One Altitude

One Altitude is the world's highest outdoors bar. Situated on the 62nd floor of the UOB building, the bar is a garden on top of a glittering city. The view up top is truly amazing. With multiple bars, garden decoration, and chairs around the side for patrons to enjoy the view, the lovely One Altitude definitely lives up to its hype. I only had the smallest complaint - the music was ridiculously loud like a club, unlike the relaxing atmosphere the garden ontop should've been. In comparison to Ozone, the world's tallest bar at the Ritz Carlton in Hong Kong, I think One Altitude is superior. The outdoors fresh airs give it a feeling an indoor bar cannot replicate. The whole point of a rooftop bar is being in the open air! Second, Ozone was slightly too tall at the 101st floor of ICC, where you are literally looking so far down on the rest of the Hong Kong that you have a feeling of being in a plane. At One Altitude, you're at the perfect height where you are looking at the rest of the skyline with awe. Singapore does have one of the prettiest skyline with the Marina Bay Sands standing proud for its residents.

Isn't this the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?

One must always remember how small Singapore is. Singapore is literally a swim away from Malaysia and Indonesia. From the top of the Marina Bay Sands, you can see Indonesia. On top of One Altitude, your phone gets Indonesia. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, in the downtown center of Singapore, you are so close to Indonesia that you are literally roaming. To let you know how city center One Altitude is, the building One Altitude is in is on top of Raffles Place, the busiest MRT stop in Singapore. Almost all financial and commercial firms work there. Yet on top, you're already close enough to Indonesia.

ZoukOut 2011

ZoukOut is one of the largest beach parties in Southeast Asia every year. Every year, tens and thousands of people gather on Siliso beach on Sentosa to enjoy the party. People dress up in costumes and bikinis. Thousands of people flying in from around the world to party all night long. This year, I have had the great pleasure to be in Singapore with friends flying for the music festival. Here's a few suggestions for the weekend.

1) Book flight tickets and hotel rooms months in advice. Hotels on Sentosa book out early in advance. The ones that are not booked costs hundreds and thousands of dollars. However, it is so difficult to get a cab back from Siloso Beach after ZoukOut. the phone lines are busy. lines are super long and it takes hours to get through. We were lucky and stole an on-call cab from someone else. (Don't tell Mr. Chris).

2) Don't go crazy partying the night before. The crew arrived at the Ritz at 1AM - we decided it was a great idea to go get bottles and jagger bombs at Attica at 2AM after raiding the mini bar. Then, the crew decided it was a good idea to pick up korean girls and whiskey bottles until 8AM.

3) Don't drink massively before ZoukOut. Started pre-gaming at brunch at 2PM... Let's just say one member didn't make it to the party.

4) Pre-game before ZoukOut - you have to lineup for coupons for drinks before you can buy drinks at Zoukout.

5) There are multiple stages and areas for ZoukOut. Find the main stage and party there. The big shots are all performing there.

6) Find the bar that serves vodka and redbull only - that's the bar without a line.

7) Show up around 2AM - the headline DJs usually performance around 5AM.

8) Don't lose your friend - you'll never find him/her again. Cell phones don't work too properly and there are so many people in the dark. Everyone stumbles around like crazy. We lost one of our friend (who partied til 8AM the night before and started pre-gaming at 2PM). We never found him again. (until he showed up in his hotel room somehow).

9) Have loads of fun. The party is one of the greatest parties in the world. Fireworks synchronized with music. State of the art lighting coordinated perfectly to the music. Great crowd, great music, great fun. I can't wait until next year.

The Singapore Food Experience

Singapore is famous for its hawker centers, these outdoors food stalls that services some of the cheapest and tastiest food you can imagine. For S$3, you can you have full meal. I didn't realize food is that cheap. I went to Lau Pa Sat, an old style, traditional hawker center in the midst of the financial district. Labelled as a heritage site, it's a scene to be scene on weekday lunches. People from all classes and walks gather into this huge hall of outdoor food stalls. The food is cheap but good. So everyone comes no matter what. It's so crowded yet organized. People save their seats with packets of tissue paper that's so common here in Asia. Then, you go to a stall for food. There were hundreds of stalls packed in this place. How do you know which one to go? Easy, the one with the longest queue (or line). My Singaporean coworker told me: "I have no idea what's good here, but if you see a lot of singaporeans lining up, it has to be good." 

