Saturday, April 30, 2005

Pretty, pretty flowers

I loved the flowers Matt got me so much that I had to take a picture and post themon my blog. I think that this is the mmost elegant and gorgeous arrangement that Matt has picked out yet! The best part is that he remembered that I had pointed out the little pale green flowers when we were out a few days ago, and then he went back and used those flowers as the base for the bouquet...it looks perfect with the white flowers and the delicate greenery with it. If anyone knows the names of the green or white flowers, I would love to know for future reference. Are the white ones "mums"? I am not sure...I am terrible with flower names.

Well, Matt and I are off to Zhaoqing tomorrow for the three day weekend. I will let you know how it goes when I get back! Hopefully, I will have lots of pictures to share!


Matt's beautiful flowers Posted by Hello


Side view of my favorite bouquet Posted by Hello

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Five Years!

This morning Matt woke me up with the most beautiful bouquet of pale green and white flowers. At first I thought, "Hmmm...What is this blurry green mass in my face?" Then I thought, "Oh, I see, they are flowers." I thought maybe Matt was just being nice because we had just had the birthday celebration for him, but then he said, "Happy Anniversary!" I couldn't have been more surprised! I had completely forgotten that it was our anniversary. It wasn't even a faint thought in the back of my mind at any point this entire week, no wait, month, no wait, year...I was so caught up in his birthday and with all of the other stuff going on with me right now that when he gave me the flowers it was a total surprise! It was a good surprise, and I am glad that my appointment with Dr. Kay happened to be today, because I was in such a good mood after getting the flowers that nothing could bring me down. Matt was going to take me to breakfast but I said I would just rather eat at home cause it was early and I didn't feel like eating a big breakfast and then have him rush off to work.

The best part of the anniversary surprise is that Matt and I are going to Spoon by Alain Ducasse tonight! Woo Hoo! I have been wanting to go there since forever but it is expensive so we needed a special occasion. Spoon is at the Intercontinental Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, which has the mot gorgeous views of the skyline and the harbor. I have been to the hotel for high tea before and it was phenomenal. Also, Alain Ducasse is supposed to be one of the best chefs in the world. I am excited to try one of his restaurants! At the moment I am thinking that I want to get the duck foie gras...or the Boston lobster. For dessert I am thinking that I want the sugar and salt pralines. Of course, I will probably change my mind once I get there! I wish my camera was out of the repair shop so that I could surreptitiously sneak pictures of the food, cause I know it will be served gorgeously.

Since we aren't eating dinner till 9, we are going to take the Star Ferry across the Harbor and get drinks at Felix to watch the light show. Every night at 8, there is a light show over the Harbor that involves all of the skyscrapers shooting different colored lasers and various other light-related novelties. Felix is a good place to see it from because it is at the top of the Peninsula Hotel and it was designed by Philippe Starck so it is very "cool". Even the bathrooms have amazing views of the harbor. Apparently in the men's room the urinals are "strategically located" so that you feel like you are "going over the edge". The women's room isn't that cool, but still has a great view.

Ok, I am sitting here with my hair in Grandma Janet's velcro curlers and I am getting butterflies in my stomach. I am very excited!

Results of Spinal Tap

I just had my appointment with Dr. Kay to discuss the results of the spinal tap I had last month. It is official, I have proteins that signify MS in my CSF. They found nothing else "abnormal" about my CSF or about my blood. Dr. Kay did an exam on my legs and thought they were still a little bit strange, because my right food had a very hard time feeling the vibrations from the tuning fork. Also, my right leg is much more flexible, while my left leg is very stiff. Hmm...

He said that I am now "laboratory diagnosed probable MS" and "clinically diagnosed possible MS". I am laboratory diagnosed probable MS because I have shown signs of MS on both an MRI and a spinal tap. I am clinically diagnosed possible MS because I have had only one attack. When or if I have another attack on a different part of my body, I will be upgraded to clinically diagnosed probable MS. This concerns me because my first week of college I "saw double" which I just ignored at the time, but now I know that is one of the ways that MS can flare up. At the time I just chalked it up to the stress of starting college and then moved on. It went away and I forgot about it till now.

He said that in 5 years, I have a 20-30% chance of having all traces of MS be gone from either the MRI or from my CSF or both. I have an equal chance of still having traces of MS, but no "flare ups". I have a great chance that I will have recurring attacks.

