SARS!

Yes that's right! I've been to both SARS(Special Administrative Regions) Hong Kong, and Macau. Yesterday I had to go to Macau, a small city west of Hong Kong. It was originally a Portuguese colony until 1999 when it was handed back over to the Chinese as a S.A.R.. Currently it enjoys fame as the gambling capital of Asia.
The boat I took to Macau from Hong Kong took 1 hour and cost about 20 bucks one way.

I went with my cousin Shelb, and we were to meet her friends(who are locals) at the port. Her two friends brought two scooters and we rode on the backs. There is much less traffic in Macau and the drivers drive less aggressively(driving in Hong Kong has a Ben Hur like feel).

For lunch we enjoyed Macau's famous dan tat. I think I prefer the HK style...

The Portuguese influence is still visible in the place names, buildings, and cuisine. Most road signs are in Portuguese and Cantonese, but some include English. The typically Chinese buildings and temples stand as a reminder that "we cannot regulate the feelings of (our) people".

All in all it was a very enjoyable trip. I got my changed my VISA to a student VISA(the reason I went in the first place) and got shown around Macau by locals. Oh yes! I also saw a bus(among the many in the city) picking up locals and with a sign to it's final destination... Toi San(台山). For those who don't know it is the city my Chinese side came from and the mother country for most the Chinese-Americans in North America and Australia.

Very Close Encounter with a Shark

Uncle Rico's police friend caught 3 sharks on a fishing trip in the South China Sea. He gave us half of one to cook at home. So Tsz Fung and I(who are the cooks half the time) had to figure out how to cook it. The sharks were about 2 and a half feet long each and were edible(or so they say). We decided to make some shark soup not knowing the best herbs to use. The soup was fatty and the boiled shark meat was tougher than fish and softer than chicken. It has a similar texture to snake. It tasted like a cross between white fish and pork, but it had a distinctive smell. Everyone was reluctant to eat it and half of the soup became left-overs. The next day, today, I went out with Uncle Rico's police friends to eat the rest of the shark meat. They chose an "old-school" chinese restaurant to cook it for them located next to a brothel. The shark meat was fried and served with tofu(the one in the picture). Being the honoured guest, I was served the biggest pieces one after another, whether I wanted it or not. I probably ate a whole shark...
Other than the culinary adventure, I was able to witness a night out for local Hong Kongers, which felt very "Hong Kong". I think I am begining to forge my iron stomach,I wonder what I'll eat next...

拜神 An Offering to the Spirits

Yesterday I ritualistically moved in. It is often said that Hong Kong retains a lot of the old Chinese traditions lost in the name of communism. I can say that I have truly experienced this.
拜神(bai sun) literally means to pay homage to (the) god(s). I think it's easier to just show you. The first picture is me signing a traditional and ceremonial contract declaring my intent to live in the apartment. Chinese ghosts are very business oriented.

Next I bowed three times with three incense and two traditional Chinese incense candle and put them into a carrot in each three corners of the room, one in the farthest corner of the other room, and one in the middle. The order always begins with East. Next, various paper offerings of gold, silver, money, and other papers are piled up next to each candle/incense offering.



Then these large stacks of very flammable paper are burned. And When I say burned I mean "bonfire" burned! We burned the piles of offerings in the bathroom so as not to damage the painted walls of the other rooms. The smoke is supposed to send the bad ghosts away so the windows and doors are shut.






The smoke was so thick Tsz Fung and I couldn't take it. It took us about 1 hour to burn everything, one very smoky hour.






Next, 5 different colored beans are thrown about the room to send homophobic ghosts running. Then after one hour, you pour boiling water on a sacred plant, open all the windows and doors(to let the good luck flow back in) and clean everything up.
If this doesn't do the trick I don't know what will!

The where and how in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is an extremely small SAR(Special Administrative Region), and public transportation is wonderful. There are buses, subways, trains, mini buses, taxis, ferries and more available at very affordable prices. And since Kowloon is square miles, you can basically walk anywhere within 30 min or so.
One thing that is interesting about the layout of the city is, each industry groups together in certain areas. That means that there will be a street filled with flower shops, an area populated almost exclusively with textile stores, and another with second hand stalls. My area is the mechanic area where smashed up cars line the streets and the air smells like motor oil... Ah, the fresh scent of radiator fluid in the morning!
G-Fung and I saw actor Chow Yun-Fat in the subway yesterday. He was wearing plain clothes and a baseball cap maybe to conceal his identity. I was going to post a picture, but I couldn't get a good one. Maybe he is a method-actor prepairing for his next movie... Or maybe he had to lay low after his last movie(which was a bomb and extremely disappointing to his fans). Or maybe he just enjoys riding the subway with the other 4 million city dwelling Hong Kongers(the remaining 3 live in the new territories but most work in Kowloon or Hong Kong island). It's a pleasent and fast ride for only 60 or so cents.

