Skiing without Dad

Matt and I are in Utah now with the Hardy family. It is REALLY weird to be here without my dad. The first night I got really scared because the house was so quiet and his room was empty. I started crying and couldn't sleep that night. I thought I was alright after that because I was so excited to go skiing. But every single slope and every single lift have memories of my dad. I have been skiing there with him since I was 4, so that is 20 years of skiing. When I was strapping up my boots and putting on my skis, I started crying because I felt like I could literally SEE him there next to me, putting on his gloves after his strapped his boots. The crying left as soon as ti came, and I thought I would be ok after that. Throughout the day I would just start crying randomly. It is so weird to be here, skiing, and know that I will never ski here with Dad again. His memory saturates everything about this place. Then, I realized that I have memories of Grandpa Hardy from every slope and lift here too, and I started crying again cause I felt like everyone is dying and leaving me. It is completely irrational, I know, but that is how I felt. When we got off the slopes, I was feeling great, because despite my sadness, it was a gorgeous day and the snow was good and it is hard to stay sad with those sort of conditions. Then, I saw my Grandma and all my cousins as I was on my way to the hot tub and I broke down right there in the middle of the street with my bathing suit on. I was really bawling. It is going to be a hard week but I think it will be good for me to have to face the sadness. I am really glad Matt is here to make me feel like I have someone.

Chinese Custard Apple

I just discovered the most wonderful new fruit! It is called a custard apple. Matt and I were down at the Park and Shop and on a whim we decided to buy it. It has the consistancy of custard (with big black seeds in it) and you can eat it with a spoon. It tastes mild and creamy, sort of banana -ey in a way. I think it is delicious, so I am very excited.

While I was googling "custard apple" I found a new blog that I like, so I added as a link to my blog. It is about Malaysian food and has lots of photos.

- Custard Apple (also called Cherimoya)

American Women's Association

My new friend Kelly (who is 25, from New York, and very cool) invited me to go to a luncheon for the American Women's Association. I had never been to any activities with the AWA, and it was a very...um...interesting and devastating experience. If you have been reading my blog, you know that I have mixed feelings about British people. I like them well enough, but in general I feel like they have a tendency towards being extremely arrogant and snobby. But now that I have been to an AWA lunch, I think I had better reevaluate my position on that because the woman at this lunch outdid any British people I have met in the arrogance and snobbiness department. All they talked about were diamonds, how well they treat their servants (which probably means they don't treat them that well at all), boats, and luxurious spas around Asia. It wasn't so much the topic of the conversation, but it was the way they talked about it. One woman was particularly irritating to me. She needed to make it clear to every single person that SHE was from TEXAS. Texas came up in the conversation almost as much as diamonds, I am not sure why. She spoke with a very exaggerated Texas accent and said things like, "Girl, this ain't my first rodeo." She called diamonds "rocks" and said it like "rrrrrooocks" as if she thought she was the sassiest, most spunky cowgirl on the ranch. (See, people from other states can use wild west metaphors too!) Why do Texans feel so superior to other states? Why do they try to use cowboy and wild west lingo all the time? I just don't get it. This lady had lived in Boston for a few years before moving to Hong Kong, but she wanted everyone to know that she was NOT from Boston, as if that was the worst possible place to have grown up in.

Speaking of diamonds (oh, wait...rrrrrooocks), I have never seen such a huge display of jewelry in my life. I don't know how these women walk around being weighed down by so many carats. Maybe that is why they are so skinny and blonde.

I will quit my ranting now...I came home from the lunch feeling devastated, and I needed to vent. It made me feel like I will never find people in Hong Kong that I can relate to. Kelly assured me that most meetings aren't like that, so I will with hold my judgment on the AWA as much as possible.

"Prepare to Meet God"

One thing that was very striking about the Philippines is how religious it was. Catholicism is very prevalent and it seems to influence the lives of the Filipinos quite a bit. Every town we went through, no matter how tiny, had it own church. Every single tricycle, which there are tons and tons of on Bohol and Panglao Island, had a religious slogan painted on the back of it. They said things like "Pray to the Rosary Daily" or "God loves my Family". They were all different, and some of them were very creative. My favorite said "Prepare to Meet God", which isn't exactly a comforting sentiment when you are about to get into one of those little, old, rickety tricycles to whiz through traffic. I wonder if the tricycle drivers are required to write things about God on the back of the tricycles. Do they think of the slogans themselves? Oh, and everything in the Philippines was decorated for Christmas. They really go all out. Our boatman, LouieGie, said that Christmas is the time when Filipinos from all over the world come back to the Philippines to see their families.

Luckily we made it out of the Philippines just before a huge typhoon hit, and over 500 people were killed. The typhoon hit Northern Luzon, which is much further north than we were, but it was still good to have left before then.


