Game night

Dinner and drinks in Central turned into hotpot and then sangria and pictionary at my place.  Awesome!  Except I don't have a usable kitchen.  Also no chairs.  No cups, no plates, no pitcher, no...you get the idea.  Hahaha

The solution was pulling my mattress to one corner of the apt and we all sat on it while we had white sangria, cheesecake, chips, and played pictionary.  Making sangria was fun.  We walked over to the wet market and brought fruits, and picked up whatever else from the supermarket.  Cut up fruits and let them soak in the wine, while we walked to hotpot at Shatin Wai area.  I'll post photos later.  That deserves its own post.

Dor, Hale, Tiff, me, Nat on my mattress, enjoying sangria in paper cups.  And cheesecake on paper towels.  Just call me hostess with the mostess.

This was the sesame cheesecake.  Monty, Nat's bf, described it as "bread that was dropped in water but scooped up and then sold as cheesecake".  Hahahahaha.  It was a bit wet.  The original flavor one was better, but um yeah.  It was "so bad" that the losing team were to finish the cake.  Hahahahaha

The teams were Monty, Dor, and Tiff vs. Hale, Nat, and me.  It was almost Hale, Dor, and Tiff on a team and they mentioned playing in Chinese.  Nat, Monty, and I looked at each other and laughed nervously.  Thank goodness we decided against it.

This was Monty's drawing...it's supposed to be a meteor.  lol lol lol

This was Nat's drawing...it's a mermaid.  Don't you see it?  Well I did.  Hahahahaha.  Could it be that Nat and I were both dropped as babies the same way?  We were so good at the game that we decided to go from finish back to start, just to give the other team a chance to "catch up".  Hahahaha.  Yep, we're incredibly gracious, especially when a little tipsy. 

 

 

Hale created this on her phone.  She ran out of space for "ing".  I was like, um, it was far from my idea of a housewarming party but it was sooooooo much fun.

Happy 2013!

At least I didn't say "Happy New Year".  Hahaha.  I had meant to do this ON Jan 1, but didn't know which photo to use...until Hazel sent me what she was going to put into a frame in her office.  Perfect!  I'll be more organized and have a photo ready for my "Happy Chinese New Year"entry...lol

We went to the peak on one of the coldest day this winter.  (Without a heavy coat!)  We're smiling here but we were actually popsicles.  But oh no, we're staying there until it gets dark! 

I never get tired of watching the lights come on.  You have to go before the sun sets.  It is magical watching the HK skyline come alive before your eyes as different dots of red and blue and green and yellow slowly appear to light up the harbor.  

 

 

 

Everyone should experience this at least once in his or her lifetime.

Avoid Admiralty during rush hour

Consider yourself warned!  (I've learned to take the bus from Hung Hom to places like Causeway Bay or take the bus from Shatin to Central)

Although the platform is quite wide between the red and blue lines at Admiralty, the queue can take up about half the platform during rush hour!

Problem: We waited for four trains (red line), but the queue didn't seen to get any shorter. 
Solution:  We got back on the blue line, rode to Central (stop after Admiralty), switched to the red train at Central and rode back towards Admiralty so we would already be on the train while these people continued to wait for their turn to try to squeeze into an already full train.

I have the funniest story about rush hour at Admiralty.  Typing it out would not do it justice.  I've got to tell it to you in person...  

Random photo op

We were all walking to the train station after work...Turn around, 1-2-3. hahaha

But truthfully, I was struck by just how quickly the next few months will fly by as we were laughing and chitchatting.  I'm going to make sure we take as many photos as we can before I leave!

Nat, Tiff, me, Hale, Dor

King Bakery dan tat

One word: YUM

Hokkaido milk dan tat

Golden Bull Restaurant

 

I remember like five things about HK from my childhood and Golden Bull Restaurant is one of these memories.  Especially the coconut drink!

 I especially loved digging out the coconut meat

 Crab and avocado salad

  Eggrolls and shrimp on sugar cane

 Crispy chicken (I had to eat the skin)

 Beef, chicken, and pork satay

 The yummiest "french-style" beef bites I've ever had (and believe me, I've had a lot in my lifetime...cuz I'm old, remember?)

Dessert--mix of black glutinous rice and white glutinous rice and corn something (haha) and coconut milk

It was just as good as I remembered (I don't care about the lukewarm openrice reviews...!).  It was like old times--mom, dad, hazel, and me.  It was really nice.  It's been a few months since we've had a meal together.  It was icing on the cake that we had such delicious food.

Groupon HK

This is taking saving money to the next level! Nat and I went to Mong Kok to redeem groupons. I had gotten some hangers.

We entered this high rise and there is a line for the elevator for people redeeming groupons. I guess a lot of merchants rent space in the same high rise...what a great idea!

We started with a stop on the 29th floor. Got her sweater. Great. Pressed 4 to get my hangers. Came out and saw the line. It was wrapping around the entire floor!

This poor girl is in this small space til like 8:30pm every day handing out Groupon items...

People spend their evenings walking around Mong Kok collecting Groupon goods.  Do you really need 3 neck buddies or 5 salad choppers or even 1 USB powered blanket?!?!? Okay, apparently some people do.

(The pink thing on Nat's lap is said USB blanket...she claims it keeps her warm)

God works in mysterious ways

I've been having trouble sleeping.  Yep, it's 3am.  I really should've taken NyQuil again.  The last three nights I've taken NyQuil to make sure I get at least 8 hours of sleep.  And that has really helped me get over my cold (yes, we're still calling it a cold).  I felt like a new person this morning.  Even went to the gym.  It felt really great!

