear that this was not a historic site...well, it was historic, it's just not seem as an important historic relic to be preserved. There was garbage all along the path as I climbed higher and higher. At a small detour in the trail, I took the tangent path to what I thought were some ruins. When I got up there, it appears as though the ruins were probably once apart of the redoubts infrastructure, but it had long since crumbled away. What remained looked as though was now the toilet for the homeless people who inhabited the peak. No, that's not a joke. I'm serious.
As I fled from there to rejoin the main trail, I heard some noises from up towards the redoubt. Now, I'd like to think that I'm a pretty tough guy. I mean I partake regularly in Tough Guy Thursdays and stuff. I'd like to think that if a homeless guy came at me I'd be able to defend myself against that filthy, filthy beast. But, with all things, you never really know what to expect. So, with caution, I proceeded further up the peak towards the redoubt, ever mindful of my surroundings and my healthy fear of being stabbed. But, it was nothing so sinister. Upon reaching the base of the redoubt, it appears as though some caretaker or homeless person or something has planted a small garden there. I think I saw the guy who lives up there briefly, but I'm not entirely sure.
In any event, I made my way up the final staircase and reached my goal. I had finally found the Devil's Peak Redoubt. I wandered about the old military ruins for a bit and imagined what it must have been like there a hundred and fifty years ago when pirates roamed the waters near Lei Yue Mun, threatening British colonial interests (you can find more information on pirates here). After some picture taking and a swing of water, I made my way back down the peak. My adventure in Yau Tong was pretty much complete. But, making my way up the peak, was no where near as hard as coming back down. Not having done too much in the past few months, I found that my legs were a bit weak as I made my way back down. Although, it was tiring working my way up the hill, the climb itself only seemed to be taxing on me because of my lack of endurance and my asthma. Coming back down...my knees were really feeling the descent. But, I made it down the peak safely and after wandering around Yau Tong for a bit, I found my way back to the MTR. Oh yeah, I found out later from V's mom that Pau Toi San, means like cannons on the hill or something. So, if I had followed those signs, I probably would have made it to the redoubt much sooner. Probably would have missed seeing the cemetery though. Also, I know that san means hill/mountain...so had I been paying more attention, I probably should have figured out that the sign was pointing to the peak. lol
With my Yau Tong adventure over, I decided to take the advice of V's mom and head to Wong Tai Sin and see the temple there. So, a short MTR ride later, and I was in Wong Tai Sin. The temple there is huge and the architecture what you'd expect of a Chinese temple. Inside the main temple, you can get this cup full of bamboo sticks. Each stick has a number on it with a corresponding fortune or prediction. The idea is to pray for something and shake the cup. Eventually, you will be able to shake free one of the bamboo sticks. So, I got me one of these cups with the sticks, and I kneeled before the temple altar and I began to shake the cup. Honestly, I can't say that I was praying for anything specific, just curious what it could tell me about my future I suppose. Anyway, cup shaking. While I was shaking the cup, I was looking around at all of the people who were also doing it. One by one, each person seemed to shake their cup and get their stick...that sounds kinda lewd, but oh well. In any event, I was there shaking the cup full of sticks for quite sometime. I began to wonder if I was doing it wrong or maybe my cup with sticks was broken or something. But, eventually I was one of the bamboo sticks fell free from the cup and I had my number.
But, what to do with this number? I didn't know. I found a temple interpreter and asked her what I was suppose to do. She told me that once I had my number from the stick, I could go down to see the fortune tellers and they could tell me what the number meant. However, she told me that it could get a bit pricey and that I could find my fortune by visiting the temple's website for free. Free is good. So, I thanked her for her help and wandered into the Good Wish Garden. I'm hoping that the literal English translation is just bad and that it's called something much cooler in Cantonese. In any event, bad name, really beautiful garden. It was really quite spectacular. The garden is full of ponds with fountains and waterfalls cascading overhead. The ponds are filled with carp and turtles. I was able to get like super close to some turtles, maybe like a foot away. They were just hanging out, soaking up some rays. I watched two turtles fighting to secure the last spot on a rocky over hang. Prime sun bathing spot I'm sure.
I left the gardens to find myself in this weird dungeon like maze. Once again, I would have like to take pictures, but it was hard enough trying to get out of there trying to explain that I didn't need my palm or feet or face read or my fortune told. There was a huge sign leading down to the fortune tellers that said soothsayers. Now, we all know about soothsayers a la Julius Caesar. So, reading that sign, my healthy fear of being stabbed kicked in. I'm not saying that I'm like Julius Caesar or something or that it's the Ides of March, but I'd prefer to not be brutally stabbed by Romans, which would probably be very unlikely seeing as I'm in HK...still. Anyway, I made it out of the soothsayers dungeon no worse for wear and found myself outside the temple gates once again.
After the Wong Tai Sin Temple, I wandered around Wong Tai Sin for a bit and came across the Fung Tak Park. The park is themed on the Chinese fairy tale 'Journey to the West'. Journey to the West tells the tale of the Monkey King and his adventure. The park had sections devoted to specific episodes in the fairy tale. I wandered through the park for a bit, trying to relive the adventures of the Monkey King. I felt like I had done a pretty good job. Then the battery in my camera crapped out and I was sad. Then my water ran out and I was sad again. So, I headed home. Back to the MTR station, I wandered down a pedestrian subway to an different exit/entrance than I had emerged from. Outside this particular exit/entrance there were rather aggressive women trying to sell incense and other worshipping paraphernalia to people exiting the MTR station. I'm not sure if the people they were harassing were actually heading to the Wong Tai Sin Temple, but one woman was having no part of it and pushed the tiny elderly woman aside. I'm sure it's not the first time that she's been pushed though. She seemed pretty tough. Anyway, I made it back home with out being stabbed or accosted by tiny incense selling woman, maybe a little sun burnt, but with another walkabout completed. Oh...turns out that the spare battery for the camera was sitting on the table all along. lol
Almost forgot, here's my fortune from Wong Tai Sin:
#15
Riding on a raft and floating is midstream,
He travels far and wide to the glistening moon.
Songs of angels from Heaven may stop for a while.
Yet wine and poetry never cease to make you smile.
ORACULAR REVELATION:
Recovery from sickness will be speedy.
Silk-raising will prove successful.
Travellers will now be returning.
Time is favourable for contracting marriage.
A son will be born to the pregnant.
Bright prospects are for the family.
Most plans and aspirations will be blessed.
Fame and wealth will come your way as desired.
Breeding domestic animals will be successful.
ANSWER TO QUESTIONS ON:
Geomancy : wealth will come and children will be born.
Lost property : lost items will soon be found.
Personal well-being : everything is safe and sound.
Future prospect : endeavours are rewarding.
Travelling : all journeys are pleasant and enjoyable.
I woke up this morning determined to go exploring again. And after breakfast and a few chores, I headed out on another trek about the city. This time I headed east to Yau Tong. It's no where near as spectacular as TST or Causeway Bay, but it has a certain quaint little Charm. It's one MTR station away from my home station at Lam Tin. So, not far away at all. The plan was to hike up Devil's Peak to see the Devil's Peak Redoubt. I wasn't totally sure how I was suppose to get there. It's not exactly a popular tourist attraction. There was a small map in V's Chinese Hong Kong tour guide, so I took that with me just in case.
It appeared that there were two ways of getting there. Either directly up the hill from the Yau Tong MTR station or some how weaving through the coastal fishing village along the waterfront called Lei Yue Mun. It's a little confusing, cause both sides of the waterway are called Lei Yue Mun. I was on the Kowloon side. Anyway, in the spirit of adventure, I picked the latter.
Following the signs from Yau Tong station, I made my way to Lei Yue Mun. The area has a rich seafaring heritage, including fishing and piracy. Apparently, the area was a hot spot for pirates back in the day. Thus the need for the redoubt up Devil's Peak and the redoubt at Lei Yue Mun on the island side. Winding down the streets of Yau Tong, I finally found my way to Lei Yue Mun. It's famous for the seafood stalls and the restaurants attached. Entering the labyrinth of seafood stalls, I worked my way past fish and crustaceans that I have never seen before. I would have loved to snap some photos in there, but it was hard enough getting through there without getting hassled to by some fresh fish. I wandered through the maze of seafoods for quite some time before I found another sign directing me towards my destination, the Tin Hau Temple. Tin Hau is a goddess of the sea and the protector of fisherman and sailors. So, I carried on through this makeshift village past the tiny shack like houses.
The temple itself was nothing special, but you could feel the faith of the people who frequented this temple to pray and look for guidance from Tin Hau. As with all spiritual things, I found the experience quite humbling. I left the temple feeling spiritually refreshed, and walked back to where I thought I could begin my trek up to Devil's Peak. After, passing by the most decrepit dog I have ever seen and slightly fearing for my life as I did not want to startle it and receive a bite from it's dire fangs, I started my way up the hill along a path that would lead me to the Wilson Trail. The Wilson Trail is one of 4 major hiking trails in Hong Kong, each of them multi-staged, each stage varying in difficulty. I had read that the Wilson Trail traveled near Devil's Peak, so I figured I was headed in the right direction. Winding my way up a staircase, I continued to walk past small tenements and shacks. I finally reached the top of the seemingly never-ending staircase, only to have to climb another hill. With the noonday sun beating down upon me and feeling a bit of fatigue from the stair master workout I had just received, I took a break at a covered shelter and tried to refocus myself for my journey up the peak.
I finally reached the bottom of the hill and the start of the Wilson Trail. Unfortunately, the map wasn't particularly clear nor were the signs on the post over head. Had I been able to understand Cantonese, my trek to the peak would have been much more direct. There were three signs, one pointing to the Lam Tin section of the Wilson Trail, one pointing in the opposite direction to Yau Tong and one pointing to Pau Toi San. Having come from Lam Tin, I had no need to follow that trail. The Pau Toi San sign pointed in the same direction as the Lam Tin sign and I figured it was just another area back towards Lam Tin. I knew that the Devil's Peak looked out over Yau Tong and Lei Yue Mun, so I started out in that direction following the familiar Wilson Trail markings that had gotten me this far. But, my trust in Wilson would soon fail me.
The trails atop the Devil's Peak, are like other passage ways in Hong Kong a winding confusing maze of pathways with little direct signage and a lot of room for interpretation. So, like I said, I followed my instinct and continued on along the Wilson Trail. The trail took me in the right direction towards the peak. I could see the redoubt and everything. As I climbed the hill towards what I thought was the peak of Devil's Peak, I found myself looking out over the Tseung Kwan O Chinese Permanent Cemetery. The link to the map shows where the Devil's Peak Redoubt is and to the east of that, you can see the cemetery. And from my vantage point, I could only see a portion of the entire thing. I have few words to describe it. It is something you'd definitely have to see for yourself.
