Hiking and Day to Day

You can see the HK skyline over the mountains

 So I've been in Hong Kong almost a month, which is crazy to me! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone.  I feel every day more like this is my home.  It occurred to me today as I was taking the bus to work that this is my life.  This realization comes in waves, mostly after something epically amazing or catastrophically upsetting happens, but alas, this is it! For the next two years!

One of the huge blessings that I've had is becoming friends with a lot of the youth directors at other churches here in HK.  They are really fun, awesome, genuinely good people.  A couple of weeks ago, a hike was organized with a big group of these people, and I was invited.  I can confess here and now that I've never been much of a hiker, but when I was offered the opportunity, I figured I'd best not turn it down!  We set out on a VERY hot day, and despite it being past 3:30 when we started, the temperature was still scorching. 


We hiked the High Junk Peak trail, which is as scenic as anywhere I've been in HK. As we started our ascent up the first of many large hills, I began wondering what the heck I was thinking.  By the top of the hill, I was sucking air and sweating like it was my job.  Honestly, I'm pretty sure I have never sweated so much in my life.  It was worth it, however, when we got to the top and had these views.  This trail was awesome because this was the view pretty much most of the way there.  The lesson I've learned in my short time here is this:  If you ever get to Hong Kong, don't let the urban sprawl deceive you.  Most of Hong Kong actually looks like this.  Hilly, forested, and gorgeous.  Get out of the city and explore, because there is so much beautiful terrain nearby. 

High Junk Peak Trail

So much sweating

We followed this red route, and I took this picture about the midpoint of the hike.  We intended to hike all the way to the end, but it was getting dusky and we were tired, so we ended pooping out about 3/4 of the way through.  Three in our group decided to finish and were about an hour behind us.  After that, we were graciously invited over to one of our group member's houses for a barbeque and swimming.  It felt so weird to be in a home with a front door and a back yard.  It's strange how quickly I've acclimated myself to apartment living.  There is very little grass here in HK, so I took a good long time sitting in theirs, soaking up the evening.  It was a great time, and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to experience a little "home" even if it wasn't my own!

You can clearly see in this picture how much I was sweating.  It was honestly out of control.  This is my co-worker, Julie, who is a hiking commando and whom I asked to look out for me in case I passed out somewhere along the trail, ha!

Very large looking IFC from this angle

In any case, it was a fabulous day, and I was really glad I went.  I also had the chance to meet some of the newly arrived people in HK, and we commiserated about all of the "new people things" which did wonders for helping my outlook on my life here.  It's amazing how just knowing someone else is in your shoes can help things out!

The following Monday, I decided to wander around HK a little bit.  My first week here, I had tried in vain to reach this fabled rooftop garden in the IFC mall, but to no avail.  So last Monday, I decided to conquer this once and for all.  There is an awesome public space with chairs and couches where you can bring your lunch, your laptop, or just yourself and get some work done in the great outdoors.  This is a shot up the side of the IFC building which is the tallest building on the Hong Kong side, clocking in 88 stories.  It is gargantuan to look at, especially from this angle.  It was a great respite from the craziness of the city.  I'll definitely go back in the future.  

ICC across the harbor

This is a shot directly across the harbor to the ICC building, which is impressively taller than the IFC building.  You can see these two buildings faintly outlined in the first picture I posted.  They're in the haze beyond the mountains.  This last week was also the anniversary of September 11, and for the first time, I actually began to visualize what that day must have been like for New Yorkers.  I have never lived in any kind of proximity to tall buildings, so to see these gargantuan structures and imagine the terror of seeing a plane flying into them was compounded on a whole new level for me.  I often look out my window at night and think about just how crazy that would be.  I'm a probably less than a mile as the crow flies from IFC at my host family's house.  I cannot imagine what 9/11 must have been like for those in the surrounding areas.  I hope and pray that I never have to find out.

This is on a lower level of the IFC rooftop.  This is good design.  It's actually quite Scandinavian, which I love.  Lots of clean lines and interesting textures (except the flooring).  I've heard this place is prime real estate during Chinese New Year or any other event with fireworks because it is literally right on the harbor.  And the whole place is free!  I love to see urban areas getting this right.  And heaven knows that Central Hong Kong needs a few more open spaces in which to relax!

Love this babeh

I'm pretty sure I've talked to my parents more since I've lived here than I did when I was in the US.  I often get the pleasure of skyping with my mom and nephew, who she keeps in the mornings.  I love this little man and can say that one of the hardest parts of being so far away is knowing that I won't be there for his milestones, like his first birthday or when he takes his first steps.  It's a price to pay, I suppose, and I am so extremely blessed to be able to keep up with my family using modern technology!

Final resting place... for 10 years, anyway...

 I'm really excited to be working with one of the other Youth Directors here at an International School.  We go on Fridays and have a Christian club which includes discussion and just doing life together.  It's giving me an opportunity to see some of our students outside of church, and to meet new ones, too!

As Eric, the other youth director, and I were leaving the International School, we passed by this cemetery.  This photo doesn't do it justice, but this thing is MASSIVE.  And there all these individual little shrines or altars above each grave.  Eric told me that sometimes, you can see bones just laying near graves because people only rent out the funeral plots for a certain amount of time, say 10 years... After so long, the bones are dug up, and the plot is rented out to someone else.  Here's an interesting alternative...
http://buildipedia.com/in-studio/featured-architecture/floating-eternity-hong-kong-s-offshore-cemetery

Lantern a Palooza

 One of the other delights I experienced while walking back to the office after visiting the school was this store.  It was literally jam packed with lanterns of all sorts.  It's moments like these that makes me realize just how out of my culture I am.  I loved it.  If I hadn't been sweating profusely, I would have probably perused around the stores a little more.  But seriously, how cool is this?  I also learned that according to the Chinese calendar, August is the month where ghosts or souls come and visit their living family members.  You're supposed to buy paper objects and burn them for your dead relatives. This store also sells those, apparently. My co-worker, Wendy, said that you can buy everything from paper iPhones to Louis Vuitton bags to clothes and shoes! On certain nights in August, the burning hits a fever pitch.  Apparently her kids asked her why they weren't burning anything to their ancestors.  We all got a good kick out of that!

Breakfast

One of the other cultural things I've experienced here is the food.  First of all, my host family's helper is a genius in the kitchen, and I mean that.  Everything she cooks tastes good, even if I have no idea half the time what things are.  Today for breakfast, I had dragonfruit and starfruit.  The other day, as evidenced in this photo, I had noodles with pork and greens!  When the wife of my host family came home from traveling and saw this dish, she exclaimed "You're already an Asian!"

Not sure about that since my Cantonese is still woeful, but I have been known to eat noodles for breakfast on the occasion! (Though I still prefer a good ol' Western egg or oatmeal breakfast!)

You can also see in the upper right hand corner of the picture next to the Banana, a Moon Cake.  These are totally local and come out in advance of the moon festival, which is happening in a couple of weeks.  It's a big deal around here.  I haven't tried any Moon Cakes except this one, so I plan to do a much more in depth blog post once I do the required "research".

Well, that's it for now!  Next time: Cliff Jumping and how I got proposed to by Mr. Wong.

-The Adventurer

Chinglish o' the day:

Not bad translation, just hilarious.