Tricycles in front of the Bilar Market 


Matt at the tiny Tagbilaran Airport 

Snorkelling

Panglao Island is famous because it is a great place to scuba dive. Matt and I, being completely lazy, didn't go scub diving because we would watch the divers get up in the morning and put on full wet suits, including booties and head gear, and it did not look fun, so we decided to go snorkelling instead. One night we were walking on the beach and this man approached us and asked if we wanted to go snorkelling and watch the dolphins from his boat. He showed us his little trimaran and said he would pick us up at 5:30 (!) the next morning, and we agreed. His name was LouieGie, and his boat was named that too.

Going out to watch the dolphins was really funny. Matt and I probably didn't need to do it, since we have both seen dolphins before and alot closer than the boats could get. There were 4 or 5 trimarans chasing these poor dolphins around, and none of us could get close, and we were all trying to beat eachother. It was hysterical. One of the other boats was full of Chinese women, and everytime we got close to them, we heard squealing and saw cameras. We finally told LouieGie to stop chasing the dolphins and just take us to the snorkelling area. When we went snorkelling, it was amazing. It was infinitely better than any scuba diving or snorkelling I have done before. There were about a zillion different types of fish in a zillion different colors and a zillion different sizes. It was truly amazing. and there were all different types of coral too. At one point we say a huge spiralling mass of silver jack fish, and you could swim through the spiral and they would all be around you. LouieGie went snorkelling with us and it was very fun. Then we had breakfast on an island and LouieGie told us a little about himself. His wife was only 19 and they already had 2 kids and she was 4 months pregnant. He was telling us how if he was president he would make it a rule that all Germans had to leave the Philippines and none could ever come back. They really don't have good feeling for Germans on Panglao Island! The taxi driver couldn't stop taling about how ugly they were. But there were tons of them around! Every morning we woudl hear them saying "Guten Morgen". LouiGie said that they married all the Filipina girls because their own women were fat and ugly and wouldn't even say hi to you when you walked by. Hmmm...I hate to say it, but it was strangely gratifying to finally be the nationality that was not reviled most by the locals.


Trimaran on Alona Beach 

Food in the Philippines

While we weren't in the Philippines long enough to explore alot of the food in the Philippines, I think that aside from the Halo Halo, it isn't my type of food. It seemed like alot of sausages and pork products. The seafood that we ate was excellent, and I pretty much subsisted on grilled squid and pancakes for the entire trip! The grilled squid was so yummy, I kept trying to tell myself to order different things but I couldn't because I don't have many opportunities for squid here in Hong Kong. I noticed that there were alot more bread and sweet shops than I have noticed in other countries, and they sort of reminded me of the panaderias in Mexico. At one of the markets we went to, they were even making fresh donuts! The girl in the picture sold us these really yummy rice bun things. They were made of glutinous rice and coconut milk in a banana leaf that is then steamed. It was delicious.


Girl selling goodies 

Boat Cruise, Tarsiers and Halo Halo

After the Chocolate Hills, we stopped to see the tarsiers. I had never heard of this animal, but apparently it is the smallest living primate and it was the Spielberg's inspiration for ET. It was probably the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life! It was tiny and had huge eyes like saucers, and had these little delicate hands with big bony joints on them. They can almost rotate their heads 360 degrees and they can jump 3 meters, but when we saw them they looked very lethargic. They are endangered and only live in a few places in the Philippines. I felt very sorry that they were being ogled by so many tourists in the little cage by the side of the road, even though the place had a sign that said "Government approved Tarsier breeding facility".

After that we went on a boat cruise down the Lobok River. It was really fun! THe interior of the island is realy lush and green and the water was extremely green also. It was sort of misting while we were on our cruise and I felt like we were on the jungle boat ride at disneyland! You could see all of the kids playing and bathing in the water as we went by and there were villages and little huts also.

After our boat cruise, we ate at a restaurant on the river. Then we went to an old church and then we persuaded our driver to take us into Tagbilaran for Halo Halo ...the dessert specialty of the Philippines. Halo Halo is quite spectacular and very yummy. On the bottom, it has sweet red beans and pieces of purple yams. Then it has assorted gummy/jelly type sweet things, then pieces of fruit, then shaved ice, then corn sprinked ver the top, then a scoop of ice cream, and then corn flakes on top. They serve it with a shot glass of cream or creme caramel, which you pour over the top and it soaks into the ice. I loved it! It looks like a spectacle and it tastes like one too.


Matt and I on our cruise down the Lobok River 

Bohol Island

Once Matt and I had sufficiently relaxed, we decided to hire a car and driver to take us on a tour of the sights of Bohol Island. So, our hotel hooked us up with a driver named Bobby. He was really nice and didn't talk too much. (The taxi drivers that had brought us from the airport talked WAY too much and they annoyed me alot. The kept laughing maniacally and did not stop talking to us for one second. They thought Germans were ugly and told us that over and over again. Matt liked it but I didn't.)

The first place we went was the Chocolate Hills. In the summer they turn brown but when we went they were green, so not very chocolatey at all. They still looked cool though, cause they just popped out of the rice paddies randomly and it looked sort of unearthly. Even more interesting than the Chocolate Hills was the drive through the island. There were lots of rice paddies and since it was a Sunday there were lots of people at public markets and coming to or from church.


