Lunch and Tea Party

Saturday morning was another event with the children from Garak Middle School. It’s a school that’s sort of out in the country and many of the kids don’t attend hagwons (private English schools) so they organize events for the kids to interact with native English speakers.

This Saturday was a traditional lunch and a green tea seminar. We each got paired with a partner and mine was Rex. He was a super sweet boy who had the best manners I’ve witnessed since being here in Korea. Ironically enough, Rex is good friends with Billy, who was my partner the last time I did an event. So I got to interact with them both.

Right away Rex introduced himself and shook my hand. Then when we entered the restaurant he pulled my chair out for me and filled my water glass. The restaurant was really nice (the best part was that we weren’t sitting on the floor!). All of the dishes were handmade pottery and the food just kept coming. Rex had learned all about the various dishes we’d be eating so he explained them all to me. Most of them were tasty. The whole fish smothered in hot sauce was something I was not too fond of, but the rest were delicious.

After lunch we went into the tearoom where two women were wearing traditional outfits and were preparing for the green tea demonstration. It was beautifully done. The whole demonstration lasted for about 7 minutes and was done VERY slowly. It was almost like a dance. Each movement was graceful yet distinct. I never knew making tea was such a process.

She first poured hot water into a bowl and then poured it into the teapot and each teacup. Then she dumped each one out. This was just to get the teapot and cups hot. Then she carefully measured green tea leaves into the teapot and poured water over them. Once it had brewed she poured it out into the cups very distinctly, going back and forth between the cups. Finally she distributed the cups and saucers to the other drinkers. The way they drank the tea was very specific as well.

From what I learned, drinking green tea is supposed to promote relaxation and aid digestion. The tea is supposed to be consumed in three sips. You hold the cup in your right hand and balance the bottom of the cup on your left hand. First you bring the cup up to your nose and inhale. Then you bring it to your navel and allow it to rest for a few seconds. You then take a sip of approximately 1/3 of the cup. Next you return the tea to your ribcage to allow it to rest, then you sip another 1/3. Finally you bring the cup to your chest and then you drink the last of the tea. By drinking in this way, it’s supposed to relax the whole torso.

After the demonstration, the boys set off to make us our own pot of tea. They took this very seriously and were determined to make the best pot! Billy even brought his stopwatch to ensure that it was exactly 2 and a half minutes that the tea steeped for. They explained their actions very well and I was so impressed by the effort and detail they put into the process. The tea was actually very tasty, but I can’t say that I felt that much relaxation from drinking it in the recommended way.

The last part of the day was spent walking through the gardens and interacting with our partners. In enjoyed getting to know Rex and I hope to be paired with both him and Billy for the next event.

Hong Kong- Part 2

On Wednesday morning, I set off for the ‘Hong Kong Island Tour’ I had previously booked. Alicia had to go back to work, so this was a nice opportunity for me to tour around and see the sites with another group.

The first stop on the tour was the Man Mo Temple. It was built in 1847 and was dedicated to the gods of literature and martial arts. Our guide showed us around and explained many of the things I had learned the day before. One interesting fact was that almost all temples have a door standing directly behind the main entrance. This door is usually closed. The reasoning behind it was that evil spirits might come into the temple, but they are unable to turn in either direction, they can only move forward. Therefore, if there is a second door there, it will prevent the evil spirit from being able to enter the temple. I thought it was interesting.

After the temple, we began heading up to The Peak, which is a famous sight where visitors can see Victoria Harbor and the South China Sea. We had to take a tram to get up to the top and I was so glad that we weren’t walking up. The total stretch to get up there is 373 meters! And it was a huge incline… you’d have to be in really great shape to do it on foot.

Looking over the skyline was beautiful. I was surprised to find such beauty in Hong Kong because I knew that it is so commercialized. I think the city did an amazing job at maintaining the natural beauty of the harbor while enhancing it with aesthetically pleasing buildings and skyscrapers.

Moving on from the Peak, we went to the Aberdeen Fishing Village and took a ride in a sampan around the harbor to get in some extra sights. We then arrived at the Jumbo Floating Restaurant for a Dim Sum lunch. The restaurant is apparently world renowned and was very ornately decorated. The lunch was good, but it didn’t have as much dim sum as I was hoping for. Overall it was tasty.

