birthday.trip!

P. and the girls went back to boston a week ago. When i bought my tickets (about, um....four months ago now), they weren't sure of their plans. If i'd know they were heading back early, i probably wouldn't have stayed so much longer. Luckily, they didn't decide this until i was already here, so i ended up with ten days just with a. This past weekend, she took me to macau for my birthday, and it was fantastic. The little that i'd heard/read about macau suggested that it was primarily for gambling, etc. Since i've never been a huge fan of casinos, i probably wouldn't have otherwise gone here. As it turns out, this was one of my favorite places of my entire trip. Because of its portuguese background, it has a very european feel but with some asian mixed in. After dropping our stuff off at the hotel, we grabbed our umbrellas (since it was raining cats and dogs, much like i hear the weather in boston has been) and set out for senado square, the ruins of saint paul's cathedral, and the a-ma temple. 

Senado square- look how amazing the streets are!

Ruins of st. paul's cathedral.

We stopped and ate lunch at (what turned out to be) a well known hand rolled noodle place. I ate something which i now can't remember the name for- a very tasty porridgy type soup. I think it began with a g. Here are our leftovers (my "g" stuff is in the bottom right corner):

Continuing on, we ate samples of two of their well known foods- jerky and almond cookies, and then watched a man making the cookies. (He takes this really crumbly mix, then forces it in moulds before tipping them out for cooking):

After the rain picked up and thoroughly drenched us, we went looking for flip flops (we both had on leather sandals). A. found a pair of giraffe print crocs (ballet style), and my big feet and i had to stay wet (though the people insisted that size 8 was okay for me). While the rain could have been a huge bummer, we just laughed and laughed at the hilariousness of it all, and decided to put off the a-ma temple until the next morning. Instead, we headed back to the hotel, changed, and took a cab to coloane (on the other side of macau) for dinner at fernando's, a great portuguese place. Typically one must wait in this courtyard for about an hour until being seated.

Our timing and the weather helped us out on this front, and we were seated right away. After stuffing ourselves with fish, portuguese salad, bread, prawns, pork ribs, and sangria, we rolled ourselves back to our room and crashed. Here are the leftovers.

The next morning, we woke up early and  worked out in the gym. Then we showered, dressed, and sweated our way down to the a-ma temple (which was super neat and goes way up a hill- not like most temples which are in one building).

Then it was a brief a/c break in a cab back to coloane to check out the a-ma cultural village and the a-ma statue. This was all on one of the highest (or the highest) hill/mountain in macau, and was a very windy drive up- good thing we weren't walking. Luckily, there was a little breeze up there which helped dry our clothes slightly. Both sites were also great. 

After finishing and realizing that we weren't far from fernando's, we voted to return for lunch, having an entirely different meal (except for the sangria, of course- can't pass that up). This time i got the entire experience- waiting in the courtyard, drinking our sangria, and waiting to be seated. After a leisurely lunch (during which time it rained and then stopped), we walked to the "black sand" beach, stuck our feet in, and decided to walk the length of it to a nearby hotel where we grabbed "coke lights." 


With an hour before our 6:30 departure time, we cabbed it back to the hotel, snuck into the gym, and sat in the sauna for 15 mins before showering and heading out. Not only was it another great mini-vacation, but also a great time to get some rare alone time together.

multicultural.question.

I should preface this entry by mentioning that i have an overly sensitive nose. Even when i was a kid, i could tell when an aunt was over because i could smell her perfume....from the opposite end of the house, and on different floors. People used to tell me that i should be a professional smeller, but alas, this talent has gone largely unused. It does come in handy from time to time, though i haven't practiced my identification abilities as much as the actual smelling ones. Anyway..

I've been in hong kong for a while now- almost 7 weeks. During this time, i've smelt lots of things. One thing in particular that really turns my stomach is the smell of asian men's sweat. Not b.o., but a slightly sweet/vinegary smell that's purely from the sweat glands. I don't know if this is a universal asian male thing, or if it has to do with the climate, food eaten, etc. Does anyone have any input? I'm wondering if this is something that other people pick up on, or if it's just due to my oversensitive nose. Thank you.

shenzhen.

