Today was a much needed day of rest. I slept in until around 12PM (true story), then got ready. I forgot to mention that on Day 7 we moved out of the hotel and into the grandparent's apartment. It's pretty small and Katy and I feel a bit in the way and an inconvenience but dad says we're fine. We just try to keep as clean as possible so that Ye Ye won't have to clean up too much after us.
Today we just went to church, where Auntie Barbara bore her testimony which lead my dad to cry and stand up to bear his testimony and cry again. His crying made ME cry and I just realized how much I love my papito. He's so stinkin' cute even if he DOES annoy the crap out of me with his machine gun version of "Let'sgolet'sgolet'sgo!!!"
After church, we took a taxi that dropped us off on the street next to SOGO. Dad saw a CD/DVD sales place so he went in. I found Big Bang's CD!!!!!!! I bought it without even second guessing whether or not it was in Korean or Japanese. Just my luck. Only one song is in Korean =\. At least I think it is. I've only listened to the entire CD once now. My next goal is to find 2NE1's CD called, "Ugly." I'll be sooooo freaking happy if I find it!!
The rest of the time we had between church/CD store and dinner with the uncles was spent writing the last post. We headed for dinner and when we got to the restaurant we went through the same dilemma we've been facing the past few dinners: who to listen to when being told where to sit.We ended up sitting on the table with all the "young" people.
OH!!!
Side story!!!!
Remember when we met Maggie and we had no clue how we were all related? Well, when we were being properly introduced Saturday at the hotel, my dad and Uncle Lawrence figured out how we were related in the Chinese version of family ties. Maggie, the 16 year old girl who's about to go into her Junior year of high school, is our Auntie. Yup! Auntie Maggie since the day of her birth!! Hahahaha!! Katy and I kept calling out to her, "Auntie Maggie!! Auntie Maggie!!" She felt weird and told us to just call her Maggie because she was younger than us. Of course we never listened ;D. I hope that Maggie will apply to BYU-Provo and get in! That would be so awesome to see her again!!
Dinner was at a restaurant that specialized in the regional style of food that our family originated from. I forgot what region it was, but I loved thinking about it. I ate almost everything and loved most of it!! I especially loved the taro duck. Two of my favorite things in one dish?! Yes please!!!!
After dinner we came home and Katy and I organized our luggage. We feel so bad living in the grandparent's house and living so messily. Ye Ye looked in our room the other day and commented on how dirty it was. Yikes. So we cleaned and organized and now it's about 15000000000 times better.
I'm freaking pooped now. It's almost 1 AM local time and only 10:49AM back at home. Blah. Jet lag is going to suck when I get back. I just want to stay heeeere!! Don't make me go hoooome!!!
*le sigh*
Love,
Becks.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Hong Kong: Day 6 and 7
I’m not going to lie. Today is the 8th day and I’m a bit pooped. I’m suddenly running out of steam! We have been constantly on the go since day 1 with a few mornings where we’d “sleep in” (sorry but an hour of more sleep in NOT sleeping in, in my book). I know I’ll be able to push through it all just because this is my life long dream; to come to Hong Kong while my grandparents are still alive and well!! Too bad I couldn’t accomplish the fluency in the language bit of that dream ;D.
So! Day 6 dad left for mainland. We were to be ready to be picked up by Auntie Barbara by 12 – 12:30. Katy and I headed down to the lobby around 12:10 and met Auntie Carrie and Uncle Lawrence in the lobby! They were checking in for 2 days! Yay!! Soon, Auntie Barbara, Uncle Henry, and Bonnie all came to the hotel. We talked a bit and found out the schedule for the day. We were going to Dim Sum with the family then go shopping with Uncle Henry, then around 10:30PM we’d come back to grandma’s place and start with the traditional wedding rituals (?).
Dim Sum was awkward at first, just because we didn’t know ANYONE and EVERYONE spoke Cantonese. Thankfully, we were introduced to Maggie!! Dim Sum was especially tasty. We tried a lot of new things! We had abalone (when you chew, the texture is kind of like making out with a tongue . . . Katy said that and I couldn’t eat it anymore) and jellyfish!
All I have to say about the past three days is, wow. Chinese families are complicated and intense. At one point, while eating dim sum, I asked Maggie about our relation and she said she had no clue. I was happy there was someone who grew up in the area that didn’t really know our family. Basically, my great grandparents had 13 children who went off and had a billion offspring. My grandpa is child number 9/13. In the Chinese family, my grandpa’s brothers and sisters are considered Uncles and Aunts. At dim sum, we met Uncle 10, 11, and 12 and their wives. We also met Chi Wa who is married to an Auntie . . . I think . . . either way, Chi Wa was hilarious. He’s definitely one of my favorites. Uncle 12 spoke English amazingly, but I think the age/cultural gap lead us to not talking very much. Then we met all of the Uncle’s children who are ALSO considered Aunties and Uncles, even though they’re like late twenties/early thirties.
After yum cha, Uncle Henry took us shopping. I wanted sandals, since I was walking around in the hot weather in my tennies. We went to a shop and got shoes, then walked around SOGO and Times Square. I can’t believe how many designer brand stores there are here. Maybe it’s just because I hardly saw name brand stores in New York that I didn’t expect very many in Hong Kong. Very mistaken in that assumption.
We headed back to the grandparent’s house to head out for dinner with the family once more. We ate at the Jade Garden restaurant that we had gotten the “meh” dim sum at earlier in the week with Auntie Carrie and Uncle Lawrence. I think the restaurant excels more in dinner foods than in dim sum. Katy and I sat by Maggie again so we didn’t feel so estranged. After eating , Katy and I realized that we hadn’t taken any video of things that we ate. An unspecified drunken Auntie walked over and over heard my concern while draping herself over Katy and me. She pointed to the platters and said that we could just make them look like they were full of food. My unspecified drunken Uncle said that we shouldn’t bother, and the two had a little argument. The Auntie leaned over me, pushing me forward to fix up the plates. The Uncle apologized and said that the Auntie was drunk. I asked if he was drunk too, he denied it but I still have a feeling they were both pretty gone. After fixing up the platters, Katy took video of the food for dad. So. Freaking. Awesome. Hahahaha!!
Maggie, her mom, Katy, and I decided to just walk around some shops around the grandparent’s place until we had to be back for the ceremonies. We kept checking the time, willing it to be time to go back. We were a bit tired from walking around earlier.
Finally! Time to go back!! And we got there just in time too! There were two candles burning on the table, and Ada was sitting in a chair looking into a small red mirror. Ma Ma had a red comb and she combed through Ada’s hair. Once that was done, the elder people bowed to the ancestors. Then, the most glorious thing happened! We at homemade red bean balls and some other filled balls. Oh my goodness they were soooooooo delish!! I seriously want the recipe because they were amazing. Dad showed up in time to get some of those and some chicken feet/duck tongue.
We headed back home and went immediately to bed since the next day was going to start early.
The next day, Katy and I found out that we were going to move out of the hotel to Ma Ma and Ye Ye’s. We rushed to get ready and pack everything and get down to breakfast in time to meet up with Uncle Lawrence and Auntie Carrie. Unfortunately, we were too slow and missed them. After a 5 minute brekky, we rushed back up to finish packing everything up, then headed down to the lobby with all of our stuff. Once in the lobby, we gave our luggage to the concierge and got on the bus specifically for our family. We headed to a hotel where Ada, Auntie Barbara, Uncle Lawrence, and her bridesmaids were setting up for the games. It was then that dad introduced us to all of the Uncles and Aunties. It was a bit easier to remember who was who after that.
Thus Starts the Best Freaking Wedding Traditions. EVER.