Chocolate Hills 


Matt and Bobby 

The Philippines

Matt and I had a wonderful time in the Philippines. We didn't want to go to one of the ritzy, extremely touristed areas, so we randomly chose an island out of our Lonely Planet guide. We decided on Panglao Island, and it was absolutely gorgeous. We stayed on Alona Beach, which had perfect white sand and crystal clear water. To get there, we flew into Manila and stayed the night, and then early the next morning we flew on a little plane from Manila to Tagbilaran. From Tagbilaran we took a 45 minute taxi ride onto Panglao Island. The first place we stayed was called the Alona Tropicale and our bungalow was right on the beach. It was fantastic! It was unbelievable to wake up in the morning and open the door to the most gorgeous beach you have ever seen. The only problem with the Alona Tropicale was that we could only stay one night, as they were already booked up for the rest of the weekend. Another problem with it was that it was only hooked up for salt water. This meant that we had to shower and brush our teeth with salt water, which doesn't leave you feeling very refreshed! The next morning we moved on to a hotel called the Crystal Coast, which had alot less character but was a good deal because it was cheaper and had air conditioning and hot water.

For the first couple of days Matt and I just sort of relaxed and tried to take in our stunning surroundings...the beach was so white and the water was so blue and the sky was blue also, it was almost blinding. It is the sort of place where your eyes can't really comprehend how gorgeous it is so all you can do is keep looking and looking. It was nice because Matt had had a vacation for quite awhile and it was nice to finally have some time together!



Matt in front of our bungalow at the Alona Tropicale 

Alona Beach 

Survivor Photo

The Yacht Club Ball Survivor picture is up, along with other pictures taken that night. If you click on "Most Viewed", the girl in the white dress and her date were with us. Other than that, I guess our group wasn't worthy of taking pictures of!

MacLehose Trail

Yesterday I went on a hike in the New Territories with my friends from the At Home group. We did stage three of the MacLehose Trail and it was gorgeous. The weather here is nice and cool right now, which is perfect hiking weather. I made it out with just a few mosquito bites so I feel pretty good about that.

Today I getting ready for the Philippines, and I am very excited! I booked our hotel today for our stay in Manila tonight. We have to take two planes to get to Panglao Island, and only one plane per day flies between Panglao Island and Manila, so we have to wait over night. While I was searching the internet for how to call the Philippines from Hong Kong, I came across this website. You can think of it what you will. It is interesting to say the least.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving back home! I am really sad to be missing it this year. I am going to try to rustle up some pumpkin pie and turkey for Matt and I to eat for dinner before we get on our plane to Manila.



Hiking the MacLehose Trail 

Shamian Dao

After a few nights at the Oriental Resort, Matt and I switched to a hotel on Shamian Dao. Shamian Dao is more central to Guangzhou and has restaurants and markets and other things surrounding it. We were invited to a party at the White Swan Hotel by the expats that we had met at the Sasha show, and it was very fun. I met a guy that was in Guangzhou on a business trip and he lives in the La Jolla Farms area! He went to La Jolla Country Day School and to USD. It is definitely a small world afterall.

Other than that, Matt and I just relaxed on Shamian Dao, which is my favorite kind of vacation. It reminded me of when Matt and I went to Yuma, Arizona. We went there on a whim and had absolutely nothing to do. It was fabulous because ther wasn't any pressure to sightsee, it is close to home and fairy inexpensive, so it was just a very low key vacation with nothing to do but relax, see movies and eat. Guangzhou was sort of like this, because there was no pressure to do anything except relax. So we went and cruised the market on Qingping Street, which was pretty interesting. There were tons of stalls piled high with all sorts of roots and herbs and giant bags full of dried seahorse and dried sea stars. I am not sure what you would do with all of that stuff...cook with it? make Chinese medicine out of it? Anyway, someone must ant it because everyone was selling it. There were also alot of live animals for sale, which at first was disconcerting to me because I wasn't sure if they were for eating or playing with. I am pretty confident the animals were for playing with because the puppies were just too cute to eat. There were some straggly-looking cats for sale, and the guangdong province is known for it's taste for exotic animals...there was also every kind of turtle that you could ever possibly imagine as well a wide variety of rodents, some of which I had never seen before.

After the market, Matt and I needed an afternoon snack so we went to a tea house near our hotel. We thought we were just going to have a little snack but it turned out to be quite a nice experience. We had our own private tea room and a tea girl to pour our tea for us and explain to us what all of the rituals mean. First she washed all of the tea equipment with hot water from the tea pot, and then she made us a cup of tea for smelling and then finally the tea for drinking. The first cup we had to drink in three sips: the first sip for life (or was it luck?), the second sip for happiness and the third sip for longevity. The tea cups were extremely tiny and were more like tea bowls. The whole process took us over 2 hours and when Matt and I said we were ready to leave she seemed surprised that we were leaving so soon! The whole thing was very fascinating and I would definitely like to learn more about it in the future.