But, that's where my trail ended. The next part of the Wilson Trail, started back down the peak to parts unknown. So, having abandoned my once good friend Wilson, I back tracked down the hill to try to figure out where I needed to go. As I made my way back down, I found a small path just off the main path that looked like it went in the direction I wanted to go: up. So, I made my way up through the bush and found myself reconnected with a hiking trail. It seemingly was heading up the peak so I made my way along it. Finally, I was on my way to the peak. As I made my way up towards the peak, it became all to clear that this was not a historic site...well, it was historic, it's just not seem as an important historic relic to be preserved. There was garbage all along the path as I climbed higher and higher. At a small detour in the trail, I took the tangent path to what I thought were some ruins. When I got up there, it appears as though the ruins were probably once apart of the redoubts infrastructure, but it had long since crumbled away. What remained looked as though was now the toilet for the homeless people who inhabited the peak. No, that's not a joke. I'm serious.
As I fled from there to rejoin the main trail, I heard some noises from up towards the redoubt. Now, I'd like to think that I'm a pretty tough guy. I mean I partake regularly in Tough Guy Thursdays and stuff. I'd like to think that if a homeless guy came at me I'd be able to defend myself against that filthy, filthy beast. But, with all things, you never really know what to expect. So, with caution, I proceeded further up the peak towards the redoubt, ever mindful of my surroundings and my healthy fear of being stabbed. But, it was nothing so sinister. Upon reaching the base of the redoubt, it appears as though some caretaker or homeless person or something has planted a small garden there. I think I saw the guy who lives up there briefly, but I'm not entirely sure.
In any event, I made my way up the final staircase and reached my goal. I had finally found the Devil's Peak Redoubt. I wandered about the old military ruins for a bit and imagined what it must have been like there a hundred and fifty years ago when pirates roamed the waters near Lei Yue Mun, threatening British colonial interests (you can find more information on pirates here). After some picture taking and a swing of water, I made my way back down the peak. My adventure in Yau Tong was pretty much complete. But, making my way up the peak, was no where near as hard as coming back down. Not having done too much in the past few months, I found that my legs were a bit weak as I made my way back down. Although, it was tiring working my way up the hill, the climb itself only seemed to be taxing on me because of my lack of endurance and my asthma. Coming back down...my knees were really feeling the descent. But, I made it down the peak safely and after wandering around Yau Tong for a bit, I found my way back to the MTR. Oh yeah, I found out later from V's mom that Pau Toi San, means like cannons on the hill or something. So, if I had followed those signs, I probably would have made it to the redoubt much sooner. Probably would have missed seeing the cemetery though. Also, I know that san means hill/mountain...so had I been paying more attention, I probably should have figured out that the sign was pointing to the peak. lol
With my Yau Tong adventure over, I decided to take the advice of V's mom and head to Wong Tai Sin and see the temple there. So, a short MTR ride later, and I was in Wong Tai Sin. The temple there is huge and the architecture what you'd expect of a Chinese temple. Inside the main temple, you can get this cup full of bamboo sticks. Each stick has a number on it with a corresponding fortune or prediction. The idea is to pray for something and shake the cup. Eventually, you will be able to shake free one of the bamboo sticks. So, I got me one of these cups with the sticks, and I kneeled before the temple altar and I began to shake the cup. Honestly, I can't say that I was praying for anything specific, just curious what it could tell me about my future I suppose. Anyway, cup shaking. While I was shaking the cup, I was looking around at all of the people who were also doing it. One by one, each person seemed to shake their cup and get their stick...that sounds kinda lewd, but oh well. In any event, I was there shaking the cup full of sticks for quite sometime. I began to wonder if I was doing it wrong or maybe my cup with sticks was broken or something. But, eventually I was one of the bamboo sticks fell free from the cup and I had my number.
But, what to do with this number? I didn't know. I found a temple interpreter and asked her what I was suppose to do. She told me that once I had my number from the stick, I could go down to see the fortune tellers and they could tell me what the number meant. However, she told me that it could get a bit pricey and that I could find my fortune by visiting the temple's website for free. Free is good. So, I thanked her for her help and wandered into the Good Wish Garden. I'm hoping that the literal English translation is just bad and that it's called something much cooler in Cantonese. In any event, bad name, really beautiful garden. It was really quite spectacular. The garden is full of ponds with fountains and waterfalls cascading overhead. The ponds are filled with carp and turtles. I was able to get like super close to some turtles, maybe like a foot away. They were just hanging out, soaking up some rays. I watched two turtles fighting to secure the last spot on a rocky over hang. Prime sun bathing spot I'm sure.
I left the gardens to find myself in this weird dungeon like maze. Once again, I would have like to take pictures, but it was hard enough trying to get out of there trying to explain that I didn't need my palm or feet or face read or my fortune told. There was a huge sign leading down to the fortune tellers that said soothsayers. Now, we all know about soothsayers a la Julius Caesar. So, reading that sign, my healthy fear of being stabbed kicked in. I'm not saying that I'm like Julius Caesar or something or that it's the Ides of March, but I'd prefer to not be brutally stabbed by Romans, which would probably be very unlikely seeing as I'm in HK...still. Anyway, I made it out of the soothsayers dungeon no worse for wear and found myself outside the temple gates once again.
After the Wong Tai Sin Temple, I wandered around Wong Tai Sin for a bit and came across the Fung Tak Park. The park is themed on the Chinese fairy tale 'Journey to the West'. Journey to the West tells the tale of the Monkey King and his adventure. The park had sections devoted to specific episodes in the fairy tale. I wandered through the park for a bit, trying to relive the adventures of the Monkey King. I felt like I had done a pretty good job. Then the battery in my camera crapped out and I was sad. Then my water ran out and I was sad again. So, I headed home. Back to the MTR station, I wandered down a pedestrian subway to an different exit/entrance than I had emerged from. Outside this particular exit/entrance there were rather aggressive women trying to sell incense and other worshipping paraphernalia to people exiting the MTR station. I'm not sure if the people they were harassing were actually heading to the Wong Tai Sin Temple, but one woman was having no part of it and pushed the tiny elderly woman aside. I'm sure it's not the first time that she's been pushed though. She seemed pretty tough. Anyway, I made it back home with out being stabbed or accosted by tiny incense selling woman, maybe a little sun burnt, but with another walkabout completed. Oh...turns out that the spare battery for the camera was sitting on the table all along. lol
Almost forgot, here's my fortune from Wong Tai Sin:
#15
Riding on a raft and floating is midstream,
He travels far and wide to the glistening moon.
Songs of angels from Heaven may stop for a while.
Yet wine and poetry never cease to make you smile.
ORACULAR REVELATION:
Recovery from sickness will be speedy.
Silk-raising will prove successful.
Travellers will now be returning.
Time is favourable for contracting marriage.
A son will be born to the pregnant.
Bright prospects are for the family.
Most plans and aspirations will be blessed.
Fame and wealth will come your way as desired.
Breeding domestic animals will be successful.
ANSWER TO QUESTIONS ON:
Geomancy : wealth will come and children will be born.
Lost property : lost items will soon be found.
Personal well-being : everything is safe and sound.
Future prospect : endeavours are rewarding.
Travelling : all journeys are pleasant and enjoyable.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
#16
It was another quiet morning for me. Spent the late morning and the afternoon watching the Trevor Linden retirement ceremony and the subsequent hockey game. Yup, that's right, I watched the ceremony and game from HK, come on, it's Linden. Couldn't call myself a Canucks fan if I missed it. Stepped out quickly during the first period of the game to get lunch for me and V's mom. She hung out to watch the ceremony and game too. V's family are probably one of the most fanatic Canuck fans I've ever known. I have friends who have certain members of their family watch and support the Canucks, but V's whole family all cheer the Canucks with a passion like I have never seen.
Oh right, lunch. I ran down to the nearby mall to pick up some McDonald's. Now, I know what you're thinking, McDonald's!? WTH!? But, with my restricted diet, lunch time is hard to find the kinds of food I can eat. Lunch time in Hong Kong is a carb lover's paradise. It's all about quick food slapped down over rice or noodles. Two things I can't really eat in great quantity anymore. Hong Kong isn't a very salad friendly place I suppose. I tried to make my own the other day. V and I had gone to the local 'white' supermarket to pick up some salad stuffs. Now, it's not a Whites only supermarket, it just has foods that cater more towards white peoples...or people who are 'white' like me. Anyway, salad fixin's, not so good in HK. In fact, quite terrible. But, what I have found, is McD's has a very good grilled chicken salad that's really quite fresh and quite healthy surprisingly enough.
V tells me that the grilled chicken burger here in HK is nothing like the grilled chicken burger in Canada. It's quite a popular sandwhich here because of the style in which they grill the chicken. The same chicken is used for the salad and it's quite tasty. The McD's menu here in HK is also quite interesting, with menu items like an Ebi Burger, Chicken Wings, Fresh Corn, Fillet-O-Fish sticks and even Clam Chowder, it's quite a bit different than back home.
After the game, I had some homework to do...not some much work I had to do, but I needed to proofread/edit something of V's. So, I spent the remainder of the afternoon working on that. I figured that I could take my time with that and then enjoy the rest of my afternoon before I had to get ready for the wedding. Fat chance of that happening. As soon as V came home, I was asked to head down to the local supermarket and pick up some stuffs we were running low on. So, I rushed out and gots the goods. Meanwhile, V and her family were getting ready for the wedding. It was funny, once V, her dad and I were ready, V's mom was still trying to get ready. At one point as we were trying to leave, V's mom suddenly couldn't find her shoes, both V and her dad were super unimpressed. It was pretty funny. I think V said something like ' both Daddy and I had to work today and we were able to be ready on time.' It was really quite funny.
Anyway, back to the wedding. Who was getting married you might ask? Her cousin Kenneth. Nice guy. He was very gracious to invite me to his wedding. Anyway, time to dawn the tailor-made suit. There are few chances that I have to wear such fine haberdashery, but I really enjoy the exercise of getting dressed up and heading out for a fancy affair. Felt like I was more appropriately dressed than some of the people there; like the guy show showed up in a striped polo shirt with track pants and a non-matching track jacket.
Anyway, there was lots of family, photo taking and good times to be had. Seeing everyone dressed to the nines was pretty cool too. Even her little cousins were all decked out. I, myself looked pretty swank. Not as good as Jiggy Swank, but then again, who does?