Our last stop on the tour was to Stanley Market where there are tons of vendors selling amazing things. I had to get used to bartering, because it doesn’t happen in Korea. Our guide taught us “Pandee” which means cheaper in Cantonese… I bought some beautiful paintings there that I love.

Returning home was nice. I met Alicia, we had a rest and then went out for Thai food. It was so nice being able to pick a style of food and know that there were options for it… so much variety! Our meal was so good; cashew chicken and pad-Thai. I ordered a coconut juice and they brought it out to me in a fresh coconut! I was a happy camper. If only Korea had a bit more culinary diversity.

After dinner Alicia and I joined her friends at the races. This was my first experience going to horse races and I was very surprised by the turnout. There were people everywhere and I realized that it was quite a social event. We began by looking at the horses and doing a small walk around and then joined her friends in the bleachers. I bet on a race but apparently beginners luck doesn’t apply to horse races (or not for me anyways) and so that was the end of that!

Thursday was more of an unplanned day. I didn’t book any tours for that day and thought I might use it to walk around and explore by myself. A few days earlier I was looking at a subway map and realized that the subway goes right to china! I thought that was too good of an opportunity to waste so I changed my plans to a China adventure.

Throughout my research, I learned that it will be very difficult for me to get a Chinese visa while in Korea. Having the boarder stamp my visa to get into China would make this ordeal so much easier, so it became a necessity. My concern was that I didn’t have a visa yet, and I was nervous that I would be turned away at the border. However people I spoke to told me stories of their friends applying at the border and getting in. I thought I’d give it a try.

I boarded the subway a little bit nervous, but the ride went quite well. It took just over an hour and when I got to the boarder, I could tell a difference. It wasn’t as easy to navigate around and I had to ask many people questions in order to find someone who spoke English.

Eventually I applied for my short term visa and was granted (yay!) and I crossed over in to Shenzhen China. Walking out was a little bit nerve wracking because I was immediately approached by all of these guys wanting to sell me things. I guess it was pretty obvious I was a tourist and I must have looked lost because I was alone and had never been there before.

I told them all I was not interested and kept walking until I was unsure of where I wanted to go. Eventually I asked one guy where the shopping centre was and in a matter of 30 seconds, I had about six of them around me “Missy, come to my store, I have good purses for you!!”.

They led me to the shopping district and I told them that I wanted to shop alone… no, that was not going to happen. I tried to get rid of them by walking into a random shop and pretending to browse, but they just waited for me to come out. Eventually, I said fine, show me your store. They did, but by that point I was so frustrated by the annoyances that I didn’t buy anything.

After their shops, I could finally browse by myself and I found some nice scarves, some jewelery and a purse. The tactics from one store to the next was completely the same. They give you a HUGE price and I responded by giving a very low one. They pretend to be offended and then we negotiate. Every time I would get the same response “Missy, I want to be your friend, so I will give you a special friend price… just for you!” Haha, it was entertaining though. By then end of the day, I felt like I could run one of those little shops.

An interesting thing about all of the fake merchandise is that it’s illegal in China. So, what the stores do is they have a few purses and then a bunch of catalogues. You look through the catalogue and pick out a few that you like. Then they radio another employee to drive to the warehouse and select the purses you’re interested in. The employee then runs them back to the store so that you can choose the one you like. It’s quite the illegal operation but I felt like it was a unique cultural experience.

Once I returned back to Hong Kong, I met Alicia at the apartment and we went to the city centre. She had a Cantonese language class and I had planned to watch the symphony of lights on the harbor front.

The Symphony of lights is a pretty large tourist attraction, so I felt like it was a must-do on my trip. I did some shopping before it started but got to the harbor front with plenty of time to spare. I was pretty impressed by the large crowd, seeing as it was a Thursday night.

The view itself was stunning, then the big lights became synchronized with the music lasers were added into the mix. It was pretty neat but I’ll admit my attention was wearing thin by the end of it. I’m glad I wasn’t planning on this being one of the best things to see in HK, because that would have been a disappointment. It was just ok.

Afterwards I took a stroll down the Avenue of the Stars and saw Jackie Chan’s star and Burce Lee’s star--- quite impressive!

When Alicia was finished with her class, we met up and went out for Indian food. That was probably the highlight of my night… so delicious! I’m beginning to learn that the things that make a place special for me is highly influenced by the variety of food. And Hong Kong had lots of it!