Remember all my stress about getting a chinese visa? Well, i got one (with the multiple entry i was so sure i needed), and until today- one week before i leave for boston- i hadn't used it. Silly, really. I decided i had to at least cross the border once, and since my free time is now limited, i took off for shenzhen today. Shenzhen is a 60 minute train ride from central- nothing big. You go through departure/immigration/customs there, then you're free to shop in the cheap shopping mecca. I've heard mixed reviews from many people about shenzhen. Some love it, others not so much. I'd been forewarned about the hassling there- people grabbing your arm to pull you in their store, calling out "missy! missy!", but that's just part of the experience, plus i became an expert on this form of sales while in southeast asia. The only difference there is that they call out "lady! lady!". 

My trip was doomed from the start. Thinking it would be easier that switching trains three times (which turned out to be incredibly easy), i took the ferry across to hung hom, planning to walk from the ferry pier to the mtr station, thereby only needing to take one train. I left a.'s office, and just missed one ferry. 20 minutes later, a second ones comes, which i get on. During the 10 minute ride, it starts to rain. Great- i have no umbrella because the weather said no rain. Disembarking on the kowloon side, i realize that the mtr station is further from the pier than i thought, and i have no umbrella to walk it with. Grrrr. After a 15 minute wait, i'm back on the ferry returning to central. One hour and 20 minutes after leaving her office, i walk right through it again to get on the mtr at central. The next 60 minutes of transit go remarkably smoothly, and i arrive at the border ready to go. Next up was customs. Now, i've been going back and forth through customs and immigration quite frequently, and have become very adept at filling out my H1N1 form and arrival/departure card. I even have my passport number memorized! But this was a whole new experience. I didn't have a pen with me, which put me at a serious disadvantage from the get go. So i was waiting in lines of pushy chinese people (sorry evil, but they're very pushy!!), trying to use one of the two pens available for filling out forms. I had to fill out the H1N1 form twice- no clue why- and the whole process took me forever to complete. Once i walked out the door of the train station, the hassling began. At first it was just like in cambodia- someone would attach themself to you and talk, talk, talk, while you either ignored them or repeated "no thank you!" as you walked away. I prefer the latter as i like to be friendly and represent my country well. This was effective outside the building, but once i got in, it was a different story. The five floors of the mall were literally packed with little shops, and their owners (or workers) stood outside, grabbing your arms and trying to pull you in. There were so many people continuously calling "missy! missy!" that i wasn't able to give them my "no thank you!" and smile. I was completely overwhelmed and annoyed (my sister julie would have freaked out big time). To add to all this, my atm card wouldn't work here, so i couldn't withdraw any chinese money. Therefore, if i wanted to buy anything, i would have to charge it.  What's the point of charging a $3 pair of earphones? So i walked through the entire place, yanking my arms out of their grasp, and went straight for the train station. Another headache getting through customs, and i was on the train headed back for hong kong. I grabbed a gin and tonic at dinner before meeting up with a. for the cab ride home. That made me feel much better.

lamma.island.

Today i took a trip to lamma, the third largest island of hong kong. It's cute and little, with some poor villages, and lots of hiking paths. I took the ferry into yung shue wan, and walked the 1hr 20 min "family trail" to sok kwu wan. While the views were fantastic and the sky was bright blue and sunny, it was hot hot hot, with a ridiculously high humidity level. I was drenched within minutes, and reconsidered my original plan of a second 2 hour circle hike from sok kwy wan. Luckily for me, i decided to do it. I was already soaked, and would otherwise have 3 hours to kill before the ferry left. Though paved as well, this was a harder hike than the first one, going up and down steep hills, often using stairs to help out. But the views were incredible, and since it was a weekday (and no normal person would hike in this weather) i had the whole place to myself. I made it back to sok kwu wan with an hour to spare, just enough time to enjoy a fantastic lunch- steamed grouper, alive when i ordered it. Definitely the best fish i've ever had!

Part of lamma from the trail.

The perfect beach. I want this to be mine.

Me. Being hot. Very hot.

Pink flower. It rained in the morning (before i got there) and then became the clearest day i've seen here. I like the raindrops on the petals.

A weirdo looking flower.

I guess there wasn't really anything to show this guy to scale, but he was pretty big! If you look close (on my screen, at least), you can see his web. There were a bunch of them on the trails in lamma.

A village.

Bananas!!! Growing in a real banana tree!!

My lunch- aka, the most fantastically tasty and fresh fish i've ever eaten. I want another one. Growl, growl.

