New Destination!
For those of you who see these, I just felt like I should wrap up our journey. But, like all good adventures- where one ends, another only begins.
After landing back stateside, Kristin and I embarked on a 3,000 mile road trip across the US. We visited family and friends spanning from Chicago to Muncie to (stay with me here) Lawerenberg (IN) to Little Rock (AR) to Waco (TX) to Austin (TX) to New Mexico (…) to San Diego (CA), and finally home to our little garage apartment in Los Angeles.
My internship is off and running and Kristin is off and working. Not much to say here. There may be a sister blog spawning, but I am busy as is working on film stuff (gotta plan for the future, it’s time to work, the fun is over) and writing scripts. Hope you all enjoyed your Hong Kong-a-long, I know we did. Cheers!
Orchestras and Ocean Parks
Kristina and I have been having a plumb ol’ time with or last few weeks here in Hong Kong. Kristin finished up her academic career last Friday with her Mandarin exam (claps), which we all thought was a little bit more difficult than we had anticipated. I, however, just finished another semester.
So, with our last few weeks in Hong Kong we have been trying to stay as active as possible- finishing up those last few things we wanted to do, buying gifts here and there, and of course, going back to our favorite restaurants.
Two days ago, Kristin was wandering around TST and saw an orchestra rehearsing right on the water front, so she came back reporting that there was to be a free concert that night at 7:30. So, not one to miss a free show, we traveled down to the harbour to hear some interesting orchestral music. I hadn’t been told that it would be entirely Eastern instrumentation which provided for an intriguing night, the sound and dynamic drastically different than anything I had heard before. After that we met our favorite Finnish couple for Indian at the Chunking Mansions. If I have not previously reported on the Chunking Mansions, it’s a little place that is about as dangerous as you can get. Home to cheap, cheap housing and every minority you can think of, it’s sort of the wild, wild west of Hong Kong except stuffed into a tiny housing/business complex 18 stories tall. Lucky for them, the Indian food is delicious enough to call us back time and time again. For the cinephiles reading, Wong Kar-Wai’s Chungking Express does the place just the right justice.
We’ve also discovered that our local park (literally, one minute away- has opened their fantastic pool which, at the “it’s so cheap you can’t NOT go” price of nine Hong Kong dollars, yields one of the nicest and least crowded facilities I have ever seen in regards to a PUBLIC pool. We’ve gone there often as the weather has taken a turn for the perfect.
Yesterday, after our gracious, gracious Taiwanese friend Crazy Raymond lent us a free pair of tickets, Kristin and I finally decided to cash in on them and go to Ocean Park. I had sent my expectations rather low after hearing mixed reviews, and to my delight was very pleasantly surprised.
Ocean Park is best described as an Eastern hybridization of Six Flags Theme Park/Sea World/Zoo/Retirement Home. No where else in the world will you see noodle dishes sold side-by-side with corn dogs while you wait in line with forty senior citizens on an organized tour from Beijing after you’ve just gotten off a roller coaster that hurtles you off the side of a cliff giving you a stunning view of the South China Sea- all while you reminisce about how much more adorable the little known Red Panda (fire fox) is than its famous cousin the (black and white) Giant Panda.
As mentioned, for what the roller coasters and thrill rides lack in intensity and velocity, they certainly make up for with the aesthetic views and vistas of the islands surrounding Hong Kong and the South China Sea. I’ll never forget being pulled into the loop on a roller coaster and seeing a great eagle spreading it’s wings over the sun while it appeared to be below me.
We hit all the rides and attractions in seven hours, and even managed to catch a couple of the animal shows. Whiskers the Giant Seal and the Bird Show (Emperor’s of the Sky) were both fun. And for what a great price! Since I know parents are reading, we saved about $500 dollars on the tickets (thank you Crazy Raymond) and only spent $30 dollars on a water and an ice cream cone. Booya. All in all, it was a great time, and Kristin and I, tired and tan, went to meet up with some friends for 2-for-1 Mexican food in Soho.
We had plans to go to the beach today but we second-guessed ourselves with the initial clouds. Turns out it would have been another beautiful day. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow. But, I did get my new glasses. I’ve never felt so good about spending 20 bucks. Not because I’m vain and think I look super good with them, but because the smile and satisfaction of knowing I paid a fraction of the price that I would have had to pay in the US really makes my day.