See all the skyscrappers behind it? 

$5 Indonesian Set. Can't believe there's somewhere this cheap in the middle of the most expensive area in Singapore.

This is how you save your table - with tissue packets.

Fruit sago for desert!

Richard III

On Friday, I discovered where's the best place to find expats in Singapore - go to the theaters. I have never seen so many expats in one place without a single Singaporean accent in the air. Even the Asians weren't Singaporeans, they were expats from other countries. The play was beautifully done. Kevin Spacey did a superb performance as the evil king - his limp was absolutely impeccable. You actually believed he was a limp. The play's timing seemed to be post-modern given the costumes. 

What made the play truly special, however, was that Kevin Spacey took the time to acknowledge his high school drama teacher post the performance. That was something I have never seen before. 

The stage at the Esplanade Theater was huge - it was fully technologically functional with screens, lights, and movable walls with doors. The seating was stadium seating - all state of the arts technologies and facilities. Richard III was one of Shakespeare's darker works - and Kevin Spacey brought it to life. 

Singaporean Dating Lessons

Singaporean men – the stereotype we all have in mind is the good boy that marries his first girlfriend and lives with his parents until he is married. Actually, that is quite true. All the Singaporean boys I know live with their parents. It’s kind of crazy. Even the ones I didn’t think were so Singaporean live with their family. It’s quite strange. So for them, dating isn’t just dating. They get into relationship with you with the thought of marrying, not just because of dating. For them, a relationship is much more serious than how we take it. If they date you, they will likely marry you. They won’t date you, if they don’t see a future, they won’t even date you. It’s actually quite efficient.

With that said, the dating comes slowly. A friend (Singaporean) is currently taking a girl out on dates. It took 7 dates before there were hand-holding. If there’s no consummation, there’s at least loads of making out already. However, they did discuss that one shouldn’t change facebook status without consult the other one. Really? Facebook status is discussed before handholding? What type of relationship is this, if handholding hasn’t even occurred yet?

What I think of a sign of affection is more like touching or flirting. In Singapore, it’s bumping. You walk next to each other and you accidentally “bump” into each other as you walk. Sign of affection and definite flirting…. Like I said, Singaporean dating is a strange place. 

Every firm in Asia wants to take me to Phuket

It seems that every employer I worked for wanted to take me to Phuket for work. This year, I had the great fortune of going to Phuket again for a retreat with my co-workers. The experience, however, could not be more different.

First - the offsite is during workdays, which means it lasts from Wednesday to Friday, with the option to extend through Sunday with accommodations at your own expense. For banking, the offsite was Friday evening to Sunday, with no options to change anything.  Second, there was actual work involved in the second offsite – we conducted a 6 hour meeting on group strategy, where as in banking, it was strictly a mingle event. The most profound difference, however, was the activities we chose to engage in post work functions. In banking, we continued on the excess partying and drinking in Patong, where groups went to homosexual shows, lady-boy shows, ping-pong shows, the whole host of activities offered in Thailand. See my post about it a year ago. In my current work, we went to Muay Thai fights, had seafood, went to Baba Nest, one of the world’s greatest beach bars, and did a lot of exercising, sunbathing, and the whole host of activities one is supposed to do on vacation.

The view from the Baba

My most favourite part of Phuket this time around was definitely the Muay Thai fight – it was an experience out of this world. We bought the VIP seats for about $80. We got to sit in these grungy La-Z-Boy armchairs and was given cheap can beers. First few rounds, the fighters are so young. Pre-teens. As they got older, it became more violent. The water would drip on you as they are forced against the rings because you are sitting so close. The fight is 5 rounds, 2 minutes each. In the adults, there was a knock-out every fight. The level of violence was something professional sports in western world do not compare to. And the absolute length of the fights was shockingly short. Some would last only 1 round. Surprisingly, a white dude won against a Thai guy in one of the rounds. Pretty fly for a white guy.

Look how young some of the kids are!

Everyone being silly, but in a nice/harmless way.

