Hong Kong
Day 1 & 2 @(@#$(*)(*#$%(*
Wait wait, back up, I went to vegas too! It was pretty extravagant. Big buildings, expensive decorations, wildly well dressed girls and loud music, everywhere. When the airport shuttle drove by the Venitian, a French woman next to me said she was impressed, she had lived in Viennese for 10 years and it was a good imitation. The first night we stayed at treasure island. They room was very cozy and the bathroom was big. It was so hot in vegas, and dry. Felt like I would turn to crispy roast chicken in no time. The pool was just like those college parties they show on MTV with loud music, beer, and a ton of people in the pool. It was strange. And walking down the strip was an event. For some reason it seemed strange to me that the hotels themselves were the attraction, rather than just being the place to sleep near the attraction. We went to see a show (not cirque de soleil, but the same creator) called Le Reve. It was a woman’s dream about love I think, and her fear of committing… boring concept, but beautiful show. I loved watching the people flowing through the air with water dripping or people diving from great heights.
Then came the long tired flights. I could barely keep my eye’s open, even as the plane was taking off. I dozed off as the plane was lifting off, opening my eye’s just long enough to look at the strip. On the long flight to Japan I just watched a few movies and ate a lot. Tiffany and I were so tired when we got on the flight from Japan to Hong Kong that I fell asleep and was dead to the world until we landed. I had no trouble sleeping. I fell asleep and didn’t dream or anything. I woke up as directly as I fell asleep. And what is now my dread every morning, I entered a world that was boiling, sweaty, sticky, moist, melting, steamy heat. Except for the urgent need to answer natures call in the morning, I would love to just lounge in the cool dry AC bedroom.
For breakfast we went to a bakery and I ate a beef and mushroom roll. I love the sweet rolls here. My new favorite is the Pineapple roll, but they don’t have pineapple’s in them, they just have a yellow top that somehow must reminds people of pineapple. I thought that manapua’s were good, but the steamed rolls here are even better. Then we sat in window seat at Starbucks. I drank a huge blended coffee drink to celebrate my first morning in HK.
On thing I should mention is, when I woke up that morning, I looked down at my feet and thought, hmm that’s strange, my feet look kinda big. Then on to the – holy shit my feet are huge! You couldn’t hardly even see my ankles! I thought that taking aspirin on the flight would help with swelling and whatnot, but somewhere between the long nights of walking in Vegas and the 24 hour jaunt in the sky, my feet turned into elephant feet.
So, because of my giant elephant feet (which even Tiffany said were scary) those moments like those where I got to just sit in an AC building were the best moments of my day. The rest of the day was spent trying to tolerate, if not ignore the fat pressured, aching, somewhat burning and prickling -and once even an electric shock- feeling running up from my fat f@$%ing elephant feet. But, (thank god) tiffany’s mom took us to a massage parlor where we got a long and amazing foot massage (I love you Yenny!) and it was a life saver. My feet still felt like I was walking on bruises, but less of the stiff feeling, it was so much better.
Later in the day, I went with tiffany to the funeral of a friend of Tiffany’s Mom (Yenny). It took place in a universal funeral home where they have all denominations of funerals. When we were pulling up, there were dozens of police outside the building, stopping every car to see who’s funeral they were visiting. Apparently a big boss or a gangster had been knifed and the police were keeping an eye on it. On the way in I saw a huge paper house that tiffany said was burned to be sent to the world of the dead for that person to use. When we were camping she had told me about some ghost stories where people in the world of the dead were upset if their family did not burn enough stuff for them to use; such as clothing without the buttons. We did not come to a Buddhist funeral because the family was newly converted to Christians. The room was lined with gifts of flowers, filled with white covered chairs, and in the front of the room was a photo of their friend with two red stands at the altar holding fruit, and a couple of cans of Coca-Cola in front of a cross. Tiffany said this was a remnant of their old Buddhist past and that they must have done it because they were still new Christians. I think maybe it was to appease part of the family that may still be Buddhists, or to make them feel better- that they had done everything they could for their loved one. There was a back room where people could go to see the loved one. I would have felt like a voyeur if I had because I already was a stranger at a sensitive event. When guests arrived, a man at the podium would ask you to walk forward, stop in front of the alter and bow your head in a short silent prayer. Then you would bow to the family and talk to them or sit down. This event was especially sad because the man was young and married and left behind two very young children. I even had to turn around once because seeing them cry made me start to cry. Seeing all the people in the building having funerals and knowing that in the next day or so all of the decorations and friendly flowers given by sympathetic friends and businesses would be removed, cleaned up and thrown away; then the world would move forward with or without that person who lost their life.