He said that I should come in for a follow up visit in 6 months, just to monitor my progress because when I leave Hong Kong he wants to be able to write as complete a report of my case as possible, so that the doctors in the US have all of the information they need. He also said that if the MS gets worse for some reason there are a coupe of options. If I have an extreme flare up, they can give me steroids. There is also something called "Interferon" that is used for people that have 2 attacks per year. It is effective but inconvenient because you have to do self-injections every other day.

Dr. Kay said that he recommends that I stay active but not do too strenuous of exercise like running marathons. To me this is a very "Chinese" view point. They don't seem to like to exert themselves much. Not that I plan on any marathons in the future, but I refuse to limit myself if I don't want to. I reserve the right to do whatever I want! I hate limiting myself, even in theory. He also said that there is no "special diet" that I should follow, just try to eat a balanced diet, which I do anyway.

Dr. Kay said that I am not alone, because he has had a quite a few new MS cases in the past few months. (When he says "quite a few", he means 5, because MS is a rare disease especially among Chinese people.) Two of the cases were Chinese people and three were white. He said that MS is 100 times more prevalent amongst people of Northern European descent than amongst Chinese people. Multiple Sclerosis is thought to originate from the Viking population. Hmm...I guess my Swedish/English heritage isn't doing me any favors here! Also, he said MS is correlated to the latitude at which you lived your first 15 years. For instance, people who live at about a 40 degree latitude (New York and London) are much more likely to get MS than someone who lives in, say, Panama or Indonesia or somewhere closer to the Equator. Also, if someone is Chinese, a population with very low rates of MS, and they are much more likely to get MS if they spend their first 15 years in New York rather than Hong Kong. Very interesting...I spent my first 15 years in San Diego, which should be ok, but I still have MS so these "interesting facts" don't do me much good!

In the end, I was not affected much by the visit with the doctor. I feel good, I am living my life and I have a lot to look forward to. I am doing a ton of physical stuff in the hopes that one day if I am mobility-impaired, I can look back and feel satisfied that I have had many adventures and tried lots of different things. Rock climbing, skiing, hiking, windsurfing...I will remember my fun and I hope that I will take some comfort in that.

This day is actually a wonderful day...I will explain in my next post. I have to leave now...

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

More pictures from Matt's Birthday!

I just got some more pictures from Matt's birthday...


Our feast! Posted by Hello

Matt and I before the night began. Posted by Hello

The end of a long night... Posted by Hello

Here is the bongo guy... Posted by Hello

Did I mention the really tall guy? Posted by Hello

Monday, April 25, 2005

The Big 2-7

Last year I didn't do anything for Matt's birthday. We were both so overwhelmed with the prospect of moving to Hong Kong (he left a few days after his birthday) and also because my father died less than a month before. I remember mom asking me what I was getting him for his birthday and I was like, "What?!? I am pissed enough that he is leaving me and I have a kajillion things on my plate right now...His birthday is the least of my priorities!" Now a year has gone by and I feel a lot better than I did at this time last year! So, I decided I wanted to makeup for his non-birthday last year and also thank him for all of his patience and support for the past year. He has been very understanding (most of the time) and so much energy and attention has been focused on MY life and MY problems in the past year that I wanted to do something fun for him...a party for his 27th birthday!

Matt's birthday is not until May 2, but that is a three day weekend here and I had a feeling a lot of people would be on holiday then so I planned his dinner for this past Saturday the 23rd. The dinner was at The Stoep Restaurant on Lower Cheung Sha Beach on Lantau Island. Lower Cheung Sha beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in Hong Kong. (Or at least I think so...) The sand is white and it is clean and usually not too crowded. The Stoep is a South African Restaurant that serves the most delicious homemade bread, barbecued meats and delicious grilled vegetables. I had lunch there with my friends and Mel told me that they did big parties with meat on the spit. I knew Matt would love it there because you really feel like you are out of Hong Kong and in some vacation destination. I talked to the owner and she said she could get a whole lamb on rotisserie for us...perfect! Matt loves lamb and it isn't a common meat in Hong Kong. (Hong Kongers are crazy for pork...lamb isn't as popular.) I think he loves it cause of all his years of 4-H in Eureka. I won't go into too much detail about the food here...I will save it for my food blog when I get the pictures of the lamb.

