Well, it has been one month since I came back to the States and it has been quite a change. Once again, I had to deal with not sleeping through the night and it took me almost two weeks to get over the jet lag. I couldn't sleep very late (normally I would get up around 3:30-4) and I was needing a nap around noon. Since I was home for the Holidays, I thought it was completely acceptable to take a nap in the middle of the day.
When I first came home, I liked going back to the big department stores. It was great to find almost anything I needed, all in one place. However, I did find myself rushing around as I normally did in HK, but there weren't any huge crowds to beat or anything. Just yesterday I was in Jordan Creek Mall with my family and they mentioned how busy it was. I just chuckled to myself. I didn't find it too busy. I think it is busy when you are completely shoulder to shoulder with the person next to you and you have to fight your way through a mall. That is how I remember malls in HK, and that was just on a normal mall in HK on a weekend afternoon!
I thought maybe I would have a hard time driving again since I hadn't driven a vehicle that went faster than 12 mph in over six months, but the day after I came home, I got in my truck, fired it up and drove it to town without a problem. I guess it is like riding a bike, it is just something you don't forget. I have enjoyed driving around and having the privilege to drive wherever I want, whenever I want. In a couple weeks I will be moving to Florida and will drive all the way down. It will make for a nice three day road trip.
My mom is a great cook, and has enjoyed having me back home for a short while so I have been able to over indulge in all the great holiday food that has been cooked in our house. I like eating the home cooked meals again. I have probably also eaten a fair share of American junk food like Nutty Bars, Nerds, Pringles, and all sorts of homemade cookies. I have also been eating some great homemade breads and meals so don't think I just live off junk food!
When I came back from HK, I decided to take a month off of writing any articles and cut back on a lot on many of the e-mails I would write daily. Since my one month vacation is up, I now will need to get back to my writing so my goal is to write at least two blogs per week. Writing the blogs will help jog my memory of many of the things I did in the final few months of HK and it will finally force me to sort out the hundreds of pictures I took. Stay tuned for some new, fresh posts!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving!
I am sorry I have not written in my blog recently, but don't worry, there is still much more to come. I have been quite busy recently, and have not had the time to write. However, I did want to wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving and to give an update as to what I have been up to.
As my internship here in Hong Kong comes to an end today (it is Friday here as I write this, but still Thursday back in the States) I have been busy getting paperwork finalized to legally leave Hong Kong. It feels weird having this be my last day at work, my desk is cleaned out, and I have returned many borrowed things to people.
This afternoon after I finish work, I will head up to China for one last trip to visit a golf course and maybe a local market. I will write about that later. I will then come back tonight and begin packing tomorrow. I know my mom would be giving me an ear full if she knew I had waited until 2 days before my departure to begin packing, but I am sure I will have no problems getting it all squared away before then.
I will be back in the States on Monday, but that does not mean that my blog about my Hong Kong Adventure is over. I still have a few topics left to write on, and I also want to write about my transition back in to the US. I know many things will feel strange and I may look at things back home in a much different light. I also know the weather will be a huge change too. Currently it is 66 here and it feels pretty cold, and back home it is about 26, ugh! I have asked my family to come to the airport with my heavy Carhart, but I am sure I will still be quite cold!
I know that as I move back and get back in to the swing of things, life will be different and I will share some of that on here too. I know I will have to get used to driving again, and on the right hand side of the road instead of the left. I will have to get used to speaking American English again instead of British English. Soon a flashlight will once again be a flashlight instead of a torch, chips will mean Dorritos instead of fries and I will fill up my truck with gas instead of petrol. I will have to relearn the value of a US dollar instead of thinking in terms of Hong Kong Dollars. Yesterday I bought a shirt that was on sale for $195 HK dollars, and I know I would never pay for a shirt that cost $195 US dollars. ($195 HKD = $25 USD)
Again, I want to wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving and I will be seeing all my friends and family soon!
As my internship here in Hong Kong comes to an end today (it is Friday here as I write this, but still Thursday back in the States) I have been busy getting paperwork finalized to legally leave Hong Kong. It feels weird having this be my last day at work, my desk is cleaned out, and I have returned many borrowed things to people.
This afternoon after I finish work, I will head up to China for one last trip to visit a golf course and maybe a local market. I will write about that later. I will then come back tonight and begin packing tomorrow. I know my mom would be giving me an ear full if she knew I had waited until 2 days before my departure to begin packing, but I am sure I will have no problems getting it all squared away before then.
I will be back in the States on Monday, but that does not mean that my blog about my Hong Kong Adventure is over. I still have a few topics left to write on, and I also want to write about my transition back in to the US. I know many things will feel strange and I may look at things back home in a much different light. I also know the weather will be a huge change too. Currently it is 66 here and it feels pretty cold, and back home it is about 26, ugh! I have asked my family to come to the airport with my heavy Carhart, but I am sure I will still be quite cold!
I know that as I move back and get back in to the swing of things, life will be different and I will share some of that on here too. I know I will have to get used to driving again, and on the right hand side of the road instead of the left. I will have to get used to speaking American English again instead of British English. Soon a flashlight will once again be a flashlight instead of a torch, chips will mean Dorritos instead of fries and I will fill up my truck with gas instead of petrol. I will have to relearn the value of a US dollar instead of thinking in terms of Hong Kong Dollars. Yesterday I bought a shirt that was on sale for $195 HK dollars, and I know I would never pay for a shirt that cost $195 US dollars. ($195 HKD = $25 USD)
Again, I want to wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving and I will be seeing all my friends and family soon!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Just Back From China Pt. 3
In my third and final part of this series I am going to talk about some differences between Hong Kong and Hainan Island China, and talk about a few of the things I did there while not on a Golf Course.
I said earlier that I found it weird and comfortable at the same time that they drove on the same side of the road as in the States. However, their driving was much worse than people in the States. There was absolutely no need for the government to paint lines on the roads to indicate lanes, because any lane marking is just purely decoration in China. It was way more common to be driving down two lanes than actually staying in the lane we were supposed to. Everybody honked as they were passing each other, but not out of anger, just more as: "Hey, stay away from me for two seconds while I drive on the shoulder to pass you." When it was night time, they would flash their lights as they were passing also, to indicate the same thing. Normally back home when somebody honks of flashes their lights at you it is for two reasons: 1) They are your close friend and are just saying hi, or 2) You have cut them off or something and they are trying to show anger to you. The type of driving in China with all the horn honking and light flashing was not good for me. I would loose my mind if I had to drive in that type of traffic all the time!
The vehicles in China were also very...unique? They sure wouldn't pass the safety standards of the US by any means. There were lots of motorcycles with many people riding on the same motorcycle. There were also these weird three wheeled trucks that were always seen puttering up the road hauling some sort of cargo. The motorcycles were always weaving in and out of traffic and how we didn't hit one is a mystery to me. I didn't see the really nice expensive vehicles like I do here in Hong Kong, but I sure saw lots of strange new companies that I had never heard of before and also saw some vehicles from companies like Chevrolet and Ford that you can't buy in the US.
Sanya, the town I stayed in, was incredibly beautiful. It really reminded me of when I lived along the coast in Florida with all the palm trees and white sandy beaches. At the end of the day we would go and meet up with friends at The Wave Bar, which was just a small little outside patio right on the beach. It was beautiful to watch the sun go down, hear the waves crashing on the shore, and just the coastal feel of the whole place. The only thing that made me feel like I was really in China were the lanterns hung throughout the bar that really gave it the Chinese feel as shown in the picture below.
My first day there I had lunch at Crown Plaza which was a very upscale hotel and eating and shopping area. The whole Plaza area was very unique in the fact that it blended all sorts of architectural styles together in a way that seemed very unusual. However, it had good food and it was a great day to have lunch to sit out side. There was also a huge billboard inside that was advertising the Miss World Event that was taking place that night just down the road. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see any of the contestants who were supposedly staying at the Crown Plaza that day.
On one afternoon, we decided to take a tour through the Marriott and Ritz Carleton hotels and check out the beach front views that each hotel had. Both hotels had great fancy outdoor dining areas and swimming pools and the beaches were very nice and clean. Maybe because of the time of day or the time of the week or year, but I was surprised to see hardly anybody around. There was only a handful of people using the pools and beeches and almost nobody in the dining areas around lunch.
For my last meal in Sanya, I went to a newly built property that was a blend of nice apartments and hotels. It was still under construction, but parts were open. It was really magnificent to see all the water features and pools and the private outdoor relaxing areas right on the pools. All the pools seemed to run together and were laid out to create a big pool and connected with many small private outdoor areas. Another friend I know in Sanya (and who I stayed a night with) has a condo in one of the high rises in the picture below. He pointed out to me that this area has very good Feng Shui because of the huge hill in the back, the wide open valley, and then the ocean just behind me in this picture.
Overall my trip to Hainan Island was very enjoyable and it was neat to see how the culture there is different than where I am currently living. I'll be making another trip to China in two weekends, but won't be going nearly as far. I'm sure I will still get to see some new things which I will try to share on here.