One of the things that stood out at the wedding was a tea ceremony. It looks like the newly married couple visits all of their elder relatives, a fact that I wasn't made initially aware of. In any event, they visit each of their aunts and uncles and serve them tea. In return, the aunts and uncles and whoever else, present the couple with lai see, you'd probably know them better as the tiny red envelopes filled with cash given out at Chinese New Years. They're also given at special occasions, like weddings. So, here's the joke; I was unaware of this particular ceremony, and one of V's uncles decided to explain to me exactly was going on. He explained pretty much what I just explained, leaving out the part where I as an unmarried younger generation, didn't have to participate in the tea ceremony. He then told me that for HKD$1000, he would supply me with the necessary goods to perform the tea ceremony. Slightly skeptically of his proposal, I hinted to him that his offer sounded a might bit sketchy. Luckily, V came along around that time and whisked me away to go look at wedding photos and stuffs. Still, think he was trying to scam me though lol.
Also at weddings, there's usually a kiddie table. I was fortunate enough to be seated with the kiddies as they are quite amusing. Anyway, we were given tiny bottles of bubbles to blow at the bride and groom as they walked past us to the head table. Many hours after that, the kids decided that it was time to play with bubbles. So, off we headed to courtyard where much silliness and laughter ensued. It was pretty funny.
Finally, I know many of you have probably been to weddings in the past. There's always an aunt or uncle there who comes up to you and asks you something to the effect of 'So, your next right?' Yeah...I got that and then some. Questions, questions, so many questions. I'm not entirely sure how I weaseled my way out of answering the questions, but the final implied comment to me happened at the end of the night. Kenneth (the one who got married), his Dad came by our table and singled out V and her cousin Jennifer (Jennifer is a few years younger than V I think). In any event, he commented to me, after he spoke to them in Cantonese, that both of them were watching the wedding ceremony very intently. The actual wedding itself took place in New Zealand. This was a wedding celebration for all of their friends and family in HK. Sort of a re-enactment of sorts. The ceremony was played on a project. Anyway, He told me that V especially seemed very interested in the happenings of the wedding. It's funny, because when the the video came on, they were still serving food. There were a bunch of people leaving at that time some more people milling about in front of our table blocking our view of the screen. So, when the people at the table in front of us left, V moved up to that table to get a better view of the screen. Of course, I went with...but, just before we moved tables, like I said they were serving some food at our table, and I thought to myself, 'I hope there's food there when I get back.' There's another wedding a few weeks from now. V's cousin Ben is getting married. I'm sure the aunts and uncles that didn't ask me this go round will probably ask me at the next one. :P
The night finally came to a close and we taxi'd back home. I packed my suit away till next time and called it a night. Oh yeah, when I was hanging away my suit, I noticed that it said 'Specially Made For Jeff Yip'. Hey! That's me!
Oh right, lunch. I ran down to the nearby mall to pick up some McDonald's. Now, I know what you're thinking, McDonald's!? WTH!? But, with my restricted diet, lunch time is hard to find the kinds of food I can eat. Lunch time in Hong Kong is a carb lover's paradise. It's all about quick food slapped down over rice or noodles. Two things I can't really eat in great quantity anymore. Hong Kong isn't a very salad friendly place I suppose. I tried to make my own the other day. V and I had gone to the local 'white' supermarket to pick up some salad stuffs. Now, it's not a Whites only supermarket, it just has foods that cater more towards white peoples...or people who are 'white' like me. Anyway, salad fixin's, not so good in HK. In fact, quite terrible. But, what I have found, is McD's has a very good grilled chicken salad that's really quite fresh and quite healthy surprisingly enough.
V tells me that the grilled chicken burger here in HK is nothing like the grilled chicken burger in Canada. It's quite a popular sandwhich here because of the style in which they grill the chicken. The same chicken is used for the salad and it's quite tasty. The McD's menu here in HK is also quite interesting, with menu items like an Ebi Burger, Chicken Wings, Fresh Corn, Fillet-O-Fish sticks and even Clam Chowder, it's quite a bit different than back home.
After the game, I had some homework to do...not some much work I had to do, but I needed to proofread/edit something of V's. So, I spent the remainder of the afternoon working on that. I figured that I could take my time with that and then enjoy the rest of my afternoon before I had to get ready for the wedding. Fat chance of that happening. As soon as V came home, I was asked to head down to the local supermarket and pick up some stuffs we were running low on. So, I rushed out and gots the goods. Meanwhile, V and her family were getting ready for the wedding. It was funny, once V, her dad and I were ready, V's mom was still trying to get ready. At one point as we were trying to leave, V's mom suddenly couldn't find her shoes, both V and her dad were super unimpressed. It was pretty funny. I think V said something like ' both Daddy and I had to work today and we were able to be ready on time.' It was really quite funny.
Anyway, back to the wedding. Who was getting married you might ask? Her cousin Kenneth. Nice guy. He was very gracious to invite me to his wedding. Anyway, time to dawn the tailor-made suit. There are few chances that I have to wear such fine haberdashery, but I really enjoy the exercise of getting dressed up and heading out for a fancy affair. Felt like I was more appropriately dressed than some of the people there; like the guy show showed up in a striped polo shirt with track pants and a non-matching track jacket.
Anyway, there was lots of family, photo taking and good times to be had. Seeing everyone dressed to the nines was pretty cool too. Even her little cousins were all decked out. I, myself looked pretty swank. Not as good as Jiggy Swank, but then again, who does?
One of the things that stood out at the wedding was a tea ceremony. It looks like the newly married couple visits all of their elder relatives, a fact that I wasn't made initially aware of. In any event, they visit each of their aunts and uncles and serve them tea. In return, the aunts and uncles and whoever else, present the couple with lai see, you'd probably know them better as the tiny red envelopes filled with cash given out at Chinese New Years. They're also given at special occasions, like weddings. So, here's the joke; I was unaware of this particular ceremony, and one of V's uncles decided to explain to me exactly was going on. He explained pretty much what I just explained, leaving out the part where I as an unmarried younger generation, didn't have to participate in the tea ceremony. He then told me that for HKD$1000, he would supply me with the necessary goods to perform the tea ceremony. Slightly skeptically of his proposal, I hinted to him that his offer sounded a might bit sketchy. Luckily, V came along around that time and whisked me away to go look at wedding photos and stuffs. Still, think he was trying to scam me though lol.
Also at weddings, there's usually a kiddie table. I was fortunate enough to be seated with the kiddies as they are quite amusing. Anyway, we were given tiny bottles of bubbles to blow at the bride and groom as they walked past us to the head table. Many hours after that, the kids decided that it was time to play with bubbles. So, off we headed to courtyard where much silliness and laughter ensued. It was pretty funny.
Finally, I know many of you have probably been to weddings in the past. There's always an aunt or uncle there who comes up to you and asks you something to the effect of 'So, your next right?' Yeah...I got that and then some. Questions, questions, so many questions. I'm not entirely sure how I weaseled my way out of answering the questions, but the final implied comment to me happened at the end of the night. Kenneth (the one who got married), his Dad came by our table and singled out V and her cousin Jennifer (Jennifer is a few years younger than V I think). In any event, he commented to me, after he spoke to them in Cantonese, that both of them were watching the wedding ceremony very intently. The actual wedding itself took place in New Zealand. This was a wedding celebration for all of their friends and family in HK. Sort of a re-enactment of sorts. The ceremony was played on a project. Anyway, He told me that V especially seemed very interested in the happenings of the wedding. It's funny, because when the the video came on, they were still serving food. There were a bunch of people leaving at that time some more people milling about in front of our table blocking our view of the screen. So, when the people at the table in front of us left, V moved up to that table to get a better view of the screen. Of course, I went with...but, just before we moved tables, like I said they were serving some food at our table, and I thought to myself, 'I hope there's food there when I get back.' There's another wedding a few weeks from now. V's cousin Ben is getting married. I'm sure the aunts and uncles that didn't ask me this go round will probably ask me at the next one. :P
The night finally came to a close and we taxi'd back home. I packed my suit away till next time and called it a night. Oh yeah, when I was hanging away my suit, I noticed that it said 'Specially Made For Jeff Yip'. Hey! That's me!
Down Time
I'm seemingly forever behind in my blogging. lol
Well, following my walkabout and still trying to regain my strength from the virus, I took the next day off...that would have been Wednesday. I stayed pretty much close to home, venturing only to get food and take out the trash. I spent my day researching my next set of adventures around HK. I'm a history buff of course, so I've been looking at visiting old World War II sites. I'm not going to go into too many details, but to give you a little background, in 1941 Hong Kong was invaded by the Japanese. The British along with help from it's Commonwealth countries, made a valiant, yet ultimate futile defense of Hong Kong. On Dec 25, 1941, Hong Kong fell to the Japanese. Almost 2000 Canadians lost their lives defending Hong Kong. The only Victoria Cross action to take place during the battle was awarded to a Canadian, Company Sergeant-Major John Robert Osborn. His story is epic, the true definition of a hero, I think.
Anyway, it's back to guide books and maps as I venture into parts unknown. Well, at lest parts unknown to me. Not sure where my first stop is yet, but I'm sure I'll write about it. Anyway, that's all I did Wednesday really. V's mom flew in to HK on Wednesday and there was a big family dinner at V's aunt's house (this is an aunt on her mom's side). V's whole family is in town for a couple of weddings. First one is on Thursday. Should be quite interesting, I've never been to a Chinese wedding before.
Well, following my walkabout and still trying to regain my strength from the virus, I took the next day off...that would have been Wednesday. I stayed pretty much close to home, venturing only to get food and take out the trash. I spent my day researching my next set of adventures around HK. I'm a history buff of course, so I've been looking at visiting old World War II sites. I'm not going to go into too many details, but to give you a little background, in 1941 Hong Kong was invaded by the Japanese. The British along with help from it's Commonwealth countries, made a valiant, yet ultimate futile defense of Hong Kong. On Dec 25, 1941, Hong Kong fell to the Japanese. Almost 2000 Canadians lost their lives defending Hong Kong. The only Victoria Cross action to take place during the battle was awarded to a Canadian, Company Sergeant-Major John Robert Osborn. His story is epic, the true definition of a hero, I think.
Anyway, it's back to guide books and maps as I venture into parts unknown. Well, at lest parts unknown to me. Not sure where my first stop is yet, but I'm sure I'll write about it. Anyway, that's all I did Wednesday really. V's mom flew in to HK on Wednesday and there was a big family dinner at V's aunt's house (this is an aunt on her mom's side). V's whole family is in town for a couple of weddings. First one is on Thursday. Should be quite interesting, I've never been to a Chinese wedding before.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Walkabout
Oy! Looks like I'm a few days behind again on my writing.
I'm forever getting mixed up with my days. Having been sick for a while and not working and now being almost a day a ahead of where I'd usually be, I seem to forget exactly what day it is and which day I did what.