Overall, while we didn’t stay in five-star hotels like we did in banking, the presence of time made the trip much more enjoyable and fruitful for me. Money cannot buy time. \

Things are different here in Singapore

When I first started working, I needed to take a medical exam and photos for the new job. Standard procedure.  Every firm does it. It makes sense. But in Singapore, they take things to a whole new level.

I went to get my medical checkup. I thought they would just take an urine sample, for drugs. That makes sense. When I went to raffles clinic, I thought I’d be out by an hour. I stayed for at least four. There was an urine sample. Then you got a chest x-ray. Then you had a standard check-up with weigh-in and height. Then there was a blood test, where 4 vials was taken (yikes!). Finally, it came to a doctor’s consultation, where she told me my chest x-rays were clear…. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a comprehensive health check-up. Ever.

That afternoon, I went to a photo studio to get my photos taken for my work pass. I just thought my company didn’t have photo equipment. No big deal. I scheduled the appointment an hour before a meeting. I got in, it was a professional studio. There was a guy who fixed my make-up. A hair stylist who wanted to curl my hair (I told him to leave it straight). I felt like extreme make-over. Granted, the eye make-up was very nice and I wished I knew how to apply it as well as the professional that helped me. Then, the photo shot, the photographer took no less than 500 pictures in over 10 poses! I thought you only needed one for the badge! 

Mysterious Malaysia

This country is seriously obsessed with food. I went to Malaysia for a weekend. While there was not much touring of historical buildings or famous history, food was a plenty from Hainan chicken riceballs to prawn paste to red bean cakes to chendol. As we finished one meal around 3PM, we begun dinner again at 7PM. Americans might be obsessed with alcohol; the Malaysians are obsessed with food.

I must say, Kuala Lumpur was underwhelming. The city is dirty, messy, polluted, and not much to see. It's a great hub to travel Malaysia from, but it's no more than a couple of hours. You can check out the Petronas Towers, the Mosque, and Railway Station, you can pretty much see all of KL in a few hours. Melaka, on the other had, is a beautiful little town a few hours outside of KL. The town has a lot of feelings with heavy Portuguese influence. Great food, Jonker Street Night Market, and the beautiful Melaka River are all a great escape from the big city. A wonderful over night trip if you have time.

After being in Malaysia, I see why Singapore is the way it is. Before I came to Singapore, I always thought it would be like a mini America or Britain, with a hint of Chinese culture somewhere. However, so much of Singapore is much more influenced by Malaysia - the hawker centers, the street food, laksa, everything now makes much more sense with a visit to Malaysia. 

Beautiful Melaka river at night

Petronas Towers

KL Railway Station 

Singapore First Impressions

Singapore is HOT. Seriously hot. Located only a few kilometers away from the equator, Singapore has a sensation of summer all year round. While the temperature might be manageable (around 30 degrees C/80ish degrees F), the humidity is intense. Even if you don't feel hot, you will be sweating as you walk around. It's so intense to the point where avid athletes have issues doing a light run outside - yet the country is much more outdoorsy than HK. Figures.

Singapore is definitively Southeast Asian. You can feel it in the food, the architecture, and the people. Being here, I feel like I am actually part of Asia - a new land to be discovered. Let's see how I do.

Goodbye Hong Kong

When I came to Hong Kong last July, I knew I was making the right decision. I was certain that it was the right choice in life. As I left Hong Kong last weekend, I'm not so sure.

Not only Singapore is a foreign place - a place I know nobody - I am also leaving behind unresolved regrets. Part of the reasons for leaving are those regrets from Hong Kong. Those regrets made the decisions easier and harder at the same time.

I truly appreciated my time in Hong Kong, whether I liked it or not is up for debate. For the few who knew of my dilemma, you know that the decision was hard. I shall miss Hong Kong one way or the other. This marks the close of an era.

American Portions

Everyone tells me California is the land of the fit. I spent the weekend in LA with a friend. My first stop on my garden leave tour of the U.S. Michael, our visiting guide, tells us that everyone is obsessed with the gym, health, and looks in LA. Jay Leno often makes the joke that if you have a silicon magnet, you'd attract every girl's boobs in LA.