I said earlier that I found it weird and comfortable at the same time that they drove on the same side of the road as in the States. However, their driving was much worse than people in the States. There was absolutely no need for the government to paint lines on the roads to indicate lanes, because any lane marking is just purely decoration in China. It was way more common to be driving down two lanes than actually staying in the lane we were supposed to. Everybody honked as they were passing each other, but not out of anger, just more as: "Hey, stay away from me for two seconds while I drive on the shoulder to pass you." When it was night time, they would flash their lights as they were passing also, to indicate the same thing. Normally back home when somebody honks of flashes their lights at you it is for two reasons: 1) They are your close friend and are just saying hi, or 2) You have cut them off or something and they are trying to show anger to you. The type of driving in China with all the horn honking and light flashing was not good for me. I would loose my mind if I had to drive in that type of traffic all the time!
The vehicles in China were also very...unique? They sure wouldn't pass the safety standards of the US by any means. There were lots of motorcycles with many people riding on the same motorcycle. There were also these weird three wheeled trucks that were always seen puttering up the road hauling some sort of cargo. The motorcycles were always weaving in and out of traffic and how we didn't hit one is a mystery to me. I didn't see the really nice expensive vehicles like I do here in Hong Kong, but I sure saw lots of strange new companies that I had never heard of before and also saw some vehicles from companies like Chevrolet and Ford that you can't buy in the US.
Sanya, the town I stayed in, was incredibly beautiful. It really reminded me of when I lived along the coast in Florida with all the palm trees and white sandy beaches. At the end of the day we would go and meet up with friends at The Wave Bar, which was just a small little outside patio right on the beach. It was beautiful to watch the sun go down, hear the waves crashing on the shore, and just the coastal feel of the whole place. The only thing that made me feel like I was really in China were the lanterns hung throughout the bar that really gave it the Chinese feel as shown in the picture below.
My first day there I had lunch at Crown Plaza which was a very upscale hotel and eating and shopping area. The whole Plaza area was very unique in the fact that it blended all sorts of architectural styles together in a way that seemed very unusual. However, it had good food and it was a great day to have lunch to sit out side. There was also a huge billboard inside that was advertising the Miss World Event that was taking place that night just down the road. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see any of the contestants who were supposedly staying at the Crown Plaza that day.
On one afternoon, we decided to take a tour through the Marriott and Ritz Carleton hotels and check out the beach front views that each hotel had. Both hotels had great fancy outdoor dining areas and swimming pools and the beaches were very nice and clean. Maybe because of the time of day or the time of the week or year, but I was surprised to see hardly anybody around. There was only a handful of people using the pools and beeches and almost nobody in the dining areas around lunch.
For my last meal in Sanya, I went to a newly built property that was a blend of nice apartments and hotels. It was still under construction, but parts were open. It was really magnificent to see all the water features and pools and the private outdoor relaxing areas right on the pools. All the pools seemed to run together and were laid out to create a big pool and connected with many small private outdoor areas. Another friend I know in Sanya (and who I stayed a night with) has a condo in one of the high rises in the picture below. He pointed out to me that this area has very good Feng Shui because of the huge hill in the back, the wide open valley, and then the ocean just behind me in this picture.
Overall my trip to Hainan Island was very enjoyable and it was neat to see how the culture there is different than where I am currently living. I'll be making another trip to China in two weekends, but won't be going nearly as far. I'm sure I will still get to see some new things which I will try to share on here.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Just Back From China Pt. 2
In my previous post I talked about my terrible game of golf on one of the most beautiful courses in Sanya on Hainan Island, China. I wonder if I would actually play better golf if I played on a worse course? I still don't think so.However, the other course that I visited was not nearly as impressive as Yalong Bay. It was a newly constructed course that didn't even have a paved entrance road to it yet. Thankfully my driver had a truck which gave us enough clearance to get through some of the huge potholes, but I don't know if I can say the V12 Jaguar in the parking lot had as much luck.
Dragon Valley Golf Course is a very new course which is stuck up in between two large ridges. The area is very great and I was told it had great Feng Shui because there was a large hill behind the club house, then a great valley which held the course, and then water visible as well. Feng Shui is very important around here and the site and course layout were probably based upon Feng Shui principles.
The course was in OK condition, but it lacked character. Yes, there were things here that I had not seen before, like the giant rock in the picture below, but the course was very unorrigional. The cart path was very rough and was not too pleasant to ride on. There was also a huge lack of definition by having a rough that was cut too close to fairway height. If the rough was cut longer, but still at a reasonable height, it would have created a huge, dramatic visual effect.
The clubhouse was still very unfinished and had some strange features to it. Many parts of it seemed very gaudy, and distracted from the views the clubhouse offered. I guess I don't have much of an idea about interior design, but I didn't find the 12 foot tall front doors filled with gold golf balls appealing at all. To some, they may find that very appealing, but to me, it just looked tacky...along with the giant thing hanging in the foyer that looked like a huge hot chili pepper.
It was very interesting to see this course and to notice some of these things that I didn't quite like. I heard they were selling memberships at a reasonable price (>1,000USD) but I still don't think I would spent that much money to become a member of the club. If I looked at the course from an agronomic standpoint and had to comment on the quality of the turf, I would say it was reasonable, but because of the choice of turf, I believe the amount of disease pressure will be great.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Just Back From China Pt. 1
My friends always ask me, "Hows China?" I always reply with saying that I don't know, because I haven't been there and then try to tell them about how Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China, blah de blah blah blah.....
Anyways, I purchased a Visa a while back and finally got around to organizing a trip to Hainan Island, China. I'll write about my trip in three parts: 1) Golf Courses 2) Golf Courses 3) Culture and places I visited.
I flew out of Shenzhen Airport which is closer, and much cheaper, for me than to fly out of Hong Kong Airport. It was not too far over the border when I realized it was a much different place than Hong Kong. I had no trouble crossing the border and it actually went quite smoothly. The first big thing I noticed though was when I got in a taxi from the border to the airport. It felt odd, and familiar and it wasn't for a few miles until I fully realized what it was: China drives on the right hand side of the road, in vehicles with steering wheels on the left side of the vehicle, just like in the States. It was strange being in this vehicle as it did really feel wrong to be driving on the right hand side of the road, but the car felt comfortable to be in.
My flight was a red eye flight departing Shenzhen around 8PM and landed some time around 10PM I believe. I slept some on the flight which was nice. A driver was arranged to pick me up at the airport and he was easy to find. He was a 6'0" Chinese man named "Tiger." He was pretty easy to spot in the crowd. He took me to a friends house where I was staying for the night. His driving was much different than in HK, but I'll explain that more in my next post.
For the first part of my stay, I was staying with the superintendent of the Yalong Bay Golf Club. I knew him through friends I had at my current place of employment and had met him many times before. His course was truly amazing! I love courses with lots of water and palm trees and coconut trees and these were all very present at Yalong Bay.
The entrance to the Clubhouse (below) was extraordinarily beautiful. It was huge, full of the sound of flowing water, and with the visual effect, and the landscaping was great. I love the style of buildings in tropical climates as you can't tell whether you are inside, or outside, or in some type of alley, and it creates this illusion of openness. This was exactly how the anteroom to the foyer was. I could not recall if this was a completely closed in room, or if it was just a very open one with large open windows and doors that allowed breezes to come in. As you crossed in to the main lobby there were fountains running on the floor that gave the impression of the real floor being bordered by liquid floors. A few Koi swam in these great fountains. Behind the main counter (and in the anteroom) there were huge saltwater fish tanks, with the one behind the main counter reaching heights of 8-10 feet and possibly twice as wide. The dining facilities were decorated in traditional Chinese decor and were a very warm, welcoming place. There was a huge outside patio that also allowed for dining as well.
The course was in great condition, considering the 36" of rain they had not too long ago in about an eight day time period. The course was nicely laid out and was exceptionally clean and tight and also hosts many major events.
Every good golf course has to have a dog, and Yalong Bay is where "Zeek" calls home. Zeek is a young black lab (I believe) who has lived at the course for a short period of time. He is very well trained, but like all dogs, he loves to run and have fun. His favorite past time is chasing a frisbee on the fairways.
One thing I found interesting and fun was the superintendent's golf cart. Recently, the course hosted a major ladies tournament and in preparation for the tournament, they painted a set of coconut tee markers pink. There was some left over pink paint, and the super decided he needed a new color of golf cart, so he now is the proud owner of a bright pink golf cart. It really matches his fun, outgoing, personality and he is quite proud of it.
The second day I was at the course I had the opportunity to play in a small golf tournament and I was paired with the Super, the GM of the local Ritz Carleton, and the GM of the local Renaissance hotel. I am not a good golfer, and was not prepared to do well. I haven't golfed in almost 6 months, so my first tee shot was not great. Actually, my first tee shot when right in to the tall hazard height grass, and the GM from the Ritz turns to look at me and asks, "You play much?" The obvious answer was no! At the end of the painful 18 holes, the Super jokingly says to me, "Boy, you took a lot of swings today." I'm not going to share what my score was, but it was in the triple digits. I would place money on the fact that my caddy was much better at golf than I was.
Anyways, I purchased a Visa a while back and finally got around to organizing a trip to Hainan Island, China. I'll write about my trip in three parts: 1) Golf Courses 2) Golf Courses 3) Culture and places I visited.
I flew out of Shenzhen Airport which is closer, and much cheaper, for me than to fly out of Hong Kong Airport. It was not too far over the border when I realized it was a much different place than Hong Kong. I had no trouble crossing the border and it actually went quite smoothly. The first big thing I noticed though was when I got in a taxi from the border to the airport. It felt odd, and familiar and it wasn't for a few miles until I fully realized what it was: China drives on the right hand side of the road, in vehicles with steering wheels on the left side of the vehicle, just like in the States. It was strange being in this vehicle as it did really feel wrong to be driving on the right hand side of the road, but the car felt comfortable to be in.