Boats in the sea where i ate lunch.

Rainbow restaurant- my lunch stop.

spa.day.

The girls got out of school while i was off gallivanting in malaysia, cambodia, and thailand. They were therefore in prime form for some activities during the day. Since l. had received a pedicure set for her birthday, the three of them planned a "spa day" to which i was the number one guest. They had their bathroom all set up with supplies. It looked like this:

First up was my pedicure. I sat on the edge of the bathtub with my feet in warm scented water. Since i'd just had my nails painted, l. used her pumice stone to scrub the bottoms of my feet, and then gave me a great foot massage before slipping a pair of socks on my feet. That looked like this:

From here, i moved to the nail station where m. washed and patted my hands. After allowing me to choose lotion, she massaged my hands before applying a base coat, and top coat of nail polish. That looked like this:

After the pedi/mani, i was brought to the massage section for a full body massage. M. was again in charge, and let me tell you- her little hands have quite a lot of strength to them! When i told her she could have a future as a masseuse, she asked it she'd make a lot of money. I told her she should keep her options opened. Here she goes:

After the massage, it was on to hair and makeup. This was e.'s area of expertise. After being told that she had to keep it light (if she didn't want me washing my face before going out for the day), she settled on some neutral beige and browns. The end product was actually surprisingly well done! (The glitterish stuff in the picture was not dusted in at time of photo.) It looked like this:

The hair situation also went better than expected (despite the pulling and pinching), though i do look like a seven year old here:

All in all, spa day was a success. I'm hoping to schedule another one when i'm back in the states.

battle.of.the.wills.

Here e. is at the kitchen counter next to the bowl of noodles she insisted she wanted. She slept for a little bit before waking up crying.

my.birthday!

My travel plans were specifically scheduled with birthdays in mind- mine and the two oldest girls. Not wanting to be alone in southeast asia for my birthday, i made it back to hong kong late the night before. In the morning, i was served pancakes and my latte before spending most of the day by the pool with the girls. We took walks down to stanley market in the afternoon, and p. allowed me to choose dinner that night (roasted chicken, green beans, and a newish concoction- a tapas type dish with chorizo, potatoes, and onions. Mmmmm.). A. brought home a selection of cakes from mandarin oriental, the perfect conclusion to the meal! For my birthday present, a.'s taking me to macau for the weekend when the girls and p. are back in the states. I can't wait!

My birthday cakes!

conclusion.

My goodness, it's been far too long since i've updated this poor neglected blog! Busy, busy, busy. First of all, here's a link where you can check out my pictures from the trip. I uploaded them all to facebook, and am not inclined to spend the time posting them here, so if you're interested- check them out here. 

The rest of my trip was fantastic. After i left off with my last post, i made it to the airport and flew the one hour flight to bangkok without incident. I made it to my guesthouse and was happy to find the "boutique" review of the place was dead on. Teak floors and beams in a beautiful old building with a cute little coffee/bakery place at the entrance. Jaesun, the new friend i'd met in siem reap (and toured the temples with) had arrived in bangkok a couple of days before me, and we'd discussed meeting up for the day on monday. We managed to find each other at the train station and (along with another new friend briana), took the train 1.5 hours to ayuthaya, where we found more temple ruins, and i took an elephant ride!! Returning to bangkok by 3pm, we walked through chinatown, grabbed dinner at a noodle place, and found some markets to peruse. Briana returned to her guesthouse, and jaesun and i took the ferry up the river (snapping photos of wat arun, etc. at night), and then walked through banglamphu- the "backpacker" area. The rain (which it appears to do in the evening for a few hours) made everything feel cleaner and gave my photos a nice light. 

Tuesday morning, i got going early to see wat arun and wat pho (two more well known of the hundreds of temples). They were interesting, particularly wat pho, which contained the reclining buddha. It was HUGE. I met up with jaesun after finishing the temples and we saw the grand palace and grounds. The only word i have for this is "glittery." The amount of effort that must have gone into (and still go into) creating and maintaining these grounds is staggering. Though the admission price was steep, it was worth seeing.