I think both Matt and I really felt loved...we had 23 friends there all celebrating Matt's birthday! It was great! The plan was to start with Sangria by the beach and then eat dinner while the sun set. It was a good plan, but I failed to realize that the restaurant was on the wrong side of Lantau Island for a pretty sunset. Oh well, it was a nice idea, right? I had several other "planning problems" but I won't go into detail...I chalk it up to inexperience. I have never really planned a dinner that big and worked with a restaurant to create a set menu...maybe after planning a few more big dinners like this I will be better at it.

We all had a good time and I told everyone to head over meet us over at Isola after dinner. I figured we would lose some people on the way back because it takes about an hour to get from the restaurant back to Central, but we didn't! We have fun friends I guess cause everyone was waiting for us when we got to the bar. (One of my planning problems was that I failed to realize that Lantau has a limited number of cabs, so Matt and I and some other people had a late night adventure on the city bus.) Isola is very hip bar that overlooks the harbor. It has a DJ and everything is white. It was cool. The only down point for me was that I fell off the couch and hurt my knee. I was attempting to take a short cut by climbing over the couch and I totally slid off and landed on my knee. It was highly embarrassing but I lived through it!

After Isola we headed over to Gecko which was packed the brim but we saw more friends there so it was great. There were people playing bongo drums. The music was good and we met some guys that went to the art center in Pasadena! Haha! I love people from California...we are so much more laid back and our style is much cooler that East Coast people. We also met the back up band for Cheryl Hayes, all of whom were also from California.

We got home late and crashed...I think Matt had a good time. I hope he did! Now I have to think of a present for him! I think we will be in the Guangdong Province in China for his birthday, so he may just get a high five and a "Happy Birthday".

I will post more pictures when I get them. My camera is still in the repair shop so I had to borrow Payal's. I got some good shots though, including ones of the bongo players and a really, really tall man in the club whose head almost touched the ceiling.


My Pretty Blue Eyed Baby! Posted by Hello


Mel, Me and Payal in front of the Stoep Posted by Hello


Me, Matt and Kelly Posted by Hello


Matt with his buddy John Posted by Hello


Uh, yeah, there was a bull on the beach... Posted by Hello

Friday, April 22, 2005

Sunset Peak Hike

Today I went on a hike with the AWA. Kelly went also, and before we went she told me that she was afraid it was going to be too difficult for her. I said, "No, don't worry about it. We do yoga all the time! Plus, the AWA ladies are old. Even if they say the hike is going to be really hard, they are just old and so they think everything is hard." Ha! Well, in my defense, most of the women in the AWA are old! The women on the hike were not as old as most in the AWA but they were still older than us. But, they were possibly the most fit, outdoorsy women I have seen in Hong Kong. They all had dryfit gear, little Lululemon workout shorts, cool new backpacks with straps to hook things on to, and camel backs to sip water out of. And they were all tall! And fast! They had long legs and they used them!

The hike was absolutely gorgeous. The weather was muggy and hot but also sunny and clear and the view from the top was spectacular. Sunset Peak is on Lantau Island and we could see around the whole thing, and all of the little islands that surround Hong Kong Island. It was well worth the hike up there! It was quite strenuous. I think due to all of my Dad's backpacking trips, my past marathon training and my massive "Hardy thighs", I did just fine. I could handle the hike despite the fact that my legs were not as long as the other ladies and I didn't have cute little black shorts and hiking gear. Kelly had some problems...First of all she is 5'2 and has little short skinny legs that aren't used to hiking or running. She is from New York and before that New Jersey and she never did outdoorsy stuff growing up. She was really slow...It took her a lot longer than everyone else. The leader of the hike was nice but also very "schedule oriented" -- you can interpret that how you want to. When Kelly made finally made it down to where we had stopped for lunch, she sat down next to me and her legs were shaking on their own...they were tired legs! When she had a drink and got out our sandwiches (She made our sandwiches and brought the goodies and fruit), she took about two bites and the hike leader said it was time to go! I felt so bad! But, I understood because everyone else had been there for quite long time and had eaten lunch. I scarfed my sandwich down but she was still too tired to eat, her legs were shaking. But she got up anyway, and we hiked the rest of the way. The thing I found amazing about this hike was that Kelly kept such a good attitude the whole time...she smiled and chatted and acted like she was having a great time even though she was obviously struggling. She never complained even though she didn't get to eat lunch and she never got to rest for longer than two minutes. The group got down to the ferry pier in time for the ferry we were scheduled to take, but Kelly couldn't get back in time, so a few people waited and rode a later ferry with us. I was just amazed that she stayed happy and smiley like usual...It was very inspiring! She was such a good sport. Some of the ladies were not very patient. I was very impressed by Kelly today. I was also amazed that she struggled so much...we both do yoga a lot and I consider it to be a very good work out but maybe it isn't so good for cardiovascular endurance. I thought it was because in the yoga classes we take, I get very sweaty and my heart pounds like I had been running or something. Maybe I need to start doing more cardio!

