In less than seven hours, Paul and I will be on a plane to JFK Airport. I don't think we expected a full year to pass before we made our first visit home, but it has so happened. We arrived in Hong Kong on March 2, 2008. I don't have any wonderfully compelling summary of our first year because I've been writing most of the details here all along - lucky you. I can say that I feel fortunate to have had the experiences we had throughout the year. It also passed quickly, but that's what happens when you're not working, doesn't it? So you'll have to ask Paul how quickly the year went for him.
Our first month was spent getting familiar with the big picture and finding a place to live. The second month was filled with setting up the apartment and waiting for things like a sofa and for internet... now that time did not go quickly. Then it was a sort of strange time for me because I officially lived here but I didn't really know anyone yet and the city began to unfold its details. And you would be surprised how disorienting it is when you don't know where to buy something, like, oh let's say beach towels, and you don't know whom to ask and shopping for odd things takes up several hours of your day.
Then by summer I started meeting people and I started figuring out where to buy those odd things and when I still didn't know, I knew others to ask and they would reveal their discoveries. That's how it works here. My friend Liz searched high and low for pint glasses and I found them in a store around the corner from here. It's a typical shared experience and it may be one of the things that makes up ex-pat communities. Hey I just found Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn! No way, Where?
Things would be so different without the people I've met, not just because they might know where to buy stuff but first, they've kept me busy. Second, they - we - are all in the same boat and experiences are even more enriching when you can validate them with people who share them. Hong Kong is special in that way. You'll often see groups of people having lunch and it's obvious they're meeting for the first time, or people will just introduce themselves to strangers in any social situation. I don't think that's typical of living abroad everywhere. It's relatively easy to meet people here if you try.
So I feel happy and lucky for many reasons. I love city life. I like meeting people from all over the world. We are seeing places I never even planned on seeing and best of all, Paul and I are experiencing them together. I'll admit that my first year here felt like a kind of vacation - or as the rest of the world calls it - a holiday, especially for those of us not working. The flip of the calender page to 2009 seems like it will bring some kind of change, but I'm not sure what. One thing it is bringing in a few hours is finally a visit home, and after so long it's pretty exciting to think about where we can eat - I MEAN - everyone we'll see.
I have a habit of not sleeping the night before I fly somewhere. It's not nerves; it's endlessly underestimating the amount of things that need to be done. This time it could work to my advantage with the twelve hour time difference. Maybe I'll sleep on the plane as if I'm on NY time already.
Now for the title while I'm too artificially energetic to sleep after packing...
A few weeks ago, I finally made the effort to get us visas for China. I mean, we're an hour train ride away and it's been a year. I prepared all the documents and luckily I went with my friend Maggie who had been through the process once before (see 'same boat' above). Visas regulations were tightened around the time of the Olympics and she got hers shortly after so she only applied for two entries and she used both. Prices returned to normal and this time she applied for one year of multiple entries. It's the same price whether you apply for one-time, six months, one year, etc., so of course I applied for multiple entries for one year.
The Immigration Office is a few minutes walk from here. Maggie and I set out on our mission. I had everything she told me I needed but for some reason I was nervous to approach the counter when called. It went something like how I had a hunch it would. The clerk looked over my applications, slid them back to me and the exchange went something like this:
Chinese Clerk: Six months.
Litte American Lisa: What's the reason?
CC: What reason?
LAL: I don't know. What's the reason?
CC: What reason?
LAL: What are you telling me to do?
CC: Apply for six-month visa.
LAL: Why?
CC: Looks of utter annoyance... You're not a permenent resident?
LAL: No.
CC: Apply for a six-month visa.
The communication was not optimum, and I didn't want to be arrested for insubordination and never seen again, so I did what she said. Communists are scary. The mystery behind this random command was that Maggie had no such interaction, applied for her one-year visa, and she got it. No, she's not a permanent resident either. Our only guess was that she got it because she already had a previous visa, not that this is explained anywhere by anyone.
Then, a couple of weeks later we made our first trip to Shenzhen in South China. Fortunately, Maggie and her husband accompanied us because it can be overwhelming. I don't know exactly how to explain it. O.k, yes I do. It's all about fakes. There's a massive mall filled with fake designer goods. There are lots of little hidden and not-so-hidden places in Hong Kong where you can buy your knock-off Gucci bags, but this is a center dedicated to nothing but the sale of illegal goods: bags, watches, DVDs, clothes - anything you can copy. Some things are up front, but mostly you have to ask for the catalogs and choose things and someone goes to some nether region to get it. It is not a therapeutic shopping experience. It's a relentless stream of...
Missy, Missy, bags, come look.
DVD movies, good quality.
Manicure, Missy. Manicure.
It was a virtual wall of these words all day. I heard Missy, Missy in my sleep that night.
Paul actually started his own blog on the subject so I'll let him provide the full details on his watch bargaining episode, but he ended up watchless at the end of it. I just didn't have the will to do the dance for some kind of fake bag or something. I'm discovering that it's just not my thing. Besides the haggling, which you must do, I feel like the fake stuff is just fake, even if it's good quality and everyone in Hong Kong is carrying a Louis Vuitton bag. It just makes me suspect every one of them. What's the point then? Maybe I just don't like them because nobody seems to copy subtly sophisticated looks. The copies are frequently of the items with screaming logos all over them, like giant C's for Chanel. That's probably what's really not appealing to me. I am not the majority as you can see by everyone crossing the border into Shenzhen carrying empty suitcases to be filled and brought back.
The only thing we bought were DVDs. Movies were barely $1 each and TV shows cost a bit more because they're multiple discs. We're giving Mad Men and The Wire a shot. The best part of the DVD buying was choosing the titles and watching one guy hand the list to another guy in the ceiling who would go get them in the depths of nowhere and return to pass them down through the ceiling. Seriously.
It was certainly an experience. We met a few of Maggie's friends there for dim sum. We were the only Westerners in this place. After shopping, we all went to a nearby spa and got massages for incredibly cheap. Now that's the life.
I must say that we were exhausted at the end of the journey. We were sincerely happy to be back in Hong Kong that night. It may be crowded and chaotic here as well, but as Maggie put it, it's more of a controlled chaos.
Well, I should go. Our flight is in five hours.
SEE YOU SOON!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
One Night in Bangkok
*Click the 'play' arrow to play the slide show. With mouse over the photo, you can use arrows to move back or forward or stop.
*Click on any photo and it will take you to the web album if you want to see the photos larger.
I know. I know. The title should be, "Oops, I Did it Again." What can I say? I had a lot of pictures to upload, sort through, organize, label and export to the web thing. And I procrastinate.
I'll get right to the trip. On February 11, we went to Bangkok, Thailand and it is true: we spent one night in Bangkok. We arrived on Thursday morning, checked into the hotel, and set out with map in hand to explore the city. It's a rather big city that's notoriously complicated and not the easiest to navigate. I contemplated two general locations to stay. One was the "new" part of the city with supposedly chic restaurants, bars, hotels, malls and shops, as well as the type of the establishments that Bangkok is infamous for. The other was the "old city" near the river where there are temples, the Grand Palace, and a well-known street called Khao San Road, popular with backpackers.
