dragon.boat.races.

Thursday was the chinese holiday of tuen ng, during which the dragon boat races take place. They happen to occur 0.01 miles down the street at stanley main beach. Apparently 10,000 people come to stanley to take part in or view the races. Luckily, we could see from the roof deck which saved a lot of pushing and shoving. They started at 8am and finished around 4-5pm. Around 8pm, i decided to walk down to stanley main street to check out the festivities. The place was packed- with a live band, mass quantities of very lubricated people, and trophies. I'm glad i made it down there even though i was by myself and it was raining. It was quite easy to meet people!

One view from the roof deck.

Another view from the roof deck.

Stanley main street.

A group of 60 racers (three teams total) who used our garage for a preparation spot. They gave the girls hats and posed for pictures afterwards.

A lovely tennessee boy named zach.

lantau.island.

On wednesday, the forecast said more rain. I decided to see a movie (in part because i wanted more of that fantastic popcorn). First though, i went to the gym. I had to make it quick since e. also had a poetry celebration at 10. I walked to the gym in the rain, and during my 45 mins there, the clouds blew away and the sun came out. A. met us at the school, and in the cab ride to central, she pointed out that i should take advantage of a nice day during rainy season, and go to lantau or lamma island (which i had been talking about doing next week). I hadn't prepared for this (no reading, checking time schedules, etc), but decided i needed practice flying by the seat of my pants. I was wearing good walking shoes, and while i didn't have my camera, i did have a.'s iphone which would be satisfactory in the photography department. So, i hung out in her office for a bit and looked online. While i was interested in seeing lantau, i was thoroughly impressed with the trip- much more than i anticipated. After taking the ferry over, i hopped on the ngong ping 360 cable cars and took the 25 min trip to the tian tan buddha and the po lin monastery. Though the fog rolled in while i was there (and some rain followed soon after), it was absolutely one of my favorite hong kong activities so far.

Some of my little tourist friends took this picture on the way up.

The tian tan buddha. It was huge. I could see it from the cable cars!

My favorite of the statues surrounding the buddha.

The po lin monastery. You can even see a monk in there.

On my way back. How crazy is this fog! It was also crazy windy up there- sounded like a hurricane and was more than a little scary suspended in mid air blowing around! That path you see down there continues the entire length of the cable car track and appears to be an option if anyone wants to walk the trip. I'd probably die.

man.on.mtr.(aka.the.T).

In boston, if someone were to walk around wearing one of these face masks, we'd all think he/she was a) weird b) undergoing cancer treatment or c) weird. In hong kong, people all over the place wear masks. They sell them in every store and at every market for cheap. No one stares, no kids point and ask what's wrong (in fact, they're often forced to wear them as well), it's completely accepted. I don't get this! Not only do they look strange, but they're not comfortable! Anytime i spent time with kids on precautions (when any non-family member entering the room needed to put on a gown, gloves, mask, etc) i was counting the minutes until i could take the thing off. Is swine flu really worth all this?

horizon.plaza.

A. bought this fantastic leather bag at a strange outlet/furniture/antique mall place called horizon plaza. I covet this bag and when i found out how (relatively) little she paid for it, i started dreaming of buying it with some of my birthday money. Horizon plaza's not easy to get to by bus, so i waited until p. was making a trip that way and tagged along. We went yesterday. It's hard to explain this place (and impossible to imagine) but basically, it's a sketchy looking building that's 28 floors high (though no 13, 14, or a few others). The elevators run up the middle of the skinny building, you get off on the highest floor you're interested in, and take the (sketchy) stairs down as you go. There were tons and tons of cool looking (and cheap) furniture/antique stores, but clearly i wasn't in the market for furniture. There were also a few clothing stores with some nice deals. Sadly, i wasn't able to find the bag, but will keep my eyes open from now on. Here's a picture of a store I found amusing. Check out the name.

tasty.

The first night i was here, the girls ate this lemon ice/sorbet/ice cream type substance that was inside an actual hollowed out lemon. I had a taste and it was delicious. Then i forgot about it. Sunday night, i took them to a neighbor's house for a party. They had a good time because they ate crap for dinner and got to run wild with the other kids- making roasted marshmallows on the roof deck, etc. I had a good time because i got to drink wine with other grown-ups (from all over the world) and was reintroduced to the lemon concoction. This time, they also had a coconut version- coconut ice/sorbet/ice cream inside a half a coconut. I don't typically love coconut, but accepted it when it was offered to me. Let me tell you....it was fantastic. I looked for them at the grocery store yesterday with no luck. I'm going to have to ask around pretty soon.