Friday was my last day in Hong Kong. I woke up early and went off on my final tour called “The Land Between”. It began by taking us to the Yuen Yuen Institute which is a religious complex that demonstrates the significance of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism to Hong Kong society. Throughout this part of the tour I would ask the guide questions about each specific religion, but he always gave some answer saying that the society is not very religious in itself and that they don’t care about differences… it’s very lax.

We learned that when people die, they are often cremated and then put in burial rooms in the complex. Their date of birth and death are labeled on a little plate and put in a shelf. There are hundreds of people in each room.

Also, when a person dies, there is a big ceremony that is conducted right after, a Chinese funeral. It is believed that you can purchase earthly possessions (in paper form) and burn them, and these things will go to the afterlife and your loved one will have access to them.

On the specific day we visited, someone had just died and the family had a big house, car, cell phone, cigarettes, ipod etc all sitting out waiting to be burned. It seemed like a very odd concept for me, but apparently they believe it and take it very seriously. Apparently the paper goods aren’t cheap either, so it’s quite an investment.

After the complex, we went to the Fanling Walled Village which was built back in the 17^th century. It was fairly interesting but I felt a little bit invasive staring into the windows of random people’s homes.

This tour was probably my least favorite because it wasn’t as interesting as the rest of the things I’d done. Also, I had a difficult time keeping my eyes open and every time we would ride the bus, I would pass out. An old lady came up to me and asked me if I had a rough night the night before… well just a lot of touring I guess.

After the tour I went out for lunch with a woman I met. She was from Australia and has travelled all over the world. It was really nice to get to know her and the best part was that we went out for Dim Sum—something I had been looking forward to since coming to Hong Kong. We spent over 3 hours talking and eating… so nice!

When I got back to the apartment, we had a rest and then went to the city airport check-in to get rid of my bags. It was very close and so convenient to be able to check in from the city, get rid of my baggage, and then take it easy until my flight.

Alicia and I went out for our last meal together: Cantonese fusion food. It was delicious, like everything else in Hong Kong. I ordered this lime smoothie, and it was lime and mint blended up… tasted like a virgin mojito… delicious!

Leaving for the airport was difficult. I’d had such a wonderful week and had gotten close to Alicia, it was sad to go. She was such a blessing and made my trip so much more fun than it would have been if I was travelling alone. I hope I can repay the favour someday.

Hong Kong Part 1: Lantau Island and Macau

Chuseok is the Korean thanksgiving holiday and my school was scheduled to be closed from the 12^th of September to the 14^th. I decided to maximize on this time off and take an extra two vacation days in order to have a full week of travelling. My destination: Hong Kong!

I arrived in Hong Kong shortly after 11pm on Sunday, September 11. My friend Alicia was at the airport waiting for me when I walked through the gates. It was so nice to see a familiar face from home and I was relieved that we found each other so easily.

We got onto the train and soon arrived to our destination: her friend’s house. As this was a long weekend in Hong Kong as well, many people were travelling. Alicia’s roommate Hannah had a few friends staying at the apartment so there would not be room for Alicia and I. So, Alicia’s friend kindly offered us her apartment (she was going away travelling as well). It worked out perfectly!

Once we arrived at the apartment, I put my things down and we decided to go out for a little stroll around town before bed. This was my first time in a ‘red light district’ area of town and it was quite the experience. Overall, it was just a typical city area with bars everywhere; the only exception was that there were also prostitutes in the mix. Oddly enough, I didn’t feel at all anxious or unnerved being in a ‘shady’ area of town, I actually felt slightly comforted because this was the first time in months that I had been somewhere where all of the signs were in English and people were speaking English all around me.

We continued on our stroll and walked down to the harbor front (absolutely beautiful!) and Alicia pointed out the major buildings. One of the first things I noticed about Hong Kong was how clean it was. The streets were very clean and well kept. There were always sidewalks for people to walk on. When you crossed paths with someone, they were very polite… it was great!

The next morning we got up and went to a local bakery to get breakfast. This was a treat in itself because there were so many delicious choices of baked goods. I had eaten these types of buns before in Canada when I went out for dim sum and loved them…. These ones stood up to my expectations; they were great! I thought of my friend Mel while eating them because she always referred to them as dessert buns (even though the ones we would eat were BBQ pork) it’s just because the bready part is slightly sweet and delicious!

