| it's hot in hong kong. i've been here officially a week and still sweating. been taking 3 showers and day and still feeling sticky. humidity is no man's master. and it's been hotter than usual because a tropical storm had been brewing, but it rained yesterday and today, so perhaps it will be better for a little while.
hong kong has been awesome. most of my family live here and they have been outstandingly hospitable. it's still a bit uncomfortable though, living continually in other people's houses. i miss going out independently and privacy, and most of all, dislike this feeling that they must change things aroun d just to accomodate me. mom booked my flight way too early. 9 days is too much time to be idling about doing nothing, because i feel like everyone is going out of their way to take time off and show me around. exscept for this feeling of obligation, everything has been quite excellent.
i spent my first few days here with gu tsai (my dad's kid sistah) and we went to quite a few places around hk. we (along with carol) walked around the shatin mall the first day. it's so nostalgic. i was really young when we lived in hk....we moved to the us when i was six. but i still remember going to that mall frequently, and looking through the glass fence/raiilings (i was too little to look over it) down at the people walking around below. we went to the arcade for a bit. the games here are awesome. there are so many weird ones, like shaking the tambourine and fighting a fire with a firehose. i think my fave is percussionfreaks though (playing the drums) although i suck at it. wish we had some arcades (good ones) round long island.
the second day, gu tsai and i went to tai fu san to see this giant statue of buddha on the mountain. day 3 we went to cheung chau, which is about an hour ferry ride from hk. it was really quaint there, narrow alleys filled with shops and markets, and beaches on both sides of the island. there's a cave that a pirate supposedly hid treasures in, but neither of us were dressed nor equiped for climbing. day 4 (wed) i went to get my documents (i had to get an adult hk id. i was sick all the night before throwing up and thought i simply had food poisoning. but the whole day, i was just woozy like no other, with a headache that wouldn't go away and aches and pains everywhere. i ignored it and went to stanley market with gu tsai anyway, and ended up falling asleep on the way there, by the beach, in mcdonalds, on the way back, and then in the hk convention center when we got back to central. i finally realized i had a fever in the afternoon and took some meds. was better immediately. went out with jonathan kau fu at night to practice kali, a philippine(?... maybe malay) style of fighting with two wooden sticks. it was fun and i got to beat him up,. awesome. went to my other kaufu's house in sai kon and stayed with them for the next few days.
thurs. didn't really do anything. had dinner with moms side of fam. fri. went to macau with aunt lena and ken kaufu and his daughter tiffany. macau is beautiful. portugese style architecture. the black sand beach was gross though....it just looked muddy and dirty and the water was brown. ick. we walked around, looked at some sights. there's this square paved in black and white marble tiles tat looks exactly like lisboa, surrounded by buildings with arched balconies. went back to hk at night.
sat. hung out with my cuzes, looked at hermit crabs (there were millions of them on the beach in saikon), had lunch, walked around mongkok with novem kau mo, and then met up with carol and cousin mei ling at night. we went to stanley for dinner and drinks. then went back to central and soho. we went up the moving walkway that takes you all the way up to san dang...but we didn't go all te way up. had some ammmazing gelato. it's called...xtc on earth or something like that. they had some crazy flavors, like lavender and hot chocolate (which has chilis and is supposed t be spicy...thus 'hot'). we tried toasted almond, guava, papaya, and mango. i think toasted almond was my fave. lavender actually tasted like te flower....but not in a good way.... then we went to lan kwai fong, which is where you want to go for crazy nightlife. it's basically all bars and clubs. we sat down and had some drinks. and then went home.
which brings us to today. phew. woke up late. hung about like a bum. chilled out with gramma and carol. went for my first facial ever. it was so relazing. then, we hung around shatin mall, bought some cosmetics, went to the arcade where i sucked at percussionfreak. had some hk style french toast...mmmmmmmmmm.... and hk style iced milk tea.. mmmmmmm.... came back and had dinner with dad's side of the family, except uncle john couldn't come cuz he had some client here from ozzie or something. boo. i think gramma and i are gonna hit up tsim sha tsui to see him tomorrow and pick up mom's watch if he'd already repaired it.
my program starts on tuesday and i can't wait. we stay in hk for about 3 days. then, we go to guangzhou, then xian, then shanghai, and finally beijing. we return to hk after that and the program breaks on the 23rd. i leave for singapore on the 24th to visit aunt lena at her house (and see singapore, cuz i've never been...and malaysian if we have the time). i come back to hk on the 27th and leave for ny on the 28th. busy busy busy. and back in ny in time for mi birfday, so you'd better be prepared.
anyway, need anything from hk/china/singapore? just say. hmm...not that i have room in my luggage. i had an entire empty suitcase and it's already all full. everyone keeps giving/buying me shit. ahhhh...family...ahhhhh
good times. love and miss you all. night night. |
