Yes, school's out for a month before restarting Jan 5, 2009. In the meanwhile I have lots to prepare for the next quarter, where I am scheduled to teach four classes, one at night. I should be glad for the break but I miss the students already. Last Friday (Dec 5), with BBQ and last week at school, was a lot of fun. I experience Hong Kong BBQ, in Yuen Long, for the first time. No wonder Wife talked about the fun she had those days. All in the BBQ party were given a BBQ pack, which includes two wings, two "lion's head" (獅子頭), two sausages, two fish balls, a piece of pork chop, and an extended BBQ rod to stick the food over burning charcoal. Conversations around the fire quickly killed the hours. Before long, we were done with eating at 2:30 pm, and we had to start packing for our 3:30 pm ride home!
After the picnic I took the 6 pm ferry from TST to meet Wife in Macau, where we had a leisurely weekend eating, walking and relaxing. Of course we met new friends and went to church, and I even ventured to talk to a stranger at the supermarket who speaks the same motherland language about going to church. He confessed he had been to church before working in Macau. On Monday I took the 7 am ferry from Macau to arrive at work in TST by 8:30 am, not bad for a maximized weekend. The sea got to me and I had to use medication in my bag that was intended for Wife to combat the motion sickness.
Yesterday was a rush but today (Dec 11) it was a rumble at the school when the movers came to the library, packed all the books and dismantled all the book racks. Besides moving, some students came to decorate the school for Christmas. The school treated the students for lunch and I did the same for a staff worker who stayed late. On the way home I bought two towels for $25 and an egg biscuit for $12. Like the last time in Macau, I bought the food because there was a line for it, silly isn't it? But my days in Tsim Sha Tsui are numbered. It is strange to feel a loss after less than four months there. Maybe I am making up for the lack of emotion in leaving Los Angeles in the summer. I miss friends from USA but the city (TST) in HK.
I said to my wife after reading Thomas Friedman's analysis of the mortgage mess : "I thought America has lost her way, but now she has even lost her soul."
My first Christmas is Hong Kong is over in three hours. It was a quiet and relaxing day. We went to Pacific Coffee in Cheung Sha Wan, a mere station away from Mei Foo, but it was not open, so we went to our regular Starbucks. A little before noon, we returned home for takeout sashimi, taking the food to the local park along with a can of coke from 7 Eleven.We tried to catch a movie at the local cinema but there was just one martial arts movie showing, which did not interest Wife. The long walk home was good. We were tired and slept. At 6 pm we went to eat at the local Shanghainese restaurant after failing to find a hotpot eatery. We took the long way home instead of the regular route for better food digestion.
The next day relatives called to see the same movie Ip Man (葉問). I truly enjoyed it. Both movies I have seen in Hong Kong so far are really good, including Dark Knight on the day I arrive, Aug 18. I was dying for hotpot, which we found next day. Thanks to a tip from a relative, we finally found hotpot at one of the Big Three HK fastfood chains, but the $59 they charged for five strips of beef, one stale tiger shrimp, one piece of tofu and a bigger piece of mushroom, vegetables and noodles was too much for me to stomach. A pack of NZ beef is merely $20, so go figure how much beef one can buy for $59? Definitely more than five strips. After dinner we went to Japan Home Center to buy ourselves a big pot for HK$119 for home hotpot. Now we are searching for a matching stove.
We finally moved today (Dec 30). It began with the library two weeks ago (Dec 15). The movers were so professional. The view at the new campus is scenic and peaceful. Nature is right next door. I am on the second floor of the administration building with two colleagues - perfect inside corner spot. Everyone is excited and delighted. The wait was worth it after all. The school had planned to move last quarter but the building was not ready. I missed the old school even though I was there for one quarter only, but the new campus softened the blow and dimmed the loss.
After the picnic I took the 6 pm ferry from TST to meet Wife in Macau, where we had a leisurely weekend eating, walking and relaxing. Of course we met new friends and went to church, and I even ventured to talk to a stranger at the supermarket who speaks the same motherland language about going to church. He confessed he had been to church before working in Macau. On Monday I took the 7 am ferry from Macau to arrive at work in TST by 8:30 am, not bad for a maximized weekend. The sea got to me and I had to use medication in my bag that was intended for Wife to combat the motion sickness.
Yesterday was a rush but today (Dec 11) it was a rumble at the school when the movers came to the library, packed all the books and dismantled all the book racks. Besides moving, some students came to decorate the school for Christmas. The school treated the students for lunch and I did the same for a staff worker who stayed late. On the way home I bought two towels for $25 and an egg biscuit for $12. Like the last time in Macau, I bought the food because there was a line for it, silly isn't it? But my days in Tsim Sha Tsui are numbered. It is strange to feel a loss after less than four months there. Maybe I am making up for the lack of emotion in leaving Los Angeles in the summer. I miss friends from USA but the city (TST) in HK.
I said to my wife after reading Thomas Friedman's analysis of the mortgage mess : "I thought America has lost her way, but now she has even lost her soul."
My first Christmas is Hong Kong is over in three hours. It was a quiet and relaxing day. We went to Pacific Coffee in Cheung Sha Wan, a mere station away from Mei Foo, but it was not open, so we went to our regular Starbucks. A little before noon, we returned home for takeout sashimi, taking the food to the local park along with a can of coke from 7 Eleven.We tried to catch a movie at the local cinema but there was just one martial arts movie showing, which did not interest Wife. The long walk home was good. We were tired and slept. At 6 pm we went to eat at the local Shanghainese restaurant after failing to find a hotpot eatery. We took the long way home instead of the regular route for better food digestion.
The next day relatives called to see the same movie Ip Man (葉問). I truly enjoyed it. Both movies I have seen in Hong Kong so far are really good, including Dark Knight on the day I arrive, Aug 18. I was dying for hotpot, which we found next day. Thanks to a tip from a relative, we finally found hotpot at one of the Big Three HK fastfood chains, but the $59 they charged for five strips of beef, one stale tiger shrimp, one piece of tofu and a bigger piece of mushroom, vegetables and noodles was too much for me to stomach. A pack of NZ beef is merely $20, so go figure how much beef one can buy for $59? Definitely more than five strips. After dinner we went to Japan Home Center to buy ourselves a big pot for HK$119 for home hotpot. Now we are searching for a matching stove.
We finally moved today (Dec 30). It began with the library two weeks ago (Dec 15). The movers were so professional. The view at the new campus is scenic and peaceful. Nature is right next door. I am on the second floor of the administration building with two colleagues - perfect inside corner spot. Everyone is excited and delighted. The wait was worth it after all. The school had planned to move last quarter but the building was not ready. I missed the old school even though I was there for one quarter only, but the new campus softened the blow and dimmed the loss.
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