After that I wanted to treat myself to a massage so I went to the massage parlour in our hotel. It was...interesting. The whole thing was a little bit strange and it would take me a long time to explain why. Let's just say that I walked in and my masseuse was a young pretty girl in a navy blue satin nighty with white lace trim. I looked at her, then looked at the wall and saw a painting of a half naked Chinese woman. I made polite excuses and started to walk out, but the girl was freaked and afraid of having angered me and a whole bunch of workers came in and everyone was trying to understand me and in the end it was just too difficult to communicate so I had the massage. It was a nice, normal massage but it wasn't as relaxing as it could have been because the situation was strange.

The other interesting thing about Shamian Dao is that it is the pick up place for American couple adopting Chinese daughters. So, there are tons of American couple strolling along, picking out baby clothes and looking very eager. There are also a ton of American couples looking very excited and somewhat awkward holding their new Chinese babies. I think it would be pretty crazy to adopt a baby because you wouldn't have that 9 month adjustment period of knowing that you have another person with you contantly. You just go from being a single person to Poof! you have a baby. All the new parents looked very excited and enraptured with their new babies though, so maybe it is an easier adjustment than it looks like.


Qingping Street Market 



Puppies at the market 

Oriental Resort

These are some pictures of the hotel that we stayed in and where the Sasha show was. It was pretty nice, one of the nicer hotels that I have stayed in. Our villa was sort of far from the restaurant and other facilities but the room was big and comfortable and had a huge balcony. I think the place must be packed in the summer, but when we were there it was pretty much empty except for a few Sasha fans. Alot of the facilities were closed for the off season, like the pool and the other restaurants, but it was kept immaculately so t sort of had the feeling of the hotel in The Shining. The retaurant served up some pretty disgusting western food. I ordered french toast and that was a huge mistake. It was white, crustless bread folded in two and deep fried. When you pressed into it with your fork, oil would leak out of it. Of course, I ate it anyway, because the waitresses would get really flustered and confused about everything and I was tired after the show, so I didn't want to deal with trying to explain that I wanted to order an additional meal. I probably should have though, because my stomach still turns when I think of it.


The Oriental Resort in Guangzou 



Our Villa at the Oriental Resort 

Sasha

Matt and I just returned from our trip to Guangzhou (Gwan-Joe), which is a 2 hour train ride from Hong Kong. The reason for our trip was to see one of Matt's favorite djs, Sasha, on his first tour through Asia. Apparently China is a new up and coming area for electronic music.

Usually, these kinds of shows last all night, so Matt and I didn't get there until after midnight. Sasha went on soon after we got there and he was great. There were a few problems though: first, the hotel staff turned down the volume, and then they pulled the plug at 2 in the morning! That is extremely early for this kind of show. If we would have known t was going to end that early, we would have showed up earlier!

Luckily, on our way in we had met a security guy. When the show ended, he called us back to the VIP area where Sasha was. So, we got to meet Sasha and all of the "cool" kids! It was pretty awesome. Sasha was nice and very laid back and seemed sincere. He was patient when everyone was taking pictures with him and he seemed bummed that his first tour in China got off to a bad start. Unfortunately, Matt and I didn't bring a camera, but to be honest, I would have been sort of embarrassed to ask for a picture with him. It seems cheesy. That is not say that I wouldn't want a picture with him! In the back room area we met some Guangzhou expats, and it turns out that one of them went to school with my stepdad's cousin's daughter! Pretty small world. This guy, Suraj, was really cool and he took some pictures of Matt and I and so I will have to try to get copies of those, and the ones of Sasha.

The Sasha tour photographer took several pictures and videos of Matt and I because he said that we were "beautiful" (haha...must have been slim pickings of people to photograph that night?) so I am going to keep checking the Sasha website to see if they make it on there. If they do I will link to the site from this blog.

Feels Like Spring

It is definitely one of those days...I am sure everyone has had a day like this, or at least I hope so. It has that euphoric, expectant, excited sort of feeling. Like...that day when you finish finals and you are excited and happy but you still have to pack up your stuff to go on break. Or like the first day of spring in Davis, when it has been grey and cold and dismal and all of sudden you can feel the weather changing and you know that soon it will be spring, sunny and clear and warm but not too warm. Or like when you are working and it is the Thursday before a three day weekend and you can't concentrate on any of the stuff you know you need to get done so you end up chatting with your coworkers the whole time.

I am not exactly sure why I am having this feeling. Nothing has changed in my life since yesterday. It could be because Matt is taking Friday (tomorrow) off of work so that we can go see dj Sasha spin in Guangzhou this weekend, and we are staying at the Oriental Resort which looks very nice. It could be because I am finally back on a normal schedule after our all nighter at the Yacht Club Ball. It could be because I picked up my plane ticket to come home for Christmas yesterday, and it is free due to all of Dad's frequent flier miles and I get to fly Singapore Airlines rather than United. It could be because today the weather here in Hong Kong is brisk and cooler than usual, so that you can wear jeans comfortably, but still perfectly sunny and clear. It could be because I had 7 emails in my inbox this morning. Or, it could be because I had chocolate chips and coke light for breakfast. Whatever the reason, I am doing my best not too analyze it to much for fear of ruining it.

