Tai Chi

To walk into Soho or Central, or down to the mall, I go through Hong Kong Park. Everyday, there are people (mosty older and mostly Chinese) doing Tai Chi. It is really inspiring to me how the senior citizens stay active here! Physical activity is so important for keeping older people healthy and independent. I hope that when I am older I can still be active. I happened to have my camera on hand, and I decided it was time to get a shot of the people doing Tai Chi...I tried to be very sneaky and took the picture from behind a bush, but I think they may have noticed me.

There is a little Chinese food stall near our house, and the owner's mother is extremely old and I think senile. She just sits in front of the shop with her walker, sometimes chewing away on some rice, with her mouth hanging open and pieces of half-chewed rice falling onto her shirt. Despite the grossness of the sight of the food being smacked around between the woman's gums, I think it is cool that the owners of the shop have her there, so that she can be with her family and be "in the world". I guess they are not worried that the sight of their food in her mouth would make people not think it was very appetizing, which is great.

The other interesting thing about Chinese senior citizens is that the women are raging bitches while the men are nice, old, bumbling guys. I am not sure what makes the old Chinese women so mean, but I have noticed it over and over. They are the first ones to flagrantly cut you in line, bump into you, yell at you and just be mean all around. Is it because they have had harder lives? I don't know. People just put up with it. I would completely understand for elderly women, but some women start turning mean when they are 50. I am sorry, but when you are 50 you STILL have to wait in line. I have had women yell at ME when I tell them they need to get in the back of the line. They don't even try to be sly about it, they just sort of elbow you out of the way. Alot of times I just let it go, but sometimes it is too much for me to take. Another example of mean old ladies is the woman that runs the flower shop right outside of our building. I scurry past her everyday because she frightens me.




Tai Chi 


Broader View of Hong Kong Park 


Tai Chi in Hong Kong Park 

Meagan Hardy, Newly Appointed Ambassador to Hong Kong

On his way back from Aceh, where he was surveying the tsunami damage, Bill Clinton stopped into Hong Kong for a night of book signing. I was lucky enough to get a ticket! Last weekend, Matt and I were at Starbucks reading the newspaper and I noticed a teensy tiny little article in the lower right hand corner of a page in the middle of the paper that said that it had been confirmed at 6:30 the previous night that Bill Clinton would be signing books at the Kelly and Walsh Bookstore in Pacific Place. Pacific Place! That is right down the street from my house! I ran downstairs to the bookstore and bought a ticket, which the clerk informed me was the last one.

So, on Tuesday night I headed down to the bookstore to get my book signed...and there was a huge line wrapped around the mall! I wasn't really expecting that since I bought the last ticket at like 10 in the morning of the day that they started selling tickets. I thought maybe it was a small thing...but no, I waited in line for at least an hour. I was surprised because there were more Europeans and Chinese in line than there were Americans. But then, they seem to follow American politics even more closely than we do in the US. The security was NOT tight. I had to go through a metal detector, but I didn't have to check my bag. (Some people did though.) I went through the metal detector, but my purse didn't!

I was also surprised at how nervous I was while I was waiting in line. I had that anxious, butterfly feeling in my stomach. It was strange...I kept asking myself why I would be nervous, when I have met lots of famous people before. Then I realized that I have never met anyone famous before, except that time Matt and I saw Robert Redford from afar at the Sundance Ski Resort in Utah. But, I think I was more nervous to meet Clinton than I would have been to meet, say, Tom Cruise or something. But maybe not...I guess I would have to meet Tom Cruise to find out.

When I finally got into the bookstore, I caught a glimpse of Clinton. My first thought? Oh my gosh, he looks so skinny! He has really lost weight. Also, his hair was blindingly white. Other than that, it was surreal cause he looks just like he does on TV.