After our brekky, we got on the subway and went on our way to Lantau Island. I was glad Alicia was there because it took all of the stress out of figuring out where to go. She’s been in Hong Kong for 3 years now and is an excellent tour guide.

We arrived at the cable cars to get to the island and decided to take a guided tour instead of doing it ourselves with the hope that we could get a little more information from the guide. We boarded out cable car and I was delighted when we were joined by a German family with two young children. I was discovering that Hong Kong was a very multicultural place and it was nice to not only be able to understand people in English but also German as well!

The cable car was quite a long journey; it’s 5.7km and lasted about 25 minutes. During that time, we had great views of the city and the island. It was interesting to see everything from above because the layout is very intricate. The airport is on a manmade island and it’s visible from above because it’s perfectly flat whereas the rest of the land is fairly mountainous.

When we arrived on the island we met with our tourguide and boarded our bus. We were soon at our first stop, a historical fishing village called Tai O. This village runs predominantly off of fishing and people live in stilt houses. Our guide told us that it is expected that the village will disappear in about 40 years because the current inhabitants are aging and their children desire more white collar jobs in cities away from the village.

We went into a local monistary where we were shown some of the traditions and beliefs. The temple smelled very strongly of incense and it is believed that when you light incense (in 3 sticks, one for heaven, earth, and personal connections) you can say a prayer or wish and the smoke from the incense will carry it to the gods. Our guide joked that this is like a Buddhists version of E-mail.

Our guide also taught us about a method of telling the future using two moon shaped rocks. You clap the rocks together thinking of your question and then let them fall to the floor. Depending on the position they fall, you can derive your answer. This is a photo of Alicia trying that method out.

The temple here was very small and you could tell that there wasn’t a lot of money running through it… some of the areas were pretty run down, but compared to some of the other parts of town, it was well kept. Many of the spaces were quite small, I had to duck in this doorway to get through.

After the temple we were given some time to walk around and explore the village. Alicia and I decided to use our time to try some local goodies! We had some nice pastries and then bought some almond cookies… a local specialty! There was also tons of fish and fish bladders (yes!) to try but we decided to stay on the straight and narrow.

On the bus ride back to the main area, our tour guide gave us some interesting tidbits about Hong Kong. Apparently only 25% of the land in Hong Kong is being used, and although it seems so multicultural, 95% of residents are Chinese. Hong Kong also has one of the highest population density rates in the world with 6480 people/km squared. It was interesting to get these facts because I wouldn’t have known otherwise.

When we returned back to the main area, we walked to the Po Lin Monastery, which was a much bigger, glitzy monastery. There were beautiful flowers and fresh fruit everywhere and the guide gave us more information on the different customs.

After that came the big climb to the Buddha. The Giant Buddha is the largest outdoor bronze Buddha in the world! It took twelve years to build and was completed in 1993 (I was kind of disappointed by this, because I thought it was ancient, haha). There are 265 steps to climb in order to get to the top, but once you’re up there the view is absolutely stunning!

The Buddha is 112ft tall and his right hand is lifted which represents the removal of affliction. There are six smaller statues surrounding the Buddha which give offerings of flowers, incense, lamp, ointment, fruit and music. It was very neat to walk around and view all of these beautiful figures. Also, after climbing all of the way up, it was nice to sit down and take a breather.

On our way down from the giant Buddha we decided it was time to refuel so we stopped at a Turkish place for lunch and had kababs. Then we went for dessert at another restaurant which was a totally new experience. I had this mango soup (cold) with little glutinous rice balls and green tea ice cream. It sounds odd but it was like a party in my mouth!

Coming home from Lantau we were exhausted so we decided to have a little nap before going out again. We got up later and headed to the city centre in Causeway Bay. Monday night was a special night because it was the lantern festival in Hong Kong. The park was lit up with different lanterns and there was a huge dragon dance going on.

We arrived early for the dragon dance and the streets were already crowded. When the dragon finally appeared, I was shocked by how big it was (67 meters long!). The entire thing was constructed out of incense sticks and it had a bright red glow and a trail of smelly smoke was left behind it. It was a really neat sight to see.

After the dragon dance we met up with some of Alicia’s friends and had drinks and mooncakes. The moon cakes are another specialty during the mid-autumn festival. They are made from ground lotus and sesame seed paste. They also have a dried egg yolk in the middle of them. They were very rich but also tasty. Apparently they’re only available for a couple of weeks during the year so I felt it was a very traditional experience.