Since I knew we only had one full day and we would not want to waste time commuting around the city, I chose the old city area because when you already live in a city with chic restaurants, bars, hotels, malls and shops, visiting another is just not as appealing. Our hotel was cheap, clean and basic, not chic. It sounded like there was more of cultural interest in the old city, and there was. It just turns out that we lost interest in pursuing the cultural sights rather quickly.
I thought Hong Kong was hot. Wow, Bangkok is hot. It's a sweaty, dusty, polluted, loud, bustling city, minus the ease of good public transportation. We took a walk towards the Grand Palace and on the way there we were solicited by countless taxi and tuk tuk (motor bike drawn carts) drivers for a ride to the Palace. From what I read, you're not supposed to negotiate with them because they will always rip you off. Taxis have meters but drivers avoid using them so you end up paying more. The tuk tuk guys are just as bad. We had no intention of taking anything anywhere because it wasn't that far of a walk, but if we even paused to take out a map, they would swarm. I understand they are trying to make a living, but I hate the scheming element. They will say, "Where are you going, the Palace? It's closed today for a special ceremony. I can take you to (insert attraction name here)." There are people who actually go along with this, and then they end up most likely at some gem shop with heavy pressure to buy something. I read about the schemes in the guidebook and when a couple of them did say similar things I was aware, but I still felt violated by the guise of helpfulness.
Anyway, after dodging across multiple lanes of speeding traffic in some spots without traffic lights, we arrived at the gates of the Grand Palace but we read the sign and we couldn't go in wearing shorts and something-or-other that we were guilty of. I think you could have borrowed proper attire, but we gave up pretty easily and started back towards the hotel in search of a snack along the way. There are lots of street vendors selling all kinds of food, and surprisingly most of it looked and smelled delicious (contrary to my opinion of many aromas caught on the streets of Hong Kong). And I read that it is safe to eat. As a matter of fact, a friend of mine and her husband spent a few days in Bangkok and ate street food the whole time and then got horribly ill from eating in one of the mentioned upscale malls.
After the cheap and yummy eats we explored some more on foot, eventually showered the layers of dried sweat off, and headed back out for more culture (food). We ended up eating right next to the place we ate in the afternoon and then we even stopped back in the first place for roti with chocolate for dessert. We wandered over to Khao San Road and checked out the "scene." It was lively, mostly with street vendors selling tourist stuff. We found a bar where there was live music and sat there comfortably for a few hours. It felt a little like spring break, but we typically ignore our real ages anyway.
We left late the next morning for Siem Reap, Cambodia. Oh, I thought Thailand was hot... Cambodia is like Africa-hot. It was about 100 and the sun was scorching since it is still the dry season.
Cambodia is an interesting place particularly considering its history of instability and violence which has only started to transform remarkably recently. Siem Reap has developed in the last few years solely as a convenient spot from which to visit the destination of Angkor Wat nearby. Its airport was rustic yet efficient. You can even apply for a visa online as we did. It's about a 15 minute drive into town and along the way are a string of luxury hotels and a few restaurants. You can get pretty cushy digs for comparatively less than in other places. Our hotel was quite nice and each of our three nights there we had very affordable, quality meals in three different and absolutely charming spots.
You quickly realize that, like in many developing countries, the comfortable tourist accommodations are a somewhat artificial creation that far from represent the true state of living in that country. As usual, I felt that mix of appreciation of all the comforts and services available yet guilty awareness that most local people who were providing them could never afford them themselves. What I found so remarkable about Siem Reap is the speed at which it has developed, even if it's mostly service-oriented. English is not as well-spoken here as in other underdeveloped places that have been catering to tourists for decades, like Bali. It was moving how hard they tried though. Even in restaurants, which is a relatively new concept to them, service may be awkward at times but not for lack of effort. I felt that people were generally welcoming and gracious regardless of their obligation to the tourism industry.
We certainly didn't uncover any hidden gem by traveling here; it is immensely popular. But it still seems like we may have visited during a stage of growth that will see the area evolve into even more of a destination in the future. The political situation is finally stable and the amount of government corruption is decreasing, not gone for sure but decreasing. Unfortunately, almost none of the new properties are owned by Cambodians, and paved roads disappear soon after you leave the surrounds of the town, but practically everything is under construction, more hotels, roads, infrastructure, so much so that we wondered if they aren't overestimating the tourist numbers. Our hotel was far from full. I guess time will tell. For whatever still un-articulated reason, I felt lucky to be there.
On our first full day we hired a guide and a driver to take us to the temples. Again, this is less expensive than you would think, and they're available from every hotel. Sort of a side note... What I find partly exciting and partly unsettling is how much of your tour depends on the guide. Ours asked us what we wanted to see and when I pointed to the standard circuit on the map, he said, "Oh no, that many temples would be boring." It turns out he was right, but what if he wasn't? It's out of your hands. This is how I find tours work in every place we've been, even in Australia. And Tuscany, come to think of it. Thanks, Pino.
As usual, I find the experience of the guide as interesting as the sites he's guiding us through. At times, he gave us bits of his background, like how he passed his tour guide course last August, and he wants to continue to study. He even showed me his photocopied certificate. He had a decent English vocabulary but his pronunciation wasn't the best. I only understood about half of what he said, so I missed some facts there.
If you want historical details, sorry but I can only give the broadest facts. I'm hoping the pictures will say enough. All the temples were built by the Khmers between about 800 and 1200, and images are mostly Hindu but also Buddhist. Carved stones show the stories of their myths, some in impressively fine detail. The ruins range in levels of decay. Some are well-preserved while some look like they might crumble at any minute. Some are vast complexes while some are just a few remaining piles of stones.
Angkor is now a Unesco World Heritage site, and it seemed that where preservation projects were taking place, other countries like France and Germany were sponsoring them. In many places where statues and things were stolen in the past, it was the Cambodian government doing the looting. I think they have that more or less under control now.
What was most surprising was the almost unlimited access that thousands of tourists have to almost everything. There were very few barriers for protection of ancient artifacts. We climbed countless steps and could touch anything in almost any location. Maybe this is something that will change with further intervention of regulating agencies in the future. I knew that it was a popular site, but at our first stop at Angkor Thom, I was still surprised by the massive amount of visitors. The volume can impede enjoyment of the place at times.
Around Angkor Thom, the guide took us to a quieter spot where there was a monastery and he said he went there to study for three years when he was sixteen because it's free. He then considered becoming a monk but he decided it wasn't for him. He said he enjoys his time with his wife and his children and that he wants his children to go to school and have a better life than he had. Some hopes are universal.
There were a few kids hanging around outside the monastery and when I took my camera out, they automatically posed. I figured out the drill and took their picture and Paul handed one of them some money. I guess we figured they would share, but Paul said one of the girls was staring him down angrily afterward. I guess the one with the money in his hand didn't share. The guide mentioned that they lived at the monastery and that the monks could feed them but only rice. If they get money they can buy themselves some food such as chicken.