Anyway, Tuesday I headed out to the Hong Kong Museum of History. Sure, not everyone's cup of tea to be sure, but interesting to me nonetheless. As luck would have it, the museum had a brand new exhibit showcasing the French Revolution. But, as has been my Achilles heel of late, I neglected to read the signs properly and when I arrived at the museum, it was closed. Seems I showed up to the museum for the French Revolution one day early. So, no museum for me. I headed across to the Hong Kong Science Museum to see if I could get my museum fix for the day. As chance would have it, there was something going on there as well, preventing me from going inside. So, with no museums to go to in this part of town, and a whole afternoon in front of me, I decided to go exploring and go for a walkabout.
My trek took me along down along a familiar street to the water's edge passing shops that I recognized from my frequent bus rides down this stretch of TST. I had to take a slight detour along my way, weaving and winding through a variety of street and building construction. As I found my way back to the main street, I passed by this little noodle house tucked into the bend of a side street. The only reason I took notice was there was a massive line up of people waiting to get in. Must be lunch time in HK. Now, I'll be the first to say that I won't stand in a line up for a restaurant. With all of the great food available, especially here in HK, why wait to eat? Also, still recovering from my recent stomach ailment, I find that now more than ever, that when my system lets me know I need food, I need food like now!
So, the waiting for food, not exactly an option for a hungry person such as myself. Luckily, I had already eaten lunch and didn't need to eat. But, it got me thinking. If there is this many people lined up outside this place, it's gotta be good. Perhaps, it'd be worth the wait if I were prepared to wait. :P But, you can find similar line ups for food all over the city. One place I have to try, is a little hole in the wall down Nathan Road. For those of you who don't know, Nathan Road is one of the main streets in Hong Kong. It's full of shopping, shopping and...more shopping. It is also home to a great number of restaurants too. Back to the hole in the wall. Of course, there's nothing fancy about this place, it is literally a whole in the wall. They don't serve anything fancy or upscale, no home cooked Chinese food or anything like that.
What they make is what I know as bubble or egg waffles. It's sort of hard to describe them. Ask Leng if you really want to know. Anyway, the line up for this little food stall is always there. I've never passed by it when it wasn't busy. V pointed it out to me at the beginning of my trip. She tells me that it's the best place in Hong Kong for those waffles and I can see why. Each time I pass by that place it smells sooooo good. It's intense. It's sort of like a cross between freshly made waffle cones, fortune cookies and an ever subtle hint of almond cookie aroma too. Anyway, when I finally get through the line up, I'll let you know how they are.
So, I made my way down the busy street, stopping every so briefly inside the New World Center Shopping Mall to hide from the afternoon sun. Now, with the snow falling in Vancouver, I probably shouldn't be complaining too much about 24 degree weather. But, quite honestly, I really wasn't prepared for the warmth of that afternoon.
I traveled along the Avenue of Stars, a great stretch of waterfront real estate paying homage to the great stars of Hong Kong and Chinese cinema. I'd been there before during the evening for a quiet stroll with V last time I was here. But, I hadn't seen it during the day so I took this opportunity to walk along the promenade and stop to take pictures of the Hong Kong Island side as I went. As the sun beat down upon me, I reached the end of the Avenue of Stars finally reaching the Hong Kong Cultural Center, the Hong Kong Museum of Art and the Hong Kong Space Museum.
I stopped outside this iconic trio of buildings, which defines the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, to take some pictures of the architecture and of just everyday life in TST. There were these two old gentlemen playing Chinese checkers in the shade of the HK Cultural Center; a seemingly stereotypical photo opportunity that I couldn't pass up. They were so enthralled with their game, that I dare not interrupt them to ask them if I could take their picture...so I just quietly snapped a shot and let them continue on with their game. After taking pictures for a while, I needed to find refuge from the sun. So, I headed into the art museum to cool down and take in some culture.
Now, I can't say that I really understand art, especially modern art. But, this museum isn't just fancy paintings of Van Gogh or Rembrandt. This art museum showcases Chinese artwork, everything from calligraphy scrolls to Chinese brush paintings, to ancient pottery and relics. They also have some modern art too. They're current feature exhibit was the art of Antonio Mak. Again, I don't really understand modern art, but his stuff was really quite interesting and though-provoking. Usually after viewing modern art, I leave the gallery some what confused and feeling a little cheated of my hard earned dollars. But, I left this exhibit with maybe a little more understanding of art and the artist's message. The other exhibit that I really wanted to see, was entitled 'The Story of the Horse'. I have a certain affinity for the horse. It's my Chinese astrological sign. So, I was interested to see both modern and ancient interpretations of the horse and the spiritual and symbolic meanings that the horse has in Chinese culture. The exhibit was quite interesting and I was fortunate enough to be in HK to see it.
So, after finally venturing into a museum and getting my cultural fix...and possibly responsible for breaking a hand dryer in the bathroom...I headed back out on my walkabout. As luck would have it, V was just finishing work and heading out to an appointment on the island side. I was to meet her in Causeway Bay, one of the city's most colourful and vibrant areas, I think. I'll tell you now that V was quite impressed in how I got to the island side. Now, conventional wisdom would tell me to find the closest MTR station and take the subway out to Causeway Bay, seeing as it has it's very own station. But, I was on walkabout, so time to explore.
I headed from the museum to the Star Ferry. I've mentioned the Star Ferry before I think. It's a turn of the century ferry boat that still has fares for upper decks and lower decks. Having take the noisy and slightly smelly trip on the lower deck already, I think I might be worth it to pay the 50 cents more and ride in a little bit more style. So, I hopped on the Star Ferry leaving from TST to Wan Chai. Wan Chai is an area on the HK Island side right next to Causeway Bay. My plan was to take the ferry across to Wan Chai, take some photos around the HK Convention and Exhibition Center on the Wan Chai waterfront, and then continue my walkabout to Causeway Bay. Would it have been simpler to take the MTR? Probably. Was this just another excuse to take the Star Ferry? Definitely.
So, about 15mins later, I emerge on the Hong Kong Island side near the HK Convention Center. I spent a little over a half an hour taking pictures in and around the convention center, before I headed out for Causeway Bay. It was neat to see the city at twilight and I was sort of glad to see the sun fall below the skyline. Not knowing how long it would actually take to get there, I wanted to make sure I had enough time to get there and not leave her waiting for me. I've traveled around Wan Chai a little bit and I was weaving in and amongst covered walkways that zig zag above the streets of Wan Chai. When I finally emerged from that crazy labyrinth and looked at my surroundings, I thought to myself, 'hmmmm...I'm somewhere where I don't know where I am.' Oh well, not much I could do about that now. So, relying once again on my brain, I headed down Hennessy Road towards hopefully Causeway Bay. As I walked among the hordes of people, the last remnants of sunlight had disappeared from the rooftops. With the sun now gone the neon glow of the city began to light my way. I walked for what seems like forever. Not really sure I was going in the right direction, simply carrying on my path from a gut feeling.
Finally I recognized the iconic red and white symbol of the MTR, so regardless of whether or not I was actually going in the right direction, at least I would be able to get to Causeway Bay. A few more blocks and a few thousand people later, I arrived at my destination. Causeway Bay MTR station, exit F. Yay! Feeling triumphant in the completion of my quest and being about 20mins early to meet V, I decided to explore a bit. Causeway Bay is a vibrant and busy shopping and eating district on the island side. Similar to TST I suppose, but a whole lot more people. There seems to be a greater mix of high end fashion and expensive restaurants too. I wandered about the streets in behind the MTR station. It was a crazy mix of winding roads and unique storefronts. As I weaved amongst the buildings and people, I found myself staring at Time Square. No, not NYC. Time Square is like a huge marble spire gently set in the middle of Causeway Bay. It's really quite pretty all decked out in it's Christmas finery. Aside from the general Christmas lights and stuff, there was an amazing art display out front of Time Square. It was a winter village scene but not with your average Christmas characters. It was like seeing a Hayao Miyazaki film in real life. You'll have to see the pictures I suppose it's kind of hard to describe, but it was really quite spectacular.
And then all of a sudden it was time to meet V. I rushed back to our meeting spot feeling pretty weary from the days adventure. I finally met up with V and we did a bit of shopping before we headed to her aunt's house for dinner. All-in-all, a pretty eventful day for me. I was glad when I finally climbed into bed.
I'm forever getting mixed up with my days. Having been sick for a while and not working and now being almost a day a ahead of where I'd usually be, I seem to forget exactly what day it is and which day I did what.
Anyway, Tuesday I headed out to the Hong Kong Museum of History. Sure, not everyone's cup of tea to be sure, but interesting to me nonetheless. As luck would have it, the museum had a brand new exhibit showcasing the French Revolution. But, as has been my Achilles heel of late, I neglected to read the signs properly and when I arrived at the museum, it was closed. Seems I showed up to the museum for the French Revolution one day early. So, no museum for me. I headed across to the Hong Kong Science Museum to see if I could get my museum fix for the day. As chance would have it, there was something going on there as well, preventing me from going inside. So, with no museums to go to in this part of town, and a whole afternoon in front of me, I decided to go exploring and go for a walkabout.
My trek took me along down along a familiar street to the water's edge passing shops that I recognized from my frequent bus rides down this stretch of TST. I had to take a slight detour along my way, weaving and winding through a variety of street and building construction. As I found my way back to the main street, I passed by this little noodle house tucked into the bend of a side street. The only reason I took notice was there was a massive line up of people waiting to get in. Must be lunch time in HK. Now, I'll be the first to say that I won't stand in a line up for a restaurant. With all of the great food available, especially here in HK, why wait to eat? Also, still recovering from my recent stomach ailment, I find that now more than ever, that when my system lets me know I need food, I need food like now!
So, the waiting for food, not exactly an option for a hungry person such as myself. Luckily, I had already eaten lunch and didn't need to eat. But, it got me thinking. If there is this many people lined up outside this place, it's gotta be good. Perhaps, it'd be worth the wait if I were prepared to wait. :P But, you can find similar line ups for food all over the city. One place I have to try, is a little hole in the wall down Nathan Road. For those of you who don't know, Nathan Road is one of the main streets in Hong Kong. It's full of shopping, shopping and...more shopping. It is also home to a great number of restaurants too. Back to the hole in the wall. Of course, there's nothing fancy about this place, it is literally a whole in the wall. They don't serve anything fancy or upscale, no home cooked Chinese food or anything like that.
What they make is what I know as bubble or egg waffles. It's sort of hard to describe them. Ask Leng if you really want to know. Anyway, the line up for this little food stall is always there. I've never passed by it when it wasn't busy. V pointed it out to me at the beginning of my trip. She tells me that it's the best place in Hong Kong for those waffles and I can see why. Each time I pass by that place it smells sooooo good. It's intense. It's sort of like a cross between freshly made waffle cones, fortune cookies and an ever subtle hint of almond cookie aroma too. Anyway, when I finally get through the line up, I'll let you know how they are.