Fifteen days and we’re on a plane? Hmmm…. How do I feel about that?
Acupuncture Adventure
So, I have made a friend here in Hong Kong who goes by the name of Leo. I met him through my hall’s (Cai Hall, pronounced “chai”) basketball team. We’ve become friends over time as he is a really nice guy. Eventually, I found out that his major at this pristine university was in Chinese Medicine. Kristin and I both thought this was pretty cool and always joked about having him perform some general “healing” and “chinese medicine-y stuff” on us. Be careful what you wish for.
It was a Wednesday morning. I had woken up and gotten out of bed. For some reason, I take a breath in while crouching and I felt something in my neck just seize up instantly. This resulted in a stinging pain in my neck every time I looked up, down, left, or right. With an ardent sigh, I continued with my day. While in line to get my food, I noticed Leo was a couple spots back. I said hello and joked with him that I actually had a pain in my neck and could use some of his Chinese medicinal magic. I moved forwards and laughed it off. He did not.
I said goodbye as I was walking away with my food with just a couple paces from the door, I heard him call my name out. He asked me to wait for him and maybe we could go up to his room and he could work on my neck. I figured I’d been leading him on long enough and said “um, sure.”
We went to his room where his roommate was still sleeping and he sat me down on his bed and began massaging my neck. This, for the most part felt really good. He was a bit rough but it was soothing to an extent. He kept telling me to relax, and, honestly, I was about as relaxed as I could be given the sort of strange circumstance that it was. Him standing on his bed while I sat as his roommate lay rolled up and sleeping a foot away. He tried some hard-jerking which didn’t really do much and then quickly moved to his desk where he took out a box of needles.
Now, I’ll just be honest and say, you know, I’m not really a needle guy. I had a rough time in my childhood at the doctor’s even. A rough time being they had to strap me down to a gurney in order to give me a booster shot. So, you could imagine I was a bit resistant to the whole idea. Now, I thought I’d be fine if he just stuck them around my shoulders, that way I wouldn’t have to see any of it and there would be a little more “meat” to buffer the pain. Nope. Leo was going for my hands. Not the best.
The way the needles work is that they are in little plastic tubes and he places it against your skin and thwacks the top part, shooting it into your skin. He thin wiggles it deeper, arousing a “sensation.” So, it kind of hurts. Not immensely though. His second needle went into the dead center of the back of my hand. That one wasn’t so hot either (the first being placed in the area between my pointer and thumb). I didn’t feel any less pain in my neck and was beginning to get a bit nervous. I called it off as he was reaching for the third, saying maybe I’ll just deal with it or come back later. He acquiesced and pulled the needles out.
Then it was his roommate’s turn, who was also studying Chinese medicine. I said I didn’t really feel like doing any more needles, so he said he’d just do some more massaging. I said sure. Leo offered to play me the piano ballad from Twilight on his keyboard to help me relax- I said I was ok. His roommate, Herman, actually did some chiropractic stuff and yanked me head real hard cracking it. This actually helped a bit, but they were both pretty emphatic on me getting some more needles stuck in me. I said I should probably just go eat my lunch as I had “some things I needed to do” aka “not get needles stuck in me any more today”.
It was interesting and now I can say that I’ve done it- do I really have an urge to try again? Maybe. Do I wonder if maybe they are just excited for willing test puppets to practice on? Probably. Am I being less liberal with the information on my personal well being and aches and pains when talking to Leo? Definitely.
That’s all. Studying for some finals. Writing papers. Blah blah blah. Went to an enormous beach party last night, was pretty fun. Stateside in three weeks. Yikes. Get ready Chipotle.
Easter Holidaze!
I actually set my alarm early to wake up and write this thing! Again, our blog is falling into a state of neglect and we deeply apologize. Well, I do. Kristin is still sleeping so, she’ll apologize when she wakes up.