I am no expert in nutrition or health - I'm not even super diligent in what I eat. However, given what I saw in LA,  I now have no doubt why most Americans are overweight. Every restaurant we went to, I could not finish a single serving/meal, whether it's burgers and fries, a salad, or a sandwich. For a full meal in Hong Kong, a table of 4 would usually share an appetizer or two, then each have an entree. On the boardwalk of Manhattan Beach, three of us shared one appetizer, which was only half done and none of us even made a dent in our food, which were 2 salads and a sandwich. The size of the servings were simply out of control. Each portion is at least 2x the portions in Hong Kong.

Of course, we get use to it as we dine out and our appetite gradually increase/shrink with the sizes we are served. My parents mentioned that I seemed to have lost weight since we last saw each other in February. I have taken no concious effort on that in Hong Kong. Yet when I was taking close care of my nutritional intake in U.S., it was difficult to lose even a single pound. Portion sizes matter. 

Lack of Trust

I resigned my job on Friday - one of the MD's asked why I didn't do it earlier - I didn't say why but he assumed it was a lack of trust over compensation here in Hong Kong.

In New York, leaving was a normal thing for analysts - people left all the time for other opportunities - they would still be compensated properly because it's the norm. In Hong Kong, not the case. People don't trust anyone here; and they should not. Too many people move around; too many people change jobs; too many people have been to too many places to really care. In the end, one must take care of its own self surivival. The bankers I know are ugly, cruel, and heartless.

I had a great time here in Hong Kong - how it's ending breaks my heart.

Thailand's Tourism Villages

Throughout my trip to Chiang Mai, I noticed something over and over again - villages whose existence is for the sole purpose of tourism. While tourism makes up only 6.5% of Thailand's total GDP, it seems to dominate Chiang Mai's economic purpose. It seems that the hoards of tourists that visits each village each today completely sustains the entire livelihood of everyone in the villages.

The first village which tourism was a major theme was the Jungle Flight. While the Flight of the Gibbons was the major attraction everyone named, Jungle Flight was equally amazing, for a much cheaper price. a 7 hour adventure with Jungle Flight costed 2,100 Baht, where a 5 hour Flight of the Gibbons tour costed 2,990. We went through 34 platforms on various ziplines, drops, and amazing stunts. Absolutely one of the best tourist attractions in Chiang Mai - if you have one day to do something here, do this. You drive an hour to a remote Jungle, where the village is abuzz with groups and groups of tourists ready to whirl their way through the jungle. The women cook - there's a lunch or dinner at the end. The men are guides for the tour. We saw little kids practicing zip lines on the side, getting ready to be tour guides. It seems that this entire village has flourished (everyone does seem to have a very nice pickup truck and well-fed) because of the Jungle Flight.

The second village would be the Elephant Camp we visited. Riding an elephant is the defining tourist activity here. The men ride the elephant, given tourist an hour ride, where the halfway point is a banana station selling bananas to feed the elephant. Afterwards, there's also lunch provided. So people either trianed elephants, looked after them, sold bananas, or cooked for the tourists. I was told the elephants are extremely valuable, costing more than most cars. Those who owns them are more powerful than landlords.

The last village would be the Long-Neck/Big-Ears village we visited. According to our guide, the Long-necks came from Burma a few years ago to escape the repression of the Myanmar's regime. The village we visited were simply stalls and stalls of shops selling different souvenier items, most of which are mass produced and are the same from stall to stall. While it's interesting the women wear the rings around their necks, the village was 100% driven by tourism revenue, through what we purchase and the admissions fee we pay to enter the village. Very disappointing was very little was learned about how they lived and the history of their people. Everything was simply about money.

New York City - One Year Later

Look at my passport - you'll see that my entry stamp to Hong Kong was July 27, 2010. My first entry back to New York City was exactly 2 days and 1 year later. The funny thing is, nothing in New York has changed. Sure, there is the Book of Mormon, the new hottest show on broadway, and new restaurants spurring up here and there. But overall, New York has not changed. I went to restaurant week at One if by Land, Two if by Sea, a restaurant I always wanted to go but never made time for in New York. I went to brunch, I went to Museum on upper east side. I went to my favorite restaurant next to my old apartment. I went to 745 7th Ave to work. I went shopping at the Banana Republic at the Rockfeller Center and bought clothes. It seems nothing much has changed at all.