So, I made my way down the busy street, stopping every so briefly inside the New World Center Shopping Mall to hide from the afternoon sun. Now, with the snow falling in Vancouver, I probably shouldn't be complaining too much about 24 degree weather. But, quite honestly, I really wasn't prepared for the warmth of that afternoon.
I traveled along the Avenue of Stars, a great stretch of waterfront real estate paying homage to the great stars of Hong Kong and Chinese cinema. I'd been there before during the evening for a quiet stroll with V last time I was here. But, I hadn't seen it during the day so I took this opportunity to walk along the promenade and stop to take pictures of the Hong Kong Island side as I went. As the sun beat down upon me, I reached the end of the Avenue of Stars finally reaching the Hong Kong Cultural Center, the Hong Kong Museum of Art and the Hong Kong Space Museum.
I stopped outside this iconic trio of buildings, which defines the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, to take some pictures of the architecture and of just everyday life in TST. There were these two old gentlemen playing Chinese checkers in the shade of the HK Cultural Center; a seemingly stereotypical photo opportunity that I couldn't pass up. They were so enthralled with their game, that I dare not interrupt them to ask them if I could take their picture...so I just quietly snapped a shot and let them continue on with their game. After taking pictures for a while, I needed to find refuge from the sun. So, I headed into the art museum to cool down and take in some culture.
Now, I can't say that I really understand art, especially modern art. But, this museum isn't just fancy paintings of Van Gogh or Rembrandt. This art museum showcases Chinese artwork, everything from calligraphy scrolls to Chinese brush paintings, to ancient pottery and relics. They also have some modern art too. They're current feature exhibit was the art of Antonio Mak. Again, I don't really understand modern art, but his stuff was really quite interesting and though-provoking. Usually after viewing modern art, I leave the gallery some what confused and feeling a little cheated of my hard earned dollars. But, I left this exhibit with maybe a little more understanding of art and the artist's message. The other exhibit that I really wanted to see, was entitled 'The Story of the Horse'. I have a certain affinity for the horse. It's my Chinese astrological sign. So, I was interested to see both modern and ancient interpretations of the horse and the spiritual and symbolic meanings that the horse has in Chinese culture. The exhibit was quite interesting and I was fortunate enough to be in HK to see it.
So, after finally venturing into a museum and getting my cultural fix...and possibly responsible for breaking a hand dryer in the bathroom...I headed back out on my walkabout. As luck would have it, V was just finishing work and heading out to an appointment on the island side. I was to meet her in Causeway Bay, one of the city's most colourful and vibrant areas, I think. I'll tell you now that V was quite impressed in how I got to the island side. Now, conventional wisdom would tell me to find the closest MTR station and take the subway out to Causeway Bay, seeing as it has it's very own station. But, I was on walkabout, so time to explore.
I headed from the museum to the Star Ferry. I've mentioned the Star Ferry before I think. It's a turn of the century ferry boat that still has fares for upper decks and lower decks. Having take the noisy and slightly smelly trip on the lower deck already, I think I might be worth it to pay the 50 cents more and ride in a little bit more style. So, I hopped on the Star Ferry leaving from TST to Wan Chai. Wan Chai is an area on the HK Island side right next to Causeway Bay. My plan was to take the ferry across to Wan Chai, take some photos around the HK Convention and Exhibition Center on the Wan Chai waterfront, and then continue my walkabout to Causeway Bay. Would it have been simpler to take the MTR? Probably. Was this just another excuse to take the Star Ferry? Definitely.
So, about 15mins later, I emerge on the Hong Kong Island side near the HK Convention Center. I spent a little over a half an hour taking pictures in and around the convention center, before I headed out for Causeway Bay. It was neat to see the city at twilight and I was sort of glad to see the sun fall below the skyline. Not knowing how long it would actually take to get there, I wanted to make sure I had enough time to get there and not leave her waiting for me. I've traveled around Wan Chai a little bit and I was weaving in and amongst covered walkways that zig zag above the streets of Wan Chai. When I finally emerged from that crazy labyrinth and looked at my surroundings, I thought to myself, 'hmmmm...I'm somewhere where I don't know where I am.' Oh well, not much I could do about that now. So, relying once again on my brain, I headed down Hennessy Road towards hopefully Causeway Bay. As I walked among the hordes of people, the last remnants of sunlight had disappeared from the rooftops. With the sun now gone the neon glow of the city began to light my way. I walked for what seems like forever. Not really sure I was going in the right direction, simply carrying on my path from a gut feeling.
Finally I recognized the iconic red and white symbol of the MTR, so regardless of whether or not I was actually going in the right direction, at least I would be able to get to Causeway Bay. A few more blocks and a few thousand people later, I arrived at my destination. Causeway Bay MTR station, exit F. Yay! Feeling triumphant in the completion of my quest and being about 20mins early to meet V, I decided to explore a bit. Causeway Bay is a vibrant and busy shopping and eating district on the island side. Similar to TST I suppose, but a whole lot more people. There seems to be a greater mix of high end fashion and expensive restaurants too. I wandered about the streets in behind the MTR station. It was a crazy mix of winding roads and unique storefronts. As I weaved amongst the buildings and people, I found myself staring at Time Square. No, not NYC. Time Square is like a huge marble spire gently set in the middle of Causeway Bay. It's really quite pretty all decked out in it's Christmas finery. Aside from the general Christmas lights and stuff, there was an amazing art display out front of Time Square. It was a winter village scene but not with your average Christmas characters. It was like seeing a Hayao Miyazaki film in real life. You'll have to see the pictures I suppose it's kind of hard to describe, but it was really quite spectacular.
And then all of a sudden it was time to meet V. I rushed back to our meeting spot feeling pretty weary from the days adventure. I finally met up with V and we did a bit of shopping before we headed to her aunt's house for dinner. All-in-all, a pretty eventful day for me. I was glad when I finally climbed into bed.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Ears are not handles for lifting
And before we knew it, the weekend was over. Which meant V was going back to work.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit anxious to be left alone on the streets of Hong Kong to fend for myself. Luckily, V's been teaching me a lot about the city and how to get around it and stuff. I think she'd agree, that I'm an old pro at navigating my way around the MTR and I've been taking the bus a lot by myself too and I'm pretty familiar with the one bus route that gets me from home to a lot of areas in TST (a major shopping/dining/cultural area on the peninsula side of HK), including where V works and back home.
So getting around...pretty much no problem. Or at least I haven't gotten lost yet. I'm also flying solo in so far as, I'm not taking a tour book with me when I go out. No maps, no bus schedules or directions. There are a lot of signs around pointing out where major attractions are and stuff like that, and while they are helpful, I'm pretty much going by memory a lot of the time.
Case in point, V and I went to the Peak (big mountain on the Island side) yesterday. We were hunting around for the Peak Tram to get up the mountain. The Peak is a pretty big tourist attraction, so we were following the government posted signs in order to find the tram. But, for the most part we had come out of the MTR station and were searching for it simply by memory. At one point we were looking for one of those government signs to make sure we were heading in the right directions. We found one, but instead of it reading Peak Tram, it said Peak Team. And that's not even Ingrish, that's just a typo.
So, back to my anxiety. Like I was saying, I'm not so much worried about getting lost in the middle of HK somewhere and while there is a real possibility that could happen, I'm more concerned about the language barrier. While I know some Cantonese, I don't really think it's enough. Plus, people take to fast for me to follow along with what they are saying. I try my best, but I find that for the most part, I'm relying on other people to know English for me to survive here.
In an attempt to calm my fears about that, V had me order lunch for us yesterday. I think she was trying to show me that I can get away with using English for the most part and that I shouldn't be afraid to venture out on my own and just live life normally here in HK. While I'm still a little apprehensive about surviving all by myself here, she definitely made her point.
After lunch up at the Peak, we came back down and crossed the water back to TST to pick up my suit for the wedding. Crossing the water from the island side to the peninsula side happens in one of two ways, MTR which goes under the water, or the Star Ferry. Must be my fascination with boats or my love of the ocean, but I love taking the Star Ferry. I guess the novelty of taking this turn of the century vessel across the water, just hasn't worn off on me yet. Sure, it's a regular mode of transportation for a lot of people, but I don't get to take a boat ride everyday.
As I was saying, I went to pick up my new suit yesterday. That's right, I am now the proud owner of a tailor made suit. Nothing too fancy about it, it's just cool that I had input into making my own suit. After we picked up the suit, I had to go hunt for a pair of dress shoes. Seems the shoes I brought along for the suit, just won't cut it. So, I began the task of finding new shoes. I've learned that I should never by the first pair of shoes I try on, no matter how much I like them or how comfortable I think they are. Thus, I wanted to try on a bunch of different shoes and try to find the best ones I could. But, holy crap! The sales people in HK put on the pressure. I'm mean I could understand the hard sell for something like a car or an expensive TV or something, you know a big ticket item...but, pressure sales tactics for a pair of shoes...seems a bit hardcore. The other thing I noticed, was that in almost every place I went into, the pair of shoes that I was interested in maybe purchasing, but that I wanted to think about before I actually bought it; that pair of shoes was always the last one in it's size. Whaddup with that?
Anyway, I finally found a pair of shoes. So, we headed back home to drop off all of the stuff. Plus, V's dad came home on Monday from working in the UAE for the past 3 months, and we figured we should stop in and see how he was doing. After being domestic for a while (i.e. laundry) we headed out for dinner.
If you haven't experienced a HK buffet, it's something you really have to do before you die. There are almost too many choices at the buffet. It's quite ridiculous how much food is there. And while I wasn't able to try everything, everything that I did have was exceptionally good. If you hadn't guessed, we went to buffet last night for dinner. We met up with a couple of V's friends (although I suppose they are my friends too) Johann and Katie. Anyway, they just got back from Japan. There's another country with tasty, tasty food. Johann and Katie both work for Cathay Pacific as flight attendants. So, they asked me about the flight attendants on my flight out to HK. Turns out that all of my observations about their co-workers and friends on the my flight were pretty accurate. All in all, good food and conversation makes for a pretty good evening. I ate sooooo much food.