My flight was a red eye flight departing Shenzhen around 8PM and landed some time around 10PM I believe. I slept some on the flight which was nice. A driver was arranged to pick me up at the airport and he was easy to find. He was a 6'0" Chinese man named "Tiger." He was pretty easy to spot in the crowd. He took me to a friends house where I was staying for the night. His driving was much different than in HK, but I'll explain that more in my next post.
For the first part of my stay, I was staying with the superintendent of the Yalong Bay Golf Club. I knew him through friends I had at my current place of employment and had met him many times before. His course was truly amazing! I love courses with lots of water and palm trees and coconut trees and these were all very present at Yalong Bay.
The entrance to the Clubhouse (below) was extraordinarily beautiful. It was huge, full of the sound of flowing water, and with the visual effect, and the landscaping was great. I love the style of buildings in tropical climates as you can't tell whether you are inside, or outside, or in some type of alley, and it creates this illusion of openness. This was exactly how the anteroom to the foyer was. I could not recall if this was a completely closed in room, or if it was just a very open one with large open windows and doors that allowed breezes to come in. As you crossed in to the main lobby there were fountains running on the floor that gave the impression of the real floor being bordered by liquid floors. A few Koi swam in these great fountains. Behind the main counter (and in the anteroom) there were huge saltwater fish tanks, with the one behind the main counter reaching heights of 8-10 feet and possibly twice as wide. The dining facilities were decorated in traditional Chinese decor and were a very warm, welcoming place. There was a huge outside patio that also allowed for dining as well.
The course was in great condition, considering the 36" of rain they had not too long ago in about an eight day time period. The course was nicely laid out and was exceptionally clean and tight and also hosts many major events.
Every good golf course has to have a dog, and Yalong Bay is where "Zeek" calls home. Zeek is a young black lab (I believe) who has lived at the course for a short period of time. He is very well trained, but like all dogs, he loves to run and have fun. His favorite past time is chasing a frisbee on the fairways.
One thing I found interesting and fun was the superintendent's golf cart. Recently, the course hosted a major ladies tournament and in preparation for the tournament, they painted a set of coconut tee markers pink. There was some left over pink paint, and the super decided he needed a new color of golf cart, so he now is the proud owner of a bright pink golf cart. It really matches his fun, outgoing, personality and he is quite proud of it.
The second day I was at the course I had the opportunity to play in a small golf tournament and I was paired with the Super, the GM of the local Ritz Carleton, and the GM of the local Renaissance hotel. I am not a good golfer, and was not prepared to do well. I haven't golfed in almost 6 months, so my first tee shot was not great. Actually, my first tee shot when right in to the tall hazard height grass, and the GM from the Ritz turns to look at me and asks, "You play much?" The obvious answer was no! At the end of the painful 18 holes, the Super jokingly says to me, "Boy, you took a lot of swings today." I'm not going to share what my score was, but it was in the triple digits. I would place money on the fact that my caddy was much better at golf than I was.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Pictures From Around My Village
I promised earlier I'd post some pictures of my village, so here they are! Enjoy!
The space between some buildings is very narrow.
I'm assuming that is the year the building was constructed.
Dragon fruit tree in someones yard.
This is some old house near the center part of the village.
This is the local restaurant. I won't eat here, it looks disgusting. Notice how the roof is build around the tree.
This is an interesting old, very small house.
Looking inside the local Temple. I can see the temple from my place, but it seems like it is only open on some days.
View of the lake with other village houses on the other side.
The space between some buildings is very narrow.
I'm assuming that is the year the building was constructed.
Dragon fruit tree in someones yard.
This is some old house near the center part of the village.
This is the local restaurant. I won't eat here, it looks disgusting. Notice how the roof is build around the tree.
This is an interesting old, very small house.
Looking inside the local Temple. I can see the temple from my place, but it seems like it is only open on some days.
View of the lake with other village houses on the other side.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Victoria Peak
A few weekends ago I made the long trip down to Central, and then up to Victoria Peak. I believe this is one of the highest places in all of Hong Kong and offered some fantastic views.
To travel up the Peak I took the Peak Tram. This was a cable car than ran on the steepest set of rails I had ever seen. As we traveled up the track, the buildings outside seemed to be leaning. At the steepest part of the track, it is a 27 degree incline. The trip was about 7 minutes to climb 1,365 meters, which is about .84 miles.
Once I got to the top there was a large shopping area with a viewing center, and then many outdoor paths that wrapped around the peak. Here are some pictures I took that overlook the Central part of Hong Kong.
There are many, many buildings down in Central.
The bullet tipped building is the tallest building in Hong Kong.
Me in front of a waterfall.
More and more buildings.
To travel up the Peak I took the Peak Tram. This was a cable car than ran on the steepest set of rails I had ever seen. As we traveled up the track, the buildings outside seemed to be leaning. At the steepest part of the track, it is a 27 degree incline. The trip was about 7 minutes to climb 1,365 meters, which is about .84 miles.
Once I got to the top there was a large shopping area with a viewing center, and then many outdoor paths that wrapped around the peak. Here are some pictures I took that overlook the Central part of Hong Kong.
There are many, many buildings down in Central.
The bullet tipped building is the tallest building in Hong Kong.
Me in front of a waterfall.
More and more buildings.
Friday, October 8, 2010
The Connections You Make Can Take You To The Happiest Place On Earth
While in Hong Kong, I have had the opportunity to meet many different people in various types of work, or from many different parts of the world. A while ago I met a woman at one of my training seminars who worked at The Happiest Place On Earth: Disneyland!
Even though I'm 23, I like Disney. I've always liked Disney. In fact, after seeing the technology used with horticulture while I visited Epcot in Orlando, it made me even more interested in majoring in horticulture. I've read many books about the company and find the entire idea of Disney and all that goes with it to just be amazing. To me, one of my dream jobs would be to work at Disney.
The woman I met, it turns out, was the landscape manager for the hotels at Disneyland HK. I told her about how I always wanted to work there and we talked about what it was like to work there. It sounded like she had a great job. Before she left, she gave me her card and told me to call whenever I wanted to visit and she could get me tickets. I was very excited to have gotten this opportunity, just by meeting new people and building a network.
My friend who works at Disneyland and me in front of the entrance
Eventually, I got around to making the time to go down and invited a co-worker along as well. It was his first time at any Disneyland, and this was the third Disneyland that I had been to.
Disneyland HK was much smaller than the other two I had been at in the US, but it was still very nice to visit. I found it interesting that there was still a Mainstreet USA here. There was also Adventureland, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland.
It was a great day to visit, and I was glad we went on a weekday as the crowds were very small. We didn't have to wait in line for anything. For lunch we enjoyed traditional Chinese food which was really nice as well.
Overall, it was a fantastic time, and it made me realize that you are never too old to have fun, and I don't think you are ever too old to visit Disneyland.
Even though I'm 23, I like Disney. I've always liked Disney. In fact, after seeing the technology used with horticulture while I visited Epcot in Orlando, it made me even more interested in majoring in horticulture. I've read many books about the company and find the entire idea of Disney and all that goes with it to just be amazing. To me, one of my dream jobs would be to work at Disney.
The woman I met, it turns out, was the landscape manager for the hotels at Disneyland HK. I told her about how I always wanted to work there and we talked about what it was like to work there. It sounded like she had a great job. Before she left, she gave me her card and told me to call whenever I wanted to visit and she could get me tickets. I was very excited to have gotten this opportunity, just by meeting new people and building a network.
My friend who works at Disneyland and me in front of the entrance
Our trip down was pretty quick lasting only about 45 minutes and it only took 2 buses. The entrance was very nice and inviting. Like all Disneylands, the place was perfectly manicured. It was already decorated for Halloween, which was about 6 weeks after the time we visited.
My co-worker and I at Disneyland
Disneyland HK was much smaller than the other two I had been at in the US, but it was still very nice to visit. I found it interesting that there was still a Mainstreet USA here. There was also Adventureland, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland.
It was a great day to visit, and I was glad we went on a weekday as the crowds were very small. We didn't have to wait in line for anything. For lunch we enjoyed traditional Chinese food which was really nice as well.
Overall, it was a fantastic time, and it made me realize that you are never too old to have fun, and I don't think you are ever too old to visit Disneyland.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Evening in Stanely
Last weekend I had an opportunity to go stay at a friends place in Stanley while he was in Malaysia for the weekend. I was already a bit familiar with the area and was excited to take my fist little vacation.
After I left work on Friday, I came home and packed just a backpack of clothes and other stuff I would need and hopped on the train. It was a fairly decent jaunt on the train, and then I had to get on a double decker bus. I was told my a coworker to sit up top on the bus as it would give you great views. He failed to mention that it wouldn't give you much leg room.
Stanley is a little town on the Island which is right next to the ocean. There are many other expats who live in this area and while I was on the bus I met a French woman. She told me she taught French in some of the schools and also did some other work. She was going to Stanley as well and helped ensure that I found the right bus stop to get off at. While on the ride, one of her kids called and they spoke in French to each other and it was very weird hearing such a foreign language being spoke here.