I don't know if it's the cup of tea I had tonight (okay 3 cups), but I'm really wired.  I also have a song looping on youtube.  Hahaha.  It's great to be able to sing along without fear of being laughed at.  No one is here.  Yeah, I'm still in the office.  The "perk" of living 100 steps from my place?  lol  Had a tutorial this evening so I was already in the building.  Decided to get started on the manuscript revision.  And then watched clips from the Golden Globes (I miss American TV!).  And then was chatting with the girls and with my sister...then started to finish some blog entries.  Lo and behold, it's 3am.

I've been thinking about a lot of things lately.  A LOT OF THINGS.  Especially since after submitting the application to Emory.  It's a waiting game now.  Nothing else I can do until I hear from schools.  It was a momentary sense of relief, but that has turned into something like fear.  I don't know how to NOT make plans.  It terrifies me to go with the flow.  I should re-read older blog entries and count how many times I've talked about this.  We all recognize that my talking about how not knowing what's next terrifies me and I really should go with the flow...that's just my lousy attempt at a pep talk, right?  Because I keep coming back to this place.  I can't seem to let go and let God.

I got a reminder to trust God from the most unexpected person today.  April.  She said one simple thing, "Your problem is that you don't trust God."  Oh my goodness.  It is as simple as that.  I have not given it all up to God.  I suddenly felt ashamed, because April is Buddhist.  Yes, Buddhist!  She said she doesn't believe in God but she has Christian friends who told her giving things up to God will take all worries away.  My Buddhist friend is reminding me of what I said I would be doing!  Have I not run into enough walls to know that trying to solve things on my own just makes the road harder?  It was a rude awakening having this conversation with April...God works in mysterious ways.  Hahahaha.  How lucky am I to have a friend like April.  But more importantly, how lucky am I that God never abandons me, even when I stubbornly cling onto me, me, and me?  It is utterly stupid to worry so much when God already has a plan for me.

Girlfriends

Nat, Tiff, Dor and I ventured out to Lamma Island (I say ventured because we had to take a ferry) on Saturday.  We were supposed to meet at 11am, but well, public transportation "made" a few of us late (sorry Tiff...) so we ended up on the noon ferry.  Hee hee.

The girls had no idea I was having a difficult weekend.  But being with them that day made all the difference in the world.  They have no idea how much it meant to me to have had that time with them.  It's awesome how God takes care of me.  Each time I've had to climb a mountain, he's brought people into my life that lift and support me in unimaginable ways.  Letting me know I'm never alone.

I didn't even purposely plan this day trip with the girls. I didn't make a big deal about what was bothering me and decided to have a nice day to distract myself from whatever troubled me.  Their company was just what I needed that day.  I am so grateful to have met these amazing women.  I've had many individual friendships but it was rare to hang out in a group setting.  Like in high school...hahaha.  But seriously, there is something so comforting about a group of girls chitchatting.  You sort of switch off talking to different people while walking, and then come together as a group when we sit down for a drink or something.  Or three gang up on one.  Hahahaha.

But it's more than just having made friends.  Perhaps we don't know each other well, but we know we can count on each other.  There is such consideration and thoughtfulness for each other that I have not experienced as part of a group until now.  I am so grateful to have met these women (plus the rest of 426).  I can say that there are people I've known for years but have never felt comfortable enough to make a call to ask him or her to bring me lunch because I'm too sick to get food.  Not only can I ask one of these gals, they actually offered when they've checked on me when I was sick.

As I'm thinking about the end of my time in HK--I'm staring at a calendar at the moment--I can't help but want to cry.  I know there are so many ways to stay in touch (I have been known to create groups on Whatsapp...and no, still won't find me on Facebook), but it's just not the same.  I see them eight hours every day Monday to Friday, and then we hang out some nights and on the weekends.  Major withdrawal!  They have made my time in HK so memorable and have helped me get through a lot of things (without even realizing it).  I really don't know how to say goodbye...

If only I could paint

HK is such a cosmopolitan city it's easy to forget its past. Tea shops. Farms. Mom and pop specialty stores.  Cable cars. 

I would totally set myself up on some corner on HK Island with my easel and paints to capture what's left of something so iconic of this amazing city...If only I could paint!  Hahahaha

Japanese bar food

 

Deep fried sweet potato

Tofu (it was sooooo yummy)

Deep fried bitter melon (another winner)

Deep fried cheese bites

  Deep fried squid

One of two bottles of sake we had (What does "bottoms up" mean?  These girls are such alchies...lol)

  

 I'm holding the bottle because it's pretty, okay?

Chicha

Tiff, Dor, Nat and I went to Chicha after Lammas Island. Peruvian small plates. I liked the atmosphere and I can understand why it's getting so much buzz. Something different. But I don't think I'll return...not exactly bang for your buck kind of place. And there are better places for tacos. However, the company more than made up for it. I had a really nice time with the girls. We decided to move on to some other place after a bottle of wine and these small bites.  Now that's what I call a party! (Okay, I'm too lazy to go back to the menu, so I'm not doing these dishes justice...)

King fish

Fish tacos

Sweet potato skewer

Pork belly and potato croquettes

 

 plated

Temple Street night market

Hazel and I had so much fun walking around exploring HK.  We didn't really bother shopping at malls because there really isn't much we can't get in the States. And everything costs more in HK!

We loved checking out street markets and random boutiques. We were never really in a hurry to get somewhere, so sure, let's stop and look at stuff. Haha. I think part of the appeal is that we get to bargain.  Feeling you scored a bargain is an amazing rush.  Although I'm fully aware of the fact that the buyer is rarely the "winner".  But I don't care...if I feel like I got a deal, yay me!  lol