One more thing, just before we headed out for dinner, I was sitting on the couch by the door putting on my shoes, when V asked me something...I don't remember what she asked me, but like I do sometimes, my answer was smart ass. In order to get my attention, she lifted my head by me ears, sort of how you might lift up a bucket by the handle. But, instead of a bucket, it was my head and instead of a handle it was my ears. Two things in that instance made it super funny to me. Firstly, the fact that she lifted my head by my ears and secondly, just how much it actually hurt. Holy crap, V is freakishly strong.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit anxious to be left alone on the streets of Hong Kong to fend for myself. Luckily, V's been teaching me a lot about the city and how to get around it and stuff. I think she'd agree, that I'm an old pro at navigating my way around the MTR and I've been taking the bus a lot by myself too and I'm pretty familiar with the one bus route that gets me from home to a lot of areas in TST (a major shopping/dining/cultural area on the peninsula side of HK), including where V works and back home.
So getting around...pretty much no problem. Or at least I haven't gotten lost yet. I'm also flying solo in so far as, I'm not taking a tour book with me when I go out. No maps, no bus schedules or directions. There are a lot of signs around pointing out where major attractions are and stuff like that, and while they are helpful, I'm pretty much going by memory a lot of the time.
Case in point, V and I went to the Peak (big mountain on the Island side) yesterday. We were hunting around for the Peak Tram to get up the mountain. The Peak is a pretty big tourist attraction, so we were following the government posted signs in order to find the tram. But, for the most part we had come out of the MTR station and were searching for it simply by memory. At one point we were looking for one of those government signs to make sure we were heading in the right directions. We found one, but instead of it reading Peak Tram, it said Peak Team. And that's not even Ingrish, that's just a typo.
So, back to my anxiety. Like I was saying, I'm not so much worried about getting lost in the middle of HK somewhere and while there is a real possibility that could happen, I'm more concerned about the language barrier. While I know some Cantonese, I don't really think it's enough. Plus, people take to fast for me to follow along with what they are saying. I try my best, but I find that for the most part, I'm relying on other people to know English for me to survive here.
In an attempt to calm my fears about that, V had me order lunch for us yesterday. I think she was trying to show me that I can get away with using English for the most part and that I shouldn't be afraid to venture out on my own and just live life normally here in HK. While I'm still a little apprehensive about surviving all by myself here, she definitely made her point.
After lunch up at the Peak, we came back down and crossed the water back to TST to pick up my suit for the wedding. Crossing the water from the island side to the peninsula side happens in one of two ways, MTR which goes under the water, or the Star Ferry. Must be my fascination with boats or my love of the ocean, but I love taking the Star Ferry. I guess the novelty of taking this turn of the century vessel across the water, just hasn't worn off on me yet. Sure, it's a regular mode of transportation for a lot of people, but I don't get to take a boat ride everyday.
As I was saying, I went to pick up my new suit yesterday. That's right, I am now the proud owner of a tailor made suit. Nothing too fancy about it, it's just cool that I had input into making my own suit. After we picked up the suit, I had to go hunt for a pair of dress shoes. Seems the shoes I brought along for the suit, just won't cut it. So, I began the task of finding new shoes. I've learned that I should never by the first pair of shoes I try on, no matter how much I like them or how comfortable I think they are. Thus, I wanted to try on a bunch of different shoes and try to find the best ones I could. But, holy crap! The sales people in HK put on the pressure. I'm mean I could understand the hard sell for something like a car or an expensive TV or something, you know a big ticket item...but, pressure sales tactics for a pair of shoes...seems a bit hardcore. The other thing I noticed, was that in almost every place I went into, the pair of shoes that I was interested in maybe purchasing, but that I wanted to think about before I actually bought it; that pair of shoes was always the last one in it's size. Whaddup with that?
Anyway, I finally found a pair of shoes. So, we headed back home to drop off all of the stuff. Plus, V's dad came home on Monday from working in the UAE for the past 3 months, and we figured we should stop in and see how he was doing. After being domestic for a while (i.e. laundry) we headed out for dinner.
If you haven't experienced a HK buffet, it's something you really have to do before you die. There are almost too many choices at the buffet. It's quite ridiculous how much food is there. And while I wasn't able to try everything, everything that I did have was exceptionally good. If you hadn't guessed, we went to buffet last night for dinner. We met up with a couple of V's friends (although I suppose they are my friends too) Johann and Katie. Anyway, they just got back from Japan. There's another country with tasty, tasty food. Johann and Katie both work for Cathay Pacific as flight attendants. So, they asked me about the flight attendants on my flight out to HK. Turns out that all of my observations about their co-workers and friends on the my flight were pretty accurate. All in all, good food and conversation makes for a pretty good evening. I ate sooooo much food.
One more thing, just before we headed out for dinner, I was sitting on the couch by the door putting on my shoes, when V asked me something...I don't remember what she asked me, but like I do sometimes, my answer was smart ass. In order to get my attention, she lifted my head by me ears, sort of how you might lift up a bucket by the handle. But, instead of a bucket, it was my head and instead of a handle it was my ears. Two things in that instance made it super funny to me. Firstly, the fact that she lifted my head by my ears and secondly, just how much it actually hurt. Holy crap, V is freakishly strong.
Yum cha
Wow, guess I have a couple of days here to catch up on.
Sunday, I went to Dim Sum with V's Dad's side of the family. She has so many relatives, it's really hard to keep track of them all. Plus, in Chinese culture, people refer to their aunts and uncles in the order in which they were born. So, V will refer to them by number, not by name. If I were quizzed on which aunt or uncle was what number, I'd probably fail the test miserably. But, having hung out with her cousins a lot, and spending most family gatherings sitting at the 'kiddie's table', I do know all of the names of her cousins. I suppose that's a start.
Having learned the most basic Cantonese I possibly could before I left for Hong Kong, I tried my hardest to follow along. Problem with that was that there was so much going on, it was hard to figure out who was talking to who and in which conversation. I honestly tried my best to try to understand what was going on, but my new language skills weren't quite enough to help me out. Which is ok, cause there are many things that I do understand now. Just the conversations at the dim sum table are flying fast and furious. However, I was able to sort of figure out what was going on from people's body language and their expressions.
What I did figure out, was that her cousin Matthew is the one all of the cousins like to bug. The kid is maybe 10 years old, and what I gather from what V has told me and from what little Cantonese I understood, he's some what popular with the ladies...well, maybe not ladies, so much as girls his own age. So, they make fun of him and the supposed harem of girlfriends that he apparently has. Poor kid, I kinda felt sorry for him. But, it seems like he likes the attention. I'll tell you this though, it sure makes for entertaining conversations, even if I'm not entirely sure what's going on.
Still, all of her cousins, aunts and uncles speak some English. So, it's really not that hard to communicate with them when I need to. I met her cousin Ken just before Dim Sum. V's helping out with the MC'ing for Ken's wedding. Ken and his bride to be, Irene, are both from New Zealand. I had a pretty good conversation in English with the two of them. First time I found that I didn't need to really modify my English in order to speak to someone. That's not a slight against anyone, I just have to remind myself that I can't use complex English in order to speak with people who's first language is not English.
Oh yeah, V totally got crap from her Aunt (I don't know which one lol). Anyway, Her cousin Ben is getting married later in the month. So, with two weddings happening, she's got a lot more relatives in town than would normally be here. Plus, throw me into the mix, and it's a pretty interesting time. So, back to why V got crap. Apparently, V didn't tell everyone in her family that I was here in HK or that I was even coming to HK this December. So, Ben's mom, totally gave her crap for not telling her and then was kind enough to invite me to Ben's wedding. According to V, Ben had already invited me to his wedding or something like that. Still, it was funny to see her get crap.
One last thing, when we were on the elevator coming back up to V's apartment, there was a family in there, a mother, her elder son and her young daughter. The daughter must have been 3, maybe 4. As an elementary school teacher, V is always telling me about cute kids. So, I thought, this little girl with her little pigtails and stuff was a cute kid. V was of the opposite opinion, turns out that kid was licking her hand. Not like sucking on her thumb or something. Like full on licking her hand from her palm to the tip of her fingers. V thought that was kind of disgusting and I'm incline to agree. Although, I brought up the point that maybe the kid was not disgusting but simply the tastiest child in the world. A point that V was unable to argue.
Sunday, I went to Dim Sum with V's Dad's side of the family. She has so many relatives, it's really hard to keep track of them all. Plus, in Chinese culture, people refer to their aunts and uncles in the order in which they were born. So, V will refer to them by number, not by name. If I were quizzed on which aunt or uncle was what number, I'd probably fail the test miserably. But, having hung out with her cousins a lot, and spending most family gatherings sitting at the 'kiddie's table', I do know all of the names of her cousins. I suppose that's a start.
Having learned the most basic Cantonese I possibly could before I left for Hong Kong, I tried my hardest to follow along. Problem with that was that there was so much going on, it was hard to figure out who was talking to who and in which conversation. I honestly tried my best to try to understand what was going on, but my new language skills weren't quite enough to help me out. Which is ok, cause there are many things that I do understand now. Just the conversations at the dim sum table are flying fast and furious. However, I was able to sort of figure out what was going on from people's body language and their expressions.
What I did figure out, was that her cousin Matthew is the one all of the cousins like to bug. The kid is maybe 10 years old, and what I gather from what V has told me and from what little Cantonese I understood, he's some what popular with the ladies...well, maybe not ladies, so much as girls his own age. So, they make fun of him and the supposed harem of girlfriends that he apparently has. Poor kid, I kinda felt sorry for him. But, it seems like he likes the attention. I'll tell you this though, it sure makes for entertaining conversations, even if I'm not entirely sure what's going on.
Still, all of her cousins, aunts and uncles speak some English. So, it's really not that hard to communicate with them when I need to. I met her cousin Ken just before Dim Sum. V's helping out with the MC'ing for Ken's wedding. Ken and his bride to be, Irene, are both from New Zealand. I had a pretty good conversation in English with the two of them. First time I found that I didn't need to really modify my English in order to speak to someone. That's not a slight against anyone, I just have to remind myself that I can't use complex English in order to speak with people who's first language is not English.
Oh yeah, V totally got crap from her Aunt (I don't know which one lol). Anyway, Her cousin Ben is getting married later in the month. So, with two weddings happening, she's got a lot more relatives in town than would normally be here. Plus, throw me into the mix, and it's a pretty interesting time. So, back to why V got crap. Apparently, V didn't tell everyone in her family that I was here in HK or that I was even coming to HK this December. So, Ben's mom, totally gave her crap for not telling her and then was kind enough to invite me to Ben's wedding. According to V, Ben had already invited me to his wedding or something like that. Still, it was funny to see her get crap.