Also, I was reminded of going on hikes with Dad when I was little. It seemed like we always had a straggler...whether it was me or Jessica or Quinnie. We all straggled at some point. Today's hike made me appreciate how patient Dad was. He was so patient and yet he wouldn't let anyone quit because he knew what a sense of accomplishment they would get at the end of the hike, or pass, or ski slope, or whatever. He wouldn't try to hurry anyone or act like they were too slow and were holding everyone up. He would carry things from the straggler's back pack and let them take as long as they wanted, even if that meant finishing in the dark. He didn't have that much patience in all things, but in most things, hiking in particular, he did. I missed him today!

When I was remembering hikes with Dad, it also made me appreciate Kelly's good attitude! I know I wasn't always such a good sport when I was the straggler.

As I am sitting here, post hike and shower, I have that glorious feeling that comes from being outside all day doing something active with good friends. You know that feeling? When you are tired but yet exhilerated at the same time? And you just feel happy? The first time I had this feeling and was conscious of it was at the Yeckel house, and I was in Mom's room in the garage. We had been at the beach all day, and I had been boogie boarding. We came home and I took a shower and then was vegging in front of the TV, waiting till we went down to get some dinner. I remember thinking, "I am so happy right now. I feel like my heart will burst out of my chest." It must have been great, cause I remember it to this day. I also get this feeling after a day of good skiing, rockclimbing, or a really good yoga class. Basically, anything outdoors and with people, in good weather. Oh, and after the long runs on Saturday mornings with the San Diego Track Club. The reason that I mention this is because I am afraid that if I do have MS and it gets worse, I will never be able to do these things again, and therefore never have that glorious feeling again! It is scary!! What if I won't be able to do all of these things that I love to do. I am not sure what I will do...maybe find new things to love to do?

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Ocean Park and the Very Scary Teeth

Yes, I know...I was supposed to go to the doctor today to find out the results of my spinal tap. And yes I know, it may appear that I was avoiding the truth today when I rescheduled my appointment with Dr. Kay until next Thursday. However, I don't think I was avoiding the truth at all, I think I was living my life.

When Matt and I walked outside today, the weather was clear and gorgeous. Sunny, not too hot, not too humid. It was glorious...pretty much like any day in San Diego. The weather is exhilarating for me because we have had 4 months of interminable grayness, cold and rain. We got on the bus and I proceeded to try to convince Matt to ditch work and go to Ocean Park with me. He said no, he had a meeting with some engineers and he just couldn't do it. I was sad but pretty much accepted his response. However, I detected some hesitation in his voice when he said no, so after I got off the bus and he headed to the MTR station, I text messaged him, asking if he was absolutely sure he wanted to go to work. He said he was coming back! I was so excited! It was such a spontaneous decision! Then I remembered I had the doctor appointment, but I quickly decided to reschedule it. After all, Matt had rescheduled his meeting, right? Plus, life comes before stupid medical tests. I feel fine at the moment so I may as well do fun things.

We went on the roller coasters, checked out the aquariums and saw the pandas. It was so great! There was only one hitch in the day: most of the other visitors were from Shanghai. Shanghai is a very cosmopolitan city, so I am sure they have seen white people before. They acted like I was the first white girl they had ever seen. We were in line for the cable car and Matt left to get a drink. I was left with a group of about 6 or 7 Shanghainese men leering at me unabashedly with weird grins on their face. They had a strong stench, one that I have learned to associate with China: the smell of clothes that completely saturated with stale cigarette smoke. The men were wearing sort of cheap looking, ill fitting suits and they smelled like they had been chain smoked in but never washed for the past ten years. It is a really strong, distinctive, and disgusting smell. Although I am used to getting stared at in Asia, particularly when I was in India, it really disturbed me today. It think it was because people were staring at me in what I consider to be my "home turf", Hong Kong. I am comfortable here and don't want to be stared at constantly. Also, the men were grinning like crazy people. Let me tell you about people from the mainland: some of them have the most disgusting teeth I have ever seen. They generally seem to be back or yellow in color, they may or may not have a full set of teeth, the teeth that they DO have are usually mangled or gnarled looking in some way. The kids' teeth are fine, and the women's teeth are better than the men's. I think it has something to do with constant smoking or tobacco chewing and lack of brushing and flossing.