*Update- turns out the lemons the girls had two weeks ago came from the same friends who hosted the party on sunday. I plan to ask where they came from tomorrow.

ex.er.cise.

I've been using the gym at the american club fairly regularly. The gym consists of many machines all lined up facing a wall made of windows. I have been meaning to remember my camera so i could post pictures of the view (which is freaking amazing). I managed to remember it today which was great, but it was raining, so the pictures are not quite as exciting as they'd typically be. I prefer the elliptical since it's the only machine that doesn't require metric conversions. (It took me quite some time to realize that the 15 i was lifting for shoulders was not lbs, but kgs. I felt much better about myself after realizing this.) So anyway, here is what i look out to from the elliptical each morning.

Now just imagine it without the fog (and the window reflection!).

bowling.

P. and a. went to kyoto this weekend, so i was in charge of the girls. Saturday, m. had a birthday party and ballet, so was gone most of the day. I planned to take the other two somewhere fun. Instead, it rained all day, so we stayed home and putzed about. We did go out to dinner on stanley main street- that was lots of fun. When we woke up to find more rain on sunday, i immediately started looking for inside activities. The movies were out since there was nothing appropriate playing, but i found a place to go bowling in kowloon. I may have previously mentioned feeling comfortable finding my way around kowloon, but this place was in a completely different area that i was not sure how to get to. Since e. gets motion sickness, we couldn't take the ferry (the only straight shot as far as i could tell), but I determined that if we switched buses a few times, we could end up in the right place. Since i couldn't stand being cooped up in the house for another day, we got our flip flops and umbrellas and decided to make a go of it. Surprisingly, we got there in under an hour, and were treated to bowling hong kong style. Take a look at the sweet soccer style bowling shoes:

Some things i didn't take into consideration were the facts that the lightest ball was 6 lbs (which was big for a 35lb e.) and that there were no "kid rails" to keep the balls from becoming gutter balls. The constant scores of zero could have led to frustration and tears, but instead, they took the slightly embarrassed laugh-at-myself approach. This made the occasional 1 pin (or surprising 9-1 spare by l.) much more exciting. Look how excited we all look here:

Since we had to walk past the movie theater to get to the bowling alley, the girls convinced me to get some popcorn as a snack on our way out. They insisted that hong kong movie theater popcorn was extraordinary, and they were right. The "chocolate" sweet popcorn was easily the best i've had. Mmmm. To top the day off, we even made it home safely and went to a neighbor's party.

another.picture.for.evil.

(and nora, andrea, et#1)

shoe.search.turned.busy.day.

I drove to work with a., took the ferry to kowloon, and went searching for new running shoes yesterday. It didn't work out so well since asian people have tiny feet. The largest size i could find was an 8.5 US. But since i was already there, i decided to use the day and see the parts of kowloon i missed last time- namely the bird market, the flower market, and the fish market. I also revisited some places, including the jade market where i bought a $7 necklace. I initially thought it was fake (but at $7 didn't care- i just liked it), but am now thinking it could be real. I walked from a.'s office in central all the way up to the bird market,  dilly dallyed around, and walked back (taking the ferry across the water, of course). I was beat by the end of the day (totaled about 9 miles according to mapmyrun.com, not including all the back and forth between stalls, etc), and unfortunately, it was rush hour, so i had to fight my way through hoards of people in the street and on the ferry. Luckily, a. hadn't left work yet, so after sitting in her office for a bit (ah...sitting), i hitched a ride in her cab again instead of taking the bus back.

Fish in the goldfish market.

Bagged fish.

From the flower market.

Caged birds in the bird market. I sat for a bit and listened to a parrot sing and say hello to people.

In any public park or sitting area, there are always groups of men watching games- chess, mostly. Here's a picture i managed to snap without looking too obvious.

a.boat.

Boats are constantly coming in and out of stanley. I took this picture the other day, but never uploaded it until now. I like it. I think it adds character.

he.made.me.think.of.evil.