Since we've been traveling, we're growing accustomed to how local people create opportunities out of tourism. They try to sell you stuff. And they follow you for a half a mile trying to sell you that stuff. Postcards, tee shirts, whatever. Or they work together and a guide will lead you to a place where someone else will try to sell you stuff and they likely get a cut for taking you there. It's just how it works. Even our guide admitted that he was a hawker before his tour guide gig. There's no doubt that he took us past every place where he knew someone whom we might buy something from. He knew the woman we bought a bottle of water from. I'm sure he knew the kids at the monastery. Many of them are kids. They can be relentless, and it can be a nuisance but you have to learn to have a sense of humor about it or at least to remain un-bothered by it. Really, they're just trying to make a living. It does get to you when a kid looks up at you and says, "Please, a doller for school, miss." It finally occurred to me that free public education is a privilege (even as crappy as I have witnessed it being).
I decided to make one kid's whole week and I surprised him by turning down his offer of 10 postcards for a dollar but asking the price of the book he was carrying. Quickly, he said $10 and as I gently haggled he turned it over and pointed to the price saying in noticeably good English, "But in the store, it's $25." I have no idea how they get these things to sell, but I gave him the exorbitant amount of $5 for a beautifully photo-illustrated book on Angkor that does sell on Amazon.com for at least $20. We politely thanked each other for the transaction. I used the book to refresh my memory for a few photo labels here.
We visited the next temple, Ta Phrom, where Lara Croft, Tomb Raider was filmed. Then we stopped for lunch. After lunch was the big finish: Angkor Wat. It's the main attraction, yet somehow it was so much less crowded there than at the other spots. Must have been timing.
After Angkor Wat, the guide decided we were going taking a boat ride (see what I mean?) along the Tonle Sap River to see a different side of Siem Reap. It was worth seeing the floating villages. They use the river for everything... everything.
We got back to the hotel early in the evening and relaxed at the pool for awhile before dinner. There are tuk tuks here also, but unlike in Bangkok, it's not an ordeal to get one - $1 per person anywhere in town. They all knew where our hotel was and spoke enough English to get us to wherever we asked. The roads are pretty dusty and rough in many spots, so the rides could be a little gritty, but overall it was a cheap, convenient and novel way around.
The next day we only signed up for a half day tour with the same guide. Impressive as the sights are, you can only take so many piles of stones. We went farther out to Banteay Srei which is considered to have some of the most fine and intricate carving of any of the temples. Then we went to a small landmine museum. A former soldier who had deposited many of the mines himself has since become one of the leaders of their removal and also created the museum. They've made a lot of progress, but it reminds you that even today, you don't diverge from the main roads.
We stopped at one more smaller temple before calling it a day just before noon. We ate lunch at the hotel and took advantage of the pool again. After dinner that night, we headed over to Pub Street, a small area with... pubs. It was lively but almost quaint, not hectic like Khao San Road in Bangkok. We sat in a pleasant place called The Red Piano where Angelina Jolie supposedly hung out while filming Tomb Raider. (Look at the photo of me in front. Who knew how Muppets transcend geography.)
And that, in a really big nutshell, was our trip to Bangkok and Cambodia. Oh, except for the finale where we both got a stomach bug. Paul developed his during our last night there. Mine followed two days later and lasted about nine days. We hardly ate any of the same food and nothing seemed suspect so my only guess is the ice cubes in the drinks did it. We're fine now.
I will point out that today is March 2. We arrived in Hong Kong one year ago today. Yep, a year. I would elaborate on my thoughts and reflections, but this post took me more hours than you can imagine and it's already March 3 here now. Next time.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
All Apologies
I am sorry. I have no excuse for taking so long to write. There was some serious slacking on my part. And the last thing I left you with was a picture of the thousand-year-old egg. I apologize once again. This may be the longest void between posts so far. I'll try not to top it in the future.
Where to start? We're coming home to visit!!! On March 2, we will have been here for one whole year (I know!). I thought we would have been home to visit before now, but finally after a year, we'll be home from March 12-26. We are really looking forward to the trip. What we have planned so far is a list of foods we want. If you want to see us, I'll let you know where we'll be eating throughout the New York area. And if anyone is inclined to show up at JFK Airport on March 12 to greet us with a big bag of bagels, no one's stopping you.
In other travel news, we are going to Bangkok, Thailand tomorrow. We stay there for one night (can you see the title of the next blog coming?) and then we head over to Siem Reap, Cambodia where the temple ruins of Angkor Wat are. Then we return home Sunday. We're on the move a lot in the next month, but it's not as intense as when we flew home from the Philippines and left four days later for a two week stretch including multiple flights throughout Australia.
Locally, we finally did something cultural and/or touristy on the "To Do in Hong Kong" list. We took a trip to what is known as The Big Buddha.
According to good old Wikipedia:
Tian Tan Buddha, also known as the Big Buddha, is a large bronze statue of the Buddha, completed in 1993, and located at Ngong Ping, Lantau Island, in Hong Kong. The statue is located near Po Lin Monastery and symbolizes the harmonious relationship between man and nature, people and religion. It is a major center of Buddhism in Hong Kong, and is also a popular tourist attraction.
The Buddha is 34 metres (110 ft) tall, weighs 250 metric tons (280 short tons), and was the world's tallest outdoor bronze seated Buddha prior to 2007. It reputedly can even be seen from as far away as Macau on a clear day. Visitors have to climb 268 steps in order to reach the Buddha, though the site also features a small winding road to the Buddha for vehicles to accommodate the handicapped.
I think it's kind of amusing that it's not simply the world's biggest Buddha but the world's tallest outdoor bronze seated Buddha prior to 2007. That's a lot of qualifications. It's like saying that I cannot definitively be labeled as the world's slowest moving person, UNLESS I am going out to a nice place and I want my hair to look smooth and want the certain makeup look with the extra eyeliner and I'm wearing an outfit that requires a decision on which shoes match best. Oh, and I also need to switch my purse. Then I might qualify. Feel free to add the entry on me in Wikipedia.
We took a train over to Lantau Island, the same island on which the airport is located. Then you can take a 25 minute cable car ride over to the Buddha with mountainous views along the way. We almost turned back once we arrived at the cable car station because the wait was one hour, but we were on a mission and I'm glad we got it over with - I mean, I'm glad we ended up completing the journey. One of the cable cars fell a few months back but fortunately nobody was in it at the time, so sure, that was in my mind as we glided over the mountains. Ultimately, we came; we saw the Buddha; we waited on line again to return home. If you want to be sure there are a lot of people in China, visit the Big Buddha.