One note i'd share with anyone planning to visit this area, is that it's imperative that you physically go to the ticket counter in the grand palace to confirm if they're open or closed. I was told by three completely different people that the palace was closed to tourists because of a buddhist holiday. One of these men was a tuk tuk driver (and therefore trying to get us to pay him to take us to other sights), but the other two men were wearing official palace uniforms and were still trying to pass us off to tuk tuk drivers. DON'T LISTEN TO THEM!! Everything the guidebooks tell you about scams, etc, is true. Jerks. While tuk tuk's are the way to travel in cambodia, they're to be avoided in bangkok!

After the whirlwind morning, i took a quick shower before heading to the airport for my return to hong kong. I was safely in the house by 10pm, just two hours before my birthday (in this time zone, that is).

phnom.penh.

After finding my hotel and doing some laundry, it was only 3pm, so i had some time to see the sights. My main goals were to go to the genocide museum, and do a walk around the riverfront, visiting the palace and temples. The genocide museum was further away and opened the latest (5:30pm), so i took a tuk tuk over there, planning to do the rest in the morning.
Before i started to plan this trip, i hadn't heard of the khmer rouge or their reign of torture and murder of 25% of the cambodian population between 1975 and 1978. Even having read about it since then, i was not prepared for how hard it would be to visit this museum. In 1975, the khmer rouge took over a school, and made it into a jail/torture/killing station of sorts. This building is now the museum, and looks very similar to how it was found in 1978 when the khmer rouge were run out, containing images, items, and descriptions of the experiences from that period. I felt physically sick being there, but read every last piece of information, and didn't leave until it closed two hours later. It's amazing to realize that this happened just 34 years ago, and has had a drastic negative impact on the entire country. After that emotional visit, i decided to pass on the killing fields, having seen enough of what these people went through.
Today (the next morning), i packed my things, and set off to tour the palace before seeing the temples in the area. I'd checked the timing, and knew the palace was open to visitors until 11am, and then from 2-5. Since i will be leaving at 2pm for the airport, i planned to go there first. Unfortunately for me, they were not allowing visitors due to a visiting diplomatic group. They'd shut down the entire street, and wouldn't allow anyone to take pictures. I managed to sneak a few before they caught me, but am bummed not to have made it inside the walls. Instead, i walked up to wat phnom- one of their famous temples- before making a stop at the post office and spending some time at the market. I'm very happy with my decision to stay an extra day in siem reap (and lose one here). The tourist attractions are limited here, and can be finished quickly. The orphanage definitely was the right use of my time!
Must run now- off to bangkok!

bus.ride!

My original bus ticket from siem reap to phnom penh was for friday morning at 9:30. Since i was heading down a day late (and therefore missing a day in phnom penh), i figured i should take the 7:30am bus on saturday to make the most of my time in phnom penh. The guys at the guesthouse (where i booked and then changed my ticket) told me i'd be picked up at the guesthouse. What they didn't tell me was that i would be picked up at 7am. At 7am, i had just woken up, and was packing my stuff before heading down to breakfast. At 7:20, i went back to the room, used the bathroom, and brought my stuff down to check out. At 7:25, i gave them my key, and asked where i should wait. At 7:26, i was in a tuk tuk flying to the bus station, barely making the express bus to phnom penh.
The $10, six hour trip was more comfortable than i'd pictured. True, i'd splurged on first class which bought me air conditioning and a bathroom, but being a third world country, i'd anticipated much worse. It was rather bumpy at times, and i was awoken from my nap as my head bounced off the seat. It wasn't until we were 20 minutes away from phnom penh that the real action started. The air conditioning shut off, and the bus stopped. It became sweltering in about 30 seconds. After a few minutes, everyone got off and stood on the side of the road (which was shady, thank goodness). There was some mechanical problem, and we all watched as the literally pried a door off of the bus (must have been jammed). After 30 minutes, it was up and running, and we made it to phnom penh with a good story to tell.

house.of.peace.