We later walked through Victoria park where we saw thousands of different lanterns of all different shapes and sizes. Finally, we met back up with friends at a local club. Walking there I told Alicia that I felt like we weren’t even in Asia anymore, it was so multicultural.

The club we went to was at the top of a high story building and on the terrace you could see out over the entire city… such a view! It was a great night of fun music and lots of dancing.

Waking up on Tuesday morning was a bit difficult but we had a big day ahead of us so we had to get going. First on the plan was “Dialogue in the Dark”. It’s a worldwide exhibit that has locations in over 26 countries. The whole idea is to educate people and allow them to experience being visually impaired. The exhibit takes you through five different environments that are in complete darkness: a park, a ferry, a market, a video theater and a café. At the beginning you’re given a cane and a visually impaired guide walks you through the exhibit explaining how to ‘see’ with your other senses.

This was a fantastic experience! I learned that I would be a horrible blind person because I had a very difficult time using my other senses when I couldn’t see. Although I could hear the guide, I found it difficult to trust myself enough to move and not to injure myself in the process. The facility itself was very well laid out and I was impressed by how much I learned and was impacted by the experience. I never knew what it would be like to be visually impared before and spending over an hour in an environment where you have to rely on your other senses to do things makes you empathetic to the people who have to go through it every day.

It also allowed me to view visually impaired people in a different light. Before, I viewed them as being disadvantaged however through this experience I was able to see how truly knowledgeable my guide was and how she was able to experience the world in a unique way. In order to get around and do things as a visually impaired person, you have to be very skilled at using your other senses. I have a lot of respect for people who do.

The Dialogue in the Dark mission says this “In the dark, roles are reversed—the blind becomes sighted, and the sighted are lead by the blind. Our guides teach participants how to appreciate each environment without light—even without vision there is much beauty in the world to be found”. What an awesome experience to have!

Later we boarded the ferry and went to another Special Administrative Region of China called Macau. This was a Portuguese colony and was the only European colony in China. When we arrived and went through customs, I noticed that it had a very different feel than other Asian areas—very European!

After coming out of the arrival area, we were bombarded with tour packages and taxi services. Finally we decided to take a rickshaw to get a more outdoorsy feel of the area. It was beautiful driving through the streets (although I felt bad for our peddler when it was slightly uphill). We stopped right outside of St. Paul’s Cathedral and explored on foot.

The views were so charming and rich. The ruins of the cathedral reminded me of the European touring I’ve done in earlier years. After exploring the cathedral, we walked up the fortress to get a higher (and greener) view of the city… so nice!

Finally we took a cab to the Venetian which was on the other side of the island. Initially I thought the concept of recreating Venice in Asia was pretty cheesy but then I saw the place and it had a huge wow factor. It is a 40 story, $2.4 billion resort, casino and hotel. The 10,500,000 square foot building is the largest single structure hotel building in Asia and has a huge variety of shopping, restaurants, spas, exhibits, shows, casinos and gondola rides (with opera singers). There is even a theater designed for the Cirque de Soleil show Zaia (which I would have loved to see, but didn’t know about it).

When Alicia and I arrived the first thing we go to the casino. I put 10 bucks into the slot and was quite impressed when I won… then I lost some… then I won some again. Knowing that we were in a bit of a rush, I cashed out at just over $14, and was pleased that I had come out ahead by a few dollars. We were looking for one of those check out machines when it dawned on me that converted, I was holding less than two bucks in my hand, haha. What a joke! So we went back to the machines and Alicia tried out her luck on the slots… it didn’t last long, but that’s ok, there were other things to do.

We were amazed by the extravagant décor and spaciousness of the area. We walked around until we came to a sign reading “Fun Ice World”… what could be better?! We bought tickets and headed into a world of frosty splendor. Although they gave us big coats, it was freezing (-15 degrees Celsius) and we rushed through a little too quickly. There were different sculptures from all over the world and even a ice slide that we could slide down… fun!

Finally we decided dinner was in order. Because Macau was Portuguese based, we decided that would be the appropriate theme for the evening. We asked at the front desk where the best place would be and they recommended a restaurant in the casino. We went and were impressed with the meals. I don’t remember having Portuguese before, and I really enjoyed the flavors.

After arriving back home we were wiped! Poor Alicia had to get up early the next morning to teach. Luckily I was able to sleep in a bit more before my tour started.