So what am I doing today? Not much, considering all of the excited energy I have...I am packing for Guangzhou, and will probably do some laundry later. I ran around this morning opening every single window and cleaned up the clutter around our house. I walked through the park and picked up some odds and ends at the drug store and then sat in the park reading The Princess Bride. I will leave in a couple of hours to meet Matt in Shenzhen. I am listening to Sublime. So, pretty uneventful I guess.

On a side note, I am much more excited to come home for Christmas than I thought I would be. It is going to be so great to see everyone and I am really looking forward to the familiar tradition of skiing in Utah. I am also eager to get back to San Diego, cause I am looking forward to the great Christmas weather that San Diego has, sunny and clear and wonderful. And mexican food and pancakes. And swimming with my little sisters. When I was in the park this morning there was a field trip of kids about Marissa's age and I realized that I really miss my sisters! They make me feel so loved.

Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club Ball

Saturday was the annual Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club Ball. Since the Club is, of course, members only, we had to be sponsored by a member in order to get tickets. Now, I am not sure exactly how that happened, as our friend Michele invited and had the connections to get us some tickets. We got the after-midnight tickets since tickets were very expensive, and were even more expensive if you bought the tickets for the full ball which lasted from 7 at night until 7 in the morning. Once you bought tickets though everything was included, all the food and drinks and everything frm the bars was free. It was a black tie event, which meant that Matt had to dress up (!), or you had the option of dressing according to the theme of the ball which was Arabian Nights or something like that. It was pretty fun, and had several different bands and djs spread throughout the RHKYC building. We danced all night and Matt got WAY too drunk.

At the ball, it was confirmed for me once again that being rich does not make you cool in any way. The old men that lasted into the morning were pretty scummy and were obviously preying on the younger women. I am getting sick of the elitist attitude that is so prevalent here but I suppose that comes with the territory of attending an event at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. I bought my dress at a place called the Pedder Building, which is a discount place with ton of little stalls and the clothes all piled together in baskets, and I think the dress was a great find. So, when people asked me where I got my dress I thought it was fabulous and amusing to say "The Pedder Building" but people just sort of laughed awkwardly and looked the other direction in response. Matt got his suit made in Shenzhen and frankly, we looked great together, and we didn't need prove ourselves by wearing expensive or designer clothing. (By the way, I had never seen Matt in a suit before and I thought he looked very good. He has spent years telling me he doesn't look good in a suit but he is wrong.) One of the things I love about the US is that we are not as preoccupied with designer clothes and hand bags and we don't seem to need to be so haughty and conspicuous about our money. (At least in California...the east coast prep school/ivy leaguers are a different story. Actually, maybe that is just my experience with the US.) I can tell you, ne of the first things I will be doing when I get to San Diego is making a run for Ross and Target.

Anyway, we had a great time at the Ball and we lasted until the "survivor photo" at 7 in the morning, and then even went to an after hours club called Home until 9 am. Sunday we slept in till 5 pm, so my sleep schedule has been pretty messed up, hence the delay in posting the photos and blog entry.


Hot Stud 

Michele and Meagan 

The Girls 

Doctor Visit

Today I went to the doctor here in Hong Kong for the first time. I needed to get a Hong Kong prescription for my medication, so I got a referral from another expat lady here. It was such a great experience. First of all, you don't need insurance. It is affordable to pay for the doctor consultation and medicine even without being covered. Second of all, I called up today to make an appointment and they told me to come in 2 hours. How great is that? I am not sure if I just got lucky with a good doctor or what...Dr. Cheung spent alot of time with me, and didn't make me feel rushed at all. He spent alot of time figuring out what the Hong Kong brand names were for the prescriptions I needed and asked me about my situation in Hong Kong. Of course, the cholesterol medicine I take lead him to ask about my family history, and then to talking about my father, and then of course I am sure you can tell what the result was. I started crying and crying, but the doctor was very nice and referred me to a counselor. Then he gave me 50% off of the price of my visit that day. He carried my prescriptions to the pharmacy for me, gave me his business card and said, very sincerely, that if I ever needed anything that I should call him. I feel very lucky that I was referred to such a kind person, and it is when things like that happen that you realize that there alot of very good people in this world. I really can't imagine a doctor acting like that in the US. Maybe I just haven't had nice doctors in the past.

Wake Boarding (or at least trying)

Today Matt and I had the good fortune of being invited on a junk boat trip. It was excellent: lots of food, good weather and swimming. It was a day of personal triumph for me because I forced myself to jump off the top of the boat. Matt says the top of the boat is not very high, but my knees tell me that it is. You see, whenever I am standing and looking over the edge of something and my knees start shaking uncontrollably, I know that it is "high". But, since I didn't jump off the top of the boat on our last junk boat trip, this time I decided I had to do it. So, I climbed over the railing and then clung to it for dear life. The problem is, whenever you climb over a railing and look like you are going to jump but are too afraid to do it, people start cheering for you and stuff, and then you really just have to do it. So, I jumped off when my mind wasn't noticing. (That sounds strange, but yes, it is possible to distract yourself so that you can do something you don 't want to.) Of course, once I actually jumped, my mind noticed again and thought, "OH MY GOD! WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?" and I screamed a quite a scream.