I was supposed to take a bus to phnom penh this morning at 9:30, but i couldn't leave! Since i hadn't booked my room in phnom penh yet, i just switched my bus ticket to tomorrow, and booked an extra night in the guesthouse here. I did this for two reasons. One, max has been volunteering at an orphanage here for two weeks (and has another one to go) and loves it. Obviously, i couldn't skip the temples yesterday, but really wanted to go spend a day at the orphanage. Two, i love siem reap, and love that i've made two friends who are fun to hang out with. If i left for phnom penh without visiting the orphanage, only to end up doing everything by myself, i'd be really sad. So here i am- back in the guesthouse after six hours with the adorable kids at the cambodia house of peace. I'm heading back around 4:30, but needed to tie up some loose ends on the travel front, and max takes a few hours break as well. I don't think i could have made better use of my time. It was unbelievable to see how this orphanage ran, and how happy and welcoming the children were. I was in charge of teaching time to a small group. We drew an analog clock on a board, and practice telling time- five minutes past six; fifteen minutes to three, etc. It was a great experience no doubt, and we even got to eat lunch with them- a tasty chicken, rice, cilantro, etc soup. All this means is that tomorrow, i have to get up early to catch the 7:30am bus ride down to phnom penh, where i'll have to squish everything in a little more!

i.heart.siem.reap.

Yesterday was buuuuusy. Got up around 7 and grabbed breakfast downstairs before heading out to see the temples. I'd reserved a tuk tuk driver the day before, but was kind of bummed to be doing it myself since i'd have to foot the entire $15 bill myself (for an entire day out and about!). When i went back to the room to put sunscreen on, i ran into one of my roommates who, it turned out, was also doing the temples. She's from korea and will be travleing for a total of 10 days or so- much like me. We decided to go together which made it much more enjoyable. She'd already seen two of the ones we saw (she bought the 3-day pass), so knew enough about them to share. We started at 9am and went to angkor wat first. This definitely has the most impressive appearance from the front, and though it was interesting inside, it was not my favorite. From there we went to angkor thom where we saw bayon, baphoun, phimeanakas, terrace of the elephants, and terrace of the leeper king. These were all impressive, but bayon moved up to my top pick. Then to others including ta keo, ta prohm, banteay kdei, and pre rup, before heading to phnom bakheng for sunset. My favorite was undoubtedly ta prohm, which some of you may recognize from that angeleina jolie movie, tob raider (i never saw it, but will have to now). This temple was not cleared out, and apparently looks like the rest of them did when they were discovered. There are trees, and not little ones either, growing from the tops of buildings with roots wrapped all around the stones. It was one of the few times i've felt speechless. Amazing.
We got back to the guesthouse around 7, and met my other new friend max (from montreal) for our trip to the night market. She and i had talked to some guy who had a "fish massage" the night before, and was raving about it. We decided to do the same. For $3, you get to stick your feet into a pool filled with little fish. They proceed to suck on your feet and eat the dead skin and dirt, making them much cleaner and smoother. This was the weirdest thing i've done. It was super ticklish at first, but quickly became strangely enjoyable. We were only supposed to have 15 mins, but we were in there for almost and hour (during which time we convinced countless others to join us!). After our massage, we walked through the night market, picking up a few items to bring back with us, before grabbing a late dinner at a street stand nearby. Tired.

(I'll be uploading pictures when i get back to hong kong. These computers clearly have viruses, and it was reported that someone uploaded his pictures only to have everything erased. Boo!)

kuala.lumpur.to.siem.reap

As i write this, i'm sitting in the computer room at my siem reap home. I arrived about an hour ago (it's 10:40am right now) and thought i'd check in before heading out for the day. Since i haven't really written much from kuala lumpur, here's a quick summary of what i did:

I got to kl late monday afternoon, found my guesthouse in the rain, dropped off my stuff, and headed out again. I stayed on the border of chinatown near the central market since i needed to get to kl sentral (the main transport hub) early this morning. So, i walked through chinatown and all their street stalls (where i seriously considered buying a "real" tiffany's necklace just for fun, but didn't), then went poking around in central market which is inside (and air conditioned!). They have a bunch of batik fabrics, artsy stuff, and some food places. I also ate dinner there- a bowl of thai curry noddle soup. Tasty. Tuesday morning i got up early and took the "T" four stops to KLCC where i stood in line for tickets to the petronas towers skybridge. I got one for the 3:15 time slot, so had six hours to "kill" until then. I had briefly considered finding my own way around, but after talking to an australian woman while in line, decided to pay the 38RM (about $11) for the "hop on, hop off" bus. Six of these buses follow a 2 hour loop through all the major tourist attractions and other hotel areas and you can hop on and off as you please. There are also headsets that allow you to get info about the area you're in. This was the perfect solution for me as it allowed me to see many areas that i wouldn't have otherwise made it to (lake/orchid gardens, butterfly/bird parks, national palace, etc.) I also went up the kl tower- though it was hazy because of the heat and humidity. On my way back to the petronas towers, i started talking with another woman waiting for the bus. Turns out she's a photographer and has been traveling all over the place since october. She happened to have her journal with her and was able to give me names of places to visit, eat at, and stay in for the rest of my trip! Fantastic! The trip up to the skybridge was great (and free!) and showed a 3D movie first that explained the history of the towers. While up there, it started to thunder and i could clearly see bolts of lightening shoot down to buildings. Crazy! After some more putzing around (and dinner), i went to bed early since my flight was at 7am, with a 1 hour bus trip to the airport- which meant i needed to leave the guesthouse by 3:30am. Ya.