In my nervousness, I had given some thought to what I was going to say when I got up to Clinton. I had a number of ideas, but then I realized the line was moving so fast I wouldn't really have time to say anything. When I finally got up to him, I felt very awkward because I was in the middle of a circle of his aids, security, and bookshop staff. I felt nervous...and time felt so slow. He shook my hand, and I noticed his skin had that loose look that it gets when you have lost a lot of weight. His hair was so light, I could barely look at him. I felt sort of blinded. Then, he looked down to sign the book. I felt like a fish in a fish bowl with all of the security around me, staring...the seconds past by so slow that it felt like a lifetime. I decided I needed to fill in the gaping silence by saying something. And what did I say? WHAT DID I SAY?? In the tiniest, mousiest squeak that could possible imagine, I croaked out, "Welcome to Hong Kong!" I thought, Oh no, did that squeaky sound just come from me? Oh no! Oh no! Then Clinton looked up and gave me the strangest look. It wasn't a good look, it was more a look of confusion mixed with disgust. I am not sure if he just couldn't hear me and was deciding if he should ask what I had said, or if he was wondering why I had said it, or if he had misheard me and thought I said something mean. Well, whatever it was, the moment was over, and I walked away. I had an adrenaline rush, probably from my squeaky little comment.

I am not sure what possessed me to become the ambassador to Hong Kong...I have no idea where the comment came from. That was NOT one of the things I was planning on saying to him.

I wonder where he was staying in Hong Kong? Where did he eat? Or did he go straight on to Beijing where he had meetings the next day? It is strange to think of him in "my" city.

Another thing I thought about was the enormous responsibility it is to be president. You really are giving up your carefree, individual life. I thought of all the "classified information" he and Bush Sr. must have rattling around in their heads right now, and what a burden that must be. Because now, it seems like they can't do much...they just know all of the details of conflict across the world and they have to trust in and hope that the current president will do the right thing. Especially with the war in Iraq, it seems like it might be frustrating. But maybe that is just my spin on things, as I am highly controlling and if I had all the knowledge and no power that seems like it would be highly stressful.

Anyway, now I have his signature...guess I better read the book!



There it is... 

Exploring the World of Food Blogs

When I went home this Christmas, a lot of people commented on how much I write about food in my blog. After my extremely long entry about the Schezuan restaurant a few days ago, I realized this was true. So, I have decided to start a Hong Kong food blog about my dining experiences in Hong Kong. Matt has been helping me set it up...I can't use Blogger.com for the new blog because it doesn't let you categorize your entries by subject, it only lets you archive them chronologically. This has proved to be more difficult than I thought, so Matt has set up a web server for me. We have transferred Dad's web site over to the new server.

Because I am setting up my own food blog, I have been reading more and more of other people's food blogs. Other people out there love food too! It is great...I added two links to food blogs I especially like, Tiny Fork and The Joy of Soup. Tiny Fork is written by a woman in Kentucky and it has the most gorgeous pictures on it. I think I am drawn to it because it seems very "American" to me, and I sort of miss that. The Joy of Soup has a ton of good recipes for homemade soup. They look delicious! Ironically, along with my food blog which will document my dining out experiences, I have also vowed to cook at home more! Soup is a good option, especially when you have had a big lunch, like Matt and I often do. I have decided that eating out is more enjoyable when you don't do it for every meal...it loses it's novelty. Plus, it is expensive.

Article about work visas in Hong Kong

Just before Chinese New Year, I was approached by an American reporter from the Standard about being interviewed about my job hunt. I said yes, and I was featured in the article, as was my best HK friend, Kelly. When the reporter sent me the finished article, I didn't think much about it except that I sound like a major twit, with the line about how my "daytime activities now include shopping, watching movies with friends and going on trips to Bali and Thailand." It didn't really concern me much though, since for a large part, this is true. (Except the shopping part...I don't know where she got that. I hate shopping here and avoid it like the plague.) I sound like a twit, but I think that is a point, I feel like a twit too and it bothers me. Plus, who reads the Standard? Apparently the ladies in the AWA felt differently. They had this response:


