jet lag & junk food

YES, I absolutely do miss Hong Kong.

Look at this food I gorged myself with on my last night there.

Who wouldn't miss that?

This next picture is the sun setting on Hong Kong from the plane.

The picture doesn't do the scene justice.

My heart broke a little as I flew away.

But here I am, back in the United States.

What were my first thoughts when arriving?

Let me tell you.

"Why is everyone here so ghetto?"
"How come everybody looks foreign yet speaks English without an accent?"
"The air is so fresh."

And now I'm home. Enjoying Christmas. Eating way too many treats.

Missing the old shirtless men and well-dressed Asians.

A little sad I don't have a security guard to say "Hello Udy" every time I passed through the lobby.

Shout out to Yin.

Utah is nice. It snowed yesterday and even though I felt like a popsicle I appreciated it more than ever before. I even gave everyone I was with a nice lecture on how so many people in the world have never seen the beauty of snow falling from the sky so don't take this Christmas miracle for granted.

Sad to say my Asian life is over. And so is this blog.

Monkey Mountain.

Are you afraid of monkeys?

I didn't think I was.

I was wrong.

Let me walk you through how this new fear developed.

Me & my dear friend Anna made our way to a random hiking trail we had heard of in Kam Shan Country Park a.k.a. Monkey Mountain. 

Mostly we were just super excited to see wild monkeys.

After walking about 2 minutes we came across a whole bundle of them.

It was really cool because we could get so close to them.

Of course at first we were way stupid and unknowingly took  pictures all excited about being surrounded by monkeys.

We then began the real journey up the mountain. Interestingly there was basically a staircase the whole way. I guess when you have millions of people in such a small place you have the man power to build stairs on a hiking trail.

There were tons of great photo ops along the way.

The hike was absolutely gorgeous.

Pictures don't do it justice. We were walking through an intense rainforest.

Then just when we were getting used to enjoying the scenery all monkey-free, we noticed one in the distance. Anna was trying to point it out to me for a couple minutes when all of the sudden this little guy creeped up behind us. I was taken extremely by surprise and my heart was going a million miles a minute the whole time he meandered past us on the path.

More beautiful hiking...

More monkeys on the trail...

THEN everything changed. Apparently you aren't supposed to stare at the monkeys or they'll attack. Unfortunately we didn't learn this until we read a sign a few kilometers later. So as I'm trying to take a picture of this cute monkey family the mom goes all nutso on me, makes this face and lets out the most evil hissing noise you have ever heard. I booked it away from them, but somehow managed to snap this picture just in time.

After that experience I was terrified of the monkeys.

They are not nice.

This one was pretty cute, mostly because of the distance though.

When we turned the corner and saw this there was no distance to protect us anymore.

And that car had been feeding them out the window.

HEY GUESS WHAT CHINESE PEOPLE, WE DON'T HAVE A CAR TO PROTECT US!!

We conquered them though. Just walked straight forward, scared stiff, making zero eye contact.

Those silly foreigners in the background of this picture were acting exactly like us at the beginning of our adventure before we really got to know the nature of feral monkeys.

I did find one more cute monkey though.

Then I took another look at the stunning beauty of Hong Kong.

Anna did as well.

And we watched the sun set on an incredible day.

Asia really is better than you can imagine. 

Karaoke!

I really never thought I could love karaoke as much as I do now.

Hong Kong knows how to karaoke. 

My life would be amazing if Cedar City could get a karaoke place like the ones here.

Even the songs that were sung in Chinese I enjoyed. 

Mostly because I was stunned that there were crazy Chinese characters on the screen yet someone was able to sing beautifully just by looking at them.

Here is Gary for example:

There was a lovely selection of Western songs as well though.

Me & the girls had a fabulous time singing Taylor Swift.

I loved all of Roger's selections because he likes a lot of American songs.

For example we sang a lovely duet of Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat, Lucky.

And we rocked out to the Beatles.

Nothing makes a classic English song better than a heavy Chinese accent.

