Cheung Chau

Nearby island. beach, sand, sun :) Had a blast just hanging with my cousins on a saturday. Took a ferry to this island, walked around, ate street food. Jumped for Joy :)

Fried fish balls

Spent the other day running around Kowloon with my aunt Rosa. We went to Mong Kok district which has the highest population density in the world! We went to the flower market, fish market, and ladies market. I love the name of ladies market... no it is not a place to pick out a woman. It is a place for women to go and buy ridiculously cheap clothes and earrings and necklaces etcetera etcetera.. But before we went too far my aunt decided it was time I really tried all of the traditional chinese foods that I hadn't braved yet. So we popped into this small little side restaurant. First plate that showed up on our table was fried fish balls. Oh dear they were gross. but I didn't let it show... I finished two and when my aunt asked if I liked them I just said that they weren't my fav. Next plate was tofu, eggplant, and green bell pepper topped with fish paste. They were actually all pretty good. We topped them with hot chili oil and soy sauce. mmm. Then came dumplings filled with green something and meat something. ok. Lastly SHARK FIN soup. This is my aunt's all time favorite. It looks like glutenous brown jelly mixed with mushrooms, lettuce, and little cut up pieces of shark fin... not very mouth watering. But I finished a couple spoonfuls and commenced a conversation about if I ended up living here I'm sure I would learn to love all these foods. Maybe....

I had the most amazing time last night just wandering around Causeway bay. Once again I found an area that is teeming with people. SO MANY PEOPLE! I just can't get over the amount of human beings that thrive in this city. Earlier in the day I sat in line for an hour to get my visa process started. I am heading to mainland China with my Aunt on the 8th of March. She does mission work and has a project set up in a small rural village. We are going to check up on the village and the pig farm that is set in place. So anyhoo. Got my visa app started then walked and walked and walked until I had a case of super low blood sugar attack. I realized I hadn't really eaten anything all day except for a package of ritz. ai ai So luckily I stumbled across this awesome little hot dog stand. The concept was german hot dogs with japanese fusion. Crazy but good. :) Also found some fun graffiti and an amazing little market off of Jardin Garden Ave that was stocked full of super cheap clothes. All in all a great day stomping the streets.

breaking the bank...

This is my building. This is where I'm spending the day tomorrow. All this wandering about has cost me too much damage to my travel budget. Grrr But lucky for you all, I'll be writing you fun and fancy letters. Check your mail boxes, love from Hong Kong is on it's way!

Chungking Mansions

Crazy place. Wow. What a mixture of races, cultures, and commerce all in one spot. My friend John sent me this article talking about this rundown building in the middle of Kowloon that has many uses. I was in the area so I decided to check it out. Stayed on the lower floors because according to my uncle the higher up you go the more sketch it gets. It defiantly felt a bit off. Stall after stand after stall was filled with black market cell phones, electronics, and pirated DVDs mixed with amazing smells of Indian curry. Apparently there is also a movie called Chungking Express that was made in 94 by a Hong Kong director. Looks pretty interesting. If I wasn't traveling alone it would be a fun adventure to stay a night or two.

here is the article: http://www.worldhum.com/features/travel-stories/hope_and_squalor_at_chungking_mansion_20070813/N2/#comments

I’m here in the middle of central Hong Kong, SoHo area. Sipping on a lime rimmed sol beer and awaiting a basket of chips and guacamole. Ladies and gentlemen this city is crazy diverse and I am in the center of expat ville. You can get any type of cuisine paired with any type of atmosphere. What brought me to this little abode? My hairdresser Clemente read some articles about the Hispanic community in Hong Kong and their restaurants. I am here to say yes, they do exist, and yes they are run by the peeps that know how to do it authentic style, and yes it is fantastic! Mmmm. I'm also going to check out a taco cart on the other side of town sometime this week. See if it's any better.

The song “all my single ladies” is playing by Beyonce and all I can think of is Colette Grubbs and Jake Grubb. Love you two!

Rode the bus into town today. Takes about 50 mins. Hoped off, walked across a couple of sky bridges, then rode one of the longest escalators of my life. Just looked it up and it is the longest outdoor escalator system in the world. Hong Kong is a huge hill. Reminds me of San Fran.

Highlight of my day: Realizing that getting lost is OK. In fact it is better that way.

Where's the loo?

In addition to space, Hong Kong has a shortage of toilets. Seriously. When I start to feel like I have to pee I have a mini heart attack. It takes me forever to find a restroom. On top of that the MTR system, which carries a bazillion people every day, does not have restrooms in their terminals. What was the government thinking with that one? Gahhh, so inconsiderate.

I do have to commend whoever invented the squatter toilets. Freaking amazing! Instead of trying to hover/semi squat over a ridiculously gross toilet that 50 other women have peed all over you can just plant your two feet down on either side of a hole and squat. Incredible ☺

On the subject of restrooms, today I walked into a restroom to find an ashtray conveniently installed above the toilet paper dispenser. And there was a freshly smoked butt with ashes in it. The woman who smoked it was wearing red lipstick. Bizarre.

chicken head

This guy came out on one of our dinner platters last night.

mmm chicken head.

would you care for some chicken head with your coke???

Apparently bringing out the whole animal : head, tail, eyes, brain, and feet shows that you are getting your money's worth.

happy new year

I live in an apartment with my aunt, uncle, and two cousins. I live on the 34th floor.

Woke up this morning to crazy people yelling "happy new year!!" in chinese from the ground level.

SUN LEAN FAI LOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SUN LEAN FAAAAIII LOK!



good morning

The days blur together

I smell of Korean BBQ. The sticky smoke meat smell is in my pores and hair.

I ate dragon fruit today, it tastes just like mushy sweet with small black seeds like kiwi.

I also drank sweet soy milk, local beer, plum juice, and milk tea.


highlight of my day : cute old Chinese man walking across the street. I wish my eyeballs were cameras so I could freeze his snapshot forever.

Hong Kong

Here goes..

Well, I am starting a blog. Why? Because I am starting a chapter of my life that will hopefully be more interesting than my old day-to-day routine of work and school and I think it is worth documenting. Plus It is always nice to go back and read old things. Writing is like an external hard drive for your brain. If you write something down you can retrieve it and remember what would have otherwise been lost between the cracks of your convoluted brain tissue.

I am traveling for the next 8 months of my life. Then in September I will finally settle down in Buenos Aires Argentina to go to school and live in the city. I'm pretty siked.