So that's it so far. You'll all have to wait for pictures since i don't want to upload them from random computers. Now i'm off to walk around town a bit. Bye!

k.l.

I'm in kuala lumpur! Got here around 5pm, dumped my stuff in my room, and spent the next 4.5 hours walking around. Let me tell you...it's HOT here. I thought hong kong was bad, but this is ridiculous. The good news is that by my calculations, i should lose about 10 lbs in sweat over the next week.

po.toi.

Today we went on a boat ride to po toi- a small island off of hong kong island. The b's friends have a company yacht that they get to ride around on, and i happened to be in the right place at the right time. We were picked up at the dock in stanley, so only had to walk down the street. The girls and their friend played below deck while the grown-ups drank champagne up top. After a bit, we arrived at po toi and had lunch at this fantastically scrappy seafood place. It was delicious. The kids ran around on the beach and collected sea glass and coral while we ate. After lunch, we hopped back on the boat and went to the other side of the island where they dropped anchor so the kids could swim in the ocean. The weather was perfect and the breeze helped cool us off. On our way home, we lounged around on the padded bow while the kids snuck chips and pretzels. The whole escapade took about four hours and couldn't have been more perfect. I think i want this life.

The super delicious restaurant.

Walking from the dock to the restaurant.

One of the crew guys hoisting the anchor. He used a hose to spray it off so the salt water (from the south china sea!) didn't cause long term damage.

Grave stones on po toi.

A shrimp boat. They shine the lights in the water at night and attract shrimp.

Coming home:( Stanely main street and the pier.

leaving.on.a.jet.plane.

On monday, i will be leaving for a trip. First i'll go to kuala lumpur, malaysia for a few days, then to siem reap, cambodia for a few days, then phnom penh, cambodia for a few days and lastly, bankok, thailand for a few days before heading back to hong kong by june 17th. It will just be my backpack and myself, and we'll be taking the hostel route. I have to say, i'm quite nervous about it, which is party why i'm so glad i'm doing it alone. I don't like when things make me nervous, and tend to make myself do them until i'm not so nervous anymore. (Case in point- platelets. I hated having a needle in my arm for an extended period of time. I got so mad at myself for resisting donating because of it that i forced myself to go back over and over again until i was fine with it. Although now i'm deferred for a year, but back to the point...) What i'm nervous about is not being by myself in a new place, or worrying about safety, but is based more on the unknown. I'm not a pessimist, but i do like to know what to expect, what i'm doing, etc. Not being able to control every possible situation in advance makes me worry about finding my way around, having access to cash, etc. I think it will be really good for me to prove to myself that even if i get completely lost and no one speaks english, i'll be able to figure it out. It won't be all that overwhelming! Staying in dorms will also be a good way to force myself to socialize, since i'm such a wallflower and all. I'm sure i'll have some access to the internet, but am not sure how regular it will be. Don't worry about me unless you haven't heard from me by the 17th. I'd never miss my birthday!

comment.away.friends!

I've had a few requests to change the privacy settings on the comment section so you don't have to jump through hoops to comment on my blog. I initially set them this way for two reasons. One, i didn't like ending up with some random non-related comments or ads posted and Two, i like to know who's reading and commenting (instead of everything just saying "anonymous"). So, i'm switching it back for a trial run of one month. If this appears to increase the ease in commenting (and therefore the number of comments) without adding a bunch of anonymous postings, i'll leave it that way. If not, i'll try to readjust things to make everyone happy.

bad.angel.