Email sent by AWA official to Ann Collier, author of article about work visas:
I must respond to your article about the AWA and
> dependent spousal work
> visa's. I can and do not speak for the entire
> Executive Board of the
> American Women's Association, but only for myself. I
> was not only
> disappointed to read your slant about our
> organization but quite
> surprised as well. I truly feel that your article
> was not only a gross
> misrepresentation of our members but of our
> organization as well.
>
> Yes, it is true that some of our member's come to
> Hong Kong and would
> like to continue in their chosen career path.
> However it is not true
> that they can not work, it is only true that they or
> we need to be
> sponsored by an employer just as our husbands are.
> And yes, of course
> this makes it more difficult, but it certainly does
> not mean the only
> option to us is to stay home to bake cookies and
> decorate cakes, etc.
>
> There are many more of us that feel it is a real
> privilege to be living
> in Hong Kong. Many of us are very happy, not baking
> cookies, but
> "working" to raise money for the Hong Kong charities
> that we are able to
> financially support due to our many volunteers and
> their very diligent
> fundraising efforts.
>
> The AWA as an organization is fortunate that many
> of our members are
> educated, intelligent and articulate women. Some
> have had just as high
> powered jobs as their spouses, others have moved
> from country to country
> while raising a family. Not all of these women feel
> that they have been
> side lined as second class citizens.
>
> I am very sorry that we welcomed you into our
> international community of
> women only to read a gross misrepresentation of not
> only who we are but
> what we do.


I don't care what the women that wrote this letter says, it is hard to find work here unless you are in finance, the luxury goods business or teaching English. Especially if you are at the beginning of your career. However, I do know that when I am ready, after Dad's probate gets settled and I am less emotional, I WILL be able to find work teaching English.

So, I guess my question is, am I wrong to not be riled up about the article? Am I being naive? I feel like it doesn't affect my life at all and I have bigger problems to deal with. Maybe because I am young, because of the situation with my Dad, and because of all of the exciting travel opportunities here, I just don't care? Kelly didn't care much about the article either. I welcome comments about this. You can read the article by clicking on the link below.

The Visa Trap

Four Courses Too Many

I had the most fabulous meal last night. Kelly and I (and our men, both of whome couldn't make it of course) were invited to an acquaintance's birthday dinner. He is the Hong Kong wine rep for Gallo and is very "hip"....he knows all the cool restaurants and all the cool people associated with the Hong Kong luxury food and beverage industry. For his birthday we went to a private kitchen, meaning that it is not an official restaurant, but the home of a a couple. The couple that owns the private kitchen are from China, and the food is very spicy Schezuan style. The husband is an oil painter from Shanghai, and the walls were adorned with his paintings, which were very modern and intense. He had little round glasses, a mop top and a dark turtle neck -- the effect was very much like a Chinese John Lennon. The wife, who is also the chef of the nine course meal, was a Beijing opera singer before relocating to Hong Kong. The private kitchen has no name, no sign in front, it is just a door in an alley in Central. The only thing differtiating it is that the outer door is open and there is a lighted statue of a dragon near the entrance.

The private kitchen only has five tables, and two seatings a night. We were there for the first seating at 6:30, which I am grateful for since it takes a long time to get through 9 courses! There is no menu, you eat whatever the kitchen is serving that particular night. I love set menus, because I am so indecisive, and the chef will usually choose items that they are good at making and different courses that work well together. Now, I knew in advance that this would be nine course meal, and I am usually good at pacing myself so I still have room for the last courses. This time however, I wasn't warned that the four plates of appetizers brought out in succession when we got there were not included in the 9 courses of the meal! So I ate way to many appetizers, thinking they were the meal! I was so bummed...and the last courses we had, when I was completely stuffed, were the best ones.

So here is how the meal progressed:

For appetizers, there was sweet and sour cucumber, cold spicy jelly fish with carrot, and cold spicy glass noodles and a clear soup with spinach and tomato. I way too much of this stuff, thinking it was the meal.

The first real course was "saliva chicken", because it is so good that it will make your mouth water kust thinking about it. It wasn't muy favorite...it was still on the bone and had lots of squishy skin and fat still on it. But, the chicken meat I managed to salvage from between the skin, fat and bone was moist.