Chinese New Year just ended. It's the year of the Ox. Everything has been decorated in red and gold and there are kumquat trees and flowers everywhere. It was fun to experience the festive atmosphere, which you could really feel in the air. For a couple of days, it was also one of the quietest times I've ever witnessed in this city because it's generally a time of family celebration so shops and things that NEVER close are closed and everyone is home celebrating. Many people travel too, especially expats taking advantage of the time off. When people returned to the office, performers came in to Paul's to do a lion dance. When he told me, I thought he said line dance. That was a confusing conversation. Anyway, it took him by surprise.
There were fireworks on the first night. We watched them from the roof of our building, but it was disappointing because, not only are they partially blocked by a building in front of ours, but it was a hazy night and the colors of the fireworks seemed to disappear into their own smoke. You could hear the sounds, but it looked more like a war off in the distance with a periodic glow behind the smoke cloud.
Another thing about Chinese New Year that is new to us is Lai See or red packets. There's a long list of guidelines on how and to whom you distribute them, but here's the quickie version. You give a small envelope, traditionally red but not necessarily red any more, containing money to people who work directly for you, people who regularly perform a service for you, friends who are single (only if you are married), children, etc. You don't have to give a large amount; it's more a token for good wishes and prosperity in the new year. Traditionally only new, unused bills were given, but now any bills in good condition are acceptable. I tried to play along and I went to the bank to get new bills. You give them out when you see someone during the first several days of the new year.
In our case, Paul gave out six envelopes at work and we gave about eight to the doormen in our building, which was not as easy as you might think. They don't wear name tags and they aren't always on the same shift and both of us come and go at different times, so we weren't sure if we had everyone covered. Paul thinks he might have given twice to one guy. Personally, it caused me a little anxiety not because of spending the money, but it's just not a familiar custom to walk up to relative strangers and hand them money, though believe me, they expect you to.
And in American custom, Paul watched the Super Bowl last week. He had taken the day off a while ago when it looked like the Giants would likely be playing in it... awkward silence... then he decided to keep the day anyway and he got up at 7 a.m. to watch. It has to be the first and only Super Bowl during which Paul drank tea.
Again, the live football viewing was possible thanks to the Slingbox. I mentioned back in October that it was no longer working because Scott, the Slingmaster, updated his software and it was no longer compatible with our Mac. He has since reverted to the older version so that we can still watch, and we remain eternally grateful, especially since Flight of the Conchords has begun its second season.
As I am mostly nocturnal, I also watched the inauguration this way. I'm glad I got to see this piece of American history as it happened. Apparently if I were living in China and only read Chinese, I would not have heard some undesirable parts of Obama's speech which were censored in Chinese translations in the news and on state-controlled web sites, like the bits about those who blame their society's ills on the West, and silencing dissent, and about successfully facing down communism in the past... shhh!
Speaking of society's ills, we finished the whole DVD series of The Sopranos, which we started watching while Slingbox-less. Too bad everyone already discussed it, probably to death, because we could add to the discussion now. Overall we were were left unsatisfied. It was good enough to kill time whenever we wanted to watch it, but if we were following it while it originally aired on HBO, we probably would have given up on it, particularly considering the long wait between some seasons. Rob, I agree: irredeemable characters. We were also frustrated by so many story lines that went nowhere.
Some films open here the same day they open in the U.S. and some trail weeks or months later, and there appears to be no telling which films will open when. None of the big Oscar films have made it over until just the last week or so. We watched Doubt this last weekend. It was alright, not great, but I could watch an instructional video on ironing pajamas if Meryl Streep was in it. The weekend before last we watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It wasn't terrible, but it was much better the first time around when it was called Forrest Gump. Seriously, aside from the main character aging backwards, there are so many similarities that the writer - same one for both films - should be embarrassed. What was missing was engagement with the character. I liked Forrest Gump. I didn't care much at all about Brad Pitt as a tiny old man-boy.
Hopefully more films arrive here in the upcoming weeks. I want to see Slumdog Millionaire, among others. Going to the movies here is a different experience than doing so back home. First, you most likely won't get into a theater for a popular film unless you pre-purchased tickets online one to two days before. We like to go on Sunday afternoons so I bought the tickets for Benjamin Button on a Friday night. It's a little annoying if you just want to see what's playing and spontaneously go in the next few hours and all the theaters are full, but overall I like the system. The theaters are much nicer than the last ones I've been to in NY/NJ, and you get to choose your seats ahead of time too. By the way, we rented Forgetting Sarah Marshall from iTunes recently and it was the funniest movie I've seen in a long time. That guy from How I Met Your Mother who wrote and stars in it is BRAVE.
I'll leave you with that and some photos and I will also say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Peter, Julie, Karen and Christine.
Maybe waiting endlessly for a new blog is something like waiting hopelessly for some one to visit you in Hong Kong.
Smoke on the Water
First sight of Buddha off in the distance
Pardon me, excuse me
Approaching Buddha
Hello, Buddha
The steps
The steps
Buddha's closeup
Where to start? We're coming home to visit!!! On March 2, we will have been here for one whole year (I know!). I thought we would have been home to visit before now, but finally after a year, we'll be home from March 12-26. We are really looking forward to the trip. What we have planned so far is a list of foods we want. If you want to see us, I'll let you know where we'll be eating throughout the New York area. And if anyone is inclined to show up at JFK Airport on March 12 to greet us with a big bag of bagels, no one's stopping you.
In other travel news, we are going to Bangkok, Thailand tomorrow. We stay there for one night (can you see the title of the next blog coming?) and then we head over to Siem Reap, Cambodia where the temple ruins of Angkor Wat are. Then we return home Sunday. We're on the move a lot in the next month, but it's not as intense as when we flew home from the Philippines and left four days later for a two week stretch including multiple flights throughout Australia.
Locally, we finally did something cultural and/or touristy on the "To Do in Hong Kong" list. We took a trip to what is known as The Big Buddha.
According to good old Wikipedia:
Tian Tan Buddha, also known as the Big Buddha, is a large bronze statue of the Buddha, completed in 1993, and located at Ngong Ping, Lantau Island, in Hong Kong. The statue is located near Po Lin Monastery and symbolizes the harmonious relationship between man and nature, people and religion. It is a major center of Buddhism in Hong Kong, and is also a popular tourist attraction.
The Buddha is 34 metres (110 ft) tall, weighs 250 metric tons (280 short tons), and was the world's tallest outdoor bronze seated Buddha prior to 2007. It reputedly can even be seen from as far away as Macau on a clear day. Visitors have to climb 268 steps in order to reach the Buddha, though the site also features a small winding road to the Buddha for vehicles to accommodate the handicapped.
I think it's kind of amusing that it's not simply the world's biggest Buddha but the world's tallest outdoor bronze seated Buddha prior to 2007. That's a lot of qualifications. It's like saying that I cannot definitively be labeled as the world's slowest moving person, UNLESS I am going out to a nice place and I want my hair to look smooth and want the certain makeup look with the extra eyeliner and I'm wearing an outfit that requires a decision on which shoes match best. Oh, and I also need to switch my purse. Then I might qualify. Feel free to add the entry on me in Wikipedia.