This skinny guy was hanging out in a park. He was chewing on whatever is on the ground below him (looked like a piece of bark to me), and took a break for a yawn or something. I thought he looked like a tiger growling, so i made it the wallpaper on one of the b's laptops. A few hours later, p. asked where the puking cat came from.

my.idea.of.heaven.

I was both happy and sad to see this. Happy, because it was the second time i made it into a "real" store. Sad, because i couldn't justify spending any money.

my.monday.

I went for a four mile jog/hill/stair sprint (outside and on the beach) and it was HOT. It therefore felt like a much better workout than it probably was. Tomorrow i'll stick with the gym.

After taking a shower, i hopped on the bus down to central where i checked off some tourist stuff. I'm about to pass out, so i'll just upload the pictures. Ask questions if you have any (i'm always up for some "company" over here!).

Fabric on the second floor of western market.

Incense coils hanging in the man mo temple on hollywood road.

Dried fish, etc in the dried fish market (or maybe the ginseng market).

Nothing in particular- just a street from up high.

The central/mid levels escalator.

science.schmience.

They had a "mad scientist" party for e's birthday at the american club. I was pretty impressed. They did some cool stuff for a room full of seven year olds. Here's a picture of the basic dry ice fog, but there were lots of other pictures that had too many faces in them (i have no clue who the kid looking at the camera is in this one). Let me just say though, thank goodness a and p just had girls. 50% of the boys at this party were OUT OF CONTROL!! Kicking, goofing around, being little punks...i get that boys and girls are different, but this was ridiculous. I had to walk away before i smacked someone. 

By the by, isn't the "assistant" (the asian guy standing with the main scientist woman) perfect for the part? Not only is he asian (which is key (no offense)), but he has the glasses, the hair part, the lab coat, and...an accent. I wanted him to start making jokes up there, but he was on the straight and narrow.

birthday.weekend.

No new pictures to post. Yesterday i went for a long walk around stanley, and then we had m.'s birthday sleepover. I really miss spending so many hours with six eleven year olds. Luckily, a. had bought pop rocks, dip sticks, and flinging frogs as part of the gift bags, so we enjoyed those along with some tasty wine while the girls giggled. Today was l.'s party, but a two hour time frame helped minimize any potential discomfort, and everything went smoothly. Afterwards, a., p., l. and i played mario kart on the wii for three hours. It was enormously entertaining. They just left for a black tie event, so i'm hanging out with the girls and their helper. Tomorrow's e.'s birthday party at the american club. I'll get a two month membership there to help my exercise goal along. I have far too much free time to come up with excuses, particularly with p.'s cooking to push me in the opposite direction. 

kowloon-day.two.

P and i zipped over to kowloon today. He had to pick up some things from his tailor, so he showed me the bus/mtr route, took me to lunch at a noodle place (surprise!), and then we parted ways. I walked through the ladies market, the jade market, another market (that had lots of delicious looking fruit/veggies along with some not-so-delicious looking dried fish and pigs feet), kowloon gardens, took the star ferry back to central, and the bus back to stanley. It was a fantastic day out, and now i feel completely comfortable finding my way around hong kong.

Central- from the star ferrry.

Ladies market.

Jade market.

The other market with the fruit, veggies, dried fish, and pigs feet. (Please note the sign on the upper left.)

Birds in the aviary in kowloon park.

day.one.

(*I'm not interested in spending the time necessary to figure out how to change my location (aka time and date stamp) so to determine when i'm posting from my trip, add on 12 hours.) 

After going to a string recital at the girls' school, i spent the morning walking around stanley, the section of hong kong where i'm staying. I walked through stanley market, saw the tin hau temple, murray house, stanley main street, etc. Here are some pictures since i'm not up for long descriptions.

Stanley market.

They were filming something here. I walked through from one direction and was wond ering what they were up to. When i walked back from this direction later on, i saw the sign (that yellow one) that announced the filming. Huh.

A sign telling you where to go.

Boats.

A flower shop and a neat tree in stanley market.

A quiet (and shady- phew!) beach.

Stanley main street.

Murray house (and blake pier). Originally a government building in central, it was taken apart, numbered, and put in storage for sixteen years. When they rebuilt it in stanley, some of the numbers had rubbed off and after finishing construction, they had 6 extra columns. Ha!

some.highlights.from.my.24.hour.trip.