In hong kong, while they rarely have commercials during tv shows, they do play them before movies. One animated commercial was played before angels and demons, and while i didn't understand it (in cantonese with no subtitles), i could figure out the basic premise, and it was hilarious. On one side of a room is an older, less attractive woman with two children- each sitting on one side of her. On the other side of the room is a young, gorgeous, scantily dressed model-type woman. Also in the room is a judge, who is reading the last will and testament of the older woman's deceased husband. Though i couldn't understand what he was saying, it was clear that the dead guy had left all/most of his money to the floozy. The camera pans upwards and shows the husband, now an angel, hanging out on a cloud and drooling over the floozy. Panning downwards again, we see the  wife chug a red bull, sprout wings, and go kick the crap out of the angel husband. Well done!

**Update! Evil found it on youtube! I looked, but without luck. Maybe it's because i don't speak/read/write chinese.

ouch.

On monday, it was sunny. I decided to go for a run outside instead of sticking with the gym. I took my normal route- down to the beach, run up and down the stairs three times, cut through stanley main street, and walk up the hills. This day, i got to the point where i usually turn around, but it was so nice out, so i decided to continue down another road before heading home. It quickly became very narrow and the sidewalks disappeared, but i kept going. The view was unbelievable. If i'd brought my camera, i'd post pictures. Instead, here's a map that shows my route. Needless to say, with all my breaks to appreciate the views, it took me much longer than i'd anticipated. By the time i managed to crawl home, i was super parched and sweaty. I was so sweaty i could feel the salt on my face. Gross. I chugged some water, threw on my bathing suit, and went for a quick swim.

By monday evening, i was already paying for my unplanned hours in the sun. I had a pretty decent sunburn both from the run and the swim (even though it was a short one). Tuesday was another beautiful day, but i was forced to spend it at the ifc mall- wearing pants and watching a movie. I'm already starting to peel- hopefull i'll have recovered by the time i head out for malaysia, cambodia, and thailand on monday!

View Stanley run in a larger map

hong.kong.zoological.and.botanical.gardens.

On saturday, it did not rain. Hallelujah. L. had a birthday party from 12-5, m. had ballet from 4:45-5:45, and a. had to go into the office. I wanted to do something fun with someone (since it was the weekend after all) so i convinced e. to go to central for the afternoon. The plan was to go shopping (nowhere exciting- just needed a pair of linen pants from h&m) and then trek up to the "zoo" since neither of us had made it there yet. We rode the bus, getting off right in front of a.'s building. Since we were so close, she said she'd be up for a quick visit before we continued on our way. E. managed to leave with some money to buy little things for herself and her sisters. I left with a diet coke and crackers. After i bought my pants and e. bought sunglasses and hair accessories, we walked uphill (very uphill, too) to the zoological and botanical gardens. While it wouldn't be possible to spend a full day here, the hour we spent watching monkeys swing, alligators nap, and birds squawk, was perfect. We even got ice cream cones from the ice cream vendor, and made a quick stop at the playground before heading home. Since e. is the youngest, i rarely am able to spend time alone with her. It was nice to have a day alone when she didn't feel pressured to compete with her sisters.

Lemurs. They were black, white, and fuzzy and kind of reminded me of skunks.

The "cool" monkey cage. This is where all the fun guys hung out, swinging from ropes, the ceiling, pretty much anything they could get their hands on. We watched them for a while.

Inside the educational center. First is a fish skeleton (obviously), then a chicken skeleton, and finally a pigeon skeleton. They had each bone labeled with a number, and the list underneath described what it was.

 

E. checking out info on pollination. Notice her sunglasses and purse (you can't see her necklace here). She's very fashionable.

I realized i didn't take many pictures of the botanical part, but trust me, the whole place was beautiful. This is a big fountain that reminded me of dandelions. 

kid.food.

I just found this picture that was taken during my weekend with the girls. We went to their favorite pizza place for dinner one night. This was no papa gino's. The pizzas are fancy (my favorite has lots of leeks, parmesan cheese, and garlic) and super tasty. The kids menu (piccolo menu) includes smaller grown-up pizza along with the typical cheese and pepperoni. The girls' favorite part of the meal comes after they've finished eating everything. That's when they're served a bambinoccino, pictured here (in e's tiny hand)

Apparently it's warm frothy milk with a sprinkle of chocolate. Tasty.