The second course was a spicy beef and chili soup seved over rice. Everyone kept warning me how spicy it was, but I didn't find it to be overwhelmingly spicy. Maybe it is spicy in comparison to Northern Chinese cuisine? I don't know, all I know is tat it wasn't as spicy as they made it sound to be. The beef was extremely moist. I was told that this is because the beef was oiled hours, and then marinated for hours, and hen cooked for hours. I tend to think it is also because there was so much fat in it! In addition to my delicious pieces of beef, I also had huge hunks of fat! Gross. The beef was good though.

The third course was a pork and cabbage soup. It was good, but I wish I hadn't wasted room in my stomack for this!

The fourth course was one of the most delicious flavour combinations I have ever had. It was right up there with peanut butter and chocolate or whipped cream and strawberries. And, this dish was made with food I don't normally like. It was a paella-like creation of rice, pork spare ribs, and sweet potatoes. It sounds sort of strange, but it was perfectly flavoured! The three main components melded together into a moist paella or rissotto-like consistancy and each bite was heaven in my mouth. I used alot of my stomach space on this dish, but it was worth it. I think I will remember it for a long time! I wish I knew the name of it.

The fifth course was a platter of steamed fish. Normally, this is one of my favorite dishes, but the pork spare ribs/sweet potato combo was a tough act to follow. I just took a few bites of the fish, since that is something I order all the time at Chinese restaurants.

The sixth course was another soup...it had clear broth and it looked like kale or spinach or something. I took a few slurps, but I didn't waste my precious stomach space!

The seventh course was Man Po Tofu, served over rice because it was so "spicy". Again, it was spicy enough to be delicious, but not excessively so. The British people at our table were very dramatic about the spiciness of the tofu. It wasn't that bad. It was excellent though, I love tofu, but I was getting so stuffed at this point.

The eighth course was one of my favorite items, I was so bummed that is came as the last of the savory dishes! It was homemade spicy pork dumplings. They were so yummy, and it was great because the pork in the center consisted of whole pieces of pork, not the minced pork that usually comes in dumplings.

The ninth course was a delicious and refreshing sweet soup. It was like a typical sweet tofu soup, with silken tofu in a bath of slightly sugared broth. But, this soup also had wonderful preserved lychee nuts and some sort of spongy root vegetable (maybe a turnip or something like a jicama? Or maby quava?) that soaked in the sweet broth. So yummy, and such a god variety of textures.

With all of this food, plus a glass and a half of wine, I was stuffed! Then, they brought out a birthday cake! It was made of mango, sago and pomelo. It was good, but I definitely had no room left. If it was chocolate, I may have made room...but it wasn't.

At the end of the meal, the chef came out from the kitchen, was introduced to everyone by her husband, the Chinese John Lennon, and then she proceeded to serenade us with a Chinese opera song. It was a phenomenal end to the night.

It was a very exciting dining experience. Anyone that comes to visit me will be taken there to sample some authentic Schezuan cuisine! It wasn't too expensive either, aside from the wine. You just have to make reservations far in advance. The only thing about the night is that we were there with a bunch of people in the food and beverage industry, and they went through SO MANY bottles of wine. They were all drunk. I only had a glass and a half but I still had to split the charge for the wine! The wine was ALOT more expensive than the meal itself. Bummer.

A few more Thailand photos

I was so sad to leave Thailand! The weather, food and massages are hard to beat. Everything was empty when we were there because of the tsunami, but we saw little damage from the tsunami. Granted, we didn't go out to look for the damaged areas, but from what we saw Phuket was fully functioning. A few of the beachfront bungalows at the Chedi had some water damage and were being cleaned while we were there.