There must have been about five separate tours groups of people from the mainland. At one point Matt and I were sitting on a bench eating ice cream cones and a tour group walked by, it had about 45 people in it. They all had matching hats on and were following a leader with a flag. As people walked by, when they caught sight of Matt and I sitting there, they would slow down, swerve toward us, look us up and down from our head to our toes to our bags and ice cream cones. They would continue walking but would crane their necks around so that matt and I were in sight for as long as possible. Then, They would look back a few times before walking on. It was unbelievable. Every single person did it...usually while baring their teeth in something that could be interpreted as a "smile".

Sorry, this was a very cruel paragraph about Chinese people. I love them, they are very friendly and I am sure they were just interested in Matt and I and what we were doing. But it got really frustrating! Oh well...

Then Matt and I went to Stanley to have dinner. It was so wonderful! We had Spanish food overlooking the water. It was yummy, and a trio of guitar players came to our table and serenaded us. It was very romantic...they sang "Wonderful Tonight" which is one of my favorite songs. It is funny how the spontaneous things are so much more romantic to me than things that are supposed to be romantic. This whole day had a romantic feeling to it because it was unplanned and everything seemed to work out well for us...The serenade of one of my favorite songs by the water after a delicious Spanish meal was the perfect end to a great day. When Matt and I try to plan romantic things it doesn't work out so well. Like for instance, when we went to the Chedi in Phuket. Everything at the place was calculated to be relaxing and romantic, but all we wanted to do was escape to the Muay Thai boxing matches or sea kayaking!

So I guess the point of this story is that I didn't find out the results of the Spinal Tap. I will find out next Thursday.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

MS update

I recently got an email from Grandpa Yeckel asking about the results of my spinal tap that I had quite a while ago...Yes, I need to find out the results! His email reminded me that while ignorance is bliss, I can't live in denial forever. So, I wrote on my To Do List to call Dr. Kay, and at that moment Dr. Kay's secretary called me to schedule an appointment to discuss the results of my test. So, I will find out tomorrow...Sorry that I brought up all of this stuff about MS and then I haven't mentioned it again! I guess I was having fun pretending that it all didn't exist, that the hospital and the whole "leg not working" thing was a dream (or nightmare). I will post the results tomorrow when I get back from my appointment.

On another note, I have officially settled the dates that I will be in the US: June 12 to July 22. I haven't ironed out all the details yet, but I plan on being in Minneapolis at the beginning and end, in San Diego some time in the end of June, in northern California briefly at the beginning of July, and in Yellowstone in early to mid July.

Po Leung Kuk

Today I started volunteering at an orphanage called Po Leung Kuk. It was very, very tiring! It will be a worthwhile thing to do though...the kids there are starved for affection! Kelly and I were with the one to two year olds. Usually kids are sort of hesitant with new people, but when we walked it they all ran over and stretched their arms up to be lifted. The competition among them is fierce! If you are holding one kid, other's will reach up and grab their legs and try to pull them down. If a group of kids are all reaching up to you, the more aggressive kids will push the others out of the way. If you are carrying a kid and you try to put them down, they turn into a "limp noodle" so that you can't let go of them. I sat down with one girl and we were playing and then 3 kids bum rushed us and hit the girl! It was crazy! It's a matter of survival of the fittest, I suppose. It is draining because no matter how long you are there, or how many kids you hold, feed, play with, talk to, it is never enough! And there are like 30 kids per room. Luckily, this morning there were several of us in the room at the same time, so ore kids got attention at once, and there was less competition.

The interesting thing about the orphanage is that it seems like all of the kids are boys. There were only two that I could definitively classify as girls. This is interesting to me because I was under the impression that most kids given up for adoption among Chinese are girls? Or maybe that is just China?