We got to Stanely as the sun was beginning to hide away beneath the horizon for the night, but I was able to take this picture of the sunset over the South China Sea.
I had never been inside of my friends place before and had only seen the outside of it, but as soon as I walked through the door I could see the place really reflected his personality. My friend is from New Zealand and is salesmen in south east Asia. He is very laid back, down to earth, good humored, loves to paddle, and is very adventurous. On his walls hung pictures of him out surfing, there were cricket bats leaning against the wall in a corner, books ranging in all topics, magazines mainly dealing with water sports, a seemingly broken TV, and minimal cooking utensils. The house was small, but very comfortable. His bedroom was in a loft area above the main living room. Here is a picture standing at the doorway looking in:
For supper I went to one of the most famous pubs in Stanley called "Smugglers." It really reminded me of a small town bar back in the States. There was country music playing on the radio, a rugby match on the TV and dollar bills from all over the world plastered to the walls and ceiling. It was a nice, comfortable area with good food and a great atmosphere. Since this was a vacation for me, I decided to have a beer off the import list and bought a Coors lite. Maybe it has been so long since I had one, or the fact that it was transported over seas warm, stored hot, then served cold, but it definitely didn't taste much like I remembered.
The bar keep was a very friendly and talkative Philipino woman who was full of laughter and jokes. She introduced me to a few regulars who I really enjoyed talking with. One was an American who was the VP of a professional bike parts company. It was very interesting talking to him about his job when all of the sudden he pointed to the bike race that had come on TV and said, "Those are our shifters, look that bike has breaks we make." I also met a young American couple who had only been here for a little over half a year. We talked about differences we found between the States and Hong Kong and reminisced about things we missed from the US. We both agreed we miss our personal space in stores and on public transportation.
As I walked home after supper, I realized how quiet it was. I couldn't hear traffic and only the soft murmmer of people back at the bars and the sound of the ocean lapping the beaches. It was really, truely peaceful. I woke up the next morning to the sound of birds chirping and the waves hitting the banks again. I opened my door and this was the view:
Not too bad of a view. Not too bad at all.
Including Lake Michigan, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico; the South China Sea is the 5th major body of water I have been in. I only stuck my feet in the water at this beach as it wasn't the cleanest, but here is a picture of me on the beach, just outside the door.
I greatly appreciate the opportunity to go on this short, one night vacation, and it was sure relaxing and great to talk with Americans again in a social, relaxed setting. I hope I can get to go down and visit one more time before I leave.
After I left work on Friday, I came home and packed just a backpack of clothes and other stuff I would need and hopped on the train. It was a fairly decent jaunt on the train, and then I had to get on a double decker bus. I was told my a coworker to sit up top on the bus as it would give you great views. He failed to mention that it wouldn't give you much leg room.
Stanley is a little town on the Island which is right next to the ocean. There are many other expats who live in this area and while I was on the bus I met a French woman. She told me she taught French in some of the schools and also did some other work. She was going to Stanley as well and helped ensure that I found the right bus stop to get off at. While on the ride, one of her kids called and they spoke in French to each other and it was very weird hearing such a foreign language being spoke here.
We got to Stanely as the sun was beginning to hide away beneath the horizon for the night, but I was able to take this picture of the sunset over the South China Sea.
I had never been inside of my friends place before and had only seen the outside of it, but as soon as I walked through the door I could see the place really reflected his personality. My friend is from New Zealand and is salesmen in south east Asia. He is very laid back, down to earth, good humored, loves to paddle, and is very adventurous. On his walls hung pictures of him out surfing, there were cricket bats leaning against the wall in a corner, books ranging in all topics, magazines mainly dealing with water sports, a seemingly broken TV, and minimal cooking utensils. The house was small, but very comfortable. His bedroom was in a loft area above the main living room. Here is a picture standing at the doorway looking in:
For supper I went to one of the most famous pubs in Stanley called "Smugglers." It really reminded me of a small town bar back in the States. There was country music playing on the radio, a rugby match on the TV and dollar bills from all over the world plastered to the walls and ceiling. It was a nice, comfortable area with good food and a great atmosphere. Since this was a vacation for me, I decided to have a beer off the import list and bought a Coors lite. Maybe it has been so long since I had one, or the fact that it was transported over seas warm, stored hot, then served cold, but it definitely didn't taste much like I remembered.
The bar keep was a very friendly and talkative Philipino woman who was full of laughter and jokes. She introduced me to a few regulars who I really enjoyed talking with. One was an American who was the VP of a professional bike parts company. It was very interesting talking to him about his job when all of the sudden he pointed to the bike race that had come on TV and said, "Those are our shifters, look that bike has breaks we make." I also met a young American couple who had only been here for a little over half a year. We talked about differences we found between the States and Hong Kong and reminisced about things we missed from the US. We both agreed we miss our personal space in stores and on public transportation.
As I walked home after supper, I realized how quiet it was. I couldn't hear traffic and only the soft murmmer of people back at the bars and the sound of the ocean lapping the beaches. It was really, truely peaceful. I woke up the next morning to the sound of birds chirping and the waves hitting the banks again. I opened my door and this was the view:
Not too bad of a view. Not too bad at all.
Including Lake Michigan, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico; the South China Sea is the 5th major body of water I have been in. I only stuck my feet in the water at this beach as it wasn't the cleanest, but here is a picture of me on the beach, just outside the door.
I greatly appreciate the opportunity to go on this short, one night vacation, and it was sure relaxing and great to talk with Americans again in a social, relaxed setting. I hope I can get to go down and visit one more time before I leave.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Drinks in Hong Kong
The guys I lived with while in college would kill me for what I'm about to say: "I couldn't figure out how to open my first beer in Hong Kong and inevitably ruined it."
As I've come to realize, 90% of the beer cans here are the old pull style type cans which I had never encountered in my life. I tried opening it like a regular can, and eventually just ruined the top. Upon looking at some of the other cans here I've noticed some strange differences.
I am sitting at my computer enjoying a nice Mt. Dew and I see that the top is normal size. And when I say normal sized, it is not the wide mouthed, vented cans like most beverages in the US, but a modest size to maybe cut down on chugging and intense sugar delivery. Even though it is a regular Mt. Dew, it has both Chinese and English writing on the can, and the nutrition facts are in units per 100ml, which is very inconvenient to try to figure out how much sugar is in something, or other important facts.
It is hard for me to compare to products back in the States, as it has been so long since I have had any, but it seems to me that pop here has much more sugar in it that pop back home. I don't drink sugary drinks too often so maybe that is why I am not used to it, but based on my memory, this seems to be a slightly different recipe for Mt. Dew.
While shopping and eating out, I always find it funny to see Budweiser and Coors Lite in the "Import" section. I've never thought of those two as being considered "fine" enough to import, but what do I know. The most popular beer here in Hong Kong is called San Miguel. I prefer their cheaper Blue Ice beer because it is more like what I was used to back home. Most here consider it too light and tasteless, which is also how I've heard most American beers described.
Recently I tried Saki while having sushi with friends and was mildly disappointing in it. I always imagined Saki as a terribly strong drink which would have been comparable to rubbing alcohol, but it was almost sweet and syrupy. I always saw it for sale in the store, but never wanted to try and purchase any, because the entire bottle has Chinese writing on it so I never knew what was what.
I've never been a big fan of drinking bottled water and always found it funny that there were different brands in the store and that some people actually thought some brands were better. I couldn't imagine paying for some of that high dollar bottled water back in the States because at that time, every type of water tasted the same. I could notice differences in tap water in geographic areas, but never in bottled water. I have grown so used to drinking the very popular Bonaqua water here that when I bought a bottle of a different brand, it really tasted funny to me. I suppose it is just what you get used to.
I work outside in the heat for most of the day, and find that Gatorade is one of the best ways to stay hydrated. I brought a big tub of Gatorade mix over with me because I was concerned I wouldn't be able to find any Gatorade here. Well, I can find bottles of Gatorade, but no powder mix. Instead, I drink Pocari Sweat drink powder. I have heard it is about the same as Gatorade, and seems to work well with keeping me hydrated, but again, it seems to have a lot of sugar in it.
My favorite drink here by far is these little cans from Nescafe of cold coffee. They are about 2/3 the size of a regular pop can, and the can is super tough, nearly impossible to crush. The coffee inside is pretty sweet and creamy and reminds me of those cold Starbucks drinks sold in bottles next to the check out at Wal-Mart. Unfortunately this drink is very sugary, like all the others, so I watch how many I drink, but I could easily drink 3 or 4 a day if I wanted!
As I've come to realize, 90% of the beer cans here are the old pull style type cans which I had never encountered in my life. I tried opening it like a regular can, and eventually just ruined the top. Upon looking at some of the other cans here I've noticed some strange differences.
I am sitting at my computer enjoying a nice Mt. Dew and I see that the top is normal size. And when I say normal sized, it is not the wide mouthed, vented cans like most beverages in the US, but a modest size to maybe cut down on chugging and intense sugar delivery. Even though it is a regular Mt. Dew, it has both Chinese and English writing on the can, and the nutrition facts are in units per 100ml, which is very inconvenient to try to figure out how much sugar is in something, or other important facts.
It is hard for me to compare to products back in the States, as it has been so long since I have had any, but it seems to me that pop here has much more sugar in it that pop back home. I don't drink sugary drinks too often so maybe that is why I am not used to it, but based on my memory, this seems to be a slightly different recipe for Mt. Dew.
