I hope so.
好久不说 (Long time no talk). October came and went, and with it it took the wind out of my sails a bit. Over the course of the month I saw some great performances, battled midterms, and dealt with the beginning stages of homesickness. All which contributed to my absence my blog space here. I apologize for any neglect felt. It was unintentional. But, as November is upon us, things are looking up. Now is the time to reestablish some composure.
Midterms were a doozy. Classes are scaled, and I was not prepared for the intensity of the exams here. Even after preparing the material, the sheer scope-time duration of the exam is a challenge. Needless to say the next month will see more emphasis on studies.
On the leisure side of October, I enjoyed a pair of performances. One by the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. They played three Prokofiev pieces. The last being Peter and the Wolf, which was played alongside a viewing of a newly animated short of the famous orchestra piece. I went with a couple friends from school, and it was a great time. I was invited to the second performance by my roommate. It was titled 雪山飞狐 (Snow Fox), and was a modern ballet interpretation of a famous Chinese novel written by Jin Yong. Although ballet isn’t exactly my cup of tea, it was easy to appreciate the efforts put forth in the choreography and set design.
Peter and the Wolf
Snow Fox
One of the Streets in Lan Kwai Fang on a Normal Evening
Halloween was a lot of fun here. Comparing it to an American experience of the holiday, the main differences are that while children here dress up, trick or treating in the traditional sense of going street to street is not the norm. Most everyone lives in large apartment buildings, so if any trick or treating were to be done, it would be floor to floor. For adults, the must go place for party-goers is Lan Kwai Fong. It is the part of town that on non-holidays is an absolute zoo, so you can only imagine what Halloween brings out of people. The third option that both children and adults can enjoy (and what I did) is Ocean Park. An wildlife themed amusement park that gets a makeover for the holiday. There were lots of haunted houses, and live characters walking around (which I have to say did a fantastic job of playing their parts and legitimately scaring people). It was a really fun time, and different from the usual dress up and drink routine.
Through the NU functions hosted here, I met a a girl by the name of Clarice who was originally born here in HK, goes to NU, and is now working her co-op for my Uncle Pat at Wellington. She was nice enough to give me a tour of a few different areas. We started in 湾仔 (Wan Chai) for dim sum. We ate at one of the only places still using a charcoal oven here in Hong Kong. The 叉烧饭 (roasted pork) was delicious! After finishing our meal, we browsed the nearby market where I picked up some small gifts to send home for the holidays. Clarice was good at giving me some background on all the different goods for sale, and helped me bargain. We stopped for a snack at a 卤水饿鸟 (poached goose in soy sauce) canteen. It had a nice taste, but it is served at a cooler than expected temperature.We ended our day in 天后 (Tin Hau) where we had some Chinese dessert.
Me eating 杨枝甘露!
One of the dishes we had was absolutely deliscious. I wish I could send it home for everyone to try. Its called 杨枝甘露 (Yang Zhi Gan Lu) and is a Mango and Papaya based desert using mango concentrate as well as sago pearls. The concentrate sits below layer of milk from concentrate. It is served chilled. Stir it before eating, and enjoy!
That about does her for October. I’m in the process of getting post cards out to people. If you want to receive one, let me know! Also, I’ll post my address in case others are looking for it.
John Gallagher 908L New Hall HKUST Clear Water Bay Kowloon Hong KongJohnyG
JohnyG's China Blog 