One last thing, when we were on the elevator coming back up to V's apartment, there was a family in there, a mother, her elder son and her young daughter. The daughter must have been 3, maybe 4. As an elementary school teacher, V is always telling me about cute kids. So, I thought, this little girl with her little pigtails and stuff was a cute kid. V was of the opposite opinion, turns out that kid was licking her hand. Not like sucking on her thumb or something. Like full on licking her hand from her palm to the tip of her fingers. V thought that was kind of disgusting and I'm incline to agree. Although, I brought up the point that maybe the kid was not disgusting but simply the tastiest child in the world. A point that V was unable to argue.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Musical Interlude
I had the opportunity tonight to visit the school where V works. It's an all girls school, so guys like me aren't usually allowed on the school grounds except with some sort of special invitation. I had one of those. She's a member of her alumni choir and there was a Christmas/school tribute concert tonight. The building that currently houses the school is being torn down and rebuilt, so they were reminicing and paying homage to the old school.
I'll be the first to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of choir music. It's not really my cup of tea. But, her choir is quite talented and overall quite enjoyable. Much like always, I felt slightly out of place there tonight. Firstly, because regular guys like me aren't usually allowed in there. Not sure why that made me feel weird, it just did.
Secondly, the school is a christian private school. Not being christian, I felt more like an outsider than I already did. The only thing I did recognize was part of Psalm 23: 'Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.' Not sure why I know that, I suppose it just sounds cool in my head. Still, I had a good time I think, there was a xylophone dealie that was pretty cool.
But, I think the best part of the evening was at the end when they asked us to sing a few songs with the choir. Now, once again, I'm not familiar with hymns, but I figure once I figure out the melody, I could probably fake it. Or at least mouth the words to look like I'm singing. At the concert, there was this guy sitting beside me. Not sure if he knew the words to the hymns, but what I do know, is that guy liked to sing. Nay...that guy didn't just like to sing, he wanted to marry and have the song have like a thousand of his babies. He wasn't a bad singer by any stretch, he was just all over those hymns like a fat kid on a Smartie. But, that's not the joke. The funny part of the whole thing, was when we were singing the hymns along with the choir, didn't matter what part, he seemed to always be one word behind where everyone else was. It was really quite hard to follow along with him belting out those hymns in my ear, but always like half a step behind where he needed to be. It was quite amusing.
It was like the time Mike, Mel and myself went to the GBS concert at the Malkin Bowl at Stanley Park. There was this guy who was dancing along with the music. Let me clarify this a little. He wasn't so much dancing, as he was erratically convulsing half a beat behind where the music was. It was quite disconcerting to try to listen to the music and watch his body twitch offbeat to the music.
Anyway, we're back at V's house now and there is a little girl upstairs practicing piano. V tells me she practices a lot. The problem is, she never seems to get any better. I don't know about that, but sitting here listening to her play is like watching the spastic white guy dance or listen to the Chinese guy sing hymns one word behind everybody else. I recognize the song she's practicing, and the speed at which she plays is always like two or three notes behind where the song should be. I'm sitting here listening to her play and I'm like cheering her on like she's the little engine that could.
Oh...I almost forgot. I went to have a suit made for me today. The whole getting a suit made thing is foreign to me. I've never had a job that required me to wear suits. But, it wasn't anything too complicated. What was complicated was trying to get to the tailor. We were meeting a friend of V's, Raymond. He told us to meet him at exit M1 of the TST subway station. (TST is an area in HK, full of shopping and restaurants. It lies on the mainland peninsula side along the water.) So, after a light lunch, we headed into the maze of tunnels and caverns that make up the underworld of the TST subway station. We entered the station and proceeded to find the M1 exit.
Let me just cut to the punch line here. Turns out there is no M1 exit. The story gets funnier as not only is there no M1 exit, but the exit where we eventually met Ray and the entrance where we came in were literally like half block away from each other. In order to get to the false M1 exit was a huge loop around inside the tunnels of the subway station. I found it quite funny, I think V was annoyed with the misleading signage that lead us around in a huge circle.
Anyway, that's it for today. Laters.
I'll be the first to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of choir music. It's not really my cup of tea. But, her choir is quite talented and overall quite enjoyable. Much like always, I felt slightly out of place there tonight. Firstly, because regular guys like me aren't usually allowed in there. Not sure why that made me feel weird, it just did.
Secondly, the school is a christian private school. Not being christian, I felt more like an outsider than I already did. The only thing I did recognize was part of Psalm 23: 'Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.' Not sure why I know that, I suppose it just sounds cool in my head. Still, I had a good time I think, there was a xylophone dealie that was pretty cool.
But, I think the best part of the evening was at the end when they asked us to sing a few songs with the choir. Now, once again, I'm not familiar with hymns, but I figure once I figure out the melody, I could probably fake it. Or at least mouth the words to look like I'm singing. At the concert, there was this guy sitting beside me. Not sure if he knew the words to the hymns, but what I do know, is that guy liked to sing. Nay...that guy didn't just like to sing, he wanted to marry and have the song have like a thousand of his babies. He wasn't a bad singer by any stretch, he was just all over those hymns like a fat kid on a Smartie. But, that's not the joke. The funny part of the whole thing, was when we were singing the hymns along with the choir, didn't matter what part, he seemed to always be one word behind where everyone else was. It was really quite hard to follow along with him belting out those hymns in my ear, but always like half a step behind where he needed to be. It was quite amusing.
It was like the time Mike, Mel and myself went to the GBS concert at the Malkin Bowl at Stanley Park. There was this guy who was dancing along with the music. Let me clarify this a little. He wasn't so much dancing, as he was erratically convulsing half a beat behind where the music was. It was quite disconcerting to try to listen to the music and watch his body twitch offbeat to the music.
Anyway, we're back at V's house now and there is a little girl upstairs practicing piano. V tells me she practices a lot. The problem is, she never seems to get any better. I don't know about that, but sitting here listening to her play is like watching the spastic white guy dance or listen to the Chinese guy sing hymns one word behind everybody else. I recognize the song she's practicing, and the speed at which she plays is always like two or three notes behind where the song should be. I'm sitting here listening to her play and I'm like cheering her on like she's the little engine that could.
Oh...I almost forgot. I went to have a suit made for me today. The whole getting a suit made thing is foreign to me. I've never had a job that required me to wear suits. But, it wasn't anything too complicated. What was complicated was trying to get to the tailor. We were meeting a friend of V's, Raymond. He told us to meet him at exit M1 of the TST subway station. (TST is an area in HK, full of shopping and restaurants. It lies on the mainland peninsula side along the water.) So, after a light lunch, we headed into the maze of tunnels and caverns that make up the underworld of the TST subway station. We entered the station and proceeded to find the M1 exit.
Let me just cut to the punch line here. Turns out there is no M1 exit. The story gets funnier as not only is there no M1 exit, but the exit where we eventually met Ray and the entrance where we came in were literally like half block away from each other. In order to get to the false M1 exit was a huge loop around inside the tunnels of the subway station. I found it quite funny, I think V was annoyed with the misleading signage that lead us around in a huge circle.
Anyway, that's it for today. Laters.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Burning Ring of Fire
Today this has nothing to do with the unfortunate relationship between extremely spicy food and it's fiery journey through the digestive system. Nope, I'm actually talking about the Pacific Ring of Fire.
My flight was delayed coming into Hong Kong today, because as I understand it, we had to fly around some volcanic activity in Russia. I can only assume that Russian volcanic activity in the region of my plane's flight path, is a common occurance. So, not really knowing too much about what happened or what could have happened, I can only assume that I survived a murderous volcano attack. Futhermore, I can also assume that as I sit here before you telling you this epic tale, that I not only did I survive the volcano attack, but I clearly I was the one who slayed and defeated the volcano. It's a rare occasion that someone would use the word hero, but I think it's safe to say that, today...I am a hero.
(I know that made no sense. But, hurray for jetlagged induce delusions.)
I'm not sure how many of you have sat on a plane for more than 15 hours. I'm not sure why that's the magical number...it just sounds good. My point is this though, after 15 hours on a plane and then another 1 1/2 hours on a bus, I'm pretty sure that I need to wash off that almost 17 hours worth of travel. I was probably not aware of it, but I'm sure I probably smelled not so good. So with that in mind, why would you not concern yourself with personal hygiene before stepping foot onto the airplane?
Let me just digress for a moment here. Most of you have flown somewhere in the world I'm sure. And most of you have probably sat outside of your departure gate people watching and wondering which of these filthy beasts you will be parked beside on the plane. Don't deny it, you've all done it; sizing up someone as they walk by you, thinking, "Ewww...hope I don't have to sit beside that guy." It's the human condition and as much as we would like to think we don't care about superficial things like that, we all do it. I'm mean come on, why wouldn't I want to sit next to some hot women for the duration of my flight?
But, what I'm trying to get at is this, if I'm sitting there sizing up people, secretly praying to myself that I hope I won't have to sit beside this guy or that women or a crying child or whatever, why then would I give someone else any reason to think the exact same thing about me?
That brings me back to what I was saying earlier; personal hygiene. I think we've all had some kind of poor personal hygiene at one time or another. Maybe you forgot to put your deoderant on before you went to work or perhaps you forgot to brush your teeth one day or something. Point is, we've all done it, we then hopefully make a mental note of it and try not to do it again. Seems perfectly reasonable. We're all human, we make mistakes and hopefully learn from them.
So that being said, why in your right mind would you show up to your flight without having taking a shower or at the very very least, maybe wiped yourself down with one of those antiseptic hand wipes or something. Does it make sense to you that you would say go to the gym and work out before your flight and then show up for your flight in your sweaty-ass workout clothes? If any of that does make sense to you, I just want to say that I never want to travel with you ever. I don't care if it's a 4 day trek across the Sahara Desert or like a 5 min car ride, I really don't. You are disgusting and unclean. Unclean!
Seriously though, some woman showed up to the departure gate with the most vile body odor. It was quite grotesque really. And yes, she was one of the people I was secretly praying that I would not have to sit beside. I don't think I'm a bad person for wishing to not sit beside her.
Imagine sitting beside someone with even a mild case of b.o. Now, imagine as that person slowly ripens over the course of a 15 hour plane ride with the fabulous recycled air on board the plane blowing all around you, so that you constantly getting reaquainted with her delightful odor. If you can imagine even a little bit of what that would be like, I think you'd be wishing the same thing as me. Fortunately, I did not have to sit beside or near that smelly woman.
Anyway, I was able to get out of YVR taser-free and I arrived safely in Hong Kong this morning, a hero no less. That's right, I can scratch Volcano Slayer off of my list of things to do. I'm really quite proud of myself. By the way, right now it's overcast and about 22 degrees C, with a slight breeze. Enjoy the coming cold. :)
My flight was delayed coming into Hong Kong today, because as I understand it, we had to fly around some volcanic activity in Russia. I can only assume that Russian volcanic activity in the region of my plane's flight path, is a common occurance. So, not really knowing too much about what happened or what could have happened, I can only assume that I survived a murderous volcano attack. Futhermore, I can also assume that as I sit here before you telling you this epic tale, that I not only did I survive the volcano attack, but I clearly I was the one who slayed and defeated the volcano. It's a rare occasion that someone would use the word hero, but I think it's safe to say that, today...I am a hero.