Then out of nowhere Kai Wing tells me 

"I think Michael Jackson really brings the world together through music." 

I asked why and he said "It's just a feeling I have." 

Then he proceeded to sing Michael Jackson, Heal the World.

It was actually a really beautiful moment.

Okay now last one...

this was my favorite song of the whole afternoon.

My favorite Chinese one at least.

It is by a really famous Taiwanese singer named Jay Chou.

The song is translated to "The Cowboy Is Busy" and Kai told me the cowboy is busy because all the girls are after him.

Here is the music video just for your viewing pleasure.

I loved it.

Really if you don't watch any of the other videos on this blog, which at this point it may be too late for that, you should for sure watch this one.

yum, crab

Lucky for me, my neighbor Gary loves sharing Hong Kong culture with me. Mostly in the form of food.

Apparently food is a key part of any Asian culture though so it works nicely.

Except when I'm pressured into eating a whole crab.

Thank goodness it tasted alright.

I really don't know if it is a genuine desire for me to try local foods, or just the enjoyment of my reaction when I find out what exactly I'm eating.

A fabulous trick I've learned is to wait to ask what exactly it is until it is already in your mouth.

The more you have to pick a food apart to eat it, the weirder it gets.

Eating this crab was quite a challenge.

I literally had to be coached through every step.

There is a real art to it, I kept telling Gary he could probably get famous on YouTube making a video teaching people how to eat crabs.

Here is how the crab looks while you prepare it by boiling it or whatever.

This is the phase when you unwrap the crab, make friends, then get ready to chow down.

Here is the underside, look at those pinchers.

Oh yum, stomach, guts, etc.

I can taste it now.

These legs were the tricky part. you have to pop them apart joint by joint.

Then squeeze/peel the meat out depending on your skill level.

Really the moments I savor the most being here in Hong Kong are when all the Chinese people are gathered around staring at me eating some sort of strange local food for the first time. Usually prefaced with a question like "Have you never had this before?" to which I respond, "Are you kidding?! Of course not!" Then followed up with "Did you like it?" typically while the food is still in my mouth which makes it easy for me to shake my head yes and put on a fake smile while I chew. Ohh the joys of being a foreigner.

On a completely random side note, the highlight of my night tonight...

Me: "I'm from Utah."

Chinese boy: "Oh, Utah."

Me: "Yeah, have you heard of it?"

Chinese boy: "Utah Jazz!"

FREEZING

8°

Add 53% humidity and no indoor heating to that 

Then picture me with two pairs of thick socks, my warmest pants, a t-shirt, cardigan, sweatshirt & scarf, bundled up in my sleeping bag

And my nose is still an ice cube

Literally I'm surprised I can't see my breath in my dorm room

Good thing i picked my new coat up from the tailor today.

Fits like a dream.

While I was at it I got my nails redone

Way too many jewels

But that's the joy of a language barrier

Worse things could happen.

So excited to be back home in a week.

At least my home there has a fireplace.

HOT POT

So my dear friend Rebecca Sheng is headed back to Beijing and invited me to her farewell dinner.

We went to a super Chinese place and had hot pot. 

I've eaten hot pot before, but never like this.

This place was up toward mainland China in the super rural part of HK

Three words to describe it? Chaotic. Cheap. Chinese.

I tried to discreetly make a video of the scene, but it was quite a challenge with people bustling all around.

Basically you get whatever food you want from a huge buffet then take it back to your table and boil it in the pot. As shown in this beautiful picture.

Some of the options at the buffet were still alive. 

They aren't kidding when they say they like things fresh here.

I of course didn't try any of the crustaceans that I watched being cooked alive, but my Chinese friends were loving them.

Here are my new favorite friends. I'm way sad I didn't meet the two Chinese girls next to me in the picture until this dinner. They were so great. One was from Indiana, she moved there when she was 7 and the other is from Shanghai but studies in Canada so they both had a nice grasp on Western culture. We had a nice long talk about boys and Asian life outside of Asia.