Matt and Meagan, about to leave Thailand 


Meagan on Chedi Walkway 

Sea Canoeing in Phang Nga Bay

Probably the best day of our vacation in Phuket was spent sea canoeing in Phang Nga Bay. It was amazing! We were picked up from our hotel by the Sea Canoe crew and driven to the Ao Po beach, where the boat awaited us. Other people from other hotels were on our trip, including a father and son from San Francisco who are living in Singapore. When the boat got to Phang Nga Bay, we all got into flat, inflatable canoes with a guide, who did all the rowing. The islands had sheer cliffs of limestone that were maybe 30 feet high. Laying flat on our backs, the guide squeezed out little canoe through sea caves that are only accessible during low tide. When we got inside, we were surrounded on all sides by sheer, 30 foot high cliffs! It was a really quiet and eerie inside the walls. The water was still and sort of stagnant like a lagoon because there is only limited "flushing". In one lagoon we saw a family of Macaque monkeys. They were diving off of the cliffs into the water. It was so cool! Our guide said that they are really good swimmers. In another lagoon there were mangroves and in another a monitor lizard. After we canoed for a while, we went back to the main boat and the boat crew had prepared a huge Thai lunch for us. It was delicious! After lunch we got to take a canoe out by ourselves. I definitely recommend our tour group, The Original Sea Canoe. They were very friendly without being obsequious, and were very knowledgeable about Phang Nga Bay and it's ecosystem. They even gave us a VCD as a parting gift! They said that usually they go out everyday, but since the tsunami, they have only been out 3 times. There just aren't enough people visiting Phuket anymore. The only bummer about the day is that Matt and I didn't bring our camera!

Muay Thai Boxing

On the night that we went to the Night Market, Matt and I went to see a Muay Thai boxing match. The last time I had been to see a Muay Thai Boxing match was with Sarah Chipps in 2001 at the Ratchadamnoen Stadium in Bangkok. We were so sick from SARS that we couldn't enjoy it and had to leave early! So, I was excited to see another boxing match when I was feeling better.

We bought ringside seats, but it was sort of ridiculous because the stadium was so small. Actually, it wasn't even a stadium, it was more like a hanger for a crop dusting plane or something. All the people that were ringside were sunburned white tourists and Thai policemen, and all the people that weren't ringside were Thai. It was a funny boxing match cause all the boxers were children and teenagers. The crowd was really into the matches though since all of the old men were betting. It would have been fun to know what they were yelling. It was a fun night.



Matt next to the Muay Thai Boxing Ring 

Chinese New Year at the Chedi

The Chedi had a Chinese New Year extravaganza. It turned out that a woman from the AWA and her husband were also staying at the Chedi and their cottage was right next to ours! They invited us to eat Chinese New Year Dinner with them, and we did. It was a pretty fun night, hearing about their lives as expats and all of the travels that they have been on. After talking the them, I am dying to go to the wine country in New Zealand! It sounds gorgeous!


The Blancos 

The entertainment provided by the hotel was comical, at best. There was a cabaret show but Thai transvestites lip syncing very poorly to Western songs. That seemed to go on forever and was very random. The highlight was when one of the tranvestites came over and seductively stroked Matt's chest during a romantic song. Then there was a traditional Chinese Lion Dance, which was pretty cool! I would like to see that in China one day.


The Lion Dance 

After the Lion Dance, we released Chiang Mai Lanterns. It was very beautiful to watch. Chiang Mai Lanterns are fabric parachutes with a gas-soaked rag attached underneath them. You light the rag, and the balloon fills with air and floats upward. They get very high! I just wonder what happens to them when they come down...I made the mistake of commenting that when I looked up at them I felt like I was at the bottom of the ocean, and the lanterns were phosphorescent plankton or jelly fish. After I said it, I realized that is the sort of thing that you think in your head but don't actually say out loud. Haha! Oh well...it adds to my charm, right?


Matt Releasing Chiang Mai Lantern 

The Chedi

Our trip to Thailand was wonderful! Our hotel, The Chedi, was peaceful and relaxing, especially because it was so empty! The weather was gorgeous, as usual. It was a nice change from Hong Kong, which has been interminably grey and dismal.