(I know that made no sense. But, hurray for jetlagged induce delusions.)
I'm not sure how many of you have sat on a plane for more than 15 hours. I'm not sure why that's the magical number...it just sounds good. My point is this though, after 15 hours on a plane and then another 1 1/2 hours on a bus, I'm pretty sure that I need to wash off that almost 17 hours worth of travel. I was probably not aware of it, but I'm sure I probably smelled not so good. So with that in mind, why would you not concern yourself with personal hygiene before stepping foot onto the airplane?
Let me just digress for a moment here. Most of you have flown somewhere in the world I'm sure. And most of you have probably sat outside of your departure gate people watching and wondering which of these filthy beasts you will be parked beside on the plane. Don't deny it, you've all done it; sizing up someone as they walk by you, thinking, "Ewww...hope I don't have to sit beside that guy." It's the human condition and as much as we would like to think we don't care about superficial things like that, we all do it. I'm mean come on, why wouldn't I want to sit next to some hot women for the duration of my flight?
But, what I'm trying to get at is this, if I'm sitting there sizing up people, secretly praying to myself that I hope I won't have to sit beside this guy or that women or a crying child or whatever, why then would I give someone else any reason to think the exact same thing about me?
That brings me back to what I was saying earlier; personal hygiene. I think we've all had some kind of poor personal hygiene at one time or another. Maybe you forgot to put your deoderant on before you went to work or perhaps you forgot to brush your teeth one day or something. Point is, we've all done it, we then hopefully make a mental note of it and try not to do it again. Seems perfectly reasonable. We're all human, we make mistakes and hopefully learn from them.
So that being said, why in your right mind would you show up to your flight without having taking a shower or at the very very least, maybe wiped yourself down with one of those antiseptic hand wipes or something. Does it make sense to you that you would say go to the gym and work out before your flight and then show up for your flight in your sweaty-ass workout clothes? If any of that does make sense to you, I just want to say that I never want to travel with you ever. I don't care if it's a 4 day trek across the Sahara Desert or like a 5 min car ride, I really don't. You are disgusting and unclean. Unclean!
Seriously though, some woman showed up to the departure gate with the most vile body odor. It was quite grotesque really. And yes, she was one of the people I was secretly praying that I would not have to sit beside. I don't think I'm a bad person for wishing to not sit beside her.
Imagine sitting beside someone with even a mild case of b.o. Now, imagine as that person slowly ripens over the course of a 15 hour plane ride with the fabulous recycled air on board the plane blowing all around you, so that you constantly getting reaquainted with her delightful odor. If you can imagine even a little bit of what that would be like, I think you'd be wishing the same thing as me. Fortunately, I did not have to sit beside or near that smelly woman.
Anyway, I was able to get out of YVR taser-free and I arrived safely in Hong Kong this morning, a hero no less. That's right, I can scratch Volcano Slayer off of my list of things to do. I'm really quite proud of myself. By the way, right now it's overcast and about 22 degrees C, with a slight breeze. Enjoy the coming cold. :)
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
On Reading and Literacy
Well, turns out I'm a retard. Not just the simple stupid monkey that most of you have come to know me for, today I out did myself and crossed over in to becoming a full blown r-tard. Let me explain why.
I've been trying to get my stuff packed up for the past few days. In order to accomplish this task, I went to the Cathay Pacific website to find out how much luggage I could check for my flight to Hong Kong. I was surprised to find out that it was a single piece weighing no more than 22kg (44lbs). Kinda surprised me that it was so little, but ok...I'll deal with it. Well, it took a lot of work, but I was able to thin out what I was taking with me and along with V's stuff that she asked me to bring, manage to pack all of it into one suitcase weighing in at 22kg.
Not bad. But, it meant that I seriously was limited in the amount of stuff that I was taking with me. Turns out, like with most things according to V, I was wrong. Well, not so much that I was wrong, so much as she is always right. Me being wrong is like the icing on the cake. So, I've spent the bulk of the afternoon repacking my stuff and gathering a few extra things that I originally believed I could not take. It seems that in my infinite wisdom, I read the wrong baggage information. Turns out I can take 2 pieces at a maximum of 23kg (50lbs), more than twice what I thought.
So mistakes were made, but it has become apparent that my past is forever reminding my of my colossal lapses in brain function. As you know, I went to HK last year around this same time. V told me that I should come prepared for cold cause, well, it gets cold in HK. Me in my infinite wisdom decided to kindly ignore that advice. In fact, I think my exact words were "pffft...it's not going to be cold in HK."
But, you see, karma always has a way of catching up with you. For you see, the 'pffft' comment was merely the tip of the iceberg. Apparently there was overwhelming evidence of my douchebaggery and karma came along as showed me just how cold it can be in HK. It wasn't just cold though...it was like dry Eastern Canada cold. So, I didn't just get cold, I got karmically beat down with cold. So much so that I needed to go buy pants.
So my vacation faux pas from last year although not similar to this year's, was a giant reminder for V and she reminded me this morning that she is always right and that in variably I am always wrong and I should just accept what she has to say and then I wouldn't have these problems. But, you know how if you make a humourous mistake and then a friend or loved one at every chance reminds you of it and throws it in your face? The "it's not cold in HK" is one of those. It's like a verbal punch to the face that while it stings, is still extremely funny as all punches to the face are.
I think it is part of the male condition, or perhaps a brain disease that only I have, that inspite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I continue to struggle through life under the vein misconception that perhaps one day...one day I too will finally be right about something. Alas, today was not one of those days.
Anyway, bags are all packed and I'm just counting down the time I have left here in Vancouver. As every time I go to HK, I'm becoming increasingly excited as the hours tick down. Oh and yes, I've packed to appropriate clothing to stave off the cold. Not gonna make that mistake twice. :P
I've been trying to get my stuff packed up for the past few days. In order to accomplish this task, I went to the Cathay Pacific website to find out how much luggage I could check for my flight to Hong Kong. I was surprised to find out that it was a single piece weighing no more than 22kg (44lbs). Kinda surprised me that it was so little, but ok...I'll deal with it. Well, it took a lot of work, but I was able to thin out what I was taking with me and along with V's stuff that she asked me to bring, manage to pack all of it into one suitcase weighing in at 22kg.
Not bad. But, it meant that I seriously was limited in the amount of stuff that I was taking with me. Turns out, like with most things according to V, I was wrong. Well, not so much that I was wrong, so much as she is always right. Me being wrong is like the icing on the cake. So, I've spent the bulk of the afternoon repacking my stuff and gathering a few extra things that I originally believed I could not take. It seems that in my infinite wisdom, I read the wrong baggage information. Turns out I can take 2 pieces at a maximum of 23kg (50lbs), more than twice what I thought.
So mistakes were made, but it has become apparent that my past is forever reminding my of my colossal lapses in brain function. As you know, I went to HK last year around this same time. V told me that I should come prepared for cold cause, well, it gets cold in HK. Me in my infinite wisdom decided to kindly ignore that advice. In fact, I think my exact words were "pffft...it's not going to be cold in HK."
But, you see, karma always has a way of catching up with you. For you see, the 'pffft' comment was merely the tip of the iceberg. Apparently there was overwhelming evidence of my douchebaggery and karma came along as showed me just how cold it can be in HK. It wasn't just cold though...it was like dry Eastern Canada cold. So, I didn't just get cold, I got karmically beat down with cold. So much so that I needed to go buy pants.
So my vacation faux pas from last year although not similar to this year's, was a giant reminder for V and she reminded me this morning that she is always right and that in variably I am always wrong and I should just accept what she has to say and then I wouldn't have these problems. But, you know how if you make a humourous mistake and then a friend or loved one at every chance reminds you of it and throws it in your face? The "it's not cold in HK" is one of those. It's like a verbal punch to the face that while it stings, is still extremely funny as all punches to the face are.
I think it is part of the male condition, or perhaps a brain disease that only I have, that inspite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I continue to struggle through life under the vein misconception that perhaps one day...one day I too will finally be right about something. Alas, today was not one of those days.
Anyway, bags are all packed and I'm just counting down the time I have left here in Vancouver. As every time I go to HK, I'm becoming increasingly excited as the hours tick down. Oh and yes, I've packed to appropriate clothing to stave off the cold. Not gonna make that mistake twice. :P
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
New Beginnings
So, I've opted to revive an old friend. Apparently before I stopped writing here, I had 55 posts. Not bad, if I do say so myself. I've decided to start fresh though and with no regard for what I wrote in the past, have done away with all of those old posts.
I start this new chapter of my life on the eve of my 2008 trip to Hong Kong. I figured that I'd take a shot of chronicling some of my experiences and musings as I bound around one of the World's greatest cities. I'm using this blog as a stepping stone to start me writing again. Not sure why I stopped, I just know that I need to start writing again.
I guess this is a little bit of therapy for me. I always found writing to be cathartic for me. Part of my recovery I suppose. Not enough to get physically healthy again, but get my head in order. Being sick for a long time can really mess with you, I suppose with all of my free time I've had a lot of time to sit and think and perhaps in my current state of health, focusing on the negative a little too much. So, as I leave for Hong Kong, I hope to leave all of that behind me and further speed my recovery.
I've also leave for Hong Kong with a little more perspective and a little less hair. Yes, the beard and the shaggy hair are no longer with us. Sad, I know. Mostly sad for me, cause now my face is cold.
Well, I have a bit more packing left to do, so I should probably get to it. Anyways, I'm sure you'll hear from me again over the coming weeks about my trip and my journey throughout Hong Kong. Laters.
I start this new chapter of my life on the eve of my 2008 trip to Hong Kong. I figured that I'd take a shot of chronicling some of my experiences and musings as I bound around one of the World's greatest cities. I'm using this blog as a stepping stone to start me writing again. Not sure why I stopped, I just know that I need to start writing again.
I guess this is a little bit of therapy for me. I always found writing to be cathartic for me. Part of my recovery I suppose. Not enough to get physically healthy again, but get my head in order. Being sick for a long time can really mess with you, I suppose with all of my free time I've had a lot of time to sit and think and perhaps in my current state of health, focusing on the negative a little too much. So, as I leave for Hong Kong, I hope to leave all of that behind me and further speed my recovery.
I've also leave for Hong Kong with a little more perspective and a little less hair. Yes, the beard and the shaggy hair are no longer with us. Sad, I know. Mostly sad for me, cause now my face is cold.
Well, I have a bit more packing left to do, so I should probably get to it. Anyways, I'm sure you'll hear from me again over the coming weeks about my trip and my journey throughout Hong Kong. Laters.
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