Monday, April 18, 2005

Electric Facial

Today after tennis, Kelly, Gail and I went to get facials. Since Kelly is the editor of the Aware Magazine for the AWA, the Plateau Spa approached her to write an editorial about the spa and also asked if her and two of her friends could be testers for a new facial technique. So, Gail and I were the lucky two to go with Kelly! The Plateau Spa is at the top of the Grand Hyatt, and it was amazing! I had been to the Grand Hyatt before for Dim Sum (which was excellent) and to the Champagne Bar (which was painfully boring), but I was not expecting the glorious oasis that was awaiting us at the top floor! Everything was calm and serene, with slate walls and tasteful flowers everywhere. The pool was beautiful and overlooked the harbour. The sauna had giant windows on the side that overlooked the harbour too! (Although I am sure those get steamed up when the sauna starts heating up...)

We were all in awe of our surroundings and were eager to be "models" for the facial training session. It started off good, just like a normal facial. You know, cleansing, exfoliation, massage, all the usual stuff...And then the electrocution began. Yes, that is right, electrical currents were applied to my face through two sponges. I can only imagine they look like those things they used to shock people into consciousness on ER. It felt like tiny needles were going into my face! I thought that was bad, but then it got worse! They turned up the electricity so that my muscles in my face started twitching when the sponges went over them. My eyebrow was particularly twitchy...whenever the sponges got close to my mouth, I would get a very strong metallic taste which they said was due to plaque. Hmmm...I think it has to do with being electrocuted! A French lady was lecturing during the facials on how to give the "facial". When it was done-- 2 1/2 hours later -- she came around with mirrors and gushed over how much better we looked after the treatment. Well, frankly, I have rarely looked worse in my life! My face felt like it had just run a marathon, and it looked even worse. The spa director told me that I had sun damage, which is probably true, and that I need to start wearing eye cream at night and drinking 4 liters of water a day. That's a lot! If anyone speaks French and wants to see the website for the company that does this type of facial, click here.

After the facial, I was completely drained. I went with Kelly and Gail to have lunch by the pool but I felt like a dead person...I have been feeling like that a lot lately. Like, an overwhelming tiredness throughout my body, and I usually end up running home and crashing on the couch. It is a bummer...

Sunday, April 17, 2005


Sign for the Chinese Medicine and Tea Shop Posted by Hello

Oooops!

Last night when Matt and I came home after a long night out I got the really stupid idea that I was going to change the settings on my blog...you know, spice it up. Big mistake! I forgot to save all of my links and my hit counter! I am so bummed...You can tell I am neglecting this blog while I set up my new food blog. Don't worry, I will set everything right again tomorrow morning.

Tonight I dragged Matt out to a dinner with my book club. It took some cajoling, but he did it, I guess he must love me! I am not sure if I have mentioned my book club before, but it is basically the same people that were in my At Home Group when I first got here. They are great ladies but alot older and British, so we don't have much in common. Anyway, we were supposed to go in a junk boat out to Lamma Island for some seafood but there was some problem (I never got the full story) and so there was no boat. Instead, we went on one of the lady's husband's new boat. It was huge and he had just gotten it ten days before. He didn't know how to drive it and his captain was not available on such short notice so we all went over to his boat and talked and then we ate at the Jumbo Seafood Restaurant. It was a long night...lots of forced conversation. My friend Kelly's fiance and Matt were a little too obvious about their feelings about being there and it was sort of embarrassing. But, I don't blame them too much cause I was dying to get out of there myself. Kelly and her crew and Matt and I went out and tried to salvage the night, but it didn't quite work for me. I slept all day today and I was still tired all night! We were out really late on Friday night, so that could have had something to do with it, but still I have been unnaturally tired. I suspect it might have something to do with the MS but I hesitate to ascribe everything that happens to me to the MS. I could just be tired, afterall. I lead a very hectic life, despite the fact that I am not working. I rush around from thing to thing everyday and am constantly socializing and making small talk which can really wear you out!

Since I am rambling on, I want to mention that I have taken up tennis! It is great, I love it! Kelly, Gail and I have lessons every Monday. I am terrible but I am vowing to practice more when the weather gets nicer. (It is raining and windy right now.)

Kim, from The Daily Life of Kim, could you please send me the link to your blog? I tried to google it and went through 55 pages and still didn't find it! I am so bummed. Yours is the only link I haven't been able to find again.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

My Food Blog Is Up!