The Chedi 


Matt in our Cottage at the Chedi 

The one thing about The Chedi was that it is a full service, luxury, 5 star hotel. I have never stayed at a hotel like that before and I don't think Matt has either...The only reason we stayed there is because they were having such a phenomenal deal on rates due to the post-tsunami tourist slump. So, Matt and I figured it would be a good opportunity to see if these luxury places are actually as great as all of our Hong Kong friends say they are. In my opinion, the answer is a resounding NO. Don't get me wrong, it was a wonderful trip and I loved having fresh baked biscuits left in my room at night while I was at dinner, and I loved having a never ending fruit bowl filled with exotic, delicious fruits. I loved how our cottage overlooked the ocean and was cleaned and organized by the staff everyday. I also liked the convenience of having the hotel take us to and from the airport, and how they reconfirmed our flights for us and carried our bags for us. The problem is that along with all of these perks came the "annoyance" of having a full service staff. I don't want them all to know my name and ask me how my day/night/previous 5 minutes was. I don't want them hovering around waiting to refill my wine glass with an elaborate flourish, and look mortally wounded when I try to do it myself. I don't want them to call me "madam" and act so subservient. It makes me feel weird. I just want to do things myself unless I ask for help, I want them to joke with me instead of act like a servant, and I don't want to have to keep responding to questions about how I am feeling and how my day is.


The Pool at the Chedi 

The other problem with nice hotels is that they are usually secluded and on private beaches. The good thing about this is then you don't have annoying hawkers trying to sell you every imaginable trinket and doodad. The bad part about this is that then there is no action! I want to see other people besides the fat white bloated rich people that were staying at the Chedi. I want to go into town, eat at lots of different restaurants and see lots of things. The Chedi was quite far from everything and the taxi ride to get around was 45 minutes. I think most people that stay at these hotels hang out only at the hotel, do the hotel's "planned activities", eat at the hotel restaurants, and then they leave. This is ideal if you have kids, are exhausted from the stresses of your daily life, or are scared of the outside world.

The biggest problem for me was the food at the hotel. It was absolutely delicious! Every morning we had a full breakfast buffet with the most beautiful display of tropical fruit that I have ever seen. In addition to that, they had homemade pastries and bread, and you could have anything made that your heart desired. I had pancakes and French toast most mornings. But aside from being delicious, the food was very boring. The token Thai items on the menu were very bland and westernized. Most things on the menu were Western, like deli sandwiches, Spaghetti Marinara, and Caesar Salad. Why would I want that in the country with some of the most delicious food in the world? In Thailand, the quality of food served by the street stalls is phenomenal. The ingredients are fresh and delicious, and the seasonings are spicy but not overpowering. It is a delicate sort of spiciness. Matt and I went to the night market one night and had the most amazing meal of Tom Yum soup, a deep fried fish with chili that we picked the meat straight from the bone, and a cold spicy seafood salad laden with squid, prawns, scallops and onions. Delicious! All that and two large Singha Beers for less than 8 US dollars.


Matt and I at the Night Market 


Night Market 

So in the end, which do I prefer, luxury or budget travel? For the time being, budget, by far. Maybe when I am old and tired, or when I have babies in tow, I will start doing the luxury travel thing. It was a good thing to try though...now I know what the whole luxury thing is about and that I truly enjoy the independence, freedom and excitement of a more simple travel style. That being said, our 4 days in Phuket at the Chedi were fabulous.

Last Chinese New Year Pictures (I promise!)

Before Matt and I left for Hong Kong, I couldn't resist taking a few more shots of the Cherry Blossom trees with the Lai See envelopes on them. They are so gorgeous!