After lunch the opportunity arose for Matt and I to go wake boarding. It was sort of the same situation as last time. We were on the last trip out on the little speed boat, it was getting dark and everyone on the big boat was watching us. Around that time is when people were sort of getting a little restless and so they turned their attention to things outside of the big boat, mainly Matt and I trying to wake board on the small boat. Matt went first and he did very well. After a few times he got it and was wake boarding around the little alcove we were docked in. Then another guy went, and then I was last. Last was not a good thing to be because then everybody is waiting for you to finish so they can get home and it is almost dark. Now, I had never gone wake boarding before and I was proud because I could get out of the water so that I was standing. The only problem was, once I was up I could not stay up. I tried a few times and then one of the expat guys took a kayak out and paddled next to me, explaining what to do. Our boat driver was trying to pantomime how to wakeboard and even the guy in the sailboat that was next to us was yelling instructions. It was pretty funny. I decided that I need to go again when there is more light and less people staring at me! I didn't have it as bad as Matt did on our last junk boat trip. That was his first time wake boarding and it was sort of the same situation: he was in the last round of wake boarders, it was almost dark, and everyone was waiting for him. It was worse though because he was drunk, and all of the other people on that boat were young single guys. Somehow that makes it worse. Guys are much more competitive with that stuff. Plus, we didn't know those people at all, we had just met them in a bar a few nights earlier.

I love going out on the junk boat trips. You take the boats out and dock them in a some little alcove in one of the islands that surround Hong Kong Island and play around for the day. The water is warm and there is a boat attendant guy to get the lunch ready while everyone is swimming. The alcove we were in today was particularly nice, with very steep hills and huge boulders all around and a pretty, clean, empty beach in the middle.

Makybe Diva

Today was the Melbourne Cup. I had never heard of it before, but apparently it is the horse race of the year in Australia. I was invited by some other expat ladies to an event hosted by the Australian Association at the Happy Valley Race Course to have lunch and watch the race. We got there at 10:30 in the morning, and what did they give us? Coffee? Tea? No...Champagne or beer and sausages, mini pizzas, or quiches. Alot of the ladies had big flouncy hats on and frilly dresses and it was quite fun to look at all the ladies.

Next we headed inside to place our bets...I bet on Hug's Dancer and Pacific Dancer. It probab ly wasn't the most well thought out bet, since I just chose the two horses with names that ended with "Dancer", but hey, what was I supposed to do? I don't know anything about Australian horses. If it were American horses, now that would be a different story. :)

From there, we headed upstairs to have our lunch and watch the race. It was a gorgeous lunch, another multi-course extravaganza, and of course there was endless wine as usual. The race was...short. It was over before it started, really. The whole day-long hullabaloo for those short seconds of actual racing. Needless to say, I wasn't a winner. Pacific Dancer and Hug's Dancer really let me down this time! The winner was Makybe Diva, and the only person at our table who bet for that horse only put down 20 HK dollars! That is nothing! She won 6 HK dollars, which is less than 1 US dollar.

After lunch, I thought it was over, but no. Upstairs for more drinks and a jazz band. After a couple of hours, I really thought it was over. By this time it was dark, and we had been there since 10:30 am. I couldn't believe it when two of the ladies, one of them pregnant, suggested we go over to the Captain's Bar at the Mandarin Oriental. So...there we went. Those Australians really like to drink.

Matt's Costume

Arrgh, I'm a Mongolian warrior. 

Halloween

Yesterday, Matt and I were invited to a four course dinner and jazz show at the Aberdeen Marina Club. When Matt and I went on that junk boat trip a few weeks ago, the boat left from the the pier next to the AMC, and we had gazed longingly into the "Member's Only" club with the giant pool and waterslides and a very yummy smelling buffet. So, we were excited to have the opportunity to have a nice meal there. We were invited by a woman from the At Home group, and her husband is the head chef at the AMC. I was a little bit nervous that I wasn't going to make it through four courses and the all of the accompnaying drinks, but I did because each course was perfectly portioned so that you never got too full. We had stewed rabbit with gravy, a very artistic Caesar salad with all of the lettuce pointing upwards, roasted red pepper soup, Sea Bass, a very yummy raisin cobbler dessert thing with rum raisin homemade ice cream and then petit fours at the end. It was delicious. Oh, and never ending red wine, white wine and champagne. It is sort of disorienting because they keep refilling your glass, so it is hard to keep track of how muchyou have had. I had at least 4 glasses of different drinks going at one point. The jazz singer, Cherryl Hayes, was excellent. She was American and I found out that she had been an accountant until she was middle aged, when all of a sudden she realized she could sing. I think Dad would've loved that! It seemed like he always felt he was an artist trapped in an accountant's job.

