What a roller coaster ride of a week. This week all of us decided to take Hong Kong a little slower and catch up on much needed sleep and planning for the next few weeks. Here is how the week panned out:
Monday:
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Green tea mochi filled
with red bean- hungry yet? |
Cody Busia was still in town from Shanghai visiting twin brother Clay who is a HK Global Fellow with us. For the first time we had Italian food at a restaurant called Fat Angelo's up in the SOHO area of Central. Needless to say, though we went there for Cody who had not had any variation from Asian food since we started in May, I was very grateful to have a night of quality Italian Food. The Mushroom and Truffle Risotto was to die for and I made sure to finish my whole plate (yum!).
Tuesday:
Finally was given a job at work... assigned the task of translating the company website, which I discovered to be a bit challenging using solely Google Translate ("man must kneel to one knee to ensure birds sing"... ? translation??), but after talking to my co-workers, I had successfully translated the tricky chinese proverbs into traditional english ones. I was feeling a bit under the weather but nothing that a hot BBQ pork bun and miso soup couldn't fix! Later that night we took it easy and explored City Plaza, the mall near us in Tai Koo Shing. Found the Hello Kitty superstore, but decided it wasn't necessary for me to buy life-size Hello Kitty just yet...
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| Pumpkin and Pork?! |
Wednesday:
Went to lunch with co-worker Elaine, and had the special on the menu at Dumpling Yuan: pumpkin and pork wonton soup! It was a great combination, but I am pretty sure the "pumpkin" was summer squash... again all this for only the equivalent of $3 USD, love living cheap lifestyle. Added to my lunch my favorite drink so far: Grapefruit, lychee and aloe vera tea. The most soothing tea fruit juice around. After dinner in TST at a vegetarian shanghai restaurant (very uncommon) called Kung Tak Lam, we headed to the HK Space Museum, which long story short, was a great disappointment, at least for me having experienced a plethora of exploratoriums in my lifetime being from the area of origin for the Hubble Telescope. Watching a documentary of the Hubble telescope (which I had already seen) on an imax screen was nontheless entertaining in Cantonese. Afterwards some of the GFs got McFlurrys which were surprisingly
actually a serving size- around only half a cup in size. I believe even the big macs are smaller here, and when you ask for super-sized, they reluctantly will bring you a "small" size equivalent in the U.S.
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| Macaroni Soup |
Thursday:
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| Hong Kong Style |
A day of amazing food! Ate lunch with my newfound HKU friend, Stephanie, who works at Barclay's near my office in central. She took me to a famous Japanese/ Hong Kong style restaurant called Hokkaido Dairy Milk Restaurant. This restaurant is famous because it puts the most delicious japanese milk in everything they make- even the butter. We had a type of brunch that is common among Hong Kong people- the traditional thick toast with creamy eggs and ham alongside a bowl of macaroni soup with pork on top. Overall, along with the Hokkaido Dairy Coffee, it was a delicious lunch and I was able to share college/life stories with a Hong Kong girl who happens to be the most California girl I have met here- maybe even more so than myself. She LOVES california culture and since she has only experienced it through the extremes shown on TV, she tends towards all the stereotypes... which can be pretty entertaining to find out how the international crowd views from my home state...
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Type of tea time "snack" my
co-workers love to feed me on the daily |
Later that evening, I met the rest of the GF's, minus Jamie who was sadly still in Northern China, and Margaux, for some famous Dim Sum at Crystal Jade in Causeway Bay MTR station. This has been far the best place we have yet to go for dinner, and also best value for our money. The meal consisted of a type of shredded pancakes, Xiao Long Bao (Beijing style dumplings with soup inside), Spicy peanut noodle soup, pork buns, veggie egg rolls, Chinese style doughnut (first time something with sugar! Sugar coated donut ball with red bean paste inside, pork dumplings, green beans, sweet and sour shrimp, Shanghai style pizza (like a calzone filled with shallots and cabbage), all for only $13 USD each! After shopping around Causeway and finding a great European store called Pull and Bear, we headed home to rest.
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| Xiao Long Bao |
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| Dan Dan Noodles |
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| Red Bean Donuts |
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| BBQ Pork Buns |
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| Pancakes |
Friday:
After work I went shopping with Elaine in Kwai Fong, near the western side of Kowloon coastline. The mall was HUGE and very similar to the knock off shopping in Shenzhen, however, these goods were not designer although very fashionable and cheap! We were also able to find very cheap, but slightly stale, bin candy (my older sis would have loved this). A huge bag for under a $1 US. We cruised through the shops and found some great shirts including the ones that said: "I stand for my friend always" and "Hollywood supa star." I plan on souvenir shopping here for the best of the best in chinese goods.
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| Hong Kong Style is unbeatable |
Later that night, the birthday girl Jamie finally made it back from China, almost in tears because of what she had to go through-- the food (jelly fish bulb and pigeon brain soup among other things), the strange business customs, non of which were explained to her, and the lack of communication (no internet, no phone, no one to speak english and random men calling her on her hotel phone demanding to know where she was in Mandarin). All of this while staying near the borders of Russia and North Korea. We cheered her up with our buffet of chinese mochi candies and snacks as a prelude to her 21st Birthday weekend in Macau!
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| Macau Skyline |
Saturday:
My unluckiest day yet: 1) lost phone on shuttle 2) pitpocketed on the streets of macau- my whole wallet with all my possessions except for my passport (thank god) taken within the span of a minute. Here is how the events unfolded.
