Thursday - May 6
Well, I only got a few hours of sleep, as nights in Wan Chai often become mornings in Wan Chai. But I was awoken by jack hammering at 9am so I begrudgingly got in the shower, downed some coffee so graciously made for me by Phoebe and got the bus to the Country Club. Kerry had tennis in the morning so I met her at 11am for coffee/brunch after her tennis match. I met a lot of her friends which was lovely and we ended up eating lunch there as well. We were both quite tired after that so we went back home so I could take a nap and drink a Pocari (like gatorade) before our night began. We had been asked on a boat trip to Po Toi. Po Tois is this island SE of HK island. So we left from the HK Yacht Club and arrived in about 45 mins of travel around various islands in S HK. Po Toi is very very local. The electricity runs on generators. It was during the Tin Hau Festival, so there was this huge opera theater (made of bamboo) on the edge of the island. The Tin Hau Festival honors the goddess of the sea, and since it's a fishing village, it's kind of a big deal. It cost the village HK$700,000 to build it. It is only up for one week and then they tear it down again. We arrived in Po Toi and anchored. Then this tiny little water taxi somas to get you. "Three person only!" the man cries. So of course my lot puts four people in at one time. They almost tipped, so I was glad I wasn't in that group! I went second and Kerry and I crouched and squatted so we wouldn't get soaking wet. But after about two minutes of suspenseful squatting, we made it! We had a meal at this very local restaurant. We were the only Ex-Pats there. Ex-Pat - living in a country you are not originally from. You sit on little plastic stools around large round tables covered in plastic. The town elder (we think) came up to our group and offered one of the men with our group some brandy from this HUGE bottle he was carrying around. like a 3 foot tall bottle people! It was ridiculous! So that was kind of a welcome. The restaurant was family owned and two twin women who look super young but are in their 30's serve you. The restaurant permits you to BYOB or BYOW and my group was ridiculously well prepared. They bring the food to you on big plates and then you all grab your own food from that plate with your chopsticks. I had pigeon, huge prawns, ginger rice, whole chickens, squid and much more that I can't remember at present. It is polite to make a mess at the table, that means you're enjoying your meal. And trust me, using chopsticks the whole time, I definitely made a mess. Especially because I was stopping after every dish to take pictures of the next one! So you all better appreciate my pictures! I had to stop eating to take them lol. While we ate, there was an auction of different gaudy things to raise money for the festival and to alleviate the costs of building the opera theater. The bidding was intense, and one man in our group paid HK$4000 for a jade buddha (pronounced BUH-DUH not BOO-DUH) necklace. It was hilarious and then the locals all want to have a drink with you and they all cheered once someone in our group had won the bid. After the amount of money our table spent, the twin servers agreed that next time a corner table would be secured. They are the rulers of the tables and for them to give you a corner table is a big deal, we were one away from the corner tables last night. Next time! After the auction, they were giving away some of the smaller little things. I was given this brightly colored two sided rooster that hangs on your door, don't worry, I'm bringing it back to America. It is just so amazingly fabulous and gaudy it will hang on my door forever. (Sorry Tori and Chels!) After dinner we walked to the opera, which was on the edge of the island. The opera was a fabulous experience. I have absolutely no idea what they were saying, but it was so so much fun. It is very loud, there is a live orchestra, "orchestra." When they speak or sing, it sounds like cats. I kid you not. I will upload some video so you can hear it for yourself! But the costumes and makeup were extraordinary and it was such an honor to see this part of HK. It was so local and so interesting to see how they live on this tiny little island. Very different from the city.
After the opera we went back to the boat, which our host had mercifully moved to the ferry slip so we could hop aboard from the dock. It was really fun going back to HK Island because you could see all of the fishing boats out for the night. Some of them are lit up and shine bright lights into the water to attract the squid and you can actually see (when close enough) the fish swimming toward the light! We arrived home safely and saw Paul, since he had arrived back from business while we were on the boat. Sleep!
Friday , May 7 - TODAY!
So I woke at 9am and was in shock because there was no drilling or jack hammering outside my window! So I went to sleep again (duh!) until 11am when Kerry woke me up. It's her birthday today, so some of her friends had arranged to go out to lunch with her (and me tagging along.) Paul had left for the office, so Kerry and I got ready. I watched the news, the British election is coming to a close, while I sucked down some coffee and pineapple and strawberry yogurt. I swear, American yogurt is not the same as the stuff I have here or even the yogurt I have in England. I hate American strawberry yogurt, but here, and UK, it is just delicious, I could eat it all day! What the heck! Sorry, I'm a nerd.
Ok, so we got ready and went into Central. We parked at the Country Club and got a taxi into Central because traffic and parking are crazy in the city. We went to this lovely restaurant, which I can't remember the name of on Hollywood Road. We had buffet lunch again, which is quite popular here. It was lovely and I was quite full! Kerry had a tiramasu for her birthday dessert which we all stole a bite of. Kerry has just found out that Leo (my other cousin) is not doing well and is still ill, so he has been taken to the school hospital. Kerry might leave for Scotland/London early depending on how he is doing. We walked around Hollywood Road a bit and Kerry showed me where I will be working tomorrow (will explain in a minute!!) and around Lan Kwai, the nicer bar area of town. Ok, so Victoria, one of the lovely girls I met on Wednesday asked me if I would like to work for a fashion designer friend of hers on Saturday (tomorrow.) Victoria doesn't have time to do it, as she is leaving for the UK quite soon. So I accepted, and it was absolutely perfect because it was about 2 blocks from where we had lunch, so Kerry showed me the exact place I have to be in the morning. Maddy Thompson is a cashmere designer, and she sounds absolutely lovely, so I am very excited. So tonight we are going to dinner for Kerry's birthday. Lucy's in Stanley I think. So it should be a lovely night, I'm sure we will have a great time. So that is all for now! Sorry its taken me ages to write! Ha, my accent is getting so confused, I've been pushed and pulled by so many different accents here, its hilarious. Get ready!
Love you all!