I thought about my trip in New York - I realized I liked New York when I lived there, but I have no regrets on moving. If I do it over again, I would do the exact same thing, for my life in Hong Kong has offered me a chance to travel and opened my eyes to different cultures and people, the way my life in New York would have never been able to. In New York, I hung out with the same crowd: work and school. Here in Hong Kong, the people I have met came from all walks of life. They have exciting stories. They have views that I would never have thought of, comprehended before. I have traveled to more places this year than I have in the previous lifetime combined.

I'm glad I returned to New York. It was great catching up with friends. I'm equally glad that I'm in Asia now.

Travel Observations

By a stroke of lucky, a friend of mine was taking a flight 5 minutes before my flight to New York. We decided to have a late dinner in the first class Cathay lounge – he recently got a gold/platinum status in one of the One World Alliance memberships. Naturally, we, being immature little kids who discussed various inappropriate subjects during power breakfast at the Mandarin Grill, got super excited to go. As we were entering the lounge, we noticed this 40ish year-old white European male arguing with the lounge attendees. He was so angry that Cathay Pacific did not upgrade him from Business Class to First Class. He demanded to know if anyone has received a free upgrade on his flight, then started yelling at the attendees’ because he’s a Marco Polo member etc. etc., he should be upgraded.




Hong Kong really is a place about luxury. People get angry when they don’t get upgraded to first class! Business classes are considered “inadequate.” I wonder sometimes, will I become one of them? Just a few days ago, I went to the Mandarin again for breakfast with someone. He kept on complaining about the wait staff, how the coffee came late, how the food was not exactly what he ordered, etc. He is a good friend so I don’t wish to judge. But the spoiled nature of Hong Kong is always difficult to predict.

Does New York Ever Change?

A friend once told, New York never changes. Since I left New York last July, I felt my world has changed completely: my thoughts on work, my thoughts on career, where I thought I would be now, whom I thought I would be now, what I would have done in Hong Kong, all completely different from what I expected. I have done things I never thought I would, been to more places than I have ever done in the previous 23 years of my life. I have changed more in the past 367 days than I have changed in the two years I was living in New York. I know I will have a blast in New York, but instead of feeling excited to go, I feel anxious. How do you greet an old friend who has changed at all while you have become a completely new person?




Everything in New York has stayed the same. I’m going to restaurant week with my friends on Friday – a restaurant I wanted to try before I left but never had a chance to. I’m going to lunch with the same co-workers, drinks at the same time square bars, and museums with the same friends as I did a year ago. It feels like I will be stepping backwards in time, but seeing everything with whole new eyes. It’s almost an out-of-body experience as I’ve been planning my activities in New York – it’s the same drama with the same people. It’s the same planning process with the same people. By coming back to New York, I have realized how much I have changed. It might not have been for the better, but I have changed.

Climbing the tallest holy mountain

There are four holy Buddha mountains in China: Mount Wutai （五台山）in Shanxi, Mount Emei (峨眉山） in Sichuan, Mount Jiuhua （九华山） in Anhui, and Mount Putuo （普陀山） in Zhejiang. As I consider myself culturally Buddhist, one of my goals in life is to pray at all four holy mountains. As a young girl before I left for the U.S, I visited Mount Wutai with my mother. When I came back to China to visit as a teen, I went to Mount Putuo with my father. In June, I went to pray at Mount Emei with a friend. Each instances, I feel the connection you make as you pray is distinctly different, yet held together by a common thread.
Mount Emei is the tallest of the Holy Mountain, where the temperature at the Golden Peak is usually just slightly above freezing during the summer. You can hike the mountain all the way up, from Baoguoshi all the way to the Golden Peak. That usually will take 2-3 days, where you can take rest at the local "motels" or monasteries. My friend and I took the bus up to close to the Golden Peak, then stayed at the Golden Peak Hotel, so we can wake up early to catch the sunrise. Unfortunately, the weather was uncooperative and we waited in the clouds for an hour without success. What was cool however, was the mist. It was so cloudy that you can barely see a few feet in front of you. Even at the base of the golden Buddha, I was unable to see it clearly.