My new flat(apartment)

Well, after going to many apartments and real estate offices, I've finally settled on one. It is located in west kowloon. The apartment is on the 12th floor and was newly renovated. It is the cleanest and newest one I've seen so far, albeit a little small. Here is a video of the apartment and a picture of the outisde. I hope to get more pictures and videos as I move in. Oh yes, it's 3600 HKD a month which is roughly 465 usd. The pic on the right is the view from the bedroom.

意大利菜（Italian Food）

I made minestrone, eggplant parmesan, spaghetti gravy(with spicy sausage and portabella mushrooms), and stuffed peppers. It was a lot of work but was a big hit. Ah yes, and some chianti to top it off.

Polish Pride and Diabetes

If anyone is wondering what is on my head in the last cooking picture, it's a belt with a giant western style belt buckle of the Polish flag. Amazingly, I got at one of the outside markets here in Hong Kong. I didn't realise there were so many Polish visitors here. Maybe there are more like me... The other picture is a very sweet drink. Generally breakfast and lunch are enjoyed with an extremely sweet beverage. After a week and a half being here, coca-cola is like water to me. But then again, I guess we all have our vices.

A tase of Poland

Uncle Rico always makes such delicious Chinese food for me, so I decided to make Polish food for everyone. I made golabki, kapusta, pierogi and chilli. Yes, I know chilli is not polish, but I don't know how to make Polish soup... It took me about 5 hours with no breaks.
Anyway, these are the pictures.

Fire Water

Hong Kong is very international and impose few taxes and regulations. So, there is a great beer selection! These are a few beers we drank. Auntie Alice bought me one of all the beers at the local mart. The fancy ones are French beers, they are about 7.5% alcohol and are similar to Belgian beers. The last one is a Japanese rice beer. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll tell you how it is.

LIfe with the Maks(麥)

I have been staying with the Maks in their apartment on the 28th floor in West Kowloon. There are two buildings, one for police, and the other for fire fighters and other public servants. From the window I can see the busy docks and get a great view of the bay. It's still a little un-nerving sleeping 28 stories up after living in earth quake rich Japan. Uncle Rico cooks a wide variety of great Chinese food made with the freshest of ingredients. I'm going to miss having a seperate shower and toilet...

打邊爐 "Da Bin Lo"

'dah been low' literally means to hit the edge of the furnace. It is more commonly known in America as "hot pot". And I'm telling you, I loooove to hit the edge of that furnace! This particular one is a fish base with corn, tomatoes and potatoes as the soup. Generally, all the soup bases are the same price and you just order the things you want to cook inside(with your chopsticks). That night we ordered fresh beef(hand cut and not frozen), many chinese vegitables, goose intestine, small fatty river fish, squid, octopus and shrimp mash(scouped with a spoon and deposited directly into the pot) and I don't remember what else. HKers go to da bin lo to drink with buddys and bond. I suppose it's the social equivalent to an izakaya in Japan.

Breakfast Menu

This is one breakfast menu from a small HK style restaurant. It is cheap and fast like a tachigui-soba place in Tokyo, but has the variety of... well... I don't know many Japanese restaurants with variety. Hong Kong people's breakfast is a unique blend of traditional HK food and british influence. A common meal breakfast would be french toast, fried egg, chinese meat dish and milk tea. I prefer the more chinese items though.

Greasy Food and Salty Air

I was told I arrived in Hong Kong during the hottest time of the year, but I think it'd be more accurate to say the "hotter" time of the year. The Hong Kong summer is comparative to being in a steam bath, but without a door out.
I spent my first week here looking for apartments, getting used to public transportation and hopping to and from every air-conditioned shop in Kowloon.
It poured yesterday. Apparently the two typhoons in Asia are the cause for the thunder storms here. The rain was so severe, Tsz-Fung and I took shelter in a Hong Kong style restaurant. The selection-rich menus are overwhelming. I can imagine the menus are cause for much frustration with Japanese tourists. Yesterday we ordered "suburban oil vegetables", whatever it was it was great! Tsz-Fung explained that give the cook the general idea of what you want to eat, like beef and thin noodles, and he'll make you something for about 13HKD(1.70 USD). I have yet to find a food I disliked here, although I can say I didn't care too much for the texture of the pig blood and leek dish...
Well, it's 1400 and I have to wake up Tsz-Fung and begin the day.