Well, I haven't posted for a while because I have been super busy and also because the program that uploads my photos onto this blog is not working. I have some pictures from my foray into Chinese medicine that I want to post, but it will just have to wait I guess. In the meantime, I have been working on my food blog! You can see it here. Matt has helped me alot with it, he did the skyline of Hong Kong and set up our own server which now houses both my dad's website and my blog. Alot of the food pictures are old, so I may have posted them on this blog already... I am so sad because my digital camera is broken. I have realized I am so dependent on my digital camera now, I usually carry it in my purse in case I see anything interesting when I am around town. If anyone has a digital camera that they love, I would love to hear about it. I need a new one, stat!

As a side note, I was talking to my mom the other day and she told me that I like food more than anyone she knows. This sort of scares me! I am just intrigued by all of the new, exotic foods that I am seeing around me as I travel. But it is true, sometimes I am astounded how other expats seem so reluctant to try even commonplace foods in Hong Kong.

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Oh, the irony...

Well, yesterday was the one year anniversary of Dad's death. Yesterday was also a public holiday in Hong Kong. What was the occasion? The Ching Ming Festival, which is the spring day of remembrance for the dead. Chinese families go out in droves to honor their departed loved ones, sweep their graves, light incense and burn "paper money" so that the dead ancestors will have money in the afterlife.

Since it was a public holiday, Matt had the day off work. I am really glad that he did! I think I needed someone with me...I had no idea how emotional I would be! Of course, I thought about it before the actual day, but I figured that I have been sad for a year, why would this day be any different. (Here you can tell I am my father's daughter...I was thinking "What difference does it make? I don't need a particular "day" or "anniversary" to tell me when to feel sad or to think about someone!") For this reason, my emotions totally snuck up on me...Matt and I woke up, and I wanted to eat breakfast out, but he wanted to eat omelets. So, he made them, and when I went to cut into my omelet, all of the leaky, squishy-gishy egg juice in the center leaked out. Gross! I hate that! But, instead of acting like a rational person, I got really, REALLY upset. I started crying, quietly at first. Matt noticed and was pissed: I was insulting his cooking and being high maintenance! He told me to cut it out, at which point I lost it. I felt the rage surge through my body. I grabbed a knife off the table (a butter knife, thankfully) and threw it at him, movie-style. Matt had forgotten that it was the anniversary or Dad's death, and so he was PISSED. He slammed the kitchen door. Now my crying escalated to a full scale wail. The kind where your mouth is wide open like Lucille Ball. I couldn't stop. Then I think I said, between sobs, "It is the day my Dad died and you can even let me eat what I want!", or something equally ridiculous like that. He felt very sad that he had forgotten and forgave me for throwing a knife at him. After my tantrum, I felt like my body had been completely drained of all energy. My limbs were weak and sort of shaky feeling. In retrospect, I think it is good that Matt made a gross omelet. For me it is hard to admit emotions to myself, and so it takes something happening to force me to let it out.

Then, we decided to go to a spot on Bowen Road where we knew people would be burning paper money for their ancestors. You see, Dad had left a stack of the fake paper money and incense from the last time he had been in Hong Kong. While it is not my tradition, I figured that since he left me the supplies and since I have no family around to mark the day as "special", I figured I would go burn the money for him. We took a picture of him, the one he took in Borneo that is on his website, and the money (at least a million dollars worth!) and the incense. Honestly, I did feel alot better after burning the money. It sort of helped me feel like I did something concrete in remembrance of Dad. If I was at home, maybe we could have had a family dinner or something, but I wasn't. We sat there for a while, talking about how we couldn't believe it had been a year, how much has changed in the past year, etc.

From there, we went down into Wan Chai and had some giant bowls of noodles with pork dumplings. We also walked around the markets in Wan Chai and had waffles from a street stall. It was good...I felt calm. We made dinner at home and listened to one of the CDs Dad burned for me, Pharoah Sanders. I miss him. I still can't believe that he is gone. It seems unbelievable.

I guess this is a good opportunity to thank everyone that has helped me through this past year. It was the hardest year of my life! I am a different person now. The outpouring of love and support has been phenomenal, and I am so grateful. Also, I have realized I am so lucky in the friends that I have! I always manage to find the nicest people to be friends with, it is great! My friends here in Hong Kong, although new, have been amazingly supportive.