The family shoved into a small apartment bedroom and waited for the arrival of the groom and his groomsmen. When he came and knocked on the door, the bridesmaids asked, “Who is it?” He answered that it was him and the girls started telling him that he couldn’t come in and that Ada looked SUPER gorgeous! I’m not sure what all was said since it was all in Cantonese, but the groom had to pay the girls money to get through. I’m sure they counted up the money and told him it wasn’t enough to see his precious Ada and they most likely demanded more. Genius. After about 5-10 minutes of talking/closing the door/talking/giving money/closing the door/talking, the bridesmaids finally let the groom and his men into the hallway of the apartment. Once there, the girls had the groomsmen put on lipstick and kiss a paper. They then hung up the papers and mixed in a paper with Ada’s kissy lips on it. The goal: Find Ada’s kissy lips. If he chose the wrong set of lips he had to kiss that groomsman! Kevin got about 3-4 guesses wrong. It was hilarious to see him have to kiss all of his groomsmen.
The next game, Kevin had to put on lipstick and kiss all of the pictures of Ada posted around the room, which allowed him to get a little further into the apartment. Hilariously, most of the pictures were on the ceiling, so he had to have his groomsmen pick him up and carry him so he could kiss the Ada pictures across the ceiling.
Once the task was done, one of the bridesmaids pulled out pictures of Asian celebrities. She made him pose like all the pictures and they were pretty hilarious. After that she pulled up a picture of Kevin in some tighty whities with pictures of his groomsmen doing sit ups next to him. I’m not really sure what the goal was, but I saw a girl timing it so me think this is what it was: Kevin had to put on the tighty whities over his tux. Two groomsmen lay on the ground on either side of Kevin, with lipstick on, and did sit ups. Every time they sat up, Kevin would turn his butt to them, with a finger on his lips, and his groomsmen would kiss his bottom, leaving pink kissy marks all over. I’m thinking 4 or 6 groomsmen had to do it in a certain amount of time. Best. Game. Evar. The best part is that all of this stuff was being done in front of elderly people (including my grandparents).
After butt kissing, Kevin was finally allowed to stand next to a ribbon with a ball of roses hanging from it. In order to cut the ribbon and see Ada, he had to find her missing shoe in the apartment that was LITERALLY packed full of Ada’s family members. Chi Wa was a little devil and helped Kevin. Hahaha!
After finding the shoe, he had to recite something written by the bridesmaids. He started out, “Wifey! Can you hear me?!” and began reading. Obviously I didn’t understand any of it, but dad told us some of it. It said something like I will do all the laundry and I will give you all of my money, I will love you forever, etc. I’m hoping it said something about taking all the blame when fights come around ;D!
Once he was done reciting, he was given a pair of scissors to cut the ribbon and enter the room Ada was in.
Let me just tell you, Ada was totally worth the embarrassment. She was so gorgeous!!!! Since my camera isn’t wide angle and room was scarce, I couldn’t get a full body picture of her, but man, she was stunning. He entered the room and put on her missing shoe for her. He left the room again and went to wait for my uncle to hand her over to him.
Once handed over, it was time for the tea ceremony. Kevin and Ada knelt on pillows and offered tea to all of our family’s elders, starting with Ma Ma and Ye Ye. Each time tea was given, the family member would give them a red pocket full of money. Apparently, at Chinese weddings, presents come in the form of red pockets with money rather than house gifts. When it was time for my dad to be given tea, my Auntie Barbara told me that I had to go with him, but I wasn’t allowed to sit. I just had to stand next to him since I wasn’t on the same level as the elders. Kevin shook my hand and said, “It’s nice to meet you for the first time,” and then they offered dad tea.
After the tea ceremony we hung around for pictures then headed over to a restaurant to eat lunch. This time Katy and I had dad to translate for us. After lunch we headed back to the grandparent’s apartment to take a rest. I passed out while Katy and dad took laundry to a cleaner’s. They slept a little but not half as much as I did. When I woke up it was time to get ready! The dress code at the reception was “glamorous and chic.” Auntie Barbara had told me that I’d better put on my lipstick for the event.
Katy was so sweet. She glammed me up by doing my makeup and hair, even at the expense of getting herself ready. We walked out of the grandparent’s apartment and Katy was instantly accosted by one of the kids who hangs around the area to try and sell real estate. He asked her if she was a model. When she said no he asked if she was sure. She said yes. Then he asked her if she had two minutes to go get a drink with him. She said no. He said that she’d be doing him a favor since he was really hot and needed a drink. She informed him that she was off to a wedding and couldn’t, so the kid finally bugged off. I was laughing the whole time. Hahaha!! It was pretty hilarious, though. Katy and I were wearing heels and we TOWERED over our ENTIRE family.
We headed to the convention center where we were greeted by Uncle Henry and Auntie Barbara (who was gorgeous in her self designed fusion of cheung sam and Indian robe). Auntie Barbara said that Katy and I looked like models even though Katy hadn’t done her hair yet. After we took pictures with Auntie Barbara and Uncle Henry, Katy and I went to the restroom where she fixed up her hair. Auntie Barbara wanted another picture with us after Katy had done her hair. We have constantly been stared at before, when walking around places, but this night we were seriously being STARED. DOWN. O_____________________O
The reception was amazing! There was a jazz band playing the whole time so I felt like I was at a swanky billionaire’s party . . . which I probably was ;D. After taking a Polaroid with Ada, Ko, and Mil Mil’s (the kitty) cutouts, we dashed away to the stage to get a picture with Ada, in her new age cheung sam, and Ko real life. Mil Mil was left at home =\. Katy and I went to the candy bar and were video recorded from outside of the convention center . . . at least 3 – 4 times. True story. Nothing better than having your gluttony recorded to be remembered for years to come. We headed back to the table and were introduced to about 1500000000 more uncles and aunties. I gave up trying to keep track of how we were related. The only one I actually semi-remembered meeting was Uncle Fung, but that was a semi-remembrance.
We began dinner and I was starting to feel the beginning of a brainache. The added grossness of too much ingested grease added a sick stomach to the sick brain. I had to take 800 mg of Ibprofen. It didn’t even help. I didn’t eat much food and just sipped water and drank OJ. I was kind of sad to miss the food, but with the sick tummy it just wasn’t going to work. The waitress who served our food was super nice. At one point she purposefully gave Katy and me the white meat of the chicken. My dad traded me plates because his had less and he knows I don’t like chicken. The waitress explained that she had served me that plate on purpose so my dad had to tell her that I don’t eat chicken. I felt bad but I was grateful for her consideration (/discrimination ;D let’s be honest). The night quickly came to an end. Ada was gorgeous and Ko was handsome. They were so beautiful together and the party was amazing!! I will definitely remember all the amazingness of the day!! I’m so happy to be related to such amazing people!
Thus ends my explanation of the greatest day of my cousin’s life! I'll be honest, pictures probably won't be posted until after I get home. There just isn't enough time! Soooo sorry!!
Loves,
Becks.
So! Day 6 dad left for mainland. We were to be ready to be picked up by Auntie Barbara by 12 – 12:30. Katy and I headed down to the lobby around 12:10 and met Auntie Carrie and Uncle Lawrence in the lobby! They were checking in for 2 days! Yay!! Soon, Auntie Barbara, Uncle Henry, and Bonnie all came to the hotel. We talked a bit and found out the schedule for the day. We were going to Dim Sum with the family then go shopping with Uncle Henry, then around 10:30PM we’d come back to grandma’s place and start with the traditional wedding rituals (?).
Dim Sum was awkward at first, just because we didn’t know ANYONE and EVERYONE spoke Cantonese. Thankfully, we were introduced to Maggie!! Dim Sum was especially tasty. We tried a lot of new things! We had abalone (when you chew, the texture is kind of like making out with a tongue . . . Katy said that and I couldn’t eat it anymore) and jellyfish!