We took a train over to Lantau Island, the same island on which the airport is located. Then you can take a 25 minute cable car ride over to the Buddha with mountainous views along the way. We almost turned back once we arrived at the cable car station because the wait was one hour, but we were on a mission and I'm glad we got it over with - I mean, I'm glad we ended up completing the journey. One of the cable cars fell a few months back but fortunately nobody was in it at the time, so sure, that was in my mind as we glided over the mountains. Ultimately, we came; we saw the Buddha; we waited on line again to return home. If you want to be sure there are a lot of people in China, visit the Big Buddha.
Chinese New Year just ended. It's the year of the Ox. Everything has been decorated in red and gold and there are kumquat trees and flowers everywhere. It was fun to experience the festive atmosphere, which you could really feel in the air. For a couple of days, it was also one of the quietest times I've ever witnessed in this city because it's generally a time of family celebration so shops and things that NEVER close are closed and everyone is home celebrating. Many people travel too, especially expats taking advantage of the time off. When people returned to the office, performers came in to Paul's to do a lion dance. When he told me, I thought he said line dance. That was a confusing conversation. Anyway, it took him by surprise.
There were fireworks on the first night. We watched them from the roof of our building, but it was disappointing because, not only are they partially blocked by a building in front of ours, but it was a hazy night and the colors of the fireworks seemed to disappear into their own smoke. You could hear the sounds, but it looked more like a war off in the distance with a periodic glow behind the smoke cloud.
Another thing about Chinese New Year that is new to us is Lai See or red packets. There's a long list of guidelines on how and to whom you distribute them, but here's the quickie version. You give a small envelope, traditionally red but not necessarily red any more, containing money to people who work directly for you, people who regularly perform a service for you, friends who are single (only if you are married), children, etc. You don't have to give a large amount; it's more a token for good wishes and prosperity in the new year. Traditionally only new, unused bills were given, but now any bills in good condition are acceptable. I tried to play along and I went to the bank to get new bills. You give them out when you see someone during the first several days of the new year.
In our case, Paul gave out six envelopes at work and we gave about eight to the doormen in our building, which was not as easy as you might think. They don't wear name tags and they aren't always on the same shift and both of us come and go at different times, so we weren't sure if we had everyone covered. Paul thinks he might have given twice to one guy. Personally, it caused me a little anxiety not because of spending the money, but it's just not a familiar custom to walk up to relative strangers and hand them money, though believe me, they expect you to.
And in American custom, Paul watched the Super Bowl last week. He had taken the day off a while ago when it looked like the Giants would likely be playing in it... awkward silence... then he decided to keep the day anyway and he got up at 7 a.m. to watch. It has to be the first and only Super Bowl during which Paul drank tea.
Again, the live football viewing was possible thanks to the Slingbox. I mentioned back in October that it was no longer working because Scott, the Slingmaster, updated his software and it was no longer compatible with our Mac. He has since reverted to the older version so that we can still watch, and we remain eternally grateful, especially since Flight of the Conchords has begun its second season.
As I am mostly nocturnal, I also watched the inauguration this way. I'm glad I got to see this piece of American history as it happened. Apparently if I were living in China and only read Chinese, I would not have heard some undesirable parts of Obama's speech which were censored in Chinese translations in the news and on state-controlled web sites, like the bits about those who blame their society's ills on the West, and silencing dissent, and about successfully facing down communism in the past... shhh!
Speaking of society's ills, we finished the whole DVD series of The Sopranos, which we started watching while Slingbox-less. Too bad everyone already discussed it, probably to death, because we could add to the discussion now. Overall we were were left unsatisfied. It was good enough to kill time whenever we wanted to watch it, but if we were following it while it originally aired on HBO, we probably would have given up on it, particularly considering the long wait between some seasons. Rob, I agree: irredeemable characters. We were also frustrated by so many story lines that went nowhere.
Some films open here the same day they open in the U.S. and some trail weeks or months later, and there appears to be no telling which films will open when. None of the big Oscar films have made it over until just the last week or so. We watched Doubt this last weekend. It was alright, not great, but I could watch an instructional video on ironing pajamas if Meryl Streep was in it. The weekend before last we watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It wasn't terrible, but it was much better the first time around when it was called Forrest Gump. Seriously, aside from the main character aging backwards, there are so many similarities that the writer - same one for both films - should be embarrassed. What was missing was engagement with the character. I liked Forrest Gump. I didn't care much at all about Brad Pitt as a tiny old man-boy.
Hopefully more films arrive here in the upcoming weeks. I want to see Slumdog Millionaire, among others. Going to the movies here is a different experience than doing so back home. First, you most likely won't get into a theater for a popular film unless you pre-purchased tickets online one to two days before. We like to go on Sunday afternoons so I bought the tickets for Benjamin Button on a Friday night. It's a little annoying if you just want to see what's playing and spontaneously go in the next few hours and all the theaters are full, but overall I like the system. The theaters are much nicer than the last ones I've been to in NY/NJ, and you get to choose your seats ahead of time too. By the way, we rented Forgetting Sarah Marshall from iTunes recently and it was the funniest movie I've seen in a long time. That guy from How I Met Your Mother who wrote and stars in it is BRAVE.
I'll leave you with that and some photos and I will also say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Peter, Julie, Karen and Christine.
Maybe waiting endlessly for a new blog is something like waiting hopelessly for some one to visit you in Hong Kong.
Smoke on the Water
First sight of Buddha off in the distance
Pardon me, excuse me
Approaching Buddha
Hello, Buddha
The steps
The steps
Buddha's closeupThursday, January 8, 2009
Gimme Some Salt
So 2009 started off with a blog from Paul. He's full of surprises.
I have no idea if we have more than two faithful readers left after almost a year, but I suppose I'm still dedicated to writing... like those bands who play in bars where there are only seven or eight people sitting and drinking, and those people are either the band members' friends or they're people who might have preferred to be someplace else but randomly ended up on those bar stools or they were lazy and didn't want to drive too far or they're disappointed to find that this bar they once tried a year ago is not as happening as it was that one night but it would feel awkward to turn right around and walk out, and those people courtesy clap once in awhile, until they fear they look too eager and hope one of the other seven people claps for a change and bravely, or obliviously, risk that silence between songs that's broken occasionally if the bartender gets a phone call, and the band plays on, and I picture them dutifully practicing earlier in the week and I hope they're not getting paid based on admissions, no matter how good or bad they may be. I always feel for those musicians because that's the true nature of art: self-delusion that there is always an audience and indifference or defiance in the face of oblivion. Well, I guess I'll go with self-delusion. I'm not getting paid either way. And I'm not much of a singer.
Annnnnyway...
Our first visitor just left. He got here in mid-November and he's on his way back to the U.S. now. His name is Stanley. Flat Stanley. Our nephew Joseph had a school project involving sending a paper cut-out character to someone far away in order to learn about letter-writing and geography. The teacher had in mind places like Florida. Well, there's going to be one really cool (though jetlagged) Stanley in the class. I carried him with me almost everywhere for weeks and I tried to take photos that represent Hong Kong's unique characteristics. We thought we might do something adventurous for good photo opps in the time he was here, like visit the "Big Buddha" but with a lot of other activities going on, we didn't have time to take him beyond the local scenes. Hopefully he had some good times. Too bad he had to return just before Chinese New Year. Here's a sneak peak of Stanley in Hong Kong...