The Genesis: We decided to go to Singapore and Malaysia since it was one of the closer countries that did not need a Visa- and like always, we were looking to cut costs. However, don’t let not needing a visa scare you- they are both wonderful countries (and cities, respectively. Planning the trip was a bit difficult (Kristin and I later both confessed to each other, in a state of frustration that we both had never planned a cross-country/international vacation with multiple bus and plane routes, accommodations, and touristing). But, with the help of the internet and a couple tips from my roommate (who has been to more places in the US of A within two and a half months than I have been to in my life), we had a rough outline of our trip and at least two places reserved for slumber, before getting on the flight out of HK.
Our flight left at 11 AM, which meant we were up nice and early to catch the E22 bus from campus all the way to the airport. Hong Kong actually has a really nice airport, and we caught a traditional Hong Kong breakfast of Burger King and coffee before boarding the plane.
We touched down in Singapore around one o’clock. Wandering through the airport, we used their wonderful (it really is) public transportation system to get a ride into the heart of thins. The city immediately caught our interest. It was smaller in scale on the outskirts, and a bit more flat than HK. Also, there were houses. Something like the suburbs you would see back in the US.
We got off the train at a location I had previously thought we could buy bus tickets for the next day to take us into Singapore. Well, I was wrong. And after walking around in the drizzling rain for a while- we drew plenty of attention with our big back packs and blank stares, the worker at the MRT (subway/train thing) that gave us bus directions to get to the bus place. It turns out the bus place was three small shacks in an endless sprawl of dirty parking lot. Yeah! We originally had intended to take an 11 hour night bus from Singapore to Kuala Terangganu where we were going to hit the beaches. BUT, of course it was sold out (and you couldn’t buy them online). So we bought two tickets- one to Kuantan where we would arrive at 5AM and then another from Kuantan at 8AM to Kuala Terangganu at 1PM. That was fun.
We then made our way to our little hotel in Little India. It was cool to stay here because Little India in and of itself was pretty interesting. The blasting Bollywood music and the sights were nice.
That night we ate some Chili crab which was quite tasty. Kristin’s first (I think she said that) experience suckin’ some seafood straight from the creature. (It was a giant crab cut up in a boiling sauce of crab meat and chili. We then walked around the night life area called Clark Quay which is actually really cool- especially if you’re rich. The only problem with Singapore is that it’s expensive as hell. It’s basically 1:1 with the US dollar, and I wasn’t used to not having to do any math to figure out the actual US price- only to find out it was much too expensive. The drinks reminded me of NYC prices- which reminded me I don’t have a paying job- which reminded me I should probably not buy that 14 dollar beer.
We were exhausted and passed out in our- TADAA! Soft bed! We knew we were on vacation when the beds weren’t anchored by a steel slat of wood perfect for waking up with knots and kinks you never knew of.
Waking up from our cloud we got up early to find- RAIN! Lots! So we retreated to our room until noon when it stopped and we went exploring. We saw the Merlion and all the buildings. Ran into a huge Indian music festival and later that night a free rock and roll show on the water (shoegaze rock for those in the know).
Singapore is a really nice city. It’s every bit as clean as it is renowned for. The architecture is really interesting as the Asian, Dutch, and British influence all mix really well. The Singapore river also runs through the main portion of the city which I actually liked a bit better than Victoria Harbor in HK- eating on the river was nice, as we watched the skyline light up at night.
We caught the our bus on time and made it through customs in Malaysia. We slept for a good portion of the ride, which is saying a lot since the buses moved like bats out of the most hellacious hell one can imagine. Karma also got back at me when me fervent wishing for AC turned out to be a one-way wish to the Arctic- the driver had to be wearing a parka, because I was freezing.
We got off at Kuantan where we had to kill three hours. After fending off taxi drivers who didnt understand why we were still waiting around the bus station, we went upstairs to rest. Turned out everyone in Malaysia had the same idea since the ground and benches were covered in sleeping people. We had know idea what they were doing there since many of them looked well-to-do, but they were there the whole time we were there and didn’t move nor make a noise. I kept myself awake for safety reasons, which turned out to be a good idea, because sadly Kristin had a cockroach crawl on her leg. She promptly woke up and batted it away but we both stayed awake for the remaining forty minutes.