While shopping and eating out, I always find it funny to see Budweiser and Coors Lite in the "Import" section. I've never thought of those two as being considered "fine" enough to import, but what do I know. The most popular beer here in Hong Kong is called San Miguel. I prefer their cheaper Blue Ice beer because it is more like what I was used to back home. Most here consider it too light and tasteless, which is also how I've heard most American beers described.
Recently I tried Saki while having sushi with friends and was mildly disappointing in it. I always imagined Saki as a terribly strong drink which would have been comparable to rubbing alcohol, but it was almost sweet and syrupy. I always saw it for sale in the store, but never wanted to try and purchase any, because the entire bottle has Chinese writing on it so I never knew what was what.
I've never been a big fan of drinking bottled water and always found it funny that there were different brands in the store and that some people actually thought some brands were better. I couldn't imagine paying for some of that high dollar bottled water back in the States because at that time, every type of water tasted the same. I could notice differences in tap water in geographic areas, but never in bottled water. I have grown so used to drinking the very popular Bonaqua water here that when I bought a bottle of a different brand, it really tasted funny to me. I suppose it is just what you get used to.
I work outside in the heat for most of the day, and find that Gatorade is one of the best ways to stay hydrated. I brought a big tub of Gatorade mix over with me because I was concerned I wouldn't be able to find any Gatorade here. Well, I can find bottles of Gatorade, but no powder mix. Instead, I drink Pocari Sweat drink powder. I have heard it is about the same as Gatorade, and seems to work well with keeping me hydrated, but again, it seems to have a lot of sugar in it.
My favorite drink here by far is these little cans from Nescafe of cold coffee. They are about 2/3 the size of a regular pop can, and the can is super tough, nearly impossible to crush. The coffee inside is pretty sweet and creamy and reminds me of those cold Starbucks drinks sold in bottles next to the check out at Wal-Mart. Unfortunately this drink is very sugary, like all the others, so I watch how many I drink, but I could easily drink 3 or 4 a day if I wanted!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Spiders the Size of My Hand
Sorry I have not written much recently...Looks like it will rain for the next few days or so, so I should be able to catch up!
Earlier I posted about my distaste of snakes, now it is time for me to write about the other critter I don't much care for: Spiders.
When I worked in Florida, I had a reason to be cautious of spiders. It wasn't uncommon to reach in to a secluded control box only to find a black widow creeping around in there. Spiders just have way too many legs to really be liked by anybody.
I used to be slightly scared, and intrigued by the big "garden" spiders I would find around my house. I'm not exactly sure what they were called, but their body was about an inch long and they were yellow and black striped. I liked to catch other smaller bugs and chuck them in to the web to watch the spider scurry over and quickly wrap it up to make a meal out of the bug I sacrificed for my own sense of wonder.
When I fist came here, I didn't realize them right at first, until my boss pointed them out to me. It seems that here in Hong Kong, we have the yellow and black spiders, but they take steroids here.
Normally when I take a picture and need to show the scale of the object, I'll place my pen or a golf ball right next to it. Well, I tried to muster up the courage to hold my pen next to the spider to show the size, but as I got close, I could see it moving its mouth parts, getting ready to make my whole hand in to its supper, so you will just have to take my word for it. This spider was pretty large. The body of it was about 6-7" in length and if I spread my hand out as wide as it would go, the spiders legs would easily reach farther. Not all these spiders are this big, but they are much larger than the ones I used to play with in the gardens growing up.
It seems that every morning on my walk to work, I walk through a web they have spun during the night. The webbing seems to be unusually strong and is terribly hard to get off me. Then for the next while, I feel like a spider is crawling all over me until I shake off all the web.
Thank goodness these spiders are not poisonous (from what I've heard) and I don't believe there are any spiders to be really scared of here in Hong Kong. I just don't like the idea of something that looks like it is from a sci fi movie walking all over me.
Earlier I posted about my distaste of snakes, now it is time for me to write about the other critter I don't much care for: Spiders.
When I worked in Florida, I had a reason to be cautious of spiders. It wasn't uncommon to reach in to a secluded control box only to find a black widow creeping around in there. Spiders just have way too many legs to really be liked by anybody.
I used to be slightly scared, and intrigued by the big "garden" spiders I would find around my house. I'm not exactly sure what they were called, but their body was about an inch long and they were yellow and black striped. I liked to catch other smaller bugs and chuck them in to the web to watch the spider scurry over and quickly wrap it up to make a meal out of the bug I sacrificed for my own sense of wonder.
When I fist came here, I didn't realize them right at first, until my boss pointed them out to me. It seems that here in Hong Kong, we have the yellow and black spiders, but they take steroids here.
Normally when I take a picture and need to show the scale of the object, I'll place my pen or a golf ball right next to it. Well, I tried to muster up the courage to hold my pen next to the spider to show the size, but as I got close, I could see it moving its mouth parts, getting ready to make my whole hand in to its supper, so you will just have to take my word for it. This spider was pretty large. The body of it was about 6-7" in length and if I spread my hand out as wide as it would go, the spiders legs would easily reach farther. Not all these spiders are this big, but they are much larger than the ones I used to play with in the gardens growing up.It seems that every morning on my walk to work, I walk through a web they have spun during the night. The webbing seems to be unusually strong and is terribly hard to get off me. Then for the next while, I feel like a spider is crawling all over me until I shake off all the web.
Thank goodness these spiders are not poisonous (from what I've heard) and I don't believe there are any spiders to be really scared of here in Hong Kong. I just don't like the idea of something that looks like it is from a sci fi movie walking all over me.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
There's a Snake in my Mower
Samuel L. Jackson was not happy when he found out he had snakes on his plane. In fact, he was down right mad to say the least.
When I found out we had snakes in our mowers...well I had about the same reaction as him.
I hate snakes, a lot. I don't view them as little creatures that are fun to catch when you are a kid. I think some of this hatred for them stems from the fact that my older brother was the one who thought it was fun to catch snakes, then chase his younger brother (me) around with them.
Unfortunately, I don't exactly work in the most "snake friendly" environments. When I interned in Florida we had to deal with pigmy rattle snakes and water mocassins. I distintly remember a co-worker killing a (what he thought was) harmful snake with a bunker rake one morning. Turns out it was just a regular old corn snake or something. Either way, that's normally how I react.
It was a few weeks after I started, when somebody casually made the comment, "Well, I bet snakes will start showing up in the mowers now." The conversation started there and was between a co-worker and our mechanic who just were talking about how snakes crawl in to the mowers at night because it is a warmer area and then they surprise the operators the next morning when the mower is in use and the snake no longer wants to ride along.
Just to reiterate: I hate snakes. I did not look forward to the idea of finding a snake in my mower. I would probably have a heart-attack if I was mowing fairways and all of the sudden I see a snake down at my feet or feel it start crawling across the lap. The idea of it just makes me squirm as I write about it now and I feel like I should be looking around my house for snakes....
Luckily, I've made it this far without finding a snake in my machine in the morning, but I am still not fully convinced that I can go my entire six months in Hong Kong without having that unpleasant surprise in the morning.
Yesterday, we found a King Cobra on one of our fairways. It was exiting to see (from the comfort and speed of my golf cart) and I got brave enough to try and get close to take a picture...until I remembered an episode I saw on Nat Geo Channel about how Cobras can spit venom. I couldn't remember how far they could shoot it, but I didn't want to risk it and backed off a bit. A co-worker and I positioned ourselves to urge it off the fairway and ended up successfully chasing it off in to the trees. It wasn't until after it crawled under the fence that I realized it just crossed in to the village where I live. What an exciting place this is to live!!!
See you at home buddy!
When I found out we had snakes in our mowers...well I had about the same reaction as him.I hate snakes, a lot. I don't view them as little creatures that are fun to catch when you are a kid. I think some of this hatred for them stems from the fact that my older brother was the one who thought it was fun to catch snakes, then chase his younger brother (me) around with them.
Unfortunately, I don't exactly work in the most "snake friendly" environments. When I interned in Florida we had to deal with pigmy rattle snakes and water mocassins. I distintly remember a co-worker killing a (what he thought was) harmful snake with a bunker rake one morning. Turns out it was just a regular old corn snake or something. Either way, that's normally how I react.
It was a few weeks after I started, when somebody casually made the comment, "Well, I bet snakes will start showing up in the mowers now." The conversation started there and was between a co-worker and our mechanic who just were talking about how snakes crawl in to the mowers at night because it is a warmer area and then they surprise the operators the next morning when the mower is in use and the snake no longer wants to ride along.
Just to reiterate: I hate snakes. I did not look forward to the idea of finding a snake in my mower. I would probably have a heart-attack if I was mowing fairways and all of the sudden I see a snake down at my feet or feel it start crawling across the lap. The idea of it just makes me squirm as I write about it now and I feel like I should be looking around my house for snakes....
Luckily, I've made it this far without finding a snake in my machine in the morning, but I am still not fully convinced that I can go my entire six months in Hong Kong without having that unpleasant surprise in the morning.
Yesterday, we found a King Cobra on one of our fairways. It was exiting to see (from the comfort and speed of my golf cart) and I got brave enough to try and get close to take a picture...until I remembered an episode I saw on Nat Geo Channel about how Cobras can spit venom. I couldn't remember how far they could shoot it, but I didn't want to risk it and backed off a bit. A co-worker and I positioned ourselves to urge it off the fairway and ended up successfully chasing it off in to the trees. It wasn't until after it crawled under the fence that I realized it just crossed in to the village where I live. What an exciting place this is to live!!!
