On the anniversary of our first month of living in Hong Kong, I'd like to share with you a photo that captures the difference between life in The Gambia and life here in HK:
Yes, that's right folks. Those are my legs. I didn't see much of them in The Gambia, and neither did anyone else. OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration, since we did our fair share of swimming at Coco Ocean, and of course all I wore there was my bathing suit. But in general, when I was out in public, I followed the local Muslim custom of covering my legs. It got to the point where sometimes I even felt a bit strange wearing pajama shorts around the house. Toward the end of our time there, I started getting a bit more scandalous and wearing skirts that fell right below my knees. When I did, I definitely noticed people staring at my legs.
I didn't realize quite how much I'd internalized the custom until we arrived here in Hong Kong, and suddenly I saw women's legs everywhere. Women in mini-skirts, women in shorts... legs, legs, legs, they're out and about! I'd catch myself staring at them idly when we were walking around or riding the subway, and Doug mentioned how strange it was for him to see legs again. On our second day here, when I was getting dressed for a jog, I reached into my suitcase for the new running shorts I'd bought while we were at home in CA. Staring at them, though, they suddenly seemed a bit too short. So I opted for a longer pair (see photo) that come to a few inches about my knees. Even in those, I felt self-conscious at first. I kept glancing at people on the street to see if they were staring at my legs. (They weren't.) And the other day, when I crossed my legs during my Cantonese class, my knee-length skirt shifted and exposed my kneecaps. (Gasp!) I instinctly reached down to cover my knees, for fear of scandalizing my teacher, but he didn't seem fazed. We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto...
As you may have guessed, legs aren't the only new thing I've seen here in Hong Kong. To give you a sense of my first impressions, I offer you this photo collage:
One of the many things I've come to love about grocery shopping in Hong Kong, other than the fact that they sell just about
everything, is the budget produce. Oh sure, you can empty your wallet buying a vast array on imported produce. But when fruits or veggies get a smidge past their prime, they get marked waaay down in price. Usually, though, this discount produce looks just fine to me: this pear may be a wee bit ripe, or that apple may have a miniscule bruise, but the bargain shopper in me delights in buying yummy things for cheap. What I loved in the photo above, though, wasn't the bargain but the label. In case you weren't sure what this is, folks, it's
a vegetable.
Generic vegetables aren't the only interesting thing for sale around here. It's also difficult to buy a small quantity of oil. Notice how the bottles on the top shelf are linked into 3-packs? Each one of the bottles is about the average size of the bottles in my cupboard back home. Not to mention those giant jugs on the lower shelves! I did finally manage to find a single bottle of olive oil, but it took me a minute of searching to find it amidst all of the jumbo packs.
And while I know it's good to be healthy as a horse, do you really want the mane of one, too?
I spotted this umbrella vending machine in a subway station. Good idea, eh?
One of my happiest moments thus far was when I discovered that some grocery stores sell my beloved Schweppes tonic water with quinine, Gambia's beverage of champions. Even bumping my bag into a display case and hearing one of the cans start hissing could not dampen my tremendous joy. Instead, I simply emptied the other groceries from my bag and waited until the can stopped spraying everywhere. I was about to throw it away when I realized I was holding a half-can of perfectly good tonic. So what did I do? I chugged it, of course. My inner Gambian wouldn't have had it any other way.
I see this picture nearly every time I ride the MTR (subway). It's an ad for a school that teaches English. No real story here. It's just that there's something about this woman's expression and the American flag painted across her lips that I find extremely odd.
Right after we arrived, the city started prettying itself up for Christmas. There are twinkling lights, inflatable Santas, and glittering ornaments bedecking all of the malls and parks. Here's a holiday tip: Having trouble getting into the holiday spirit? Try using "bedecking" in a sentence. It'll put a Christmas grin on your face! (Obviously this Mickey statue is not aware of the strategy...)
From the number of language centers (excuse me,
centres), educational enrichment programs, and other child-enhancement places I see scattered around the city, this is obviously a place that values intelligence in children. Check out those exam prep tutors being advertised on buses: they're everywhere! If you can't afford the pricier programs, perhaps a few of those pills pictured above will help instead. Just don't confuse them with the pills below:
Yes, you read that correctly: Defecation Easy (Granules). Also available in liquid form. (No, not really.)