Fast-forward to Kuala Terangganu. Scorching hot, we headed to the tourism office. Here’s where our only real hiccup got to us. We hadn’t been able to really sift through all the information about Kuala Terangganu, so we thought we would just go, find a hotel or something and enjoy the beaches. We had known about the nearby islands but didn’t want to waste too much time getting there and back and such. Well, turns out, those are the only beaches you can swim in- apparently the beaches around KT are too dangerous. So, we dashed to catch the last bus to Kuala Besuit, but missed it. Got a random taxi guy (don’t think he was actually a taxi) to sprint-drive us the 1 and half to the jetty, caught the last jetty to the island and arrived around 5:30 where we then sprinted around the island to find a place to stay. We did- and though it was a bit hectic, it was sort of fun to wing it and see what happened. Also, it turned out to easily be the best part of our trip.
The boat ride out there was tinged with danger, as we sped along cresting off big waves and being nearly flung from the boat. The islands loomed in front of us and upon nearing were even more gorgeous from a distance. We couldn’t actually land though, so little water taxi’s came to pick us up. We were immediately astounded at how clear the water was. The beach sand was white and Kristin and I both knew we had landed in paradise. We rented out our own little wooden hut for 40 ringott a per night ($13US). At first we were concerned about bugs, but the bed had a mosquito net around it which kept us completely safe. The water wasn’t warm but the showers and toilets were relatively clean. It was a nice place and we actually ended up missing it after three days.
Besides just lounging on the beach and enjoying the crystal clean bath water- the second day we went snorkeling. Best idea ever. For 40 ringott we had 5 hours of snorkeling and had the unforgettable opportunity to swim with giant sea turtles. Yes, giant sea turtles- of the Finding Nemo ilk. It was incredible, and we were lucky. The giant sea turtles crawl along the bottom of the ocean and only surface every 45 minutes for air. We had spotted a couple of them and you could get a better look at them if you dove down, but they were too far down and the pressure was too great to get right next to them. So Kristin and I were following one from the surface for a while, when it suddenly started getting more and more clear. The thing was moving fast so we had to swim hard to chase it down. It felt like something out of a dream, or at best, Planet Earth, when this magnificent creature suddenly was swimming right by us. I put a hand on its shell and felt it’s rear leg. Looking under it, there were even some sucker fish attached coming along for the ride. It popped its head above the water (Kristin said it looked just like a dinosaur), took a breath, dove back down a bit, popped back up for a bit more, and then dove back to the bottom. Unbelievable.
We also swam with some small sharks, swarms of colorful fish, beautiful coral, one GIANT fish that we followed around for a bit, sea urchins, and even some little Nemo fish (clown fish, I know, I’m not that brain washed).
The downside of all this amazing aquatic activity? We both got sunburned. To a crisp. I’m still peeling. It made the back end of the trip a tad more difficult, but we persevered.I don’t know if I’ve ever been sunburned this bad. Kristin had put 3 layers on, I had put 2 “rough” layers on- and the sun still baked our backs like cookies in an oven. We were those chocolate chip cookies that you leave in too long and are so far beyond crispy, you can hardly pick one up without it going to pieces. Not so tasty. We were not so tasty.
Next we caught another night bus to the capital- Kuala Lumpur. The bus dropped us off unknowingly on the outskirts and we had to fend our way through communication malfunctions to finally arrive in our hotel in Chinatown. We were exhausted and sunburned and paid a little bit more to check into our room before noon- took a nap and then walked around KL. KL, in my opinion, was a lot like HK, but with a more Malaysian flavor (makes sense, right?). Some of the architecture was interesting as well. Chinatown was a standout and Kristin scored some nice Adidas workout shorts for dirt cheap and had her eyes on purses, but we “never got around to it.”
Malaysian food was great- lots of good curries and coconut-themed dishes, but it turns out our best meal was a Lebanese restaurant we stumbled upon our last night there. The hummus was killer and the food was just perfect. KL has some fun nightlife for 20-somethings as well, but we were mostly observers this time. Our flight left at 7 AM so we landed a couple hours of sleep before heading off to the airport (which is kind of a joke considering how big KL is- what happened, no money left for your airport?)
Landed back in HK safe and sound, still sunburned, tired, but recharged from vacation. There was the nice feeling of sitting on a bus and knowing exactly where you were going to be dropped off and knowing exactly what your bed and accommodations were going to be like when you opened the door to your room. Hong Kong has definitely become home. So much so, we had to go to karaoke two nights later.