All I have to say about the past three days is, wow. Chinese families are complicated and intense. At one point, while eating dim sum, I asked Maggie about our relation and she said she had no clue. I was happy there was someone who grew up in the area that didn’t really know our family. Basically, my great grandparents had 13 children who went off and had a billion offspring. My grandpa is child number 9/13. In the Chinese family, my grandpa’s brothers and sisters are considered Uncles and Aunts. At dim sum, we met Uncle 10, 11, and 12 and their wives. We also met Chi Wa who is married to an Auntie . . . I think . . . either way, Chi Wa was hilarious. He’s definitely one of my favorites. Uncle 12 spoke English amazingly, but I think the age/cultural gap lead us to not talking very much. Then we met all of the Uncle’s children who are ALSO considered Aunties and Uncles, even though they’re like late twenties/early thirties.
After yum cha, Uncle Henry took us shopping. I wanted sandals, since I was walking around in the hot weather in my tennies. We went to a shop and got shoes, then walked around SOGO and Times Square. I can’t believe how many designer brand stores there are here. Maybe it’s just because I hardly saw name brand stores in New York that I didn’t expect very many in Hong Kong. Very mistaken in that assumption.
We headed back to the grandparent’s house to head out for dinner with the family once more. We ate at the Jade Garden restaurant that we had gotten the “meh” dim sum at earlier in the week with Auntie Carrie and Uncle Lawrence. I think the restaurant excels more in dinner foods than in dim sum. Katy and I sat by Maggie again so we didn’t feel so estranged. After eating , Katy and I realized that we hadn’t taken any video of things that we ate. An unspecified drunken Auntie walked over and over heard my concern while draping herself over Katy and me. She pointed to the platters and said that we could just make them look like they were full of food. My unspecified drunken Uncle said that we shouldn’t bother, and the two had a little argument. The Auntie leaned over me, pushing me forward to fix up the plates. The Uncle apologized and said that the Auntie was drunk. I asked if he was drunk too, he denied it but I still have a feeling they were both pretty gone. After fixing up the platters, Katy took video of the food for dad. So. Freaking. Awesome. Hahahaha!!
Maggie, her mom, Katy, and I decided to just walk around some shops around the grandparent’s place until we had to be back for the ceremonies. We kept checking the time, willing it to be time to go back. We were a bit tired from walking around earlier.
Finally! Time to go back!! And we got there just in time too! There were two candles burning on the table, and Ada was sitting in a chair looking into a small red mirror. Ma Ma had a red comb and she combed through Ada’s hair. Once that was done, the elder people bowed to the ancestors. Then, the most glorious thing happened! We at homemade red bean balls and some other filled balls. Oh my goodness they were soooooooo delish!! I seriously want the recipe because they were amazing. Dad showed up in time to get some of those and some chicken feet/duck tongue.
We headed back home and went immediately to bed since the next day was going to start early.
The next day, Katy and I found out that we were going to move out of the hotel to Ma Ma and Ye Ye’s. We rushed to get ready and pack everything and get down to breakfast in time to meet up with Uncle Lawrence and Auntie Carrie. Unfortunately, we were too slow and missed them. After a 5 minute brekky, we rushed back up to finish packing everything up, then headed down to the lobby with all of our stuff. Once in the lobby, we gave our luggage to the concierge and got on the bus specifically for our family. We headed to a hotel where Ada, Auntie Barbara, Uncle Lawrence, and her bridesmaids were setting up for the games. It was then that dad introduced us to all of the Uncles and Aunties. It was a bit easier to remember who was who after that.
Thus Starts the Best Freaking Wedding Traditions. EVER.
The family shoved into a small apartment bedroom and waited for the arrival of the groom and his groomsmen. When he came and knocked on the door, the bridesmaids asked, “Who is it?” He answered that it was him and the girls started telling him that he couldn’t come in and that Ada looked SUPER gorgeous! I’m not sure what all was said since it was all in Cantonese, but the groom had to pay the girls money to get through. I’m sure they counted up the money and told him it wasn’t enough to see his precious Ada and they most likely demanded more. Genius. After about 5-10 minutes of talking/closing the door/talking/giving money/closing the door/talking, the bridesmaids finally let the groom and his men into the hallway of the apartment. Once there, the girls had the groomsmen put on lipstick and kiss a paper. They then hung up the papers and mixed in a paper with Ada’s kissy lips on it. The goal: Find Ada’s kissy lips. If he chose the wrong set of lips he had to kiss that groomsman! Kevin got about 3-4 guesses wrong. It was hilarious to see him have to kiss all of his groomsmen.
The next game, Kevin had to put on lipstick and kiss all of the pictures of Ada posted around the room, which allowed him to get a little further into the apartment. Hilariously, most of the pictures were on the ceiling, so he had to have his groomsmen pick him up and carry him so he could kiss the Ada pictures across the ceiling.
Once the task was done, one of the bridesmaids pulled out pictures of Asian celebrities. She made him pose like all the pictures and they were pretty hilarious. After that she pulled up a picture of Kevin in some tighty whities with pictures of his groomsmen doing sit ups next to him. I’m not really sure what the goal was, but I saw a girl timing it so me think this is what it was: Kevin had to put on the tighty whities over his tux. Two groomsmen lay on the ground on either side of Kevin, with lipstick on, and did sit ups. Every time they sat up, Kevin would turn his butt to them, with a finger on his lips, and his groomsmen would kiss his bottom, leaving pink kissy marks all over. I’m thinking 4 or 6 groomsmen had to do it in a certain amount of time. Best. Game. Evar. The best part is that all of this stuff was being done in front of elderly people (including my grandparents).
After butt kissing, Kevin was finally allowed to stand next to a ribbon with a ball of roses hanging from it. In order to cut the ribbon and see Ada, he had to find her missing shoe in the apartment that was LITERALLY packed full of Ada’s family members. Chi Wa was a little devil and helped Kevin. Hahaha!
After finding the shoe, he had to recite something written by the bridesmaids. He started out, “Wifey! Can you hear me?!” and began reading. Obviously I didn’t understand any of it, but dad told us some of it. It said something like I will do all the laundry and I will give you all of my money, I will love you forever, etc. I’m hoping it said something about taking all the blame when fights come around ;D!
Once he was done reciting, he was given a pair of scissors to cut the ribbon and enter the room Ada was in.
Let me just tell you, Ada was totally worth the embarrassment. She was so gorgeous!!!! Since my camera isn’t wide angle and room was scarce, I couldn’t get a full body picture of her, but man, she was stunning. He entered the room and put on her missing shoe for her. He left the room again and went to wait for my uncle to hand her over to him.
Once handed over, it was time for the tea ceremony. Kevin and Ada knelt on pillows and offered tea to all of our family’s elders, starting with Ma Ma and Ye Ye. Each time tea was given, the family member would give them a red pocket full of money. Apparently, at Chinese weddings, presents come in the form of red pockets with money rather than house gifts. When it was time for my dad to be given tea, my Auntie Barbara told me that I had to go with him, but I wasn’t allowed to sit. I just had to stand next to him since I wasn’t on the same level as the elders. Kevin shook my hand and said, “It’s nice to meet you for the first time,” and then they offered dad tea.
After the tea ceremony we hung around for pictures then headed over to a restaurant to eat lunch. This time Katy and I had dad to translate for us. After lunch we headed back to the grandparent’s apartment to take a rest. I passed out while Katy and dad took laundry to a cleaner’s. They slept a little but not half as much as I did. When I woke up it was time to get ready! The dress code at the reception was “glamorous and chic.” Auntie Barbara had told me that I’d better put on my lipstick for the event.
Katy was so sweet. She glammed me up by doing my makeup and hair, even at the expense of getting herself ready. We walked out of the grandparent’s apartment and Katy was instantly accosted by one of the kids who hangs around the area to try and sell real estate. He asked her if she was a model. When she said no he asked if she was sure. She said yes. Then he asked her if she had two minutes to go get a drink with him. She said no. He said that she’d be doing him a favor since he was really hot and needed a drink. She informed him that she was off to a wedding and couldn’t, so the kid finally bugged off. I was laughing the whole time. Hahaha!! It was pretty hilarious, though. Katy and I were wearing heels and we TOWERED over our ENTIRE family.