Later that night we had dinner with a friend at tiffany’s house and then he drove us up to the peak where we could look down at the city lights on Hong Kong Island. It was absolutely stunning. We took a million pictures, but really I just wanted to stare at it like I was looking down at a pile of glittering jewels. Later we walked down a scenic trail, but it was too dark. It was almost like jungle- with big fanning palm leafy plants, bamboo, and twisting banyan trees. Enough for me to wonder what Hong Kong was like before it became the concrete jungle that it is now. I barely made it that night, I was so tired, I couldn’t keep my eyes open for the beautiful view on the way down.
On Day 2 I woke up bright and early again. My feet were not so scary anymore and I didn’t suffer all day like I did the first day. We had breakfast with tiffany’s friends, one who’s name happened to be Bruise Lee (lol) and they were very funny. I ordered a western breakfast, but I think it was English style because it came with mashed potatoes they were covered in baked beans (like the baked bean toast in india??), weird but good; and then there was the very raw sunny side up eggs. I couldn’t eat those. I can’t eat that, because despite what they say, I think there is a health risk (not to mention a texture problem) that I just can’t make myself eat. We later went to the part of town that tifs mom works, walked around, had lunch with her mom (shanghai wonton soup in a café full of puppy pictures). That afternoon we went to the space museum and watched one of those films on a dome. For some reason the Americans came across as evil at the beginning of the film while the soviets were just dandy, haha. Perspective is interesting. But its okay, because everyone gets along in the end.
Later we went to the avenue of the stars, took picture with Bruise Lee’s statue and Jackie Chan’s hand prints (sweet!) and watched the light show on the building of HK island.
Another tired night, but this night was the first time I had dreams! It was weird. Did I mention that? Forgot I guess! The first 2 nights (and on the plane) I was so tired I fell asleep in a snap, and woke up in a snap too. Strange. But now I wake up slow and think about the horror of leaving the air conditioned bedroom.
Day 1 & 2 @(@#$(*)(*#$%(*
Wait wait, back up, I went to vegas too! It was pretty extravagant. Big buildings, expensive decorations, wildly well dressed girls and loud music, everywhere. When the airport shuttle drove by the Venitian, a French woman next to me said she was impressed, she had lived in Viennese for 10 years and it was a good imitation. The first night we stayed at treasure island. They room was very cozy and the bathroom was big. It was so hot in vegas, and dry. Felt like I would turn to crispy roast chicken in no time. The pool was just like those college parties they show on MTV with loud music, beer, and a ton of people in the pool. It was strange. And walking down the strip was an event. For some reason it seemed strange to me that the hotels themselves were the attraction, rather than just being the place to sleep near the attraction. We went to see a show (not cirque de soleil, but the same creator) called Le Reve. It was a woman’s dream about love I think, and her fear of committing… boring concept, but beautiful show. I loved watching the people flowing through the air with water dripping or people diving from great heights.
Then came the long tired flights. I could barely keep my eye’s open, even as the plane was taking off. I dozed off as the plane was lifting off, opening my eye’s just long enough to look at the strip. On the long flight to Japan I just watched a few movies and ate a lot. Tiffany and I were so tired when we got on the flight from Japan to Hong Kong that I fell asleep and was dead to the world until we landed. I had no trouble sleeping. I fell asleep and didn’t dream or anything. I woke up as directly as I fell asleep. And what is now my dread every morning, I entered a world that was boiling, sweaty, sticky, moist, melting, steamy heat. Except for the urgent need to answer natures call in the morning, I would love to just lounge in the cool dry AC bedroom.
For breakfast we went to a bakery and I ate a beef and mushroom roll. I love the sweet rolls here. My new favorite is the Pineapple roll, but they don’t have pineapple’s in them, they just have a yellow top that somehow must reminds people of pineapple. I thought that manapua’s were good, but the steamed rolls here are even better. Then we sat in window seat at Starbucks. I drank a huge blended coffee drink to celebrate my first morning in HK.
