OK-Laaaaaaaaa

Yesterday was my most thoroughly tiring day yet.  Being perky and awake at 7 am doesn't last too long when one still goes to bed between 12 and 1 am trying to teach my body a new set of sleeping skills.  We started the day by visiting the coffee shop. Drank some lattes and caught up on the world news printed in the Sunday Post.  Hong Kong Sunday post has a cute little section titled: "Lies to tell Tourists." This Sunday's lie was, "the only crime still punishable by death is walking your cat on a leash" and was followed by a picture of the cutest little Siamese cat on a leash… Oh Hong Kong, we're going to get along just fine.  After breakfast we began making our way to somewhere. I honestly cannot remember where we went next.  You'll have that though.  At 9 am on Easter Sunday one would think the streets would be empty and quiet. No ho ho! Not in Hong Kong.  Its trample or be trampled on these streets and none of it is meant maliciously.  There are just so many people in this one space that collisions are bound to happen and all you can do is brush it off and make sure you're more solid in your stance next time.  

Hong Kong park! Duh, the photos that I took and posted yesterday probably should have been my first go-to when memory failed me only a short paragraph before.  I will say, for HK being such a massive city filled with millions of people, the government sure does recognize the importance of immaculately kept green space.  HK park was simply beautiful; think Krohn Conservatory with no glass house.  Trees and flowers were labeled and in some cases history was given on the flora (see the photo of the Jujube tree.)  Water features provided a calming barrier to the sounds of the streets surrounding the park.  There were also several badminton courts, tennis courts, soccer fields and benches with shade to simply sit on and relax.

Speaking of shade… People here are so anti sun its almost funny.  When walking down the street, a Hong Kong-er will make sure to walk in the shadows of the buildings towering above to prevent the suns rays from darkening their skin.  Every Walgreens type corner store is packed to the brim with serums, creams and masks used to whiten skin.  Ads in the MTR offer a more radical approach to skin whitening by showing dermatologists work on previously dark, speckled, and sun damaged skin.  Ladies and gentlemen alike walk around with pocket umbrellas to protect them from the sun in addition to the rain (which can start up whenever, we are an island.)  I even saw an elderly lady wearing gardening gloves, holding an umbrella, wearing a head visor and wrapped from the neck to her nose in a scarf to prevent even a single UV ray from touching her porcelain skin.  Looks like I'm White Skin Royalty over here!!

After HK Park, we took the MTR to SoHo which is a super hilly area very similar in topography and people types to Mt. Adams in good ole' Cincinnati.  The main streets are packed with bars, clubs and restaurants aimed at getting young people drunk and fed late at night.  We passed a 5 story dance club and a corner spot owned and operated by a 19 year old (which I think is just crazy! call me old fashioned). The narrower side streets are blocked off from car traffic and hundreds of vendors bring out their stuff in attempts to make a little money from the partiers last night who have sobered up in time for another night of crazy reckless debauchery.  I will say that SoHo is beautiful; the rolling hills with buildings perched almost precariously atop them, the winding alleys with nick-knacks, disposable fashion and freshly picked vegetables and finally, the giant escalators that take you to the top of the hill so you don't actually have to walk every ridiculously steep step.  And don't think that I'm being a Lazy Fatty American.  I AM NOT!!!  I've probably walked over 10 miles in the three days that I've been here!

After SoHo we hopped on the MTR and headed back home and towards food.  A few blocks form the apartment, we stopped at a Cantina (cheap local fare similar to a diner almost.)  I was too famished to take photos of the food, but let me tell you, for $36 HKD ($4.60 USD) was a ton of food and it was delicious!  Food coma setting in (and it was a light food coma, theres nothing too heavy about sliced sauteed beef atop plain rice and some soy sauce) we headed back to the apartment to rest for a bit and stretch out our (my) tired legs.  Naps were followed by a trip to yet another mall in a more local part of town (prices are much cheaper there since tourists rarely visit) with our roommate, Jason, to grab a snack and check out the ice skating rink (inside the mall) and the Lego History display in the middle of the first floor.  Sincerely epic.  Asians take the gold in this lego championship. I don't have photos because there were just too many people already in the little lego world and we didn't feel like wrestling the crowd.  After the mall we parted ways for a bit, Jason heading home and Nicholas and I heading to the Quarry Bay Park.  This park was a long lovely walk through lush greenery, soccer fields, basketball courts, a children's playground and tennis courts.  Talking advantage of the walkways over the highway gave us plenty of views of the South China Sea, the high-rises and the mountains on which they sit.  The weather was warm and breezy and the smell of the water was just lovely.  As exhausted as my legs were, it was hard to think about anything but the view in front of us.  One final MTR ride home to Causeway Bay (which sounds like it would be restful, except for the fact that one walks for about half a mile up a steep incline to get out of the station…)  One final nap at the apartment before Hot Pot!

Hot Pot is a style of dining where you are given your choice of broth and 2 hours to order and eat as much as you want for $100 HKD (~ $13 USD.)  We got a split pot with Drunken Chicken broth and Pig Intestine broth.  My stomach is still queasy a little from the jet-lag so I opted out of the Pig Intestine broth… this time.  For our meats/additives we ordered Pork Jowl (the jaw), sliced chicken, chopped chicken, sliced beef, sliced lamb, dried fish skin, golden mushrooms (super thin, long, tiny capped mushrooms with a consistency close to squid or noodles), lobster balls, fish cakes and taro noodles (super light thin white noodles that they tie in knots to keep them together in the broth).  You are then poured some soy sauce (Kikoman has nothing on HK soy Sauce) and sliced chilies and freshly minced garlic to add to your sauce should you please.  Let the cooking begin!  It was seriously some of the best food ever and well worth the money.  The drink specials were even cheaper in price though.  Three Carlsberg cans for $10 HKD ($1.30 USD)!  And the beers are served by Carlsberg Girls who run around in Carlsberg uniforms (jackets and mini skirts with matching go-go boots) making sure that your glass is always full.  I opted for a sprite this time and some of Jason's freshly made watermelon juice (which was exceptionally delicious) saving my alcohol calories for The Queen Vic and their Blackthorn (yummy yummy hard apple cider beer, just fantastic.)  The night ended and bedtime was divine!

Pictures to come later, the computer doesnt want to upload them right now.