So, sitting at the table surrounded by British people (aside from matt and one Chinese woman) I realized that I am having more culture shock with British people than I have ever had with any other nationality. I am very accustomed to Chinese ways, partly because of Quinnie, partly because there were always alot of Chinese people in school with me, and partly because they are usually so sincere and friendly. British people seem to be highly cynical and most of their "clever dinner party repartee" is just dripping with sarcasm. Now, don't get me wrong, all of the British people that I have met here have been nothing but nice. I was (fortunately) seated next to the Chinese wife of one of the Britsh men. She was very happy, nice, friendly, and funny. I could see glances being exchanged across the table, which were very unecessary in my opinion.

After the dinner, Matt and I went out for Halloween! Matt and I had a very good, last-minute sort of Halloween. I got my Bumble Bee costume on Saturday and Matt threw together his Mongolian Warrior costume on Sunday. We went down to Lan Kwai Fong and cruised the streets. We literally couldn't go five feet without someone asking to take our picture. I guess that is what the locals like t do, get dressed up and then go out and take pictures of themselves with other people that are dressed up. If I had known that, I would have brought my camera! There were some good costumes out there. Matt and I went to some clubs, but my wings were sort of clumsy on the dance floor and he was too hot in his lambskin Mongolian Warrior vest. We got into a club for free cause of our costumes, so that was cool.



Bzzz, I'm a bumble bee. 

Do I look Thai?

On my last day in Bangkok I went to a photo studio at the mall in Siam Square and some pictures of me taken in Thai traditional style. I don't think I have ever worn so much makeup in my life. The make up artist was a gay Thai man and he kept saying, "Miss USA...beautiful! Miss USA.." It was pretty funny. When he turned my chari around so that I could see my makeup, I was like, "Wow! I look great with this much makeup on!" Then, when I sat closer to the mirror so that he could do my hair, it was very scary. Having that much makeup on is sort of frightening. But, it looks good in pictures. I haven't really ever had pictures like that taken of me, and it was actually kind of hard to maintain the poses they put me in. I think the pictures turned out well though. I am going to give one to Matt for his office so that he can pretend he has a hot Thai girl on the side like so many of the other men do here.


Do I look Thai? 

Mmm....Thai Food

The food here in Thailand is so yummy. I think I could only eat Thai food for the rest of my life and still be happy. If you have had Thai food in the US, then you pretty much know what it is like here. The food that they sell from the street stalls is superb...almost too beautiful to describe. The fruit stalls have heaps and heaps of gorgeous pomelos, pineapples, guavas and mangoes. They will carve it right up for you, put it in a bag and give you a skewer to eat it with. Then there are the stalls that have ears of corn still in their husk roasting. The smell and taste is too delicious to believe. I even tried the meat at the various stalls, which I wouldn't do normally because I am pretty picky about my meat. I had to try it though, cause it was so gorgeous. One stall had piles of different types of meat kebabs: chicken, beef, fish, prawn, meatball, fishball, etc. They were all neatly piled and very shiny and yummy looking. I tried to ask the stall owner which chicken skewer was made of breast meat, and he thought I was hilarious as I was trying to pantomime what I wanted. Once I got the kebabs, he poured in the bag some of the yummy Thai chili sauce they have here. They were delicious, although the meat had a little bit more fat and grisle than I am used to. I ordered squid from another stall, and that was so yummy, except that they didn't clean the squid out at all, I even had to take the pen out myself! They have stalls where you can choose your ingredients and they will stir fry it right there in front of you, and stalls where they fry up sort of an "Indian fry bread" like Grandma used to make. Unfortunately I didn't get to try everything that I wanted to. I could only eat so much in one trip! Hopefully, if I come back to Thailand with Matt I will get to try more new things. On this trip, I have been addicted to Som Tum, which is a spicy papaya salad that sometimes comes with prawns or squid. The good thing about food here is that it is pretty much good wherever you go, whether you are at a bus stop or a nice restaurant. The bus back from Ko Samet stopped at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, but all of a sudden there appeared an old woman with the a huge basket of fruit. I bought a mango from her and with it she gave me a little sack of a salty, sweet, spicy powder. The mixture complemented the sweetness of the mango really well, and it was something I had never tried before.

One thing I did try in Ko Samet was insects, a few different kinds. The was a cart selling them, and so I stopped by to have a look at the types of insects for sale. The woman who owned the cart was very excitedly showing me how to eat them and kept offering me samples. The samples were...interesting, but I really could not turn them down when she was being so nice. I definitely had a rude awakening when I tried this maggot looking insect. I figured that since they were fried they would all sort of taste like corn nuts or something, but boy was I wrong. On my first bite into the maggot type thing I felt all of the insides squish out into my mouth. It was really sickening, but I managed to swallow it. The grasshoppers were better because at least they were crunchy. The picture below shows the full assortment of insects for sale.


Yummy. 