A wonderful trip- Malaysia definitely being a beautiful country worth exploring. Singapore, a beautiful city and a place I would love to visit again. Just, you know, with a solid income.
That’s it. Still apartment shopping for LA this summer, finishing up schoolwork- trying to do our best to enjoy our last few weeks here. Can’t believe it’s almost over. Hope all is well stateside- we’ll be back before we, you, I, us- before anyone even realizes it.
Easter Holidays! I promise there will be an extensive, thesis-long recollection of our Easter travels, but I thought I’d tease our enormous, captive audience with a couple snapshots. All in all, it was a whirlwind trip and we had a lot of fun. True backpackers. Which came back to bite us when we got some wicked sun burn. Basically it went like this: Singapore —>Kuantan Bus Station—>Kuala Terranganu—>Perhentian Island —->Kuala Terranganu—>Kuala Lumpur—>Hong Kong. More to come later.
I’m sorry the blog has suffered of late- we’ve found ourselves quite busy preparing for life after Hong Kong and have been suddenly swept up in a wave of actual productivity and real work. Weird. But we went to the Wetlands a couple weeks (2?) ago, so here’s some pictures of the pretty place.
It was fun to walk around, but the day came to an unsuccessful end when we discovered what I had been eaten alive by, and how we too had just been eaten alive. They’re called Midges. And they’re tiny black dots that fly around, bite you, and make you miserable for days. So we left with a good twenty bites each. We’ve recovered well, but we learned our lesson and bought bug spray.
Well, we’re on the eve of our Easter travels to Singapore and Malaysia (Terengganu and Kuala Lumpur), so we’re getting ready for that.
That’s about it- this is a brief one. Brevity is the…. what’s that quote? The heart of… Oh, I don’t know.
Sunday in the Sun
Kristin and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather yesterday and just bum around Tsim Sha Tsui and see what was going on. We ran into a music festival of sorts, which turned out to be quite interesting. Just days after talking to my cousin and me telling him that it was hard to find any live music scene, since it was all so “underground”- we stumbled upon the youth of HK’s nation rocking and rolling right by the harbor.
But before the rock and roll, there was a drum circle. Enough said.
The first band was young and played all American covers. Dressed in all black, though not entirely different from either rock bands in general OR the every day (seeming) dress code of the Asian youth in general- Kristin and I joked about them playing through some sloppy Nirvana. … And they did. Opening with the most timid “Ghost of You” cover I think I’ve ever heard, they did do a good job of freeing up some seats, as the elderly quietly departed.
The proceeded to cover Paramore(maybe), Yellowcard, and a few other radio hits from the late 90’s that I vaguely remember listening to in the gym back when I still did gymnastics. It was fun in a cheesy, quasi-embarrassing way, but it was rock and roll and I was ok with that. Anything to get away from the usual contemporary Chinese fare of sad, weepy, sappy melodramatic love-lost ballads complete with crying models and sighing superstars.
The second band got to work from the get go. Rocking out with little care for self-preservation, let alone a drop of thought to what the mostly older audience thought of them- these guys were fun. And, they sang their own songs, in their own language, which was a nice experience for me. I wish I could have patted the lead singer on the back or given him some sort of affirmation through the silent crowd (scattered claps allowed)- that, yes, you are a rock star… you’re just in Hong Kong. I’d buy their CD.
Next was another younger band with a singer that couldn’t sing. Not that I’m sitting on my lofty Rolling Stone critic high-table, I just know they were bad. So we took a walk. When we came back Marilyn Mansen drowned in pink and Hello Kitty was screeching something while stomping his military boots. So we took another walk.
The clouds rolled in so we headed home.
That night we were invited by my uncle Kenny Sun to have drinks and watch the Liverpool/Manchester United game at a pub. Turned out to be a lot of fun and a pretty decent match to boot. Man U pulled through and I went home happy. Normally watching a sporting even one would expect Doritos, hot wings, nachos and salsa, etc.. We had raw tuna with soy and wasabi, deep fried spring rolls, little cheesy weiners (they transcend all geographical boundaries and taste buds) and some lovely dumplings. All quite good with a some beers. Apples and oranges, you know?