We also spent a day hiking down to the Elephant Pool, which is just a silly little temple were people can see the monkeys. The monkeys are CRAZY! They're fat, greedy, and completely unafraid of humans. If you touch your bag, they will come and attack you until you have food! My friend and I were definitely attacked by these oversized monkeys and required other hikers to fend them off for us. Yikes. On the way up from Elephant Pool, we missed the last cable car up to the Golden Peak, resulting us in hiking over 30 kms and 8 hours on our journey. I felt very tired, but super accomplished afterwards.
 

We climbed over thousands of these stairs.

Wished I spoke Korean

I love South Korea. Really, everything is wonderful. When we arrived Friday evening, the weather was cloudy, but pleasantly cool compared to Hong Kong. The drive from the airport to our hotel was smooth, with the most beautiful bridges along the river. On the drive there, one can see the heavy American influence littered around Seoul. The road signs look distinctly American - with combination of English and Korean on the signs. They even have the same red octagon stop signs along the road.

While the flight and hotels are quite pricy in Korea, food, souvenirs, cabs, alcohol, and almost all other items of living are incredibly cheap for a developed nation. The streets are clean, the people are friendly, and the food is absolutely amazing. Everything is Korea tasted good. From the noodles we had at the Namdaemun Market to the waffles at Samcheong-Dong coffee shops, every thing we ate from kimchi, fish, bimbimbap, to dumplings were all wonderful. Everything tasted better than the next.

The highlight of the trip was definitely Sat, when we woke up early at 6AM to go on the USO DMZ tour. After an hour bus ride, we arrived at the Joint Security Area, where the North Korean tower and Soldiers are less than a hundred yard away. Between the two Korean towers, there four flat houses, where 2 are painted blue for South Korea, and two are painted grey for North Korea. One of the conference rooms is where the Armistice treaty was signed on July 27, 1953. The funny thing is, both side can use this conference room. Obviously, they do not communicate with each other when using the room. The procedure is that they surround the building with their soldiers, bring the tour group in from either the South or North side, depending on who gets there first. Sometimes, if there's a conflict of timing, the Soldiers will stay in there as long as possible to annoy the other side. Yes, both side of the same tour uses the same buildings. It's actually very cool. For the South Korean side, we are guided by the U.S. military. Since the conference room straddles the MLD, the U.S. soldier is not allowed to cross into the North side. Therefore, the door to the North side is guarded by ROK (Republic of Korea) soldiers. While military service is compulsatory for all young men, the ones stationed at the DMZ are super cute! Another positive for Korea.

The North Korean Guard was only a few hundred yards away!

Inside the DMZ, both sides were allowed to one village. On the North Side, there's Kijong dong, what the U.S. military officer foundly called as Propaganda Village. There is situated one of the largest flag poles in the world, flying a 600 lb North Korean flag. According to the officer, if you can get a one meter by one meter piece of that flag, the CIA or wikipedia will pay you US$10mm. Of course, you'd have to cross the landmines, 2 sniper teams, and the North Korean army. Good luck.

Also at the DMZ, we went into the tunnels dug by North Korea trying to get into Seoul but was stopped just a few kilometers across the MLD. We also went to the Dorasan station, where it's an empty station with no trains on the tracks because it's suppose to be the first station on the train to Pyeongyang. While highly symbolic and full of hope, the station's emptiness brings an eerie reminder of a country with an uneasy peace with its neighbor.
 
 

Where will I be next weekend?

Tonight concludes my whirlwind of travel for the past weekend. Here were my travel itenaries since the beginning of June: Chengdu, Singapore, Bangkok, South Korea, and North Korea (granted, only for 5 minutes under the watchful eyes of the US military and ROK forces). For all of this has made Hong Kong worth it, for I don't think I shall ever have another opportunity to travel as extensively and frequently again. Details on each trip to be followed.

Kadoorie Farm

Too often all the expats, visitors, and even its own local residents think Hong Kong is just Central and maybe a small portion of TST. Very few of us venture outside of the comsopolitan Hong Kong. However, just an hour away by cab, lies the beautiful Kaddorie Farm. The best time to visit the farm is late March/April, where the Orchards are in full bloom and the weather is pleasant. The birth of the farm is a romantic story of how Sir Horace Kadoorie discovered an untended tangerine tree in the upper slopes of Tai Mo Shan, the highest peak in Hong Kong. From then on, the farm was developed to aid refugees who are mostly farmers.