See you at home buddy!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Cribs - Hong Kong Style
Well my "crib" here in Hong Kong isn't quite as interesting as the ones on the MTV show, but I figured I'd at least give you a pictorial tour of it. My house was brand new when I moved in so it was in very good shape which was really reassuring to me when I moved here. Some of the housing here can get ran down pretty fast. If I would have came here and saw that I had to live in some of the other houses in my village I would have probably hopped on the first plane back to the States. I got really lucky!
My house is a typical village house. The entire structure is 3 stories tall with each floor having about 700 sq feet which is pretty large compared to other houses in the village. It is a two bedroom, one bath, and about a 1/4 kitchen.
My kitchen has a floor space of about 5' x 8' and about 4 sq ft of usable counter top space. I have a microwave and an electric cook top. Ovens are not very common in Hong Kong and I doubt you would ever find a typical US oven in any house around here. Cook tops are the most common with them being either electric of gas.
My living room is pretty wide and open and is nearly impossible to keep clean with the tile floors. I always seem to track home grass and sand from work. The sliding glass doors open to a narrow balcony that has my washing machine on it. Yes, my washing machine is kept outside. I don't have a drier so I just hang all my clothes outside to let them dry. Sometimes I have to plan my laundry around the weather forecast to be able to dry my clothes as they don't dry too well in a rainstorm.
I am lucky enough to have cable provided for me as well. I believe I have the basic package which has both English and Chinese Channels on it. I mainly watch Discovery, National Geographic, and CNN. Even though these may seem like the same channels back in the States, the programming is very different on them. I don't get hours of Swamp Loggers or Ice Road Truckers, but I can usually watch re-runs of How It's Made or Mythbusters. There is very little commercials on these channels and in the rare time a commercial does come on, it is just a 30 second break from programming, then right back to the show. I now feel 'out of the loop' with everything as I'm not told what movies are coming out, or what is the best cellphone, or what the meat specials are at Fareway this week. Commercials were a great way for me to receive all sorts of information and now I don't have that type of incoming advertising.
My bedroom is pretty simple with a decent sized bed and a fairly thin mattress. Like normal, my feet do hang off the end a bit. Closets are not built in to most houses so everybody normally has a wardrobe type closet normally. When my house was "assembled", the workers just put everything together in my living room with the intent of letting me choose where to put everything. Well, the wardrobe was too big to maneuver around to get through the narrow hall and make the turn to my bedroom and was too tall to fit through the door, so they had to come back, take it apart, and then put it together in the bedroom. Shows the true value of looking at the big picture and planning ahead.I hope you enjoyed this short tour of my house and soon I will post up some pictures that I will take of other houses and buildings around my village.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Lotus Cafe
I like to eat, and I like to eat a lot. I love big, greasy hamburgers and mounds of onion rings. Unfortunately, I can't get that at the Lotus Cafe. However, they do serve a really good Western Fried Rice!
My co-workers and I eat at the Lotus Cafe every day for lunch. The first time I saw this place I was a bit skeptical. First off, from the outside, it looks a little shady. I'd never eat at a place like this in the US.
Second, 90% of the menu is in Chinese. Luckily I always go with someone who can some-what translate for me, but it can be hard to get a good direct translation. The staff at Lotus Cafe has gotten to know me and knows what I will and won't like. They might not be able to tell me exactly what the lunch special is that day, but they will at least tell me that I won't want it.
Every day we eat at the same table, and sit in the same spots. As soon as I walk in the door the staff opens up a bottle of Coke for me and has it sitting on the table. Eventually everybody finally trickles and and we will place our orders.
I find ordering food or getting waited on in Hong Kong is very different than the US. Here, if you want waited on you raise your hand and wave and try to catch the attention of the waiter. If you did that back home, I'm pretty sure a fight would follow as that is normally considered pretty rude. Also, when they bring out your food, not everybody is served at the same time. As soon as the food is cooked it is brought out to you so it is always fresh out of the kitchen. This felt really weird to me at first as I am used to waiting to eat until everybody has food in front of them.
The food here is actually quite good. My favorite is the sliced bar b que beef with egg sauce on rice. I've gotten really good at using chopsticks and a rice shovel to eat almost any dish served. I still have a bit of a hard time eating soup noodles with plastic chopsticks as the dang things are way too slippery! The menu is very diverse at Lotus Cafe and you can get everything from a club sandwich to chickens feet to sweet and sour chicken to lotus root (which I found out isn't that good, kind of tastes like a bad potato.)
I have been told that to find a good restaurant in Hong Kong, don't judge it by how nice it looks, but by how many people are eating there. The local people will always know a good place to eat so it will always be busy. If a really high class looking place has very few people in it, it is either a) bad food or b) very expensive. The food at Lotus Cafe is very reasonably priced and is great quality.
My co-workers and I eat at the Lotus Cafe every day for lunch. The first time I saw this place I was a bit skeptical. First off, from the outside, it looks a little shady. I'd never eat at a place like this in the US.
Second, 90% of the menu is in Chinese. Luckily I always go with someone who can some-what translate for me, but it can be hard to get a good direct translation. The staff at Lotus Cafe has gotten to know me and knows what I will and won't like. They might not be able to tell me exactly what the lunch special is that day, but they will at least tell me that I won't want it.
Every day we eat at the same table, and sit in the same spots. As soon as I walk in the door the staff opens up a bottle of Coke for me and has it sitting on the table. Eventually everybody finally trickles and and we will place our orders.
I find ordering food or getting waited on in Hong Kong is very different than the US. Here, if you want waited on you raise your hand and wave and try to catch the attention of the waiter. If you did that back home, I'm pretty sure a fight would follow as that is normally considered pretty rude. Also, when they bring out your food, not everybody is served at the same time. As soon as the food is cooked it is brought out to you so it is always fresh out of the kitchen. This felt really weird to me at first as I am used to waiting to eat until everybody has food in front of them.
The food here is actually quite good. My favorite is the sliced bar b que beef with egg sauce on rice. I've gotten really good at using chopsticks and a rice shovel to eat almost any dish served. I still have a bit of a hard time eating soup noodles with plastic chopsticks as the dang things are way too slippery! The menu is very diverse at Lotus Cafe and you can get everything from a club sandwich to chickens feet to sweet and sour chicken to lotus root (which I found out isn't that good, kind of tastes like a bad potato.)
I have been told that to find a good restaurant in Hong Kong, don't judge it by how nice it looks, but by how many people are eating there. The local people will always know a good place to eat so it will always be busy. If a really high class looking place has very few people in it, it is either a) bad food or b) very expensive. The food at Lotus Cafe is very reasonably priced and is great quality.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
God and His Toro Irrigation System
In extreme temperatures golf course managers syringe their greens by spraying a little bit of water on the green, then using the evaporation of the water off the grass on the green to cool it down. I'm pretty sure God runs the weather here in Hong Kong much the same way. He's how I think it works:
During the summer months God likes to take it a bit easy. So instead of being out in the hot sun he stays in and watches the newest episode of "Guiding Light" or catches up on re-runs of "Touched by an Angel." As he gets up to refill his glass of sweet tea He sees Hong Kong is getting a bit hot. He picks up his Toro irrigation controller (seriously, would God use anything but Toro?) and turns on the sprinklers over Hong Kong for a few minutes in the afternoon to cool it down. Meanwhile, I'm going about my business mowing and all of the sudden it starts raining, and pouring. I get completely soaked before I can put on my rain gear. Then the sun comes back out, heats everything up nice and hot and you can see steam coming off the black asphalt, and on some days, coming off the greens.
The weather here is so unpredicatable. I have found out that if I want it to stop raining, all I have to do is put on my rain gear and it decides to stop. If I want it to continue to rain, I just decide against the rain gear. Sometimes it can't decide if it should rain or not so it will do something inbetween where there is water hanging in the air, but not exactly falling. Sometimes it is so humid out, the air seems to drip with water, much like God's glass of sweet tea probably drips water off the outside. Sometimes it rains hard, so hard you can't see 30 feet away from you and sometimes it won't rain for days on end.
The local weather service does a great job of giving the weather outlook. Ninety percent of the time the outlook just says "Hot with a chance of a few showers" If I had to sum up the weather that I have experienced here so far, I would put it in four categories: 1) Hot, 2) Very hot, 3)Rainy 4) Can't exactly decide to rain or not.
I really like the hot humid environment, but I have mixed feelings about the random rain showers that don't last more than 2 minutes, but are enough to soak you. I just read an article this morning about how temperatures in my home state of Iowa had overnight temps of less than 60 degrees. It was 81 degrees at 4:00am today!
I have really grown to like this heat and even the humidity and I know going back to Iowa in November is going to be a shock!
During the summer months God likes to take it a bit easy. So instead of being out in the hot sun he stays in and watches the newest episode of "Guiding Light" or catches up on re-runs of "Touched by an Angel." As he gets up to refill his glass of sweet tea He sees Hong Kong is getting a bit hot. He picks up his Toro irrigation controller (seriously, would God use anything but Toro?) and turns on the sprinklers over Hong Kong for a few minutes in the afternoon to cool it down. Meanwhile, I'm going about my business mowing and all of the sudden it starts raining, and pouring. I get completely soaked before I can put on my rain gear. Then the sun comes back out, heats everything up nice and hot and you can see steam coming off the black asphalt, and on some days, coming off the greens.