Close up of Cherry Blossom Tree with Lai See Envelopes 


Cherry Blossom Tree at HK Airport 

Gearing Up for Chinese New Year

Today things are really gearing up for Chinese New Year. Alot of people get half days at work, and all the stores and streets are crowded. The whole city is decorated for CNY, with red hanging lanterns and orange trees and trees that have no leaves but are decorated with lai see packets. They are selling sweets everywhere, and red melon seeds and all types of "puddings". I tried a mini pudding yesterday, and it was sweet and very sticky and gooey. It didn't have anything suspended in it, but lots of the puddings do. Some of theme appear to have meat and other savory things suspended in them! I haven't tried those ones...The picture of the orange tree below was taken in the lobby of out apartment building. Our doormen decorate our building for every holiday, and they went crazy for CNY. I wanted to take a picture of the flower stand outside our house, they are overflowing with orange trees and willows and 5 pointed gourds, which are supposed to be lucky for the New Year. The word orange in Chinese sounds like the Chinese word for luck, so the trees are lucky for the New Year. The 5 pointed gourds are supposed to bring 5 generations of happiness. I am not sure what the willows are for. Anyway, all of these plants look glorious together at the flower stand, so I wanted to take a picture, but I am afraid of the toothless old woman that runs the stand! She is tough, and will follow you down the street and yell at you about the flowers. Plus, she overcharges me so much! I feel like she eyes me the whole time when I get in or out of a cab in front of our building. Like she is thinking, "Look, that spoiled gwei lo takes taxis...she is so rich, she must pay 30 US dollars for 10 willow branches."

Today I went down to the bank to get brand new bills to put in the lai see packets Matt and I are giving out. Apparently, for CNY everyone gives red envelopes (lai see packets) filled with money (the bills must be brand new) to younger relatives or to their employees. You are supposed to give them to your doormen and maids. The thing is, we have like 10 door men! I can't keep track of them all! I have a few favorites, of course, but I can't leave some out. Anyway, the bank was full of people trying to exchange their bills for brand new ones, and they were out of 20s. I went to three banks before I found one that still had new bills! I am excited to give my lai see packets out, I bought pretty red ones with gold writing on them.

Tomorrow Matt and I are leaving for Phuket! I am so excited...it is going to be wonderful. We will just stay at the beach and eat Thai food and get massages. Yay! The weather has been so gray and cold here, it will be nice to be somewhere sunny and warm. I think I am getting claustrophobic being surrounded by tall buildings all the time, so I am really looking forward to being in some open space. I just told Matt yesterday that Phuket was hit by the tsunami. For some reason he didn't put that together when we planned the trip, but I guess you do hear more about Indonesia and Sri Lanka in the news. They are really trying to get the tourists back into the region, since that is their main source of income. I guess we will see what it is like...



Chinese New Year Decorations in Hong Kong Park 

Chinese New Year Pudding 

Orange Tree with Lai See Envelopes 

Chinese New Year

Everything in Hong Kong seems to be sloooowing down for Chinese New Year. Decorations are everywhere and it seems like the city has this aura of anticipation this week. All the stores are posting their reduced hours for the next week and kids are out of school now. I have to get lai see packets for the staff in our apartment building. For Chinese New Year, you give red packets filled with crisp, new bills to people that work for you or that are younger than you. Everyone is selling mini tangerine trees and pussy willows because I think they are symbolic of good tidings for the new year, the Year of the Rooster. Last year was the year of the monkey. I read my Chinese horoscope for the upcoming year, and it said that while last year was very bad, this year will not be much better and that I had better not make any big changes. Hmmm....that doesn't sound very good to me.

They are also selling sweets everywhere...new ones that I have never seen before! The one below was particularly intriguing to me. How could I not be fascinated by a hard sesame ball with a red rooster looking cap on top of it? So, I bought one yesterday. The red part on top is not sweet like you would think, it is hard and tastes fried. The outer portion of the ball is crispy and hard and has sesame seeds on it. I was dying to find out what was inside...I thought it would be red bean or lotus seed paste. When I broke open the ball, there was a soft, peanut brittle type glob. It had peanuts, sesame seeds, and I think lotus seeds all mixed up in a sweet paste, sort of like caramel. It wasn't caramel though, it was just sweet. It was delicious! I wish I knew what it is called.



