Superlatives

Best New Find- Aji Ichiban- A store where I can buy snack sized packs of wasabi covered peas and flavored nori (seaweed).

Most Helpful Cantonese Phrase- Nee Doe Ung Goy (spelled somewhat phonetically) means "here please" and is used to get the mini-buses to stop. The phrase works about 70% of the time and is more effective when it is almost sung. However, the other 30% of the time I end up all the way down in Causeway Bay.

Closest Historical Landmark to my Apartment- Tin Hau Temple (2 blocks from Intelligent Court) was created to honor the Goddess of the Sea.

Best Take-Out- JoJo's Indian Food

Oddest Sight- My taxi driver plucking chin hairs with tweezers at stop lights.

Best Security System- HSBC bank- To access the online banking, you need to have a log-in name, a password, an electronic device that produces a random number to enter (the number changes each time you push the button), and random numbers from your passport number (example- 7th #, 3rd #, 8#). That is just for online banking! There are also ATM pins, and phone pins, and you have to sign papers at the bank to authorize yourself to make transfers online or over the phone. Needless to say, I'm saving a lot of money because I can't access my money.

Oddest Sound- British accents coming from 5 year olds.

Best Place To Go Dancing- Anywhere in Wan Chai- Mes Amis and Carnegies are the favorites though. Carnegies has a bar that everyone dances on!

Most Recent Goal- Train for a mini-triathalon- Carla, Gabbe, and I have found a relay mini-triathalon in November that we are going to sign up for, and we are searching for races in the spring. I'm also taking body pump classes to build up my arms for dragon boating in January.

Best Part of My Job- Trips! Year 4, 5, and 6 have camp, and I'm going to Taiwan with Year 6.

Best Place To Go Out- Lan Kwai Fong- An area with narrow streets lined with bars, clubs, and resteraunts. Hundreds of strands of white christmas lights are strung over the streets from building to building. It is located in Central one of the major business districts, so on Friday is it is overflowing with business people in suits who are out for happy hour. Right now the weather is perfect, and everyone hangs out, chats, and drinks in the streets as the music pours out of the bars and clubs.

Language Factoids- Putongwa is the original name for Mandarin. Cantonese has nine sounds while Putongwa only has four.

Best School Fact- Two girls from a rich family come to school with 3-4 bodyguards and they aren't any bodyguards but ghurkas (the British version of Ghorka). Ghurkas are highly trained fighters from a tiny village in the mountains of Nepal. They fought against the British when they were colonizing the region in 1812. Today units of ghurkas fight in the British army, are stationed in Iraq, and are the most respected and sought after bodyguards.

Most Annoying Realization- Even though I have lost a little weight since arriving, when buying clothes, I have to buy the biggest sizes available. Asian women are very tiny!

Best Way to Spend a Saturday- Relaxing on a Junk trip- Junks are the traditional Chinese fishing boats. With a group of at least 14, you can rent out a junk for a day. The crew serves snacks in the morning as you are taken to a semi-private beach at which point you can jump off the junk and swim ashore or be taken to the beach on a smaller speed boat. Lunch is catered on the boat and then everyone naps, reads, chats, or continues to swim throughout the afternoon. It is a great way to be spoiled for a day!

Once upon a time

Since Liz hasn't updated in a while, and Blogger lets me, I am going to write something...

... ...

Oh yeah, I used to live in Hong Kong. My parents took us to McDonald's when we were good, which also meant I got to ride the ferry, because that's how you got to the McDonald's. And there was a game center right outside the McDonald's. That was awesome.

Hong Kong is hilly. Or at least we lived on a hill. To get to our apartment, you had to walk up a spiral driveway through the garage. And then there was a playground behind the apartments further up another hill. And to go to preschool, we walked down a road that was made out of stairs.

One time, my parents were going out and left me at a friend's house. I didn't like that so I cried and made a big fuss. The friend said I could play with a typewriter, so I felt a little better. But then it turned out to be a fake toy typewriter, not a real one, so I got upset again. My grandmother (in South Carolina, not Hong Kong) had a typewriter - it was pretty cool, except she was always afraid we'd break it.

I had a recurring nightmare in Hong Kong that a giant would walk by the window (we lived upstairs, so he must have been pretty big) and reach in to take me. I'd run down the hall to get away, except there was a window in the living room too, so he could still find me. He was a scary guy, that giant.

I guess those last two stories don't really have anything to do with Hong Kong.