The weather here is so unpredicatable. I have found out that if I want it to stop raining, all I have to do is put on my rain gear and it decides to stop. If I want it to continue to rain, I just decide against the rain gear. Sometimes it can't decide if it should rain or not so it will do something inbetween where there is water hanging in the air, but not exactly falling. Sometimes it is so humid out, the air seems to drip with water, much like God's glass of sweet tea probably drips water off the outside. Sometimes it rains hard, so hard you can't see 30 feet away from you and sometimes it won't rain for days on end.
The local weather service does a great job of giving the weather outlook. Ninety percent of the time the outlook just says "Hot with a chance of a few showers" If I had to sum up the weather that I have experienced here so far, I would put it in four categories: 1) Hot, 2) Very hot, 3)Rainy 4) Can't exactly decide to rain or not.
I really like the hot humid environment, but I have mixed feelings about the random rain showers that don't last more than 2 minutes, but are enough to soak you. I just read an article this morning about how temperatures in my home state of Iowa had overnight temps of less than 60 degrees. It was 81 degrees at 4:00am today!
I have really grown to like this heat and even the humidity and I know going back to Iowa in November is going to be a shock!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Inception
I just got home from the movie theater after watching "Inception." I really have no clue what that movie is about and I think it is the most complicated movie I have ever seen. That being said, the movie theater was quite alright.
The theater I went to is an AMC theater located in the Festival Walk Mall in Kowloon Tong. There was a surprisingly large amount of seats in the house that "Inception" was shown in, and they were nearly all sold out. The seats were reasonably comfortable, but were definitely made for a "slimmer" crowd.
There was a small concession stand, but I didn't see as many people lined up to purchase snacks as I would have expected. I saw only a handful of people with snacks and drinks walking in and out of the theater. I also found it interesting there were no "Five-Pound-Bucket-Of-Popcorn" or "2-Gallon-Extra-Caffeinated-Sugar-Enriched-Soft-Drink" for sale. In fact, the sizes of the drinks and popcorn that I did see would be considered kid's or maybe toddler sized in the US. Maybe because there was no Extra Large Popcorn bucket that comes with a free complimentary stick of butter and a prearranged visit with a cardiologist, the seats were able to accommodate the "slimmer" crowd.
The theater I went to is an AMC theater located in the Festival Walk Mall in Kowloon Tong. There was a surprisingly large amount of seats in the house that "Inception" was shown in, and they were nearly all sold out. The seats were reasonably comfortable, but were definitely made for a "slimmer" crowd.
There was a small concession stand, but I didn't see as many people lined up to purchase snacks as I would have expected. I saw only a handful of people with snacks and drinks walking in and out of the theater. I also found it interesting there were no "Five-Pound-Bucket-Of-Popcorn" or "2-Gallon-Extra-Caffeinated-Sugar-Enriched-Soft-Drink" for sale. In fact, the sizes of the drinks and popcorn that I did see would be considered kid's or maybe toddler sized in the US. Maybe because there was no Extra Large Popcorn bucket that comes with a free complimentary stick of butter and a prearranged visit with a cardiologist, the seats were able to accommodate the "slimmer" crowd.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Feeling a bit like Harry Potter
Ok, I'll admit it: I'm a big Harry Potter fan. Not to the point of carrying around a magic wand and trying to fly on a broom, but I always loved the books. I would sit around for hours upon end when I was younger and would read the Harry Potter books. When I read any book, I can allow myself to slip away in to that far off land and in my mind, I create my own world. I can envision what I think places look like, and how people look, etc. I don't mind the Harry Potter movies, but unfortunately, they took away from the 'world' that I had created in my mind, and the two didn't match up. I still prefer the way I originally thought things looked.
In the first Harry Potter book, Harry finds out he is a wizard, and not an ordinary person ('muggle' is the wizard word for that.) As Harry finds out he is going to be going to Hogwarts, the wizard school, he has to go shopping in wizard stores. The book does a great job of talking about his first experience in this strange, foreign land, and how Harry must learn to use wizard money and purchase strange books and foods. This is exactly how I first felt when I began shopping here in Hong Kong.
The first time I went to the ATM and got money out, it felt so strange so see these unusual sized bills. It was so foreign for me to walk through the store looking at all these products that had writing on them in Chinese. It was difficult for me to pay for something and to use coins as I wasn't sure which coin was worth how much, and the lady behind the cash register actually just reached in to my handful of coins and grabbed what was needed instead of waiting for me to figure it out.
As I have mentioned earlier, the exchange rate is 7.78 HK dollars to 1.00 US dollar, so when I see prices in the store, I still have to think about how much it is actually costing me. It still seems weird when I pay 6 dollars for a coke, or I go out to eat and a meal is about $75 depending on the restaurant.
The money here is actually very easy to use, once you figure it all out. In fact, it is even easier to use than US money I believe. The largest bill (which is not included in the picture below) is a $1,000 note. They are fairly hard to come by and aren't really popular as there have been some counter fitting problems with the bill. The $1,000 note is the largest of all the cash bills. The bill size decrease with lower values. The other notes pictured below are $500, $100, $50, $20, and $10.
The coins are more similar to US coins as they vary in size. The smallest coin is 10 cents, and it is a very small, round coin. The next is the 20 cent coin which is small, but with a wavy edge on it. Next is a 50 cent coin which is larger than the 10 cent coin, smooth sides, but with groves on it, like a quarter in the US. The $1 coin is about the same size as a quarter and has smooth edges, with groves, but is larger than the 50 cent piece. The two dollar coin is a large coin with wavy edges. I think $5 and $10 coins are the most unique. The $5 is the size of a quarter, but feels like you have taken three quarters and glued them together, one of top of the other. It has a discernible ridge in the middle of of the edges. The $10 coin is actually smaller than the $5, but has a copper colored center, with a silver surround, and on the edge it has alternating areas of grooved and smooth.
I said this money is easier to use than US money because everybody can use this money, even the blind. One of my favorite movies is called Ray, and it is about the life of Ray Charles (for those of you who don't know, he was a blind jazz and blues piano player.) In the movie, there is a scene where someone is paying Ray for a gig he just played, and is counting out his pay verbally as if laying down $5 bills, but he is actually laying down $1 bills. Since all the US money is the same size, Ray can't tell his he is being cheated or not. Now that I have been using HK money, I find it very unique that I can tell the size of the currency just by feeling it, and not having to see it. If the US had money in various sizes, Ray wouldn't have had the problem he did in the movie.
In the first Harry Potter book, Harry finds out he is a wizard, and not an ordinary person ('muggle' is the wizard word for that.) As Harry finds out he is going to be going to Hogwarts, the wizard school, he has to go shopping in wizard stores. The book does a great job of talking about his first experience in this strange, foreign land, and how Harry must learn to use wizard money and purchase strange books and foods. This is exactly how I first felt when I began shopping here in Hong Kong.
The first time I went to the ATM and got money out, it felt so strange so see these unusual sized bills. It was so foreign for me to walk through the store looking at all these products that had writing on them in Chinese. It was difficult for me to pay for something and to use coins as I wasn't sure which coin was worth how much, and the lady behind the cash register actually just reached in to my handful of coins and grabbed what was needed instead of waiting for me to figure it out.
As I have mentioned earlier, the exchange rate is 7.78 HK dollars to 1.00 US dollar, so when I see prices in the store, I still have to think about how much it is actually costing me. It still seems weird when I pay 6 dollars for a coke, or I go out to eat and a meal is about $75 depending on the restaurant.
The money here is actually very easy to use, once you figure it all out. In fact, it is even easier to use than US money I believe. The largest bill (which is not included in the picture below) is a $1,000 note. They are fairly hard to come by and aren't really popular as there have been some counter fitting problems with the bill. The $1,000 note is the largest of all the cash bills. The bill size decrease with lower values. The other notes pictured below are $500, $100, $50, $20, and $10.
The coins are more similar to US coins as they vary in size. The smallest coin is 10 cents, and it is a very small, round coin. The next is the 20 cent coin which is small, but with a wavy edge on it. Next is a 50 cent coin which is larger than the 10 cent coin, smooth sides, but with groves on it, like a quarter in the US. The $1 coin is about the same size as a quarter and has smooth edges, with groves, but is larger than the 50 cent piece. The two dollar coin is a large coin with wavy edges. I think $5 and $10 coins are the most unique. The $5 is the size of a quarter, but feels like you have taken three quarters and glued them together, one of top of the other. It has a discernible ridge in the middle of of the edges. The $10 coin is actually smaller than the $5, but has a copper colored center, with a silver surround, and on the edge it has alternating areas of grooved and smooth.
I said this money is easier to use than US money because everybody can use this money, even the blind. One of my favorite movies is called Ray, and it is about the life of Ray Charles (for those of you who don't know, he was a blind jazz and blues piano player.) In the movie, there is a scene where someone is paying Ray for a gig he just played, and is counting out his pay verbally as if laying down $5 bills, but he is actually laying down $1 bills. Since all the US money is the same size, Ray can't tell his he is being cheated or not. Now that I have been using HK money, I find it very unique that I can tell the size of the currency just by feeling it, and not having to see it. If the US had money in various sizes, Ray wouldn't have had the problem he did in the movie.