The Saturday after Paul's birthday we tried a restaurant that is literally a couple of doors away from us. We've been wanting to try it for awhile and it gets all sorts of praise and write-ups in major outlets like the New York Times and South China Morning Post, etc., as well as recently being awarded two Michelin stars. As I explained regarding my preliminary lack of enthusiasm for the restaurant choice for my birthday, not many places here seem to live up to the hype, which is why my birthday dinner was a pleasant surprise since we really enjoyed it. Alas, Paul's birthday dinner at Bo Innovation did not impress.
Sure, it was our doing in choosing the many-course chef's menu from which we knew there were some things we didn't like the sound of, but I figured, if we're giving "extreme Chinese cuisine" a try we should get the full experience. When the first small course arrived and I stated that I would be downing it "like a shot" Paul found it amusing (or something) that we were paying what we were to eat a meal as if we were contestants on Fear Factor.
Let me tell you about the thousand-year-old egg. It's an egg that has been preserved for several weeks or months, and yes, it looks like an old egg. I don't even eat solid egg yolks when they're yellow. I never have. They're near the top of my most dreaded foods list right under celery and mayonnaise (yeah, egg salad, deviled eggs - my worst nightmare). And there I was eating a black and brown egg in a candied ginger cone. Fortunately we started off with the egg and knew it couldn't get more intense than that. There were at least a dozen courses that followed, some pretty good, some just bizarre. It was mostly about presentation; they solidified some liquid ginger with a show of smoking liquid nitrogen at our table and that sort of thing. The only thing I had to leave was the thick blob of fois gras. I tried. At the conclusion, we both decided that it was an interesting meal. We also decided that interesting is not the word you most want to describe a meal. At least we tried. Below is a disturbingly accurate photo of the customary egg. We didn't make Stanley try it.
I have no idea if we have more than two faithful readers left after almost a year, but I suppose I'm still dedicated to writing... like those bands who play in bars where there are only seven or eight people sitting and drinking, and those people are either the band members' friends or they're people who might have preferred to be someplace else but randomly ended up on those bar stools or they were lazy and didn't want to drive too far or they're disappointed to find that this bar they once tried a year ago is not as happening as it was that one night but it would feel awkward to turn right around and walk out, and those people courtesy clap once in awhile, until they fear they look too eager and hope one of the other seven people claps for a change and bravely, or obliviously, risk that silence between songs that's broken occasionally if the bartender gets a phone call, and the band plays on, and I picture them dutifully practicing earlier in the week and I hope they're not getting paid based on admissions, no matter how good or bad they may be. I always feel for those musicians because that's the true nature of art: self-delusion that there is always an audience and indifference or defiance in the face of oblivion. Well, I guess I'll go with self-delusion. I'm not getting paid either way. And I'm not much of a singer.
Annnnnyway...
Our first visitor just left. He got here in mid-November and he's on his way back to the U.S. now. His name is Stanley. Flat Stanley. Our nephew Joseph had a school project involving sending a paper cut-out character to someone far away in order to learn about letter-writing and geography. The teacher had in mind places like Florida. Well, there's going to be one really cool (though jetlagged) Stanley in the class. I carried him with me almost everywhere for weeks and I tried to take photos that represent Hong Kong's unique characteristics. We thought we might do something adventurous for good photo opps in the time he was here, like visit the "Big Buddha" but with a lot of other activities going on, we didn't have time to take him beyond the local scenes. Hopefully he had some good times. Too bad he had to return just before Chinese New Year. Here's a sneak peak of Stanley in Hong Kong...
The Saturday after Paul's birthday we tried a restaurant that is literally a couple of doors away from us. We've been wanting to try it for awhile and it gets all sorts of praise and write-ups in major outlets like the New York Times and South China Morning Post, etc., as well as recently being awarded two Michelin stars. As I explained regarding my preliminary lack of enthusiasm for the restaurant choice for my birthday, not many places here seem to live up to the hype, which is why my birthday dinner was a pleasant surprise since we really enjoyed it. Alas, Paul's birthday dinner at Bo Innovation did not impress.
Sure, it was our doing in choosing the many-course chef's menu from which we knew there were some things we didn't like the sound of, but I figured, if we're giving "extreme Chinese cuisine" a try we should get the full experience. When the first small course arrived and I stated that I would be downing it "like a shot" Paul found it amusing (or something) that we were paying what we were to eat a meal as if we were contestants on Fear Factor.
Let me tell you about the thousand-year-old egg. It's an egg that has been preserved for several weeks or months, and yes, it looks like an old egg. I don't even eat solid egg yolks when they're yellow. I never have. They're near the top of my most dreaded foods list right under celery and mayonnaise (yeah, egg salad, deviled eggs - my worst nightmare). And there I was eating a black and brown egg in a candied ginger cone. Fortunately we started off with the egg and knew it couldn't get more intense than that. There were at least a dozen courses that followed, some pretty good, some just bizarre. It was mostly about presentation; they solidified some liquid ginger with a show of smoking liquid nitrogen at our table and that sort of thing. The only thing I had to leave was the thick blob of fois gras. I tried. At the conclusion, we both decided that it was an interesting meal. We also decided that interesting is not the word you most want to describe a meal. At least we tried. Below is a disturbingly accurate photo of the customary egg. We didn't make Stanley try it.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Your Racist Friend
Merry Christmas!
Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas!
Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas!
Happy New Year!
I’m not over excited about the holidays that have recently past, it’s just strange that we had to move to a communist country for it to be socially acceptable to acknowledge the actual holiday we’re celebrating. So I’m just getting it out of my system while it doesn’t offend anybody and before we move back to the land of the free.
And though belated, you are getting the very special gift of back to back blogs. I believe Lisa did a good job summarizing our holiday Christmas and New Years activities (It takes some getting used to and please don’t take this the wrong way. I’m more than happy to join in any Chanukah, Kwanzaa or even Festivus celebrations, I just don’t believe we need to merge them. Interestingly enough Christmas marketing must play as strong a role in the East as well as in the West because for a country of primarily Buddhist and Taoist, Christmas was quite evident but I did not see one Menorah or Festivus pole - though I may have been considered a festive Pole).
One thing for sure between starting a new job and our suddenly very active social life I have met a lot of new people. One quick way of trying to remember everyone you meet, especially when it is person after person, is by the things we are never allowed to say out loud but make note of in our head. For example, sex – Nancy’s the pretty blond, race – David’s the black guy, nationality – Jeff’s the Korean guy, lazy eye Marie, bald Alex, etc.
Well these little politically incorrect tricks go out the window when 9 out of every 10 people you meet are Chinese. Hair and eye color become almost virtually useless as well. To make matters worse when you're a 6” 1”, 200lbs. white guy, with blue eyes and great hair in China everyone knows you by name before you even meet.