Chinese New Year Treat 


Inside of Chinese New Year Treat 

Taxes

I have been trying to get a jump start on the income taxes that I have to file for 2004. I have been going through Dad's files with his previous tax information and his time sheets for 2004 and it made me very sad. First of all, I realized that Dad only lived for 3 full months of 2004. Now 2004 is gone...and Dad only lived a little part of 2004. It is unbelievable to me. I can't get my head around it...this is my first year that I have been alive that Dad hasn't. I am sitting here crying, surrounded by files and thinking, "How could I forget about this..." It is so easy to get caught up with life here in Hong Kong, and traveling and all of the new friends I have met. Life is hectic and so it is easy to push thoughts out of your head if you want to. Dad hand wrote his income taxes for 2003, and seeing his handwriting that is so familiar tears my heart. I remember it so well. I remember last year when I was filing my own income taxes for the first time. Dad sat there with me on the phone and took me through each step. Not that it was that hard to do, since I only had to file a 1040-ez and didn't even have interest income. It must have been right before he left on his New Orleans trip...In fact, I still have my "To Do List" from the day he died, written before I found out that he had died of course. I had written, "photocopy and send out taxes." I keep that list of things to do because it is like a little window into what my life used to be like. It was paradise but I didn't know it. I had virtually nothing of consequence to think about, and yet I was "stressed". I didn't even know the meaning of stress then. I had no real worries and had a safety net that I could always rely on. I feel really bad for the girl who wrote the list because she had no idea what was about to happen. Whoa, that sounds very dramatic! I guess I really do have a flare for drama like Matt says.


My Daddy the Tax Man 

Food, Interviews and travel news

I am very excited because Matt and I are going to Phuket for Chinese New Year! It was a last minute decision, but I am so glad we have a trip coming up. Strangely, I feel like I haven't seen Matt for a long time. We were separate for most of Christmas and life is so hectic here in Hong Kong. He works late, so I spend most of my time with my girlfriends, or if we are together, we are usually out with a bunch of other people. This weekend he was showing around the RCA marketing team, and had soccer, so I hung out with Kelly and then we had a huge Chinese dinner at a place called the Red Pepper in honor of a friend that is going to be out of town for a while. It was so delicious! Somehow, Matt and I ended up taking home all the leftovers...I am never sure how this happens, but it is always US that takes home the extra food! Everyone else says no and scurries away and we must look like easy targets or something. Anyway, now I have had Chinese food every meal for the past two days. The meal was a FEAST: we ordered a whole duck cooked Beijing Style, a whole deep fried Garoupa fish, sizzling chili jumbo prawns, beef with black bean sauce, sweet and sour chicken and broccoli. For dessert, we had banana and apple chunks dipped in toffee. Then at the table, the waiter puts the toffee-dipped pieces in a bowl of ice water, so that the fruit is warm and soft inside but the toffee is crunchy and delicious. It was outstanding! I have had a lot of Beijing (Peking) duck lately. I like it, but I get sick of being forced to eat the slices of skin and fat that they serve up to your first....I like the meat that is inside better. I think they give you the skin and fat first cause that is supposed to be the "good" part, but in my opinion it isn't.

I have had two job interviews this week. The first was at a school for autistic children, for the position of a behavioral analyst. The woman who started the school has two autistic children, and she felt that there weren't any good programs for autistic children in Hong Kong, so she started her own. She uses the applied behavioral modification method, and feels that it is far more effective than other methods. She started the school with her own money and it is a nonprofit, so when she found out I didn't already have a work visa, she was very disappointed! Apparently it is expensive and time consuming to sponsor someone for a work visa. I can understand why she would be hesitant to do that when there are plenty of Hong Kong English speaking residents that could do the job. The other interview was with the mad science learning center, which uses inquiry based learning methods to teach science to elementary school students. Basically, it is exactly the same job I was doing at the Explorit Center in Davis, and it is part time and flexible, so it would be perfect for me. I was offered the job, but when I brought up the work visa issue, the man's face dropped! So, I think it will be harder to get a job here than I had initially thought, unless I end up teaching English, where they expect to have to provide a work visa. For some reason, I have a mental block against teaching English! It might be more fun than I think...but I think I will hold out until at least after Chinese New Year.