More Massages

The massages in Thailand are the best that I have had since I have moved to Asia. Thai massages definitely have a unique style, it is more like passive stretching or like a yoga massage. They stretch you muscles one way and then massage them, and then they stretch them another way and massage them some more. Also, Thai massages seem to focus more on the full body, as opposed to just the back and shoulders. It would have been so fabulous to get Thai massages during mymarathon training, because they spend quite a bit of time on the legs and they bend your legs so that they can massage your hip flexors. Even the 4 dollar massages that we get on the beach at Ko Samet are great. The massage ladies carefully lay out a sarong on the sand and sweep the sand off of you before they start the massage. Since there is no oil involved, you can get a massage on the beach and not worry about having to go right home and shower. I never got a massage on the beach in Bali because they use SO much oil in ther massages there. The Chinese massages feel good after the massage, but are rather painful during the actual massage. I think their theory is that if they massage your muscles so fiercely that you are in almost unbearable pain, then it will obviously feel great when they stop massaging you. In Thailand, the massages feel good both during and after.


Our bungalow at Tok's Little Huts in Ko Samet 

Ko Samet

After some debate, we decided to go to Ko Samet in Thailand for more beach time. Ko Samet is very convenient because it is only a three and a half hour bus ride from Bangkok, as opposed to Phuket, which you pretty much have to fly to. Lo Samet is gorgeous! The water is crystal clear and the sand is white and soft. It is the nicest beach we have been to yet! It is a small island, and the restuarants are all right on the sand. Some just have pillows that you sit on while you eat and other's have tables. The water is warm and lovely. There are alot of tourists here right now because we came on a Thai holiday. Many of the tourists are Thai, ans also alot of expats that are living in Bangkok.

I love Thailand so much. The people are very relaxed and friendly and the food is so wonderful. The only problem is the number of old, wrinkly, white men that are here in the company of VERY young, beautiful Thai girls. Sometimes it just makes me sick. Also, there are alot of old white men accompanied by young, beautiful Thai boys. Lara and I were sitting on the beach, getting some sun when a older white man walked by holding the hand of an 8 year old Thai boy. I didn't think anything of it, but Lara said, "I hope that is his son!" That comment brought to my mind a whole host of thoughts that I did not want to contemplate! Actually, I am sure it was the son of the guys Thai wife or "girlfriend" or whatever. Speaking of child prostitution, I read in my Lonely Planet guide that while Thailand has the greatest number of child prostitutes in the world, the US has the third largest number! (India has the second largest number.) Of course, Thailand is a much smaller country to be having so many child prostitutes, but the US is a rich country and it is sad to think that we have that problem.



Beautiful Ko Samet 

Back to Hong Kong

All in all, I liked Bali and would love to bring Matt here someday. I think next time I would like to travel inland and see the rice paddies and maybe go up to the beaches on the north coast of Bali. I hear they have black sand beaches there and it is alot less crowded. Kuta Beach, where we were staying the whole time, seems more like a spring break type destination for Australian people. It was nice because there was alot of shopping and places to stay and everything was very well set up for travellers, but it is also very touristy and crowded.

Today we left Bali and are now in Hong Kong. Tomorrow we are running over to Shenzhen for a quick shopping trip and then heading down to Thailand!


Meagan at Fat Yogi's 

Balinese Dance and Massage

Tonight we saw a Balinese dance performance at a restaurant. We didn't plan on seeing it, but we lucked out and the restaurant we went to had one. It was excellent. Balinese music is rather ominous sounding, and has alot of chimes and drums and that sort of thing. The dancers looked very striking in their elaborate costumes and it was cool because it seemed like their eyes were part of the dance. They would stop moving for a moment, open their eyes really wide, and then look from side to side. It was kind of freaky looking actually.

Today I finally had a great massage, which is good because we are about to leave Bali. So far, the massages have been cheap and only worth as much as I paid for them. (So, basically they are not worth much at all.) It is almost like they don't understand the concept of the massage, they just figure, "Hey, this whitey is going to pay me to rub her a little bit? Alright, whatever." I went to one place and requested a woman masseuse and the man at the desk told me to wait for a few minutes. So I sat and waited, and proceeded to watch him scour the street for women and ask them if they wanted to massage me. I left immediately because in Bali I have learned a lesson: Yes, there are actually some bad massages that I would prefer not to waste my time on. Previously I had been under the impression that there was no such thing as a bad massage, but now I know better.

Today I decided to splurge and get a 15 dollar massage. It was fabulous, so I also got a scalp and hair conditioning treatment, which I definitely needed after all of the time I have been spending in the water. My hair felt great when it was over, and they even blow dried my hair and I thought, "Great! Now I will have nice, clean, straight hair for the plane ride home tomorrow!" But no, Balinese people seem to LOVE oil, so after my hair was dry and done, they put a handful of oil right on the top of my head and said, "Alright, you're done." I was heartbroken. But anyway, the massage was nice and I am glad I am leaving Bali with at least one good massage experience!


Balinese Dancers