Today back to school and work. Gotta line things up for the summer and fall. Elliott out.
Tai O - Fishing Village
So, for this Wednesday’s day trip we made the, in retrospect, wise decision to head to Tai O. Tai O is an old untouched village on the backside of Lantau Island.
In order to get there we took the MTR to Central, then hopped on a ferry which took us out of Victoria Bay and to the Mui Wo. From Mui Wo (a little coastal town), we took crazy bus to Tai O. By crazy, I mean, we were going 50 mph around S-curves, squeezing past other buses on the tiny roads, one side of the bus inches(centimeters here) from a sheer cliff. But, we made it alive, and some of the coastal scenery when traveling around the island was really beautiful. We actually went past a large penitentiary, which seemed odd since the crime in Hong Kong is extremely low.
An inlet from the ocean, Tai O is a wonderful little village untouched by the modernization and 21st century growing pains of Hong Kong. Hollowed out underneath enormous green mountains, Tai O looks like a post card, running a sort of boomerang shape along the coast and up the mountains, disappearing into Mangrove trees. The first thing I noticed about Tai O was the silence. There are no cars aside from the buses coming to and fro, letting the silence lay lightly across the sound of rolling waves and dancing trees.
The residents of Tai O all live in aluminum siding built houses. Some are an amalgam of wood sticks and sheet metal held up by poles a couple feet above water, recalling fishing villages of old- all set on sticks and poles sitting on the water. The collective look of the town makes it feel like an esoteric collection of antiques set pristine at the foot of enormously unimposing mountains.
We walked through the village and watched residents walk and ride past us on bicycles. Kristin got a kick out of seeing old grannies ride bikes with training wheels past us, further proving that life is one giant circle, turning us from babies to adults and then back again.
Stumbling upon a gated building, we of course had to go inside only to find a giant school dedicated to teaching Wushu (a form of martial arts/dance). It even had a giant green lawn in the center of the courtyard for symmetric rows of students to practice in tandem. We snapped a couple pictures and then took off, not wanting to fight the hordes of killer martial artists that would come flooding out of their dormitories at the ring of an intruder.
We then headed up a path that said “White Dolphin Lookout Point”. While we didn’t see any White Dolphins (I don’t you ever could from the altitude we were at), it did prove to be a wonderful choice as we climbed a mountainous path to the top of the green giant. There we were rewarded with a breath-taking view. On one side the ocean with the sun setting, it’s orange and red glare cascading down the lolling waves. On the other, the peaks and dips mountains with gentle Tai O resting quiet, cradled at the base.
It was all quite beautiful, as I’m hoping the pictures do justice. After the sunset, we headed back through town (looking at all the seafood brought in for the day, much of it left out to dry) and hopped on a bus back to Tung Chung where we took the MTR back home.
Probably my favorite weekly excursion so far.
Here’s a link to a Facebook album I have of all the pictures I’ve been taking. Well, not all of them, more like the highlights.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023459&id=1585345475&l=70fcb358c0
Kristin Gibler : Volleyball Goddess
The Inter-Hall competition has helped awaken a sleeping giant inside Kristin. She is know an expert volleyball player.
Charting her career is to chart the rise of the American Dream. Like so many Olympic greats before her, perhaps with the exception of Prefontaine, Kristin hardly knew of her talents before that fatal day where hands met volleyball.
After just a couple of fun sessions of walleyball (volleyball played on a raquetball court utilizing the walls for optimal, tactical, strategical, placement and advancement of scoring… and stuff), Kristin put aside her athletic prowess to focus on a more serious and stable career- film making, special fx makeup, and kitty glorification.
But the flame was not extinguished. It lay dormant for a year and a half until it made the cross-continental journey to Hong Kong where a happenstance sign up for Inter-Hall Volleyball for the illustrious powerhouse Soong Hall would catapult Kristin into stardom.
Yet, even this final step of her journey was not without mishap. Originally signing up for soccer as well, she later found out that there actually was NO girl’s soccer. The injustice of the situation can clearly be seen in old highlight tapes of Kristin’s first volleyball match against Zhou hall (see above pictures).
A balanced and emotional player, Kristin Gibler leaves her heart on the floor every match, refusing to give anything less than 115%, 210% of the time. An inspiration to players around her, and know a certifiable rock star on campus- her volleyball trading card stock is rising, and doesn’t look to be falling anytime soon.
See her next in the Championship match- soon.
Valentine’s Day - Two birds with One stone!
Alright. It’s been awhile, but I’m going to try my hand at the English language again.
So last Sunday, Kristin was wonderful and planned a surprise adventure for me (not really a surprise for her). This was to celebrate the Valentine’s Day we didn’t celebrate on the 14th since it was Chinese New Year and we had plenty of festivities in that department.
Waking up (with a groan, I’ll admit, but with a loving heart) at 6 in the morning, we made our way over to Wan Chai where Kristin had one her research and found one of two true American breakfast joints in Hong Kong. It was aptly, and humorously called “The Flying Pan”. There I was treated to true, black brewed coffee- and endless cups to boot! None of this pre-sugared, pre-creamed shenanigans I get everywhere else. Coupled with this was a delicious omelet, hash brown taters, and a fruit cup. Kristin had her first run in with Eggs Benedict which she now pines after. It was a bit pricey but worth the indulgence. Set in a typical 50’s American diner, it blared 90’s music, and the waiter sported 80’s outfits. I wore shoes made in January from the Philippines. Cool.
The funny bit was leaving and walking to our next destination. See, Wan Chai is the red light district, so, being Sunday morning we saw all sorts of seediness light exposed past the opulence of neon and bleary eyes. People past out in doorways, bass still bumping from an underground club, old men trying to get “young” hookers to go home with them. Funny.
Next we wound up at the Hong Kong marathon. Kristin comes from a long line of storied runners, so the marathon held a tinge of home. It was fun and we made it just in time to see the second place finish for the marathon- first place finished just five minutes before our arrival. We cheered on some more finishers and Kristin oogled strange babies meandering through the crowd. We got some good pictures with giant New Balance shoe-people who dispersed candy through their “mouth”. Asked if I would ever run a marathon, I coughed. On accident. But it was fitting, so I smiled. (read: never.)
We then meandered over to Hong Kong Park, a truly beautiful park. Our pictures don’t do it justice, but it had a bird menagerie, a botanical greenhouse, a giant lake, a waterfall, and a bunch of people with cameras and lenses larger than my thigh. We sat on a bench and watched the koi fish and turtles sunbathe. Kristin also counted wedding parties- her favorite hobby when bumping around Hong Kong. It was a lovely, peaceful afternoon.
Grabbing a sandwich we took our lunch to go and headed around the backside of the island to Repulse Bay where we enjoyed sunshine and sand for a couple hours, working on our would-be tans. We stepped into the water but didn’t have our bathing suits to truly swim so we just sat and enjoyed each others company. And watched naked babies fall into the waves. That’s always fun.
Stopping by California Pizza Kitchen for a scrumptious dinner (absolutely fantastical hummus) we dodged the crowds in Mong Kok and hopped on the MTR home.
After that it was about time to head home where Kristin’s roommate had arranged some cooking of dumplings/meal for some sort of Chinese festival. I swear every week is a festival- you just need to think of a reason and BOOM, done deal, government legislation and all. We were stuffed already, but, like good guests- we ate again. Then watched a Jackie Chan movie on TV, which was funny on a couple levels. Our Korean friend loved Jackie, one of our Hong Kong friends hated him (he takes advantage of girls), and Kristin’s roommate didn’t seem to really get him (however that works).
It was a long, fun day- all thanks to Kristin’s planning prowess. What a lovely lady.
To catch up-
Watched the Oscars yesterday as they were actually broadcast live here- just at 9 in the morning. Ouch. Still, it was fun. I was pulling for The Hurt Locker having won it, but didn’t expect it to do as well as it did. Sad District 9 didn’t get any love. Fine with Inglorious Bastards not getting much. Saw Precious the day before- did about right.
My hall (YP Cai) is in the bball championship after making some enemies out of the opposing Soong hall. The game was ludicrous in the way the refs called literally any physical contact a foul. Some of the opposing guys yelled at me, but it’s really not my fault they play like children.
I’ll post separately about Kristin’s recent vball stardom.
Off to get Thai food!