I really miss our kitties, who are currently at home with my family. So perhaps it's no surprise that one of my favorite places in Hong Kong is the Cat Cafe. As you may have guessed from the name, it's a cafe. With cats. The first time I went there, my new friend Rosie and I sat down in a booth inhabited by this cuddly black cat. As soon as I lifted my purse off my lap, the cat trundled over and plopped down on me. I was quite a happy girl!
I was
not as happy to discover that Hong Kong chefs like to put meat in just about everything. It's not to say that we can't find good veggie food here; we definitely can. I even discovered a vegan dining club that goes to a different vegetarian restaurant every week. But seriously, you know you're living in a meaty culture when they make meat cookies. MEAT COOKIES, people. And there's not just one kind of meat in there, either. Oh, no. These are multi-meat cookies! Which is grosser, these cookies, or the picture below?
Ahem. That says Chicken Paw.
Carrying along in the vein of things that have grossed me out, I spotted this sign in the bathroom of a dance studio where I attended a modern dance class. In case you can't read it, the sign asks ladies "for hygienic conditions" to "please vomit
ONLY into the toilet bowl and flush." Gee, I wonder what kind of body image messages women are getting at this dance studio? Ugh. I didn't go back.
But not to worry, Hong Kong isn't all meat cookies and messiness. Doug and I have also had fun exploring the prettier, more inviting parts of Hong Kong. One day I stumbled across the Hong Kong Zoo & Botanical Gardens, which has a fun collection of birds (including flamingos, above), reptiles, small mammals, and plants. (They even have a raccoon--ha!) Another time, we discovered some colorful murals as we traveled up the Central/Mid-Levels Escalators, a long stretch of steep escalators that carry people up the hills of HK Island. Then we hiked even further into the hills and discovered a trail through the trees that looked out over the city. We've also caught some great views of the harbor on walks and ferry rides:
One thing I love about HK is that the public transit will get you anywhere, including to all sorts of great hiking spots. (When was the last time you took the bus up to the trails on Skyline, or out to Rancho San Antonio? I rest my case.) Last weekend, I took the subway, then a bus, then walked for 30 minutes up a super-steep hill (one thing HK and SF have in common!) to join a section of the Wilson Trail. The trail started out winding over the top of a mountain and through the trees, with occasional views of the city below:
After curling through the trees, the trail went downdowndowndowndown hundreds of stone steps to join a paved trail along a water catchment. I couldn't resist a photograph with the monkey statue along the way:
While I do own this same Travel Scrabble, I swear it wasn't me who left Scrabble trash in the forest!
As I approached the end of my walk, I noticed some unfamiliar shapes on the trail ahead:
Turns out they were macaques, which I'd never seen before. I'll admit they made me a little nervous, mostly because they didn't seem the least bit scared of me. One of them even hissed at the guy walking not far behind me. At one point, there were about 50 macaques on or next to the trail, chasing each other, grooming each other, carrying their babies, or just hanging out in groups. I started having flashbacks to the monkey forest in The Gambia, so I picked up a stick in case any of the macaques got a little too friendly. (For the record, I never actually ever touched a Gambian monkey with a stick. They just made me a little nervous when they came too close.) The stick made me feel silly until I turned around and realized that the guy behind me had also picked up a stick after he saw me do it. We both got through unscathed, though, and I boarded the bus for home relieved and happily tired by my hike.
I'll leave you with a few shots of our apartment and neighborhood. Not too far from our apartment, there's a mall built to look like a cruise ship:
I do miss seeing palm trees out our window, but check out our new view. Not too shabby.
As you may remember, last year
our Christmas "tree" in The Gambia consisted of a pineapple from a local fruit stand and a pine branch that Rose brought to us in a Ziploc bag all the way from Austria. This year, we've upgraded to Christmas Tree 2.0. My friend Dorcas and I were walking out of our building's mall when we noticed that it smelled like Christmas. Turns out the 15-foot tree that the staff was decorating in the lobby was the real thing! I persuaded one of the mall staff members to give me a piece of one of the branches that the crew had cut off the tree. Now our living room smells like Christmas, too. Hooray! (This picture also reminds me of living at the Pastoria house in Sunnyvale with its huge branch on the wall.) Merry Christmas, everybody!