Of course in a line up I could pick out the girl in the ridiculously tight, extremely short dress that she was constantly pulling down from about her midriff all night New Years Eve that Lisa and her friends did not seem to like for some reason. But once again I bumped into a girl in our lobby the next morning that we were apparently hanging out with at the party and club and walked right by her. In my defense Lisa was with me and was just as clueless when she said hello.
After living here for a while you quickly learn to not assume that all Chinese people are local. I’d say at least half of the Chinese people I meet are from England, Australia or Canada (even though most that consider themselves Canadian end up having been born and raised in Hong Kong and then moved to Canada for their education and end up returning. Why Canada? No idea. And I’ve blatantly asked this question many times).
For those of you planning a visit (yes we’re still waiting) there are few tricks to picking out locals. First and foremost is that they will walk into you. That’s right, if you’re walking down a street and someone just seems to walk right into you for no apparent reason at all you’re most likely dealing with a local.
Why you may ask? Again, I have no idea. It is truly a phenomenon that needs to be experienced to be believed but it is very, very real. Ask any ex-pat about it and they will immediately go into a story. Just about every time you are out for a walk someone will bump into you. There are the ex-pats on their blackberries and cells that are hazardous on their own but the complete randomness of the local “dawdling,” as one person in our building referred to it, is quite an experience. Every trip out of the building involves an ever changing obstacle course.
If you see an elderly person there is a 94.6% chance they are looking at their shoes or staring at the sun and an 89.2% chance they are going to make a sudden stop or dart in another direction for no reason. You begin to develop a feel for this and passing these people is like passing a car on the highway in a snow storm that is doing 7mph and all over the road. You wait until they go far one way and make your move quickly.
Another sign that someone may be a local is something that might be considered rude or lazy back home but you grow accustomed to it once you are here awhile. Locals will not say thank you, or even acknowledge you for small acts of generosity. Most notably (and it seems to offend many ex-pats a great deal) is if you hold a door open for someone, they will just walk through. Personally I’m fine with this – in truth I think I prefer it.
However locals will also slide through a slightly ajar door so as not to have to push it themselves. Grown men will slow down so you will walk ahead and push the door open and then squeeze through like Indiana Jones sliding under a closing wall. This does annoy me at times and I’ve actually walked up to doors stopped and just started reading my blackberry refusing to open the door. This will get looks ranging form extreme confusion to outrage and people actually muttering what I am sure are Chinese curses as they tug the door open for themselves.
A final trait of the locals which can not be so easily picked out is a strong sense of superstition. Feng shui is basically a religion here and people spend a fortune on following its rules. There is an office building a few blocks from us that is supposed to look like two pandas climbing trees when seen from the peak of the island. The large claw like structures on top of the IFC building in Lisa's photos are suppose to be panda claws. There is an apartment building down by Repulse Bay that has been structured with a giant square cut out of the middle, so if a dragon flys out of the water it will go through the hole and not crash into their building. The buildings around the Bank of China are all boringly square because the bank's multi-angle structure is apparently throwing off such bad vibes it is the only way to deflect them.
I also work with people that have been refused rental of an apartment because they told the landlord to fit their furniture they would have to put the bed under three windows facing the door. If you have trouble picturing that, it basically sounded like the exact set up of our bedroom back in Fords. Another worker had a local over and when they showed them their daughter's bedroom they immediately started moving the bed and would not leave until they promised not to put it back the way it was (they did leave it this way because of course they figured why take a chance when it came to their child).
I know what you're thinking; trust me I've had the same exact thoughts. How can I get my hands on some of these nut's money? I've asked Lisa with all her free time, creative energy and writing skills to come up with some new thing-ama-jig, but so far nothing. It seems simple enough, just throw together a list of rules that combine:
- Marketability of a Happy Meal
- Eastern mysteries of Feng Shui
- Celebrity appeal of Scientology and Kabahla
- At least two annual occasions that involve eating and drinking
- Grave but not clearly defined consequences if you don't follow the rules
This season I did not wear it on the Monday night game for Cleavland because I was working. I brought it to the Philippines and Australia and all was good. However when we returned the laundry was backed up and I did not have it for the next two Sunday's (Philly and Dallas). It made a triumphant return against Carolina and was in the wash again last Sunday. I think I'm going to make sure it's clean the next three weeks even if I have to hand wash it.
But I guess I got off the topic of all the crazy local superstitions.
I just want to close out by thanking everyone for all they have done for us over the past year. I know at times it is asking for a lot and we really do appreciate it. And I hope everyone has a great 2009 with plans of visiting the Far East!
Blog ya' later.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
New Year's Day
"It happened so quickly... my last post of 2008," was how this post started yesterday. Then I got a little busy and now it's become my first post of 2009. At least the title came easily. I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year's. And of course, I must say happy birthday to my hubby. I've known him for 18 birthdays, officially half my life. I know! It doesn't add up to half his life yet because he's older. What? I did not point that out just to say that he's older.
We spent our Christmas Eve at my friend Peggy's. She lives in Sai Kung, in the New Territories, which is about an hour from here by train and taxi. I've visited her there once before. It's very unlike the city. They occasionally have cattle wandering the streets. She has two young children so they enjoy the space of a large house, though she and her husband probably make the trip and go out in our neighborhood more often than we do.
We ate Greek food prepared by a Filipino woman at the home of our Dutch friends from New Zealand. One of my English friends was also there with her husband and his visiting parents, as well as an Australian and a Chinese woman who lives in Japan. The craziest thing to me was that we spent the evening comfortably sitting outdoors in their yard - barbecuing!- without shivering. It was a lovely night and Peggy and her husband were wonderful hosts, the kind who make you feel at home and who prepare more food than you could ever eat. I even helped wrap a few presents for the kids after they went to sleep.
Wrapping a tricycleI did think about everyone at home but I think it struck me most, strangely, earlier in the day when I passed through one of those international supermarkets and the place was jammed with people picking up their orders. I don't know; I guess it reminded of me of waiting on line for fresh mozzarella and things at Pastosa or for canollis in a bakery on Staten Island in preparation for the big family meal.
On Christmas Day, after sleeping in, we had dinner, just the two of us, at an Italian restaurant called Isola in the IFC (International Financial Center, currently the tallest building in HK, as seen in The Dark Knight). Paul got four days in a row off from work since the day after Christmas is also a public holiday here, and we couldn't have been lazier throughout those four days. Eating and drinking continuously takes a lot out of you.
I sneaked a quick photo of the tree in our lobbyGood thing we rested up. Then came New Year's Eve. We started out at a party at the home of a friend of my friend Maggie's. This friend Jeff actually lives in one of those shiny new luxury high rises on the corner of the street we lived on when we first moved here. It was just scaffolding and building materials and noise at the time. I guess it opened at the wrong time because I think he said he has about seven neighbors in the whole building. He had rented an outdoor area but it got a little chilly this week, so he thought it might be too cold for everyone out there. We ended up in his small apartment, but without any neighbors, moving the couch into the hall for more space was not a bother to anyone. Everyone brought food (and drinks) and the musical entertainment came mostly from the video game people were playing. I don't know the name but it was something similar to Wii's Guitar Hero. I contributed vocals to "Jesse's Girl."