Today, you take a bus through the acres of the farm, exploring into jungle like trails to discover rare plants, flowers, and animals. At the very top, there are glorious views of Hong Kong, where on a good day, you can see all the way into China. As the group of "if it gets awkward, just drink" went on our expeditions, I have come to realize that so much of Hong Kong is hidden from our views of Hong Kong Island. It's a pity that so few of us actually ventures outside and take full advantage of what Hong Kong has to offer for us.

Hong Kong Customer Service

Everyone always says that Asia has the best customer service. At the high end designers, Ferragamo, Louis Vuitton, that’s definitely true. If you’re ready to spend an exorbitant amount of money on a handbag, pair of shoes, or anything else that embodies the materialistic culture that is so prevalent in Hong Kong. Basic services, however, makes me wonder.




Last week, it was a co-worker’s 25th birthday. 10 of us went to Night Market, a Taiwanese restaurant that serves decent street food. The food is not bad and we often frequent the restaurant as a firm favorite. As we walked in, we managed to get a table quite quickly. However, two of our friends were finishing up work and was coming later. The restaurant owner simply refused to save chairs for them, even though there was plenty of space available. That part is understandable. A busy restaurant depends on turnover for revenue.



When our friends showed up, there was only one extra chair at the table given the rest of the long table was taken up by another party. We asked the manager if we could add a chair at the end. He point blank refused. There was plenty of space but he claimed there are no chairs in the restaurant. Given it was our friend’s birthday, we said, fine, let’s just all share on the chairs. So the two girls shared a small chair together (thank goodness for small Asian girls). At that point, the same waiter, who is the manager in charge during lunch, refused to allow them to order, citing the fact that they won’t be able to eat their food on the same chair….



How are we supposed to have a birthday lunch if two members of our party cannot order? We decided it’s time to go then, because we can’t enjoy the food at the restaurant if they refuse to serve our friends. The waiter-manager then threatened to call the cops on us on his power trip of making our meal as difficult as possible. I took out my blackberry and said “What’s the number for the police?”



Once he realized that we’re not afraid the cops will show up, for we have done nothing wrong but trying to enjoy a birthday lunch, his entire attitude changed. He begged us not to call the cops (for I think the actual manager would not be happy with him). Once he realized that he overstepped his power trip, he quickly got our food out. It was a sad realization that in Hong Kong, they serve based on money and fear, rather than delivering good service to its customers as a principle, even in the service business.

Tea in Sai Kung - a different side of Hong Kong

Too often as expats, we are trapped in the bubble that is Central/Soho/LKF and maybe sometimes Wanchai and TST. A tall tale sign of being too insulated is the fact that after 9 months in Hong Kong, I can only say my street and stop here in Cantonese to tell the cabs where I need to be dropped off. Last Sat, I was given an unique opportunity to visit a lovely Cantonese family.

Joanna was my landlord up until a few weeks ago, when she sold the apartment to someone else. Luckily, I am still a tenant under the same contract. She always mentioned that she wanted to take me to her house in Sai Kung for lunch or tea one weekend. Last weekend, she came and picked myself and her former tenant in the apartment, Nick, up from my apartment. With just a twenty minute drive, we were out in the fishing villages of East Sai Kung. There, Joanna lived on the third and fourth floor of a small low-rise building. There are villages after villages by the beach, with beautiful weather and clean air. The houses reminded me of townhouses in the United States, except each section of the townhouses have a different design, breeding personality and character into the village.
Her sitting room was the very top floor, with open windows and excellent sunshine. It felt like an open aired room even though it was complete enclosed. There was so much space! Joanna told us that for HK$8,000 a month, we could rent over 1,000 sq. feet. I currently pay double that for less than half the space in Mid-levels! We had tea and dim sum from Tim Ho Wan, the famous Michelin star restaurant. Joanna, picked up the dim sum last evening and heated them up after we arrived. Post dim sum, we went on a long walk around the beaches and different fishing villages. All the little communities are connected by the water. The air quality was unparallel. Even though every family had a car to get around, it is still 100x better than the muggy air that over cast that consumes Hong Kong island.