On thing I should mention is, when I woke up that morning, I looked down at my feet and thought, hmm that’s strange, my feet look kinda big. Then on to the – holy shit my feet are huge! You couldn’t hardly even see my ankles! I thought that taking aspirin on the flight would help with swelling and whatnot, but somewhere between the long nights of walking in Vegas and the 24 hour jaunt in the sky, my feet turned into elephant feet.
So, because of my giant elephant feet (which even Tiffany said were scary) those moments like those where I got to just sit in an AC building were the best moments of my day. The rest of the day was spent trying to tolerate, if not ignore the fat pressured, aching, somewhat burning and prickling -and once even an electric shock- feeling running up from my fat f@$%ing elephant feet. But, (thank god) tiffany’s mom took us to a massage parlor where we got a long and amazing foot massage (I love you Yenny!) and it was a life saver. My feet still felt like I was walking on bruises, but less of the stiff feeling, it was so much better.
Later in the day, I went with tiffany to the funeral of a friend of Tiffany’s Mom (Yenny). It took place in a universal funeral home where they have all denominations of funerals. When we were pulling up, there were dozens of police outside the building, stopping every car to see who’s funeral they were visiting. Apparently a big boss or a gangster had been knifed and the police were keeping an eye on it. On the way in I saw a huge paper house that tiffany said was burned to be sent to the world of the dead for that person to use. When we were camping she had told me about some ghost stories where people in the world of the dead were upset if their family did not burn enough stuff for them to use; such as clothing without the buttons. We did not come to a Buddhist funeral because the family was newly converted to Christians. The room was lined with gifts of flowers, filled with white covered chairs, and in the front of the room was a photo of their friend with two red stands at the altar holding fruit, and a couple of cans of Coca-Cola in front of a cross. Tiffany said this was a remnant of their old Buddhist past and that they must have done it because they were still new Christians. I think maybe it was to appease part of the family that may still be Buddhists, or to make them feel better- that they had done everything they could for their loved one. There was a back room where people could go to see the loved one. I would have felt like a voyeur if I had because I already was a stranger at a sensitive event. When guests arrived, a man at the podium would ask you to walk forward, stop in front of the alter and bow your head in a short silent prayer. Then you would bow to the family and talk to them or sit down. This event was especially sad because the man was young and married and left behind two very young children. I even had to turn around once because seeing them cry made me start to cry. Seeing all the people in the building having funerals and knowing that in the next day or so all of the decorations and friendly flowers given by sympathetic friends and businesses would be removed, cleaned up and thrown away; then the world would move forward with or without that person who lost their life.
Later that night we had dinner with a friend at tiffany’s house and then he drove us up to the peak where we could look down at the city lights on Hong Kong Island. It was absolutely stunning. We took a million pictures, but really I just wanted to stare at it like I was looking down at a pile of glittering jewels. Later we walked down a scenic trail, but it was too dark. It was almost like jungle- with big fanning palm leafy plants, bamboo, and twisting banyan trees. Enough for me to wonder what Hong Kong was like before it became the concrete jungle that it is now. I barely made it that night, I was so tired, I couldn’t keep my eyes open for the beautiful view on the way down.
On Day 2 I woke up bright and early again. My feet were not so scary anymore and I didn’t suffer all day like I did the first day. We had breakfast with tiffany’s friends, one who’s name happened to be Bruise Lee (lol) and they were very funny. I ordered a western breakfast, but I think it was English style because it came with mashed potatoes they were covered in baked beans (like the baked bean toast in india??), weird but good; and then there was the very raw sunny side up eggs. I couldn’t eat those. I can’t eat that, because despite what they say, I think there is a health risk (not to mention a texture problem) that I just can’t make myself eat. We later went to the part of town that tifs mom works, walked around, had lunch with her mom (shanghai wonton soup in a café full of puppy pictures). That afternoon we went to the space museum and watched one of those films on a dome. For some reason the Americans came across as evil at the beginning of the film while the soviets were just dandy, haha. Perspective is interesting. But its okay, because everyone gets along in the end.
Later we went to the avenue of the stars, took picture with Bruise Lee’s statue and Jackie Chan’s hand prints (sweet!) and watched the light show on the building of HK island.
Another tired night, but this night was the first time I had dreams! It was weird. Did I mention that? Forgot I guess! The first 2 nights (and on the plane) I was so tired I fell asleep in a snap, and woke up in a snap too. Strange. But now I wake up slow and think about the horror of leaving the air conditioned bedroom.
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