We headed to the convention center where we were greeted by Uncle Henry and Auntie Barbara (who was gorgeous in her self designed fusion of cheung sam and Indian robe). Auntie Barbara said that Katy and I looked like models even though Katy hadn’t done her hair yet. After we took pictures with Auntie Barbara and Uncle Henry, Katy and I went to the restroom where she fixed up her hair. Auntie Barbara wanted another picture with us after Katy had done her hair. We have constantly been stared at before, when walking around places, but this night we were seriously being STARED. DOWN. O_____________________O
The reception was amazing! There was a jazz band playing the whole time so I felt like I was at a swanky billionaire’s party . . . which I probably was ;D. After taking a Polaroid with Ada, Ko, and Mil Mil’s (the kitty) cutouts, we dashed away to the stage to get a picture with Ada, in her new age cheung sam, and Ko real life. Mil Mil was left at home =\. Katy and I went to the candy bar and were video recorded from outside of the convention center . . . at least 3 – 4 times. True story. Nothing better than having your gluttony recorded to be remembered for years to come. We headed back to the table and were introduced to about 1500000000 more uncles and aunties. I gave up trying to keep track of how we were related. The only one I actually semi-remembered meeting was Uncle Fung, but that was a semi-remembrance.
We began dinner and I was starting to feel the beginning of a brainache. The added grossness of too much ingested grease added a sick stomach to the sick brain. I had to take 800 mg of Ibprofen. It didn’t even help. I didn’t eat much food and just sipped water and drank OJ. I was kind of sad to miss the food, but with the sick tummy it just wasn’t going to work. The waitress who served our food was super nice. At one point she purposefully gave Katy and me the white meat of the chicken. My dad traded me plates because his had less and he knows I don’t like chicken. The waitress explained that she had served me that plate on purpose so my dad had to tell her that I don’t eat chicken. I felt bad but I was grateful for her consideration (/discrimination ;D let’s be honest). The night quickly came to an end. Ada was gorgeous and Ko was handsome. They were so beautiful together and the party was amazing!! I will definitely remember all the amazingness of the day!! I’m so happy to be related to such amazing people!
Thus ends my explanation of the greatest day of my cousin’s life! I'll be honest, pictures probably won't be posted until after I get home. There just isn't enough time! Soooo sorry!!
Loves,
Becks.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Hong Kong: Day 5
(Originally written down on paper then moved to blog)
I have such mixed feelings about today’s events. There were a lot of things that bugged me (video camera at all of the most awkward times/places), and lots of things I loved (The House of Dancing Water).
We woke up early to get to the Macau ferry on time to meet Hansen and Jeff. We were being rushed with the infamous daddy rush where he says, “Let’sgolet’sgolet’sgo!!!!!!!” as he rushes into the bathroom/grabs papers/changes shoes/etc.
We ate brekky then left for the docks. Getting a cab was an arduous task at best, but crossing the road soon fixed the problem. Once at the docks we met with Hansen. It’s been decades since I’ve seen him, but he looked exactly how I remembered him (if not a little more grey/healthily rotund). The things I love most about Hansen:
1) He knows more about our extended family’s lives than we do.
2) His love for “My Boy” (my brother Nate).
3) Talking is so easy (even if I can’t always understand)!
4) He reminded Katy and me of Russell from Up with his backpack =)
We waited in ridiculous lines to go through immigration then got on the boat. I had a feeling that I was going to be sick. Dad and Jeff both gave me the little bags for upset tummies. Luckily I only felt the urge to puke in the first two minutes. After that I just had to deal with my panic attacks. Drowning is my worst fear. To combat THAT issue, I just didn’t let my mind think about the ship and all the opportunities of death that awaited me.
We finally arrived in Macau only to stand in more immigration lines (which was torture), but I got another stamp in my passport!!
As we walked out into the sweltering heat of Macau, Jeff informed Katy and me that we would be walking everywhere because Macau was so small. No taxis. No buses. No A/C. I hated the idea of Macau instantly. We walked to some photo op places to take pictures of us sweating up a storm. It was at this point that I absolutely loathed Macau.
Luckily, Jeff is just a tease and after sweating it out, we grabbed a taxi to head over to St. Paul’s Cathedral. On the drive I loved looking down the streets and seeing the housing. I feel like Macau is a bit poorer than Hong Kong because the buildings look a little bit more run down, but every now and then you'll see a brightly colored Portuguese styled building. I tried to get a picture of the streets but I'm not sure any turned out.
Alright, the story of the cathedral: Apparently, when the Japanese were off dominating the world, they dropped bombs on the cathedral, which came crashing down all except for the front of the building. The people saw it as a miracle and many make the pilgrimage to come see it.
Before we hiked up the stairs in the ridiculous heat, we grabbed so boba tea!! Yum!! Taro <3!!! But my body needed something more solid and not sugary so I got a bit sick feeling. As with everything else, I sucked it up and pushed through.
Everything after that and before lunch is kind of a blur in my memory. We went to a fortress and then I remember an escalator ride down. Then finally! A blessed A/C’ed cab!!!! Dear friends and family, tropical areas are best avoided during the summer months (unless you like living in a sauna).
We arrived at our luncheon destination. I only got a photo of the shack next to the nice restaurant building so I don’t remember the restaurant name. It had something to do with Pinnochio. Yes, the Disney Pinnochio. We ate the world’s weirdest combo of things: Veggies (pan fried of course . . . nothing can be healthy here), prawn (size: behemoth), curried crab, spaghetti (yup you read that right), Portuguese Chicken, bread rolls, and PIGEON (guess who ate it! 1 2 3 me!). I’ve come to find that most meals here are a total mix up of the most random components. So weird.
After lunch and before arriving in an A/C’ed casino is also a blur of sweat and stick skin in my mind. We walked down an alley to grab some infamous “dessert.” Little did Katy and I know that we were like lambs being lead to the slaughter of our taste buds. We arrived at a stand that smelled somewhat foul. They were giving out pudding and ice cream to several people. The mango and coconut ice creams sounded divine, but Jeff and Hansen highly recommended getting the world’s WORST fruit.
Durian.
Blech.
Jeff had a good laugh when I ate it and gave a sour face. I decided then and there that Jeff was never to be trusted again.
We walked to a park that was really pretty, minus the ridiculous heat. I loved all the lotus in the lake? Ocean? Giant puddle? (picture to come)
I also really liked the juxtaposition of old and new, but it also kind of depressed me thinking of how much culture is being lost to “westernization.”
We headed over to the Venetian to get Katy some replacement pants. I felt terrible. The day was supposed to be her birthday celebration, since Saturday is Ada’s wedding, but so many things went wrong for her! Lots of things went wrong with her pants specifically but ZARA was having a sale so we grabbed some shorts for her and headed to another hotel/casino for her birthday show. Katy felt a bit better in new shorts and A/C, so I felt better as well.
The House of Dancing Water was AMAZING!!!!!!! If I could underline, bold, and put exclamation marks to high heaven the word “amazing” it still wouldn’t express my feelings for the show. I think about 75% was the music and the rest was the amazing skills of the performers. Some of the best parts of the show? Besides, everything, Hansen and Jeff recorded the show, completely illegally. Ah. Chinese bootleg!
After the show ere didn’t feel hungry but we didn’t have anything else to do (and Katy and I didn’t want to go outside ever again) so we just headed back to the Venetian to eat dinner at a buffet.
Dad was in heaven. The food was good! But I was excited for dessert!!! Katy and I sampled several of the selections. None of them were super sweet, which was perfect. We didn’t finish all of our samples because we have to keep our womanly figures, but we DID see a porky kid take about 7 don tarts to eat. Ah. Porky Asian kids <3.