After our walk, Joanna and her husband hosted us for ice cream and fruits. We had a lovely time understanding what matters to a Cantonese family. Joanna and her husband were very concerned about her children, worrying about their lack of attention span, lack of responsibility, lack of self-displace. As a professor in film, Joanna tells us she often has students that don't complete their work. She worries for her own son in boarding school, worried about his development.
The afternoon couldn't last forever and we didn't want to overstay our welcome. It started at 1PM. After a 45 minute non-stop bus ride back on bus 618, I managed to return to the land of the expats again around 615PM. I couldn't have asked for a more lovely afternoon with a very impressive woman. Thanks Joanna.

Sauna Etiquette

One thing I really like to do after running is to sit in the sauna for 5-10 minutes relax. It's not a big sauna room. Could fit maybe 4 people comfortably lying down on two levels of wooden benches. Usually, no one will be in the room. Never more than 2 people have been in the room while I entered. People are usually in a towel, sitting or lying down and relaxing. Sometimes ppl would have a face mask on. Some would be scrubbing themselves with some sort of device that I can't recognize. I've even seen a girl do yoga in a bathing suit. However, what always bothers me are the people who are completely naked, without any towel on. It's a public gym and a public sauna, shouldn't there be a minimal standards of covering up?

It would be less frustrating though, however, if people who are naked are more properly groomed. I find it extremely uncomfortable when an unshapely woman who is not groomed lay there naked with no regard for the comfortable level of other people. Am I being overly judgmental or is there some basic expectancy of etiquette in a public sauna?

Minibus adventure

I have never ridden the minibus here in Hong Kong. Sometimes, I would take the regular buses to work. But that's standard. You get on, get off at the right stops.

Minibuses are a whole different story.

First, they will not stop if they are full. So waiting at a minibus stop could be an issue given the hours. Usually, it's best to start at the first stop. There's only a capacity for around 20-ish seats so a city as crowded as Hong Kong, that fills up fast. I took Minibus 1 from the Peak down. The roads are steep. Having a minibus circling the steep roads is definitely an adventure. Second, there's really no rules or stops. It seems that people just wave them down, or get off at random. The stops don't really seem to matter much. I didn't realize that there was no designated stops and the minibus drove straight past Cheung Kong Center (where I worked). Basically, all you do is get up, get the attention of the driver, and the bus will stop at any random place....

Melbourne - the artistic cousin

When you step into Melbourne, there's a feeling. A feeling that does not exist in Sydney. Sure, it's not as pretty as Sydney, not as famous as Sydney, but it has a feel to it that make its visitors and inhabitants fall in love. Streets full of graffti, where its encouraged for artists to showcase their creativity and talent. Free galleries with beautiful art, history, sculptures, and paintings. Impromtu shows out in Federation square. Hidden jazz clubs where extremely talented people perform. Sydney's for tourists but Melbourne's for lifers.

The Australian Outback

Ayers Rock, or Uluru by it's native name, is one of the most properly planned vacation towns I have ever seen. Practically ran by the tour companies, even flights are ideally timed to make the most of the trip.

Only a handful of flights land and take off at the two-gated airport, all the flights are scheduled to come in and leave between noon and 4PM. The Ayers Rock Resort, which is located only 10 min away by the complimentary bus by AATKing will stop at all 5 lodging options possible. With relatively few options, the hotels are all quite pricy with the rooms no less than a hundred bucks a night. We stayed at the backpackers hostel at the Outback Pioneer Lodge. Bunk beds and all, it's surprisingly comfortable and convenient with the water pressure at the showers being better than any shangri-las I've stayed at. At night, the the Outback is really the only hotel with a bar with any atmosphere with a live band that's better than the insomnia cover band in lkf.

While most ppl will whiz through Uluru in a day, I recommend two nights. You would have time to check out Kata-kjuta, the anagu's male sacred site where young boys become men, do both sunset and sunrise and have time to relax by the pool. My favorite part was definitely the Sound of Silence dinner, a wonderfully catered meal under the stars with a full astronomy lesson and unlimited wine and beer. I have never seen the milky way so clearly before. You also will learn how to use the southern cross since polaris is not visible in the southern skies. The sunrise camel ride is also worth a try. It's actually quