Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009
It's a holiday today: National Day; the 60th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China. Everyone is happy to have the holiday, but I have heard comments about "China's several thousand years old. Why are we celebrating only 60 years?" And, "Mao brought terrible conditions to the Chinese people and killed millions. Why are we celebrating him?" But then, this is Hong Kong. I doubt those sentiments would be expressed publicly in China.
Ernest and I went hiking this morning on Lamma Island. We took the ferry from Aberdeen. Many people were loading the ferry with containers of fish and food. We saw several floating fish farms as we got closer. They look like dozens of barrels that have been hooked together outlining a large rectangle, with tires tied to the outsides of the barrels, and boards crisscrossing the area in between the barrels. I think they might have the area surrounded with fishing nets, but we couldn't tell by looking.
After getting off at a very small village, we hiked over the hill to the main town. There are no roads on Lamma Island, so there are no vehicles. But there are walking paths. The cloud cover the weatherman predicted didn't show up until we were almost at the end of our 2 hour hike. It was beautiful, walking along the tree lined paths and overlooking the bay in some spots.
We did end up in a turtle protection area. We could hear people laughing and playing in the ocean, so we went to inspect the area, thinking the signs didn't include the area we were in. Well, we walked right into the inspector's camp and he sent us packing. Ernest recognized him - we had sat by him on the ferry over.
At the top of the hill a very old lady was selling cold drinks for half again the normal price. We figured it was probably her only source of income, so Ernest bought a Chinese rendition of Gatorade and I drank an ice tea. It was definitely refreshing.
On the beach we met a couple who spoke English. She was French and he was Australian. They had been living there for 5 months. There were only about 3 houses that we could see near the beach, so it was quite isolated. Further along the path we came across a lady who we think had heat stroke. She had been sitting in the middle of the hot path with an umbrella over her, but when she saw us coming, she moved up the path into the shade. By time we reached her others had stopped to assist her and she was lying down. A short time later a helicopter started circling, so we are fairly certain they were going to try to evacuate her. However, we kept walking so don't know if the helicopter ever found a place to land.
We passed a shaded area where there were many old, large graves. They were cemented in and many were circular with pictures in the headstones. There were also many mosquitoes in the damp, shaded area by the tombs, and I was under serious attack. For some reason they don't like Ernest!
At the larger village, they had rows of restaurants with large covered decks on the bay for tourists. Ferries were beginning to bring in the lunch crowd. However, the meals were $ 26.00 for two, so we decided to catch the 12:30 PM ferry and eat in Aberdeen at Fairwoods. Fairwoods is the Furrs of HK and it doesn't have any MSG, so it is safe for Ernest. Besides which we could both eat for $ 8.00, it was quick, indoors, and quite cool, for which we were grateful.
Flora, one of Ernest's co-workers, invited us to join her family to watch the fireworks down at the Central Piers. The police were out in force and were separating out the viewing areas, so we weren't able to get up where we could see Victoria Harbor. But, we were just behind the building and we had no touble seeing the fireworks. They were spectacular. They had smiley faces, hearts, stars, and lots of regular, colorful and bright fireworks. Every time they went "boom, "we could hear an echoing" boom "to the left, then another echoing" boom "behind us from the high-rises. It was earsplitting and continuous for 30 minutes. The finale was Chinese writing that said," China, 60 . "That was quite amazing. Of course, Flora had to tell me what it said. Everyone oohed and aahed in unison throughout the show, which was funny. Afterwards we walked 20 min. to a bus stop that was not as crowded as the main one, but then we had to wait almost 30 min. for a bus to come. We were tired, but it was a fun way to celebrate.
When we got back to Aberdeen, we rode the ferry across to Ap Lei Chau. The new praya is open. It's beautiful. They've had it roped off, so we couldn't see what they were doing. They have 3 foot massage areas like we saw in the sitting out areas on our hike down from Victoria Peak. On the first level, all the rocks are the same height. It hurts to walk on them, but a lady told Flora that it only hurt her feet the first 3 times she walked on them. If you keep doing it, your feet toughen up. There were 2 other paths of rocks but the rocks were uneven, so they are for "advanced" feet.
Friday, Oct 2
When the doorbell rings 9 times, we know it's Jung (Yoong) next door. She walks around our flat and talks up a storm. Of course, we have no clue what she's saying. Ernest can say, "I don't understand" in Madarin, but that's it. We all laugh a lot. She's quite animated. We were getting nervous because she often seems to be warning us. Plus, she'll go to the bathroom sink and pat the sink and pretend she's washing & drying her face. Ernest secretly taped her and took the tape and some of her writing to his boss. MK said that we shouldn't be worried at all. She's a traditional Chinese woman and she's trying to welcome us and make sure we have a good time in Hong Kong. Recently she's written things like, "Be considerate when doing things;" "If some difficulty, trouble matter, I am willing to help both of you," "I am visiting sister," meaning she is identifying with us as a relative; "Blessing you, harmony, happy." Before she was always telling us to beware of thieves--she works with some in a restaurant, I guess.
MK said she is just trying to make sure our "Feng Shui" is good. It means "wind and water," but it is a big deal in China. It's trying to have a harmoneous relationship with everything in ones life and house and neighborhood. For example, if your flat is overlooking a cemetary, that is bad Feng Shui. If you have water nearby, like a waterfall or a fountain, that is good Feng Shui. Everything in life has to be balanced and they even have practitioners who will come to your home or work and help you rearrange your furniture and life for better Feng Shui. People who have a run of bad luck will often go to a Feng Shui practitioner to be told what to do to improve their situation.
Saturday, Oct 3
We rode the minibus to the other side of Ap Lei Chau Island with the intent of hiking over the mountain and back to South Horizons. Unfortunately, the only paths over the hill we could find were official paths for workers and were gated and locked. We followed one path up the hill to the resevoir, then climbed a set of very high and narrow stairs to the top where they had a sports area. It was surrounded by a fence and had some exercise equipment and a walking path/track. Several people were there utilizing the area.
We headed down the path and, when we came to the bay, we climbed over a wall so we could walk out on the large rocks. There were several people out there fishing. Red wax writing was on some of the rocks. We learned that this is a new grafitti tradition for Mid-Autumn festival that the police are trying to stop. The wax is messy and doesn't absorb into nature very quickly. It was very pleasant to sit for awhile and watch the water splash on the rocks.
Mid-Autumn Festival is here. This Festival is as significant to the Chinese as Thanksgiving is to Americans. It's a celebration of the full moon, of family, and that it will cool down soon. (By the way, this was the HOTTEST September on record in Hong Kong. Just for me!!) Families get together to eat and celebrate. In the evening they go to the beach or out in the woods or parks and they give the kids lanterns so they can run back and forth with abandon. Traditionally they put candles in the paper lanterns, but now they often used battery operated lights for safety.
One of our elders, Boon, and his wife, Christine, invited us over for dinner with several others. They served crab, noodles with peanut sauce, greens from their garden, a pork roast, we took a fruit salad, and they had several other dishes. Dessert was very traditional--moon cakes. Moon cakes are individual sized cakes that have bean paste inside and a boiled egg yolk hidden inside. Ernest eats moon cakes, but doesn't really like them, and I've merely tasted them. Somehow having beans in dessert doesn't taste right to me. However, the more expensive type, like they served tonight, are creamy and quite tasty. The tradition says that during the time of the Mongols, the Chinese patriots hid messages in the moon cakes. Since the Mongols didn't eat them, (go figure,) the patriots could communicate secretly and were able to overthrow their rulers. It was a delightful evening and we stayed until almost midnight.
Sunday, Oct 4
At church the series is on parenting. Whew!! We made it through that part of life. Praise the Lord, all three of our kids love Him. Since it's the first week of the month, we had a catered dinner afterwards. We once again ate with the Doctor and his wife, who is a nurse. They began attending church about 5 mo. ago after our former pastor visited him during his serious illness. She was telling me how difficult it is to be a nurse here in Hong Kong. The hours are long and the patients and their families are very demanding. She said it's difficult to stay calm and explain things to them so that they will accept what is happening in the hospital.
In the evening we walked to the end of the new praya. Everything along the walkways has a boat theme. At the end of the paths (in some places there are 6 parallel paths) there is a large stucture that looks like a boat. We walked up the 3 levels to look out over the harbor and Aberdeen. It is beautiful and many people were strolling along, jogging, or sitting on the benches.
Monday, Oct. 5
In the evening I left at 5:50 for a 7:00 ladies' meeting at Island Evangelical Community Church. Rujon, a clinical psychologist, and her husband, Steve, have a ministry called "Healing for the Nations." They give seminars, mainly for couples, based on McGee's book,
Search for Significance. They are in Hong Kong to do a weekend retreat, but Rujon presented a special evening for women. My bus was caught in a traffic jam, so I was very frustrated that I didn't get there until 7:30.
I hurried onto the elevator, which was crowded, and got off on floor 8, or so I thought. As soon as I got off and the doors closed behind me, I realized I was on the wrong floor. The floors aren't marked, so I asked a receptionist what floor it was. It was 7, so I decided it would be faster to walk up the stairs rather than wait for the elevator again. I knew where the stairs were between the 1st and 2nd floor, so I walked down the hall looking through the door windows for the stairs. I spotted stairs and pushed the door open. When the alarm blared, I looked down and realized I had pushed open an emergency fire door. Everybody came running out into the hall and I slunk back to the elevator. But, all things work together for good. When I got off on the 8th floor, a new gal to HK was getting off too, so I could show her where the seminar was.
They were serving pizza so I hadn't eaten dinner and I was starving by time I arrived. But I got my pizza and got in on 2/3rds of the seminar. She said that the world feeds us 4 lies: we must be productive, be beautiful, be powerful, and/or be popular. These lies make us feel we always have to measure up. Instead, God offers us unconditional love and we have significance because He created us. I chatted with Rujon for a few minutes afterwards and found out she'll be at our church on Sunday.
Wednesday, Oct 7
I attended Priscilla's study today. I rode the bus to the Macau Ferry terminal, then walked through the subway. This time I came out on a different street than before, but I didn't have to get out my compass or my map to figure out which way to go. That's progress!
In our discussion group, the first question asked us to talk about the last time we were angry. Did that ever open the flood gates!! Jenny had arrived very frustrated because her live-in maid wouldn't listen this morning. Her maid is pregnant and has diabetes so spends a lot of time lying down. Of course, the maid signed her annual contract before telling Jenny that she was pregnant.
I learned all sorts of things about maids in this discussion. One lady has had the same maid for 20 years and is very happy with her. The other 4 ladies have had negative experiences. The law says that Jenny has to give her maid 10 weeks of paid leave when the baby arrives. Then the rule is, the baby cannot come back to the house. So, the maid either will quit work, which is unusual, or send the baby back to the Philipines to be raised by the grandparents. Two of the ladies are looking for maids right now and they are both very stressed about getting a lazy or uncooperative maid. If you fire a maid, you have to pay for 2/3rds of their wages for every year they've worked for you. In Jenny's case, her maid has been there for 7 years, so she would have to pay her $2000.00 HK times 7 times 12. Wow! But Rose kept saying, "Just pay her. It's not worth it. Just pay her and let her go."
One of the ladies had a maid that stole from her. She reported the maid to the police, but dropped the charges when she found out that the maid would have a mandatory jail sentence. The police told her that stealing is the common reason they see Philipinas, and the Indonesian maids are generally turned in for child abuse. (I mean the ones that they police see, not most of the maids, of course.)
I was amazed at the level of frustration the ladies had when talking about their maids, but here it is uncommon to have money and no live-in maid. Jenny had 3 maids when her boys were growing up and was happy with two of the three. Now that the boys are grown, she only has one maid. I'm very glad we live in a small place and I can take care of it by myself!
Kathryn picked me up afterwards and we went to the COVA restaurant in Pacific Place for high tea. They are know for their cakes and Italian wine. Wow, the food was beautiful and delicious. They served shrimp on small croissants, tiny meat tarts, and mini dessert tarts. We split each tart, which was one bite per each. Everything was absolutely delicious. She had an appointment afterwards, so I hopped a bus to get home.
I called this Blog #12 plus a half, because I generally stop after Wednesday, but since I'm leaving for The States next week, I'll finish up by combining these blogs.
Thursday, Oct 8
We invited Ernest's boss, MK, and his wife, Natalie, to join us for dinner this evening. MK has been giving Ern hints that it's his turn. We've had Flora and her family, Nok and Juliet over for dinner, so he was waiting impatiently. He took us out to the fish market and then to a fancy restaurant where you bring in your own food when Amelia and I were here in March. The first week I arrived he took Ernest and me, Flora and her husband and son, and Nok out for lunch. So, it's definitely our turn.
We made Jumbalaya and they really liked the Creole seasoning. We also had a tossed salad, although typically the Chinese like their veges to be cooked. We also served carrot salad and for dessert we had ice cream and fancy cookies from Italy.
Natalie works for a company that imports fancy Italian purses; an angel is their company emblem. She said that half of the people in Hong Kong can afford their purses, but only 10 percent of the people living in China can afford to purchase.
They brought us a fancy bottle of wine from The COVA restaurant and a beautiful menu with pictures of all the fancy cakes they make. We were going to share it with them, but we didn't have a means of opening it. Guess we'll have to remedy that. They were surprised when I told them I had eaten high tea there yesterday. MK was remarking that he has never eaten at the Mandarin Oriental, The COVA or the Peninsula, and I've only been here a 3 months and I've already been to all three. (Thank you, Kathryn!!)
Afterwards we taught them how to play
Flinch. They remarked that it is a little bit like Mahjong, the game in China that "everyone" plays. Well, the adults, anyway. Since it involves gambling, they don't let the kids play. In the afternoon I often see ladies at the sitting out area on Ap Lei Chau Main Street playing Mahjong.
MK does the cooking in their family. He cooks once or twice per week at home, then the other nights they go out to a restaurant, usually the same one. When they walk in, it's like being with family. Since they always order the same food, it's brought to them quickly. They both eat lunch out everyday. On Saturday evenings, MK cooks dinner for 14 at his mother's house where 4 of his siblings and their families join them. (There were 8 kids in his family of origin.) They play Mahjong all evening.
MK's Fourth Brother (that's how they refer to each other) is 60 and he quit work early to stay home with their mother. Most of the other siblings send Fourth Brother and their mother money every month to help cover expenses. They are all very grateful to him so that their mother could stay home. Here they don't have retirement centers with differing levels of care like in The States. Generally, people don't want to go to a nursing home because they know they will never go home again.
Friday, Oct 9
I rode the bus to Stanley to get my hair cut again. The hair washer was a different one this time and the neck message was good but not outstanding. I found out later that I should have tipped him. Oh well. Sophia gave me a great haircut and admonished me to not let anyone cut it while I'm gone. Well, she said, I might need someone to trim the "fringe" (bangs) and the neck, but nothing else. She's just getting it the way she wants it!! I found that amusing. But I'm very happy with her, so I'm not complaining. Jenny told me on Sunday that others who do expats hair often charge $1,000 HK and she knows some who charge $6,000 HK. WOW! I'm even happier with my $188.00 haircut. ($100 HK=$13.00 U.S.)
Bruno broke his leg so I only had Arnold tonight. Dawn, who is quite tiny, had to carry 4 yr. old Bruno, who is quite stocky and heavy, blocks to get to their Chinese doctor. She said it was very difficult. Kathie is leaving on her mission trip on Thursday, but she asked me to continue tutoring her when I get back. She said she's been looking for an English tutor for years. The last teacher she had was mean and demanding. I'll take that as a compliment.
When riding a bus, we always try to get downstairs when the bus stops one stop before our stop. That way we can move down the stairs while the bus is stopped. Well, we headed down too soon. The bus lurched, and I banged into the man sitting by the stairs. I apologized profusely, then took a step down the stairs as the bus jerked again. The first thing I knew, I was sitting on the stairs. I looked at Ernest and said, "I'm sitting here until he stops." As soon as the bus stopped, we scurried down the stairs to grab a rail to hang onto until our upcoming stop. I'm just thankful I fell into a sitting position and didn't fall down the stairs. I have heard people fall down the stairs before, but I've never been sitting where I could see the accident.
Saturday, Oct. 10
Shopping day. We headed out the door about noon to return a suitcase we had purchased that had a broken piece. It's very unusual to be allowed to return anything in Hong Kong, but that is one reason we like this shop, and the suitcases have large wheels with ballbearings which makes them easy to maneuver. The lady remembered us and took the suitcase back without hesitation. We then purchased two more suitcases, so I should be set for my trip back to The States.
We went to an alley/market on the NW end of HK Island that has many stores and booths; one has some great deals for trinkets which I was buying for a friend of mine who will use them in her business. While I was there, Ernest was scouting for a booth to purchase shawls. He found a good deal, so we stocked up (the girls put in their orders for their Christmas gift giving.) As we left there we found another booth with the same shawls that were cheaper. Oh well! But it was still a good deal. We put our purchases in the suitcases and headed home for a break.
Now for the night market. The girls also "ordered" a certain style of purses for gift giving. Ernest had seen them at the Temple Street Night Market, but it doesn't get going until 8 PM. Unfortunately, it's clear up in Kowloon. We arrived about 8:30 and found the purses right away. The price was 3 times what we wanted to pay. We walked blocks past stall after stall of "stuff" but couldn't find the purses we wanted for a reasonable price. We were nearing the end, so I started praying we would find the right type of purses for the right price. Within 2 blocks we came to the end of the main market, and crossed the street to a different section. There were the purses, hanging right in front of us! Ernest told me to ask how much they would cost if we bought 10, before asking for the price. I did, and the price the man quoted was exactly what we had hoped to pay, 1/3rd what the 1st lady was asking. YEAH! God even aswers simple prayers.
Sunday, Oct. 11
It was our turn again for Sunday School since 2 wks ago we were just covering for someone else. So, we missed Rujon's talk. We only had 7 kids, but Ernest was able to engage them, so it was a good class.
Afterwards we were invited out for lunch with a group of friends and Rujon and Steve. We went to the Jardine Restaurant where Boon and Christine took us a few weeks ago. They had a table that seated 17 with a HUGE lazy Susan. They brought out a roasted chicken with its comb and beak intact, a roast duck with the long neck and head, bar-b-que pork dumplings, shrimp dim sum, rice noodles with pork chops and sauce, broccoli, spinach, etc., etc. We kept eating and they kept bringing out more food. It was incredible. Rujon is exceedingly allergic to any shellfish, so they made special dishes without the sauces.
That afternoon I started packing for my trip home. I leave Tuesday morning and I'm excited. Here's my schedule:
Colorado Springs Oct. 14-16;
Canon City from the evening of Oct. 16 through the 21st;
Utah at the XanGo Convention the 22nd - the 24th, driving there and back;
Canon City the 27th through Nov. 1st;
Phoenix Nov. 2nd through Nov. 15th;
Tulsa, OK, Nov 17th - 29th;
back to CO until my plane heads back to Hong Kong on Dec. 3rd.
If you have time to get with me while I'm in your area, call me on my cell phone at:
719-371-3144
I'm looking forward to seeing many friends while traveling.
Thank you for sticking with my Hong Kong blogging. It's been fun, but I'm not sure whether or not I'll continue when I get back. We'll see.
Take care.
Love, Joyce