I was dreading the lines for our boat ride back to Hong Kong. Luckily enough the lines were short! Yay!!! No ridiculous line waiting!!!
We’re on the boat now and I’m going in and out of consciousness so I think it’s time to take a nap. We’ll see if immigration lines on HK side are ridiculous.
Hong Kong side:
Alright, Hong Kong has a TON of people. If you’re going to put an escalator in, give us some room to move at the top of them. Man!! Riding up those things was like a death wish. Once at the top, people bottlenecked to get on to the next one. Add people with huge luggage and it was like a train wreck! The lines for immigration were tolerable and we got back to Hong Kong, took a taxi to our hotel, got ready for bed, and passed out.
What a crazy day. Good times and bad times, but I’m loving my stay here. I do miss my bed some days, and sometimes I miss the lack of people surrounding me, but I am so happy that I am finally getting to submerse myself in the other side of my culture.
Hope you’re all doing well!
Loves,
Becks.
I have such mixed feelings about today’s events. There were a lot of things that bugged me (video camera at all of the most awkward times/places), and lots of things I loved (The House of Dancing Water).
We woke up early to get to the Macau ferry on time to meet Hansen and Jeff. We were being rushed with the infamous daddy rush where he says, “Let’sgolet’sgolet’sgo!!!!!!!” as he rushes into the bathroom/grabs papers/changes shoes/etc.
We ate brekky then left for the docks. Getting a cab was an arduous task at best, but crossing the road soon fixed the problem. Once at the docks we met with Hansen. It’s been decades since I’ve seen him, but he looked exactly how I remembered him (if not a little more grey/healthily rotund). The things I love most about Hansen:
1) He knows more about our extended family’s lives than we do.
2) His love for “My Boy” (my brother Nate).
3) Talking is so easy (even if I can’t always understand)!
4) He reminded Katy and me of Russell from Up with his backpack =)
We waited in ridiculous lines to go through immigration then got on the boat. I had a feeling that I was going to be sick. Dad and Jeff both gave me the little bags for upset tummies. Luckily I only felt the urge to puke in the first two minutes. After that I just had to deal with my panic attacks. Drowning is my worst fear. To combat THAT issue, I just didn’t let my mind think about the ship and all the opportunities of death that awaited me.
We finally arrived in Macau only to stand in more immigration lines (which was torture), but I got another stamp in my passport!!
As we walked out into the sweltering heat of Macau, Jeff informed Katy and me that we would be walking everywhere because Macau was so small. No taxis. No buses. No A/C. I hated the idea of Macau instantly. We walked to some photo op places to take pictures of us sweating up a storm. It was at this point that I absolutely loathed Macau.
Luckily, Jeff is just a tease and after sweating it out, we grabbed a taxi to head over to St. Paul’s Cathedral. On the drive I loved looking down the streets and seeing the housing. I feel like Macau is a bit poorer than Hong Kong because the buildings look a little bit more run down, but every now and then you'll see a brightly colored Portuguese styled building. I tried to get a picture of the streets but I'm not sure any turned out.
Alright, the story of the cathedral: Apparently, when the Japanese were off dominating the world, they dropped bombs on the cathedral, which came crashing down all except for the front of the building. The people saw it as a miracle and many make the pilgrimage to come see it.
Before we hiked up the stairs in the ridiculous heat, we grabbed so boba tea!! Yum!! Taro <3!!! But my body needed something more solid and not sugary so I got a bit sick feeling. As with everything else, I sucked it up and pushed through.
Everything after that and before lunch is kind of a blur in my memory. We went to a fortress and then I remember an escalator ride down. Then finally! A blessed A/C’ed cab!!!! Dear friends and family, tropical areas are best avoided during the summer months (unless you like living in a sauna).
We arrived at our luncheon destination. I only got a photo of the shack next to the nice restaurant building so I don’t remember the restaurant name. It had something to do with Pinnochio. Yes, the Disney Pinnochio. We ate the world’s weirdest combo of things: Veggies (pan fried of course . . . nothing can be healthy here), prawn (size: behemoth), curried crab, spaghetti (yup you read that right), Portuguese Chicken, bread rolls, and PIGEON (guess who ate it! 1 2 3 me!). I’ve come to find that most meals here are a total mix up of the most random components. So weird.
After lunch and before arriving in an A/C’ed casino is also a blur of sweat and stick skin in my mind. We walked down an alley to grab some infamous “dessert.” Little did Katy and I know that we were like lambs being lead to the slaughter of our taste buds. We arrived at a stand that smelled somewhat foul. They were giving out pudding and ice cream to several people. The mango and coconut ice creams sounded divine, but Jeff and Hansen highly recommended getting the world’s WORST fruit.
Durian.
Blech.
Jeff had a good laugh when I ate it and gave a sour face. I decided then and there that Jeff was never to be trusted again.
We walked to a park that was really pretty, minus the ridiculous heat. I loved all the lotus in the lake? Ocean? Giant puddle? (picture to come)
I also really liked the juxtaposition of old and new, but it also kind of depressed me thinking of how much culture is being lost to “westernization.”
We headed over to the Venetian to get Katy some replacement pants. I felt terrible. The day was supposed to be her birthday celebration, since Saturday is Ada’s wedding, but so many things went wrong for her! Lots of things went wrong with her pants specifically but ZARA was having a sale so we grabbed some shorts for her and headed to another hotel/casino for her birthday show. Katy felt a bit better in new shorts and A/C, so I felt better as well.
The House of Dancing Water was AMAZING!!!!!!! If I could underline, bold, and put exclamation marks to high heaven the word “amazing” it still wouldn’t express my feelings for the show. I think about 75% was the music and the rest was the amazing skills of the performers. Some of the best parts of the show? Besides, everything, Hansen and Jeff recorded the show, completely illegally. Ah. Chinese bootleg!
After the show ere didn’t feel hungry but we didn’t have anything else to do (and Katy and I didn’t want to go outside ever again) so we just headed back to the Venetian to eat dinner at a buffet.
Dad was in heaven. The food was good! But I was excited for dessert!!! Katy and I sampled several of the selections. None of them were super sweet, which was perfect. We didn’t finish all of our samples because we have to keep our womanly figures, but we DID see a porky kid take about 7 don tarts to eat. Ah. Porky Asian kids <3.
I was dreading the lines for our boat ride back to Hong Kong. Luckily enough the lines were short! Yay!!! No ridiculous line waiting!!!
We’re on the boat now and I’m going in and out of consciousness so I think it’s time to take a nap. We’ll see if immigration lines on HK side are ridiculous.
Hong Kong side:
Alright, Hong Kong has a TON of people. If you’re going to put an escalator in, give us some room to move at the top of them. Man!! Riding up those things was like a death wish. Once at the top, people bottlenecked to get on to the next one. Add people with huge luggage and it was like a train wreck! The lines for immigration were tolerable and we got back to Hong Kong, took a taxi to our hotel, got ready for bed, and passed out.
What a crazy day. Good times and bad times, but I’m loving my stay here. I do miss my bed some days, and sometimes I miss the lack of people surrounding me, but I am so happy that I am finally getting to submerse myself in the other side of my culture.
Hope you’re all doing well!
Loves,
Becks.
Hong Kong Day . . . 4? . . .
(Originally written down on paper and moved to the blog)
I really can't remember now how many days it's been . . . I feel really bad that I’m getting behind with pictures and now writing, but I’ve been so busy playing!!
Day 4 is already hazy in my mind. We woke up and dad worked so we left the hotel late once more. We told ourselves that, since we were going to be at the art museum for the majority of the day we had an excuse to sleep in.