Maggie and Chris, rock stars
Pre-2009 revelry
The Center (Paul's office) and IFC in the backgroundThe view from his apartment was spectacular. If we stayed we probably would have had optimum viewing of the midnight fireworks, but before midnight we proceeded to the club we went to on my birthday. A countdown by the DJ, lots of bubbly, some friends and some others we just met, and that's how we spent the transition from 2008 to 2009 in Hong Kong.
The birthday boy
2009!Needless to say, we spent a good part of the next morning in bed. We were awake for the countdown in New York so we had to watch it, but what happened to that coverage? I just wanted to see the ball drop and instead of showing it in those final ten seconds, they mostly showed Ryan Seacrest yammering about how exciting it was. Disappointing. The ball reportedly cost $5 million. At that price, shouldn't it stay lit when it hits the bottom? C'mon New York!
Near the end of 2007, I couldn't have predicted what 2008 would bring us. I suppose I pictured another quiet year in Fords, working on the house. Then we were given this extraordinary chance to experience so many new things and meet wonderful people from all over the world, and sometimes it feels like a dream. I hope 2009 brings good things to everyone. I also hope you continue reading the details of our vibrant dream. I write them so that we're never that far from home.
Happy New Year!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Christmas Wrapping
So many favorite Christmas songs, so little time.
You see, I saw your weather forecast in NY and NJ and my last title fit better than it seemed.
We purchased a lovely artificial Christmas tree the other day. I'm lying. It's entirely made of silver tinsel with fake tree leaves (cause it's a tree?) stuck uniformly all around it. It took Paul about one minute to assemble, so it won his vote there, and it folds into one flat piece so we can store it here in Tinyland. Though if we can't fit it somewhere, we'll get over the approximate $6 we spent on it... half the price from the day before! I say, it has just the right amount of weird tackiness - or tacky weirdness - to make it very enjoyable to look at. I added red bows and the angel on top was a gift. I know it looks a little sad without gifts underneath. That's what happens when you give yourselves the gift of travel. I'd like boxes under the tree, but I'd rather to go to Vietnam in a couple of months.
I didn't put any Christmas music on the computer - and I am a fan of a particular few - in the hours of marathon downloading back in March before we left, but we're not without it. Through the wonders of playlist.com, I found all my favorites. We listened to many on Sunday night and I started to feel a little sad that we won't be home for Christmas now that it's practically here. We'll have to watch A Christmas Story seven or eight times when it's on TBS, on the Slingbox.
Can I share my exciting news that I'm aware is only exciting to me? There are a couple of gourmet, international, i.e. expensive, supermarkets around and on a day of Christmas shopping in Kowloon (alright I'm lying again - I went over to check out the new Sephora), I stopped in one on my way home through Central. They appear to stock up on certain items around the holidays for ex-pats preparing their native holiday meals, so I believe because it was near Thanksgiving... lo and behold... Cool Whip! I bought two. I may never see it again. Also, in my regular supermarket, Louis Rich Turkey Bacon is now making an appearance. I don't think it's holiday-related, so maybe it will remain a regular item; you never know around here. But I know we had a good breakfast last Sunday morning.
You see, I saw your weather forecast in NY and NJ and my last title fit better than it seemed.
I just finished my Christmas shopping and shipping a couple of hours ago. It's typical of me to wrap things up somewhere around the 23rd. The problem is that it doesn't matter to international postal systems that I am finished; they still have to do their thing. So if you're a family member and you're reading this, the estimated date of arrival of your Christmas gifts is December 29. If it's accurate, it's still impressively quick. I wish they were there by Christmas, but it wasn't an easy task shopping here, as you might imagine from my previous descriptions of shopping experiences. I didn't expect to, but I still found myself running around for the last couple of weeks in that familiar frenzy. The additional challenge here is that things seem to cost either $1 or $1000, without a lot in between. Now let's hope that as I was in a rush to pack and seal the boxes as the post office was closing that I put the correct labels on the corresponding boxes. Oh, wouldn't that be a laugh. Just make sure you check the gift tags.
We purchased a lovely artificial Christmas tree the other day. I'm lying. It's entirely made of silver tinsel with fake tree leaves (cause it's a tree?) stuck uniformly all around it. It took Paul about one minute to assemble, so it won his vote there, and it folds into one flat piece so we can store it here in Tinyland. Though if we can't fit it somewhere, we'll get over the approximate $6 we spent on it... half the price from the day before! I say, it has just the right amount of weird tackiness - or tacky weirdness - to make it very enjoyable to look at. I added red bows and the angel on top was a gift. I know it looks a little sad without gifts underneath. That's what happens when you give yourselves the gift of travel. I'd like boxes under the tree, but I'd rather to go to Vietnam in a couple of months.
I didn't put any Christmas music on the computer - and I am a fan of a particular few - in the hours of marathon downloading back in March before we left, but we're not without it. Through the wonders of playlist.com, I found all my favorites. We listened to many on Sunday night and I started to feel a little sad that we won't be home for Christmas now that it's practically here. We'll have to watch A Christmas Story seven or eight times when it's on TBS, on the Slingbox.
Can I share my exciting news that I'm aware is only exciting to me? There are a couple of gourmet, international, i.e. expensive, supermarkets around and on a day of Christmas shopping in Kowloon (alright I'm lying again - I went over to check out the new Sephora), I stopped in one on my way home through Central. They appear to stock up on certain items around the holidays for ex-pats preparing their native holiday meals, so I believe because it was near Thanksgiving... lo and behold... Cool Whip! I bought two. I may never see it again. Also, in my regular supermarket, Louis Rich Turkey Bacon is now making an appearance. I don't think it's holiday-related, so maybe it will remain a regular item; you never know around here. But I know we had a good breakfast last Sunday morning.
Now for actual good news: Paul received a promotion last week. He is now a Vice President, referred to in the HK office as Executive Director. I just call him Sir. Aren't we proud of him? He certainly deserves it and it's another reason to be thankful for all that's happened for us this year.
I'm thankful that I didn't have to shovel any snow, but I can't wait to finally visit home soon. Hey, it got chilly here the last couple of days. It's only 55 now.
Maybe I'll write something quick in the next day or two but if not, we hope you all have a very merry Christmas and enjoy being with family and eating wonderful food and counting blessings. We miss everyone and we'll be thinking of home.
I'm thankful that I didn't have to shovel any snow, but I can't wait to finally visit home soon. Hey, it got chilly here the last couple of days. It's only 55 now.
Maybe I'll write something quick in the next day or two but if not, we hope you all have a very merry Christmas and enjoy being with family and eating wonderful food and counting blessings. We miss everyone and we'll be thinking of home.
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