Friday, August 13, 2010
"Well, they used to have dogs, but I think they ate them...I don't see them any more"
A co-worker and I live in the same village and after we were out running errands or something (I don't remember exactly why we were in the car together) we drove through the entrance to our village. Along side the entrance is what seems to be a construction company office or something. There is a fenced in area with some heavy machinery. Anyways, as we drove past, my co-worker casually said, "Well, they used to have dogs, but I think they ate them...I don't see them any more. I used to play with them on my way to work and now they are gone." My reply, "Oh, that's too bad....WAIT! WHAT?!?!"
He went on to explain to me that dogs are sometimes eaten in the winter by Chinese people because they believe dog meat brings them warmth. I couldn't believe it, I always thought it was just something Westerners joked about, but to actually hear about it being true was mind boggling for me.
As I was looking at a bulletin board in my office building, I saw that somebody had posted a copy of a cutting from a news paper about a dog farm in China and how they raise dogs for human consumption. If I can't eat chicken feet I sure wouldn't be able to eat dog.
Recently, I have seen dogs again at the construction office and I hope they aren't feeding them out for Christmas dinner.
He went on to explain to me that dogs are sometimes eaten in the winter by Chinese people because they believe dog meat brings them warmth. I couldn't believe it, I always thought it was just something Westerners joked about, but to actually hear about it being true was mind boggling for me.
As I was looking at a bulletin board in my office building, I saw that somebody had posted a copy of a cutting from a news paper about a dog farm in China and how they raise dogs for human consumption. If I can't eat chicken feet I sure wouldn't be able to eat dog.
Recently, I have seen dogs again at the construction office and I hope they aren't feeding them out for Christmas dinner.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
A Preview Of What Is Coming Up Next!
As I am nearing the end of my first list of topics, I figured I should compose a new list for two reasons: 1) It will build great anticipation for my readers, 2) It will help me remember what the heck wanted to write about.
So, here is the new list of what will be coming up next!
Feeling a bit like Harry Potter
God and His Toro Irrigation System
Lotus Cafe
Cribs - Hong Kong Style
There's a Snake in my Mower
Spiders the Size of My Hand
Drinks in Hong Kong
Dim Sum - Get Some!
Chinese Hot Pot
Wet Markets Are Not Good Places to Hide During A Rain Storm
Mong Kok Bird Market
Stanley Market
Men With Purses
Hong Kong Wetlands
This list should keep me busy writing for a few weeks longer. I have been terribly busy recently, but I will try to write more than I have been. If anybody has any questions or comments, please feel free to shoot me an e-mail, or add a comment at the bottom of any post by pressing the( "#" comments) on the last line of the post, next to my name and the post time.
So, here is the new list of what will be coming up next!
Feeling a bit like Harry Potter
God and His Toro Irrigation System
Lotus Cafe
Cribs - Hong Kong Style
There's a Snake in my Mower
Spiders the Size of My Hand
Drinks in Hong Kong
Dim Sum - Get Some!
Chinese Hot Pot
Wet Markets Are Not Good Places to Hide During A Rain Storm
Mong Kok Bird Market
Stanley Market
Men With Purses
Hong Kong Wetlands
This list should keep me busy writing for a few weeks longer. I have been terribly busy recently, but I will try to write more than I have been. If anybody has any questions or comments, please feel free to shoot me an e-mail, or add a comment at the bottom of any post by pressing the( "#" comments) on the last line of the post, next to my name and the post time.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Chickens Feet and Pig Knuckles
The Chinese cuisine is....different... to say the least. Back in the USA I'm a big fan of Applebee's, Pizza Ranch, and McDonalds. Needless to say, I had to make a big change in my diet when I came here. I have been adapting quite well and have only had two times so far (in two months) where I have felt sick from the food. I'm open to trying new things, but will not go as far as eating chickens feet or pig knuckle.
My first experience with seeing someone eat chicken feet was on a Saturday during lunch. A bunch of co-workers and I went to our normal place to eat lunch and the place we eat serves all sorts of food. I can get a hotdog or breakfast sandwich type deal if I want, but I normally go for Chinese food. I can not remember what I ordered that day, but one of my co-workers just had a hankering for chicken feet. They were served in a soup type dish and looked absolutely disgusting to me. They were fully equipped with toenails and all. The meat must have been tough and chewy as he really had to work hard to get the meat off the skinny bones. I had a really hard time finishing my lunch that day, and am almost getting sick thinking about it...time to move on.
Pig knuckle seems like a fairly common piece of meat to have in soup type dish as well. It is essentially the entire lower part of a pig leg with hooves still attached. It looks like a terribly gristle filled piece of meat and appears unpleasant to try and eat as well. I don't know what it is about me, but I just don't want to be eating the meat off of the same appendage the animal spent its entire life walking around, pounding the ground with.
I've gotten a bit better about not being surprised as much by food and I don't flinch quite as much when duck soup gets brought to a table; (Duck soup = entire cooked duck, head and all, in a soup.) The local people here are fantastic about dealing with bones in their food and can put a whole, bone filled piece of meat in their mouth, mash it around, and spit out the bones picked clean. It is also proper here to spit out bones right on the table and should never be placed back on your plate, nor should you waste the time to gracefully spit it in to a napkin and casually hide beside your plate. I normally stray away from stuff that has bones in it because it is very hard for me to chew the meat off of the bones without seeming to waste a bunch of meat.
Maybe being able to pick meat off the bones in my mouth will come with time as an added accomplishment to me eating Chinese food, but I'm satisfied with meeting my first goal here: mastering chopsticks.
My first experience with seeing someone eat chicken feet was on a Saturday during lunch. A bunch of co-workers and I went to our normal place to eat lunch and the place we eat serves all sorts of food. I can get a hotdog or breakfast sandwich type deal if I want, but I normally go for Chinese food. I can not remember what I ordered that day, but one of my co-workers just had a hankering for chicken feet. They were served in a soup type dish and looked absolutely disgusting to me. They were fully equipped with toenails and all. The meat must have been tough and chewy as he really had to work hard to get the meat off the skinny bones. I had a really hard time finishing my lunch that day, and am almost getting sick thinking about it...time to move on.
Pig knuckle seems like a fairly common piece of meat to have in soup type dish as well. It is essentially the entire lower part of a pig leg with hooves still attached. It looks like a terribly gristle filled piece of meat and appears unpleasant to try and eat as well. I don't know what it is about me, but I just don't want to be eating the meat off of the same appendage the animal spent its entire life walking around, pounding the ground with.
I've gotten a bit better about not being surprised as much by food and I don't flinch quite as much when duck soup gets brought to a table; (Duck soup = entire cooked duck, head and all, in a soup.) The local people here are fantastic about dealing with bones in their food and can put a whole, bone filled piece of meat in their mouth, mash it around, and spit out the bones picked clean. It is also proper here to spit out bones right on the table and should never be placed back on your plate, nor should you waste the time to gracefully spit it in to a napkin and casually hide beside your plate. I normally stray away from stuff that has bones in it because it is very hard for me to chew the meat off of the bones without seeming to waste a bunch of meat.
Maybe being able to pick meat off the bones in my mouth will come with time as an added accomplishment to me eating Chinese food, but I'm satisfied with meeting my first goal here: mastering chopsticks.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
The Best Smelling Place in Hong Kong (That I've Found So Far)
Recently I talked about a town that smelled horrible and about some bad pollution that I have seen while in Hong Kong. Coincidentally, the place that I have found to smell the best and be one of the most beautiful, is in the same town!
A couple weekends ago I made a trip down to the Mong Kok Flower Market to get some plants for my bare apartment. I took the train down and had to follow a few signs out of the station to begin finding my way, and as soon as I got on street level, it wasn't hard to find. I just walked the opposite way of all the people who were carrying fresh cut flowers and other plants.
The flower market is a few blocks long full of vendors selling all sorts of fresh cut flowers, flower arrangements, and many live plants. Orchids were abundant to buy in this market as well as bonsai trees, palms, pitcher plants, and other strange looking plants I had never seen before. Orchids in full bloom were quite cheap starting at about $6.50 USD and going up to as much as $32.00+ USD.
Some strange looking plant.
Orchid store where I bought some of my orchids from.
Neat colored cut flowers.
Very interesting store with lots of statues and figurines.
A couple weekends ago I made a trip down to the Mong Kok Flower Market to get some plants for my bare apartment. I took the train down and had to follow a few signs out of the station to begin finding my way, and as soon as I got on street level, it wasn't hard to find. I just walked the opposite way of all the people who were carrying fresh cut flowers and other plants.
The flower market is a few blocks long full of vendors selling all sorts of fresh cut flowers, flower arrangements, and many live plants. Orchids were abundant to buy in this market as well as bonsai trees, palms, pitcher plants, and other strange looking plants I had never seen before. Orchids in full bloom were quite cheap starting at about $6.50 USD and going up to as much as $32.00+ USD.
I picked up a few orchids and a water plant for myself but decided to take a taxi back to my house as I didn't want to damage them on the train. So far, I have not killed them which is quite an accomplishment for me. Below are a few pictures from the Flower Market:
Flower Market from above.
Some strange looking plant.
Orchid store where I bought some of my orchids from.
Neat colored cut flowers.
Very interesting store with lots of statues and figurines.
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