We went to drop a few things off at the grandparent’s then we went out to eat with Uncle Lawrence, Auntie Carrie, and Ma Ma. We went to a top quality won ton noodle soup restaurant (read: hole in wall). Dad said that the noodles couldn’t be imitated and that they were the best won ton noodles ever, but I still liked his stuff better. Katy and I learned the “correct” way to eat won ton noodles; spoon with vinegar in one hand, chopsticks in the other.
Uncle Lawrence and Auntie Carrie had brought some don tarts for dessert! Let me just tell you, those things were like crack. If my veins had taste buds I would pump that junk through my veins on a secondly basis. I wouldn’t even care about the weight gained.
After eating, we grabbed some don tarts from the shop that Uncle Lawrence got them at, and headed to the museum on the MTR.
All I have to say about the art museum is that New York has Hong Kong beat as far as quantity and current art movements, but Hong Kong has New York beat for history of awesomeness. Seriously, some of the ancient Chinese craftwork was so incredibly intricate that I could physically feel my mind being blown.
After perusing the gift shop we headed to Jade Street.
Ah.
Jade Street and the joys thereof.
I could NEVER wheel and deal like my papito. He was seriously a beast! At one point Katy and I were so annoyed by the lady who would pull us over to her stall and make us look at her crap that we were going to give up, but we needed presents!! So we endured. Dear people getting jade, you should know how much stress and anguish was endured to obtain them. Wear them with pride!!
Dad bought me a beautiful bracelet, which has, since then, already lost one of its jade decorations. **whimper*
After Jade Street we headed over to Temple Street to look at all the stalls. Dad went into porn shops twice in order to escape the ridiculous heat of the night. Each time Katy and I had to yell at him to get out of there. By the second time we wondered if he hadn’t really meant to go in them.
I really regret not taking pictures of the street market and Jade Street but I was so hot and exhausted that I couldn’t think straight. We’ll get shots at women’s street! No worries.
We grabbed some cold soy milk and headed to the MTR to go to the grandparent’s. I think the best part about the MTR is that my dad keeps getting scared that we’re going to get lost and not know our way, so he has us lead him to where we’re going. After a little while he’ll start leading again and then gets lost and has to look at signs. Every single time either Katy or I would end up finding the correct way to go. I don’t think he’ll really need to worry ;D.
I was so tired by this point that when we arrived at the grandparent’s place I passed out on their couch. Luckily our dinner plans fell through so Ma Ma just made us jok (which was perfectly amazing <3). We went back to the hotel so we could go to sleep for yesterday’s frolic!
And that is all for day 4! Day 4 felt like a million years long just because we were walking around in the heat, but we didn’t even do that much!!
Don’t worry. We kind of made up for it in Macau. On to the Macau trip post!!
I really can't remember now how many days it's been . . . I feel really bad that I’m getting behind with pictures and now writing, but I’ve been so busy playing!!
Day 4 is already hazy in my mind. We woke up and dad worked so we left the hotel late once more. We told ourselves that, since we were going to be at the art museum for the majority of the day we had an excuse to sleep in.
We went to drop a few things off at the grandparent’s then we went out to eat with Uncle Lawrence, Auntie Carrie, and Ma Ma. We went to a top quality won ton noodle soup restaurant (read: hole in wall). Dad said that the noodles couldn’t be imitated and that they were the best won ton noodles ever, but I still liked his stuff better. Katy and I learned the “correct” way to eat won ton noodles; spoon with vinegar in one hand, chopsticks in the other.
Uncle Lawrence and Auntie Carrie had brought some don tarts for dessert! Let me just tell you, those things were like crack. If my veins had taste buds I would pump that junk through my veins on a secondly basis. I wouldn’t even care about the weight gained.
After eating, we grabbed some don tarts from the shop that Uncle Lawrence got them at, and headed to the museum on the MTR.
All I have to say about the art museum is that New York has Hong Kong beat as far as quantity and current art movements, but Hong Kong has New York beat for history of awesomeness. Seriously, some of the ancient Chinese craftwork was so incredibly intricate that I could physically feel my mind being blown.
After perusing the gift shop we headed to Jade Street.
Ah.
Jade Street and the joys thereof.
I could NEVER wheel and deal like my papito. He was seriously a beast! At one point Katy and I were so annoyed by the lady who would pull us over to her stall and make us look at her crap that we were going to give up, but we needed presents!! So we endured. Dear people getting jade, you should know how much stress and anguish was endured to obtain them. Wear them with pride!!
Dad bought me a beautiful bracelet, which has, since then, already lost one of its jade decorations. **whimper*
After Jade Street we headed over to Temple Street to look at all the stalls. Dad went into porn shops twice in order to escape the ridiculous heat of the night. Each time Katy and I had to yell at him to get out of there. By the second time we wondered if he hadn’t really meant to go in them.
I really regret not taking pictures of the street market and Jade Street but I was so hot and exhausted that I couldn’t think straight. We’ll get shots at women’s street! No worries.
We grabbed some cold soy milk and headed to the MTR to go to the grandparent’s. I think the best part about the MTR is that my dad keeps getting scared that we’re going to get lost and not know our way, so he has us lead him to where we’re going. After a little while he’ll start leading again and then gets lost and has to look at signs. Every single time either Katy or I would end up finding the correct way to go. I don’t think he’ll really need to worry ;D.
I was so tired by this point that when we arrived at the grandparent’s place I passed out on their couch. Luckily our dinner plans fell through so Ma Ma just made us jok (which was perfectly amazing <3). We went back to the hotel so we could go to sleep for yesterday’s frolic!
And that is all for day 4! Day 4 felt like a million years long just because we were walking around in the heat, but we didn’t even do that much!!
Don’t worry. We kind of made up for it in Macau. On to the Macau trip post!!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Hong Kong: Day 3
(I'm really getting behind on these posts. Dad just jam packs our day with stuff so I end up getting home and passing out. I'm writing this post at 8:30 AM before we eat brekky/get ready for the day. Dad's a little upset with me because I'm not getting ready. But I must inform the people!!!!!!)
Thus begins our shopping experience in Hong Kong! But we’ll get to that later.
Dad needed to go to the immigration office so we woke up early to head over to Ma Ma and Ye Ye’s. Dad left us there and we Skyped with the family. Auntie Carrie and Uncle Lawrence loved seeing and talking to everyone at home. We showed everyone around Ma Ma and Ye Ye’s place. By the time we were done talking with everyone, Ma Ma had made some winter melon soup.
Yum!
Uncle Lawrence told us that even though it’s called winter melon, it only grows in the summer. Winter melon, Iceland, Greenland, what else can we add to the list?
Dad came back from the immigration office and told us that he would have to go back. The papers he mailed in from the U.S. had to be hand received so he needed to fill them out and go back. Luckily, Ma Ma and Auntie Carrie were going to get their hair done right next to a huge mall!!
Score.
We took the MTR and headed over to Tsim Sha Tsui, dropped Ma Ma and Auntie Carrie off, and then Uncle Lawrence, Katy, and I went to shopping heaven!! Tsim Sha Tsui was like an American Mall but they had awesome Asian styles all over the place. The prices were ridiculous but luckily they were all mostly having sales! My goal coming to Asia was to find ridiculously amazing Asian shoes. Seriously . . . have you seen their heels?! They are drool worthy. So we found a shoe store where I saw my soul shoes. Unfortunately they were the equivalent of $167 USD. Le sigh. We walked away, but my mind never left them. We went to H&M where, surprisingly there were bigger sizes of clothes! I came to Hong Kong knowing that accessories and shoes were going to be the only thing I could purchase for myself. Little did I know that they just might have clothes that fit me!! So I bought a really cute dress for church (my skirt that I brought broke =\ so it was perfect!). I couldn’t get those freaking shoes off of my mind. My Uncle was so sweet. He bought Katy shoes and then helped me pay for the shoes. I was so happy!!! I seriously can’t get over these shooes.