We took a turbojet ferry to Macau, which was unlike any ship I have ever been on. It was exactly like an airplane on the inside but rocked me asleep instantly with no turbulence. We arrived in Macau and after checking into the Hyatt, we continued to the historical part of Macau near Largo do Senado or Senado Square area. It was so strange to see signs in both Portuguese and Chinese, but nothing in English. The European style buildings, Vegas style hotels and casinos, among the traditional chinese temple style buildings. Such a fusion of culture unlike anything I have ever seen. After buying my first Macau style egg tart (flakier pastry crust and in every way so much tastier!) I put my wallet back in my purse, explored one church (St. Dominics) and headed over to get street food. When I went to pay for the array of meat and vegetable skewers covered in curry, I realized my wallet was gone, nowhere to be found. We explored the ruins of St. Paul and Fortaleza de Monte which reminded me a lot of France, and along with the mopeds, looked so out of place in a Chinese SAR. Had there not been a chinese parade with the dragon and all the effects while we were there, there would have been very little chinese influence at all.
After heading the our hotel, which was located on the "Vegas Strip" or Cotai strip, south of Macau near Taipa and Coloane, I was comforted by a room made for 15 kings. It was HUGE and enough for double our amount of people. I was immediately disheartened, however, after checking my bank statement to find a $600 charge for a cell-phone on my credit card. My hopes of my wallet being turned in went straight out the window.
The rest of the night was great after clearing up the wallet situation. We went to a famous portuguese restaurant in Coloane on Hac Sa Beach called Fernando's. This very quaint, red checkered table cloth restaurant had the most amazing food, and its looks did not reflect the culinary skills of the chefs. The feast of chorizo, macau fried rice, garlic prawns, drunken steak and BBQ chicken with fries, codfish cakes and fresh bread and salad left all of us in food comas. All of us rallied, however, for the famous Lord Stow's egg tart tower with chocolote tarts tower Sabena and I attempted to build. These tarts wee indescribable. It was absolute bliss. My goal in life is to learn to make tarts as good as these.
The night scene was absolutely dead in Macau, nothing like Vegas, but did manage to go to the Bellini Lounge in the Venetian to experience some very interesting live music.
Sunday:
We all relaxed by the pool and it seemed like paradise, until I got an extremely bad shorts sunburn. We all bought our souvenirs of the famous almond cookies and sesame honey peanut clusters and headed back to Hong Kong, which I missed terribly after the events in Macau. Macau is deifinitely only like Vegas in the copied buildings and gambling, but there is nothing else to resemble. I found it interesting that Macau has 5 times the wealth of Vegas- the gambling is extremely intense here (I unfortunately lost about $1 USD and called it quits). I do not think I will ever go back unless I am craving good food and egg tarts.
That night I had my first real American meal yet- BBQ Chicken
breasts which can only be found in international markets, fresh salad, cheesy bacon mashed potatoes and roasted peppers at Drew's apartment in Sheung Wan. His apartment was by far the biggest one I have ever seen. He had enough room in his bedroom for a queen bed which is unheard of here... he actually had to import the sheets for such a thing. After socializing with his friends and learning about their experiences, I headed home to organize my life for the rest of the week. Home sweet home in Hong Kong, I never want to leave!
PHOTO-REEL MACAU
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Convinced this was the moment
my wallet was taken |
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| Senado Square |
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| Egg tart- every hour, on the hour |
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| St. Dominic's Church |
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Not quite sure what is on these skewers
tasted great in curry regardless! |
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| Parade in front of the Ruins of St. Paul |
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| Fortaleza Monte |
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Yes, the egg tarts deserve pictures
from all angles |
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Birthday song dedication to Jamie
from Mr. hips don't lie |
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| Wedding at the Venetian |
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| Paradise in China |
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| Didn't do it. Couldn't do it. |
I think one of the most valuable things I have learned so far about Hong Kong and the culture here is that respect is deeply involved in every interaction, and is a key part of life here in general. Another common theme that has really presented itself personally in my daily interactions is courtesy. As a great example, my co-workers who I have raved about in my first few blogs are truly the most courteous and respectful people I have ever met in my life, constantly trying to make sure that I am comfortable and having the most optimal experience, even if it is just telling me about a new restaurant to try, or letting me in on local secrets like delivery websites, the best places to shop that little tourists know about, and deals for our upcoming trips and adventures (Ocean Park here we come!). I do not mean to say that this is unusual to see in the United States. At my previous internship last summer in San Francisco, my boss and the people working around me in the shared workspace made a real effort to make me feel comfortable, since I was the youngest person in the office. What is different from everything I have experienced in the US is that this courtesy is found everywhere, even with people you are unfamiliar with. On Tuesday morning I went downstairs as usual, half asleep and found a small cup of coffee, with the sugar I use and cream already added waiting for me. The woman who serves coffee for the 40 floors of residents in our apartments, M-F, had already remembered me and the time I came down. THAT is what I call genuine service. Respect goes along way and really makes life a little sweeter. We learn all of this in kindergarten, but for some reason in American culture it does not stick as firmly. I can only hope to take at least this one lesson from my time in Hong Kong and spread it through displaying the same type of respect I have been given here to those in America. I don’t want to sound too flowery and bubbly, and I do admit, this respect goes out the window when people rush to work here, but for the most part, this is the only break I have seen.
