National Day = Holiday

 A couple of weeks ago, we had two days of holiday. One was for the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the other was for China's National Day (think 4th of July).  I had planned to go camping with some friends, but upon arriving to the MTR (metro) station where I was supposed to catch a bus, I found literally about 500 people in line for a 16 person bus.  After waiting for about an hour, I decided to not go with the group.  Looking back, I probably should have waited and sucked it up, but hey, hindsight is 20/20!


 Instead, I had about 48 hours to be completely alone - which was really good and somewhat sad, too.  Lots of people were out with their families and it made me realize how much I miss my family and friends in the US.  This is an inevitable part of living abroad, but generally speaking, I don't think I notice it as much.  I usually encounter people during the workday where these family relationships aren't so obvious.  This might be a good time to also mention that my family is going through some tough stuff.  I found out about 2 weeks after I got here that my mom has a tumor on her Thyroid.  We waited patiently to schedule the biopsy an then for the actual procedure, at which time we thought we'd have some answers. Upon hearing the results, we have had more waiting to do.  She has what's called a follicular tumor - the place where they biopsied the tumor appears to be benign, but apparently, in these tumors, you can have cancerous cells right next to benign ones.  It has been surreal to be here while all of this is going on.  Actually, in less than 12 hours, she'll have surgery to have the tumor removed, and we'll know for once and for all if the tumor is cancerous or not.

Flame-shooting burners

In the midst of all of this, I was feeling homesick and was home alone one night, so I decided to cook.  This would normally be a pretty straightforward experience, but living here with my host family it was quite an adventure.  I scoured the kitchen to see what there might be in the way of ingredients.  It was especially challenging because the family I live with are raw vegans!  I found lots of things in the fridge I couldn't pronounce, vegetables in the crisper I had never seen before (and had no idea how to cook), and couldn't find even a knife to save my life!

Getting my cook on

Thankfully, I finally found some pasta and some cheese in the fridge, so I thought, hey, comfort food!  Mac and Cheese was on the menu.  The only problem here is that there was no milk, so I had to substitute with Soy Milk.  And there was no garlic/onion powder, so I had to make due with fresh garlic (not an issue).  It is always awkward using someone else's kitchen, and this kitchen is no exception.  I kid you not, I looked for 15 minutes for a sharp knife and came up with nothing.  So, I cut the cheese into tiny squares (also couldn't find a grater) with a butter knife.  Yep.  It certainly wasn't the fastest cooking experience I've ever had, but everything actually turned out pretty decent.  The soy milk wasn't a desirable addition, but hey, desperate times call for desperate measures!  Oh, and I did almost singe my eyebrows off with the insane fire that leaps out when turning on the burner.  All's well that ends well though.

Credit goes to Lawrence for this photo

 On Tuesday, (thankfully out of my funk), I was invited by a friend to go hiking out near Shek O (the beach I blogged about when I first got here).  Neither one of us had a very clear idea of where we were going, so after cutting through a roped off trail, hiking 200+ stairs, and taking a wrong turn, we finally found the actual trail.  It was great to be out and about though, and luckily the actual hike part was entirely downhill.  It was crazy to be in the middle of the cemetery, looking down the rows upon rows of graves! But hey, it's handy if you just cant make it to the top - they can just roll ya right into a grave plot.  I kid. But seriously, I did feel like I was going to die at a couple of points.

Big Wave Beach

At the bottom of the hike, we emerged in a cute little village and proceeded to the beach.  It was a nearly perfect day, weather-wise with lots of big waves.  (Perhaps why it's called Big Wave Bay?) There were tons of surfers taking advantage of the waves, though I did hear from my boss who was at a neighboring beach that there were really bad riptides that day and several people drowned.  Nonetheless, I enjoyed the afternoon reading a book and drinking an Apple Soda from Pret (my new favorite beverage) and had a relaxing afternoon.  There were also a lot of domestic helpers out enjoying their holidays.  It was in a way strange but incredibly good to see them just out enjoying life, because they don't have a lot of time for leisure, in general.

Fishing Boats, once upon a time?

The best part of my holiday was getting to see the fireworks from our 23rd floor balcony.  I knew that I'd probably never have another chance as good as this one to see the fireworks from this angle, so I read up on my new Nikon and set out to take some pictures.  I think they turned out alright for my first try!  It was really incredible to see the fireworks behind this crazy city of mine.  Definitely one of those moments where I thought to myself, "I live here?!?"

I've decided to do a new part of each blog: Cultural Findings.  I observe all of these random moments that I find unusual or interesting, but never know where to put them in my blog.  So I've decided to sandwich them here, right above the Chinglish o' the Day. 

So, the Cultural Finding for this week is: Most Hong Kongers don't use car seats.  And after riding on various means of transportation, this shocks me.  Because it's not like the reason is that Hong Kong drivers have driving superpowers.  In fact, I've feared for my life on several occasions (mostly in taxis).  Now bear in mind, I haven't heard any shocking statistics on kids getting killed in car accidents since I've been here, but I can't imagine how people avoid accidents with the sheer amount of traffic I see here.  Just today I saw a family out with a baby that was maybe 3 months old.  Dad took the stroller, stuffed it in the back of a cab, and they all climbed in, mom with the baby in her arms.  I just think back to the PSAs in the US when I was growing up about how much force it takes to keep a baby in your arms if your car comes to an abrupt stop! Eek!

Funny Chinglish o' the Week:

At first I didn't notice the finger pointing.  I was like, should put on? What the heck does that mean?!  It seems as though many sign-making companies want to avoid English altogether, because I see a lot of symbols.  I love this sign - I laugh every time I pass by it! I specifically love the hard hat one.  What is the arrow on top of the hard hat?  Like, something will bounce off of your hard hat?  No idea!

Until next time,

-The Adventurer