After shopping we headed back over to the hair salon. Grandma looked so freaking cute that I couldn’t resist taking a photo!!
Dad called and said that we needed to leave ASAP because we had made an appointment with his friend Jeff to go to Victoria Peak to see the sun set at 5:30. He called at 5:15 and Uncle Lawrence had just sat down to get his hair cut. Dad didn’t want to risk us getting lost on the MTR so he told us to take a cab. I had learned how to say in Cantonese “Take me here . . . “ but Auntie Carrie and Uncle Lawrence wanted to be sure that we’d get there so they wrote out, in Chinese characters, where we needed to go. I just showed the taxi driver the paper and he took us to the hotel outside of the area where Ma Ma and Ye Ye live. It was fun to be just Katy and me! We felt like we knew the city a little better and, if we had all the money in the world, we could totally take a taxi anywhere! Okay so we’d be lost after that but it was still fun to be without a native.
We headed to a tram station with dad, got on the tram, and met up with Jeff at his office. We talked with Jeff, Jeff’s boss, and Jeff’s boss’ wife for a while. After that we headed down to grab a taxi to go to the Victoria Peak Tram. The line for it was HUGE!!! Luckily Jeff is smart and bought tickets for extra stuff that allowed us to get in a far shorter line. The line was still quite lengthy and the heat from the weather/humidity/sheer amount of people started to get to me a little. I was really happy I ate something before we left Ma Ma’s place, otherwise I would have passed out.
When we the tram finally came for us, it was ridiculous. People were pushing and shoving to get on and get a seat. I didn’t realize the value of the seat until we were coming down the tram (I’ll tell you later). Luckily I had gotten on the tram earlier and nabbed some seats that some other woman was trying to get by putting her purse on the seat. Too bad body presence > purse presence. HA! Take that!! Victory is mine! We headed up the mountainside and I felt a little sick looking at the buildings. We were going up a steep incline and the buildings looked really slanted. Katy mentioned something about imagining the tram suddenly losing control and rolling backwards. I may or may not have had a mini panic attack thinking about it. Once we were at the top we headed to the wax museum. Katy had a ton of hilarious poses with famous people. It was hilarious! I found it hilarious going through the museum because Katy and I were only looking for Lady Gaga while everyone else was stopping to see all the Asian celebrities. Oh! I got a picture with Hitler and Castro!! We skipped over Gandhi, which made me feel a bit . . . ebil.
After the wax replicas we headed up a billion escalators to go to the lookout on top of the building at Victoria Peak. It took about 10 minutes to go up all of them! Once at the top we looked out at the gorgeous skyscape of Hong Kong at night!! It was absolutely GORGEOUS!! There was little noise and a light breeze too, which made the heat a little more bearable. Together with the lights it just made that place so peaceful. I think that was my favorite site thus far.
When we were done we headed to the Tram station. The line we had to stand in was GINORMIC. I was feeling a bit tired at that point so it was kind of torturous to go through. While in the line Jeff pulled out a bottle full of some square food. He told us to try it and said that it was “clean” and that we should trust him. He told us that it was from Taiwan, but my experience with Taiwanese “candy/snacks” has not been a positive one. There was a girl in front of us who turned around, saw what he was talking about, and looked at me with big eyes and nodded her head and put her thumb up. The way she did it made me skeptical of the recommendation. Then Jeff put one in his mouth, and just to prove that she approved of the candy, she took one from Jeff’s hand and popped it in her mouth. I felt a little better but I was still not looking forward to trying it. I skeptically took one in my hand and waited until Katy put hers in her mouth. Her reaction was unreadable, so I just sucked it up and put it in my mouth. Jeff said that if I didn’t like it I was allowed to spit it out, but something inside of me just couldn’t do that. That’s 2/2 Taiwan. You have not impressed me thus far with your snackagery. I ended up swallowing whatever it was that I ate, even though it led to my silent gagging episode. Sorry Jeff and Hen Lee, if you guys are reading this! I really tried to like it . . . I really did!
When we got off the tram, Jeff said that we should hurry so we could grab a cab. We walked outside to view an awesome cab driver fight. Apparently one cab driver stole another cab driver’s customers and they were holding up traffic with their epic argument. Katy and I had no clue what was happening until we got in our cab and asked Jeff and Dad what happened. We laughed at all of it. Cab driving is srs bzns. The best part was that there were two policemen who were just chilling in front of the whole hullabaloo. They just stood there. Watching it all unfold. I guess their night was a little boring so they needed the entertainment.
Thus begins our shopping experience in Hong Kong! But we’ll get to that later.
Dad needed to go to the immigration office so we woke up early to head over to Ma Ma and Ye Ye’s. Dad left us there and we Skyped with the family. Auntie Carrie and Uncle Lawrence loved seeing and talking to everyone at home. We showed everyone around Ma Ma and Ye Ye’s place. By the time we were done talking with everyone, Ma Ma had made some winter melon soup.
Yum!
Uncle Lawrence told us that even though it’s called winter melon, it only grows in the summer. Winter melon, Iceland, Greenland, what else can we add to the list?
Dad came back from the immigration office and told us that he would have to go back. The papers he mailed in from the U.S. had to be hand received so he needed to fill them out and go back. Luckily, Ma Ma and Auntie Carrie were going to get their hair done right next to a huge mall!!
Score.
We took the MTR and headed over to Tsim Sha Tsui, dropped Ma Ma and Auntie Carrie off, and then Uncle Lawrence, Katy, and I went to shopping heaven!! Tsim Sha Tsui was like an American Mall but they had awesome Asian styles all over the place. The prices were ridiculous but luckily they were all mostly having sales! My goal coming to Asia was to find ridiculously amazing Asian shoes. Seriously . . . have you seen their heels?! They are drool worthy. So we found a shoe store where I saw my soul shoes. Unfortunately they were the equivalent of $167 USD. Le sigh. We walked away, but my mind never left them. We went to H&M where, surprisingly there were bigger sizes of clothes! I came to Hong Kong knowing that accessories and shoes were going to be the only thing I could purchase for myself. Little did I know that they just might have clothes that fit me!! So I bought a really cute dress for church (my skirt that I brought broke =\ so it was perfect!). I couldn’t get those freaking shoes off of my mind. My Uncle was so sweet. He bought Katy shoes and then helped me pay for the shoes. I was so happy!!! I seriously can’t get over these shooes.
After shopping we headed back over to the hair salon. Grandma looked so freaking cute that I couldn’t resist taking a photo!!
Dad called and said that we needed to leave ASAP because we had made an appointment with his friend Jeff to go to Victoria Peak to see the sun set at 5:30. He called at 5:15 and Uncle Lawrence had just sat down to get his hair cut. Dad didn’t want to risk us getting lost on the MTR so he told us to take a cab. I had learned how to say in Cantonese “Take me here . . . “ but Auntie Carrie and Uncle Lawrence wanted to be sure that we’d get there so they wrote out, in Chinese characters, where we needed to go. I just showed the taxi driver the paper and he took us to the hotel outside of the area where Ma Ma and Ye Ye live. It was fun to be just Katy and me! We felt like we knew the city a little better and, if we had all the money in the world, we could totally take a taxi anywhere! Okay so we’d be lost after that but it was still fun to be without a native.
We headed to a tram station with dad, got on the tram, and met up with Jeff at his office. We talked with Jeff, Jeff’s boss, and Jeff’s boss’ wife for a while. After that we headed down to grab a taxi to go to the Victoria Peak Tram. The line for it was HUGE!!! Luckily Jeff is smart and bought tickets for extra stuff that allowed us to get in a far shorter line. The line was still quite lengthy and the heat from the weather/humidity/sheer amount of people started to get to me a little. I was really happy I ate something before we left Ma Ma’s place, otherwise I would have passed out.