1) Arrived at logan around 4:30. Waited in the baggage check line for 55 minutes and watched 15 hong kong high school kids try to check their luggage. Each of the 25+ pieces was so heavy that they could barely drag them onto the scale. Needless to say, there were clothes and open suitcases all over the place while they attempted to repack in the middle of the airport. After a while, they were able to get them down to a reasonable weight where they could pay the over weight fee. It was like a television show.

2) The flight from boston to new york (which was on a tiny plane) was full of grown-ups and one three year old named jeffrey. Jeffrey was not happy to be on the plane and screamed from start to finish. Luckily, i was sitting pretty far away. The  flight attendant made announcements to "ladies, gentleman, and jeffrey" and thanked everyone else for their patience with her competition. Ha ha!

3) Feeling hungry while in JFK, i went searching for something to eat. A picture of a yogurt parfait at mcdonalds looked tasty, so i decide to give it a shot. While waiting in line, i noticed they posted the calories next to the items. Yogurt parfait came in at 160. Everything else? At least 400 calories. The "big breakfast" came in at a whopping 1350! I don't know how people could order this and not feel sick while eating it. 

4) On the 15 hour trip from new york to hong kong, i slept a total of maybe 3 hours, but in 30 minute increments. When i wasn't sleeping, i was playing games, reading, and watching movies. I caught up on marley and me, the curious case of benjamin button, and a few other shows. The greatest part? I found a new wallace and gromit episode called "a matter of loaf and death." I never knew it existed!

5) Arriving in hong kong, i heard them announce what sounded like my name. Turns out my luggage didn't make it on the boston flight. Since i saw it sitting with all the other luggage right outside our airplane, i can only assume that the hong kong youth took up all the room. It was delivered to the house by 11pm, and saved me the hassle of lugging it around until then.

Two of the "hong kong youth" looking at the calories in the big breakfast.

t-21.hours.

It's getting down to the wire, and surprisingly, i'm pretty ready. I started organizing myself last weekend- typed up my word check sheet, pulled out all my packing stuff, figured out what i needed to pick up, etc. I worked a ton this week, but managed to start making piles and pick up sunscreen, bugspray, ranch dressing, and other last minute things. Yesterday and today were set aside for laundry, errands, and hardcore packing. So, sat morning i was up early and pulled an energizer bunny. Since i didn't have time to just hang out, i dragged eva with me while i printed pictures and dropped off a mother's day present to t's mom. As a nice treat after a full day of stuff, we got pedicures at my favorite nail place. Earlier in the week, i'd mentioned to jen that i wanted to get one, but didn't want to spend the money before taking vacation. I came home late friday night to find a birthday card with a pedicure gift certificate- since i'll be gone for my birthday, she surprised me with it now. So nice!

eva's.pedicure.

my.feet.

spare.change.

In preparation for my upcoming trip, i gathered both change jars i've had sitting on a bureau and dumped them out on the rug. I had my friend t. and his two siblings help me separate everything into piles, and then we tubed it so i can deposit it tomorrow morning. How much do you think this pile totaled?

mail.box.

I've had many requests for postcards lately, and will do my best to send some out during my trip! Because i have a few other things going on right now, i need anyone who wants some mail to send me his/her address. I'm sure i have most of them, but this will make it easier to have them all in one place and to have access to them in asia. Also, i won't feel guilty for forgetting anyone! Send me an e-mail with your info, and i'll send a postcard your way!

visa.schmisa.

When you fill out the application info for the chinese embassy, you can request a single entry, double entry, or multiple entry visa. If you're flying into china, traveling around china, and leaving from china, you only need a single entry. If you're doing the above, but also want to take a trip to, say, vietnam, you need a double entry. If you're living in hong kong for 2 months (hong kong is not considered china), and plan to bee bop around china quite a bit, you'll need a multiple entry visa. The general consensus was that it would be unlikely that the chinese embassy would grant a multiple entry for a tourist visa if i didn't have a previous single or double entry visa. The visa service didn't even  have a spot for it in their paperwork. However, the possibility of having to limit myself to two trips to mainland china (which is quite close to hong kong) over two months made me sad (plus, it's the same price regardless of how many entries they grant you), so i wrote a little note in the comment section that said something like, "I am requesting a multiple entry visa. I will be staying in hong kong for two months and would like to take several short trips into mainland china." My passport arrived via fedex today with an M in the entries spot. Now to start planning all my weekend getaways!