KY in the HK

The end of November is ill reality because clear skies and seventy degree weather is an unfamiliar red carpet to December first.  And although Thanksgiving came and went with the majority of Hong Kong completely unaware, I had two fantastic dinners: a hotel buffet with the American teachers and President of the school, and the second, a homecooked meal with my Plus group.

I felt like I was in college again, but on a higher end scale.  Shopping at City Super, pushing the cart up and down aisles of steeply priced imports, traveling by MTR to Tsing Yi where Vikki already started cooking the 11 pound turkey, and watching episodes of Friends for hours in between the dicing of potatoes and chopping of yams.  It was the first time it actually felt like Thanksgiving.

And after talking to Rui Qi, I found out that she went to GCC back in the States.  I'm connected to so many people in my Plus, it's weird. 

But she said, "Yeah, I thought you were Korean because you reminded me of people back at GCC," which made me laugh in my head because it just reminded me of how all the AMI churches are strongly correlated with Koreans.

I didn't leave the hill at all today and I visited adolescence via livejournal for the first time in a while.

There used to be a time when nostalgia would kick me in the ass more often than not, trying to move past a phase of teenage angst, and the solidarity of accompanying complaints and emotionally unstable friendships. The only decision that I had to make about my future was dependent on whether the future of maize and blue wanted me, and my stubborn, outspoken mind was a definitive image of who I was.

When did I grow up?  I used to wonder when I WOULD grow up as I perused vertically dominating shelves of bound pages, always trying to remember if I could bridge the gap from teen novels and voluntarily choosing to read words of enrichment through classical literature.  That would be a sure sign of maturity, I thought.  But crossing into the realm of young adult life has revealed that I know myself even less now than before.  I'm older but no means wiser or more passionate about anything I once was.  Laconically expressing myself, I exchanged my beloved blogspot to a run of the mill posterous hoping that frequency could camouflage the terrifying reality that I am a horrible writer with nothing to say, unable to live up to her own expectations.

The lights outside my window fiercely mark its territory in a city where property costs are high and everything is branded by labels (Counterfeits rub shoulders with authenticity but identity in materialism in logos and icons is decidedly greater in the States).  And although this is home with a new page in my calendar screaming upcoming four month mark, I sometimes assume the role of a stranger amongst familiarity.

I really don't mean to be narcissistic...but after I saw this, I couldn't stop thinking about how I'm turning more and more Asian.  WHY DO I LOOK SO ASIAN. holy crap. seriously unreal. i'm posting to remember. and that's the last time I smile without my teeth (like all the locals do).

Jenny would be proud of me for getting the Asian pose down without the pose.  All those days spent at Mo Mo tea flipping through Asian magazines has finally had its payoff.

http://www.allkpop.com/index.php/full_story/rains_hong_kong_concert/
I can't believe Chow Yun-Fat was there....

Bus X21 from TST to the Asia World Expo was a twenty-two dollar and 30 minute bus ride.  Much better than the E11 twenty one dollar 75 minute bus ride back home to Wan Chai.

I wouldn't rank the Rain concert in my top 3.  Not because of Rain or the company (Jessie), but because of the LAME crowd.  In our block, the people around us didn't stand up, didn't dance, didn't sing, didn't wave their arms around, or clap.  Why bother bringing your glow stick if you're not going to wave it around?  Although in Hong Kong, Rain definitely attracts an extremely diverse crowd: families with children, grandmothers, girlfriends with their [protective and jealous?] boyfriends, and a TON of middle aged women.

and Rain - even though you have washboard abs, you're definitely not as rugged as your music videos portray.  I've never seen a man try to be so cutesy before.

Ended off the night eating, of course.  When it's me and Jessie, the night always ends off with a meal.  But this time, it was a diner packed full of old men, eyes glued to the TV watching the Portsmouth, Manchester United game (0-4) - definitely more exciting than Rain, sadly.

                     

Click here to download:

Rain.zip (17858 KB)

After I rolled my ankle, Cindy (one of the teachers in the English department) stopped by my office to give me a little bit of Hokkaido Horse Oil to rub on it.  She told me it was good for circulation of the blood, but many people also use it for skin and for hair.  Online sources talk about it like it's the magic answer for eczema but it's expensive and hard to find (only in Hokkaido, Japan).  I feel so blessed because Cindy said she asked her friend who was going to Japan to pick it up for her.  mmhmm magic horse oil from horse fat.

Hokkaido is big in Hong Kong; especially Hokkaido milk and anything you can make with it (i.e. Hokkaido milk buns).  Supposedly the Hokkaido cows produce richer milk that tastes delicious and is sold for a lot more money than regular milk.

And the capitol of Hokkaido is Sapporo, as in Sapporo brewery, a well acquainted beer of senior year.

(i kind of wish BB was performing there so I could see them as well as Hokkaido...)

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and if this was the States, I would definitely know that it's almost Christmas time.  The commercial Christmas feel that comes with the non-stop Christmas music on the radio starting on the first day of November, the cold weather, the upcoming Black Friday deals, and the decorations.  But there is no Thanksgiving in Hong Kong, so right after Halloween (one of the largest celebrated holidays I've ever seen here), it's two straight months of work and normalcy until the next holiday.

They say Christmas is purely commercial here because it's nothing compared to Chinese New Year.  The buildings light up at night with a Christmas display along its 40+ floors of windows, and the malls build temporary, GAUDY displays of winter scenes and tinsel in an attempt to create the holiday feel.

As for me, it took me all day to find Christmas lights.  $65HKD of my own commercial Christmas spirit.

         

Click here to download:

Christmas_Decor.zip (11167 KB)

My meals with Jessie always take a couple hours because it ends up being a continuous ordering of food, or constant relocation of restaurants and cafes.  She is my Shanghainese food companion who may have prompted my love for eating and was the first to understand that I didn't love eating until I came to Hong Kong.

After trying out a Shanghainese place in Causeway Bay yesterday, we wandered over to Central library so I could return my books and Tit*F bakery to buy green tea with red bean cake.  She explains "chi" to me - as in a person's inner chi, as well as hot and cold chi in foods.  Hot chi = desserts, hot chocolate, mango; Cold chi = vegetables.  I'm not really sure but hot chi foods can cause canker sores.

We found ourselves in Tai Hang, at Cafe Taberna, where if you order any drink during tea time (2-6pm), you can also get a slice of thick toast for $1HKD.  $1HKD = 13 CENTS USD. 

so we got 3 slices of thick toast :)
with Sesame, Malaysian Kaya, and Nutella

sadddd :(
Rest Ice Elevation Compression.....and some chinese medicine