When we the tram finally came for us, it was ridiculous. People were pushing and shoving to get on and get a seat. I didn’t realize the value of the seat until we were coming down the tram (I’ll tell you later). Luckily I had gotten on the tram earlier and nabbed some seats that some other woman was trying to get by putting her purse on the seat. Too bad body presence > purse presence. HA! Take that!! Victory is mine! We headed up the mountainside and I felt a little sick looking at the buildings. We were going up a steep incline and the buildings looked really slanted. Katy mentioned something about imagining the tram suddenly losing control and rolling backwards. I may or may not have had a mini panic attack thinking about it. Once we were at the top we headed to the wax museum. Katy had a ton of hilarious poses with famous people. It was hilarious! I found it hilarious going through the museum because Katy and I were only looking for Lady Gaga while everyone else was stopping to see all the Asian celebrities. Oh! I got a picture with Hitler and Castro!! We skipped over Gandhi, which made me feel a bit . . . ebil.
After the wax replicas we headed up a billion escalators to go to the lookout on top of the building at Victoria Peak. It took about 10 minutes to go up all of them! Once at the top we looked out at the gorgeous skyscape of Hong Kong at night!! It was absolutely GORGEOUS!! There was little noise and a light breeze too, which made the heat a little more bearable. Together with the lights it just made that place so peaceful. I think that was my favorite site thus far.
When we were done we headed to the Tram station. The line we had to stand in was GINORMIC. I was feeling a bit tired at that point so it was kind of torturous to go through. While in the line Jeff pulled out a bottle full of some square food. He told us to try it and said that it was “clean” and that we should trust him. He told us that it was from Taiwan, but my experience with Taiwanese “candy/snacks” has not been a positive one. There was a girl in front of us who turned around, saw what he was talking about, and looked at me with big eyes and nodded her head and put her thumb up. The way she did it made me skeptical of the recommendation. Then Jeff put one in his mouth, and just to prove that she approved of the candy, she took one from Jeff’s hand and popped it in her mouth. I felt a little better but I was still not looking forward to trying it. I skeptically took one in my hand and waited until Katy put hers in her mouth. Her reaction was unreadable, so I just sucked it up and put it in my mouth. Jeff said that if I didn’t like it I was allowed to spit it out, but something inside of me just couldn’t do that. That’s 2/2 Taiwan. You have not impressed me thus far with your snackagery. I ended up swallowing whatever it was that I ate, even though it led to my silent gagging episode. Sorry Jeff and Hen Lee, if you guys are reading this! I really tried to like it . . . I really did!
We finally got on the tram back down but, like I said, the competition for seats was fierce! People were seriously pushing and shoving and Katy and I weren’t up for dealing with that crap. Dad got onto the tram but froze up when we weren’t behind him. We ended up standing and holding onto some bars behind people’s seats. Yeah. Seats. They are valuable when you’re going down a mountainside. Luckily Dad, Katy, and I got some holding bars, but Jeff had to cling on to a corner. At one point they stopped the tram and a super steep incline. I thought I was going to tumble forward. There was another girl who was standing in the tramcar in front of us who didn’t have anything to hold onto and actually did tumble into her friend in front of her. It was hilarious to watch her try and stay up during the entire ride (don’t worry I thought it was hilarious but I felt bad for her too).
When we got off the tram, Jeff said that we should hurry so we could grab a cab. We walked outside to view an awesome cab driver fight. Apparently one cab driver stole another cab driver’s customers and they were holding up traffic with their epic argument. Katy and I had no clue what was happening until we got in our cab and asked Jeff and Dad what happened. We laughed at all of it. Cab driving is srs bzns. The best part was that there were two policemen who were just chilling in front of the whole hullabaloo. They just stood there. Watching it all unfold. I guess their night was a little boring so they needed the entertainment.
Jeff was nice and took us out to eat hot pot. I love when we do hot pot at home so I was looking forward to hot pot at a restaurant. I wasn’t let down. There were so many yummy things!! I kept eating and eating until I was stuffed!! Unfortunately, Jeff put a buttload of garlic in my soy sauce so now I still have the taste of garlic in my mouth. I love garlic but dang. I’m not going to be talking to anyone up close anytime soon. After the main course, Jeff ordered desserts!! Luckily they were small desserts otherwise it would have been a total waste on me. I had just enough room to eat the three different things; coconut cake with a red bean layer, a coconut mango custard concoction, and a custard bun. They all tasted sooo good!
We walked home and I flopped on my bed and almost passed out. Katy said, “Why don’t you get ready for bed?” so I forced myself to get up and get ready. When I came back out she had her shopping day’s loot over her face. I said, “Why don’t you get ready for bed?” she replied groggily that she was waiting for me. Needless to say, we both passed out for the night.
Again, I’m sorry to say that there won’t be much time for me to put pictures of our day up on here. I’m really sorry!! Dad wants us to get ready and I really do need to shower (being outside a lot yesterday made me stiiiiiiink. Yes, Lauren. I really DO have the capability of stinking. And it’s preeetty baaad).
Loves,
Becks.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Hong Kong: Day 2
We started out the day lazily once more (don't worry by day 4 we'll be up and at-em early!) Dad had some work to do so Katy and I slept in late. We ate brekky then headed over to grandma’s to take her to yum cha with Uncle Lawrence and Auntie Carrie. We went to a classier restaurant to eat but surprisingly the taste wasn’t as amazing. Isn’t that always the situation, though? The divvy places always taste the best!
After yum cha we experienced our first transportation other than the taxis of Hong Kong. We finally got to ride the MTR. I’m pretty much in love with the system because they use Octopus Cards, and we all know I love octopi!!! Oh, and the A/C is pretty nice. I hated NY's subway system because it literally felt like we were going into the depths of Hell. The lower we got the hotter it got. Anywho, this is about HK not NY.
We arrived at the stop we needed and walked over to the Museum of Hong Kong History. It was swelteringly hot. I really shouldn’t have put on any makeup. But I still do. Because I’m like that. Anywho, the museum showed Hong Kong from the early ages to present day. It was fun to learn about my family’s history. I think it was my great grandmother and grandfather who moved to Hong Kong before China changed to communism. We have a family home in mainland where dad remembers the traditional beds and going up a loft to go sleep. Unfortunately, he said that people have changed the house so it’s not traditional anymore. Boooooo.
The exhibits changed to the 1950’s-60’s and it was fun to see the things my dad grew up with. He would point at toys, bunk beds, and a kerosene stove and say that he grew up using those things. It was pretty cool! Then we saw an exhibit about a water shortage. It broke my heart reading about it, then my dad said he remembered going through it. He said that they were given water rations every 4 days. Craziness.
After the museum we took a bus over to Avenue of the Stars where we walked along the pier. It was so stinking hot! But it was fun to get my picture with small Asian hand imprints ;D. My hands dominated everyone, except for Jet Li’s. We’re hand twins!!
We waited around for another hour and .5 for the light show! I think I would have liked it better if I weren’t so gosh dang tired!! I was struggling for consciousness. After the light show we headed back to the island on a ferry! Let’s just say that I could never do a cruise . . . but it was nice to have the cool breeze from the ocean.
We headed back to Ma Ma’s place and took her out to eat some Shanghai food! Yum!! I was falling asleep at the table but I forced myself to wake up and eat some food. We started out with some Shanghai duck, which was cold and salty and super tasty! Then we had some steamed buns with tasty juice and vinegar and ginger slices (sher long bao). That junk was tasty!! Eel noodles, which Katy couldn’t handle eating . . . I took her eel (I thank sushi for prepping me for this trip; otherwise I would have skipped out on awesome food). We also had another pan-fried meat bun that I really liked its variety of tastes. I wish I knew how to make all this stuff because it was delish!!
I will update with pictures as soon as I get to the hotel tonight. My camera is a little low on batteries =\. Sorry guys! Fortunately most of you are asleep by now so you won't have to wait too long ;D!
Love,
Becks.
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