It was a lovely night, but I did notice that I'm less adventurous when it comes to trying new foods lately.

I think that's a sign that it's time to go back to America. 

Less than two weeks!! Ahh!

Pinky & Gary

Saturday night I went for sushi in Mong Kok with my favorite Chinese couple, Pinky & Gary.

Pinky is from mainland China and yes, she did choose her own English name. She chose Pinky because she loves the color pink. I've already filled her in about the cartoon Pinky & the Brain. It's funny because Gary is totally similar to the brain and he is constantly teasing Pinky about being a ditz. They're adorable. I taught them the term domestic violence because they always smack each other. I love hanging out with them. They always speak 100% English anytime I'm around. I really don't mind when people speak Chinese in front of me, but the fact that they care enough not to means a lot. We had like 10 different kinds of sushi.

Lots of salmon ones. I didn't get a picture of my favorite one because I ate the last piece before I knew it would be my favorite, but I absolutely got a picture of the sea eel.

It was pretty surprisingly delicious. We had a great time hanging out and to bring this blog full circle we even saw a mouse on the way home. (Get it, Pinky & the brain are mice...)

HEY MISSY!

hey missy! Hey MISSY! Hey Missy! hey MISSY! HEY Missy! hey MISSY! HEY missy! hey missy! HEY MISSY! hey MISSY!

Little did the hawkers of Shenzhen know, Missy was my childhood nickname. Walking through the aisles of Luohu Commercial Center was like a walk down memory lane. Okay actually it was nothing like my childhood... even the way they yelled hey missy was completely different, but regardless it was a good time.

I have so much I could share about this experience, but I'll just give you a few highlights.

Tailor made clothing. Did I have any intention of getting anything tailored? No. Did I find a super cute pea coat in a magazine that I got to pick my own fabric for and get measured for a perfect fit? Yes. I couldn't resist with my good friend Jojanna who goes to a fashion school right there telling me what was the most flattering style for me. Cross your fingers the tailor does a good job, it was highly recommended, but China is probably the least reliable place ever.

Designer clothes. I don't typically wear designer jeans, but when there is a store with a bazillion different pairs for cheaper than a pair at Old Navy would be of course I'm going to get some. I'm not even all about the label, but there were two Chinese women pulling all sorts of sizes and styles out according to my liking. It was like having two personal shoppers who wanted nothing more than to provide me with the perfect pair of pants. 

Spa. So it wasn't really a spa, but for lack of a better word that's what I'm calling it. In HK last month I paid $350 to get gel nails with glitter and stones. In Shenzhen I got gel nails with twice as many jewels, french tips lined in glitter, and a snowflake painted on. Along with a pedicure, 1 hour foot massage, 1 hour shoulder, neck, & head massage all for $270. I was in heaven. Seriously I felt like royalty. Thank you China for giving me that once in a lifetime experience. Well probably twice in a lifetime... I'm planning on going back in a couple of weeks.

Facial hair removal. Weird, I know. I didn't even think my face was that hairy, but the elderly Chinese lady found plenty to remove using her traditional Chinese method. As we were sitting at the tailor this lady came waddling by with her string and all of us girls sat there as she basically plucked the hair from our faces with a string. It was really crazy. Quite an audience gathered around as 3 foreign ladies endured this process. One man who was watching was really great at English and gave a nice commentary along with a history of the method being used. It was basically what was done in China before razors even existed and the lady who did it had it down to an art. 

It was a nice day in Lo Wu. 

Not everything was so nice though. 

China is dirty.

People smoked inside the mall.

Weird smells were everywhere.

I was paranoid about pickpockets.

The guy who massaged me was creepy and I had to pretend I was married.

I had to pee on a squat toilet. Curious? Click here.

And on my way back to Hong Kong 3 people had to look at my passport and finally take it to the "Duty Supervisor" to approve that it was indeed a picture of me. I was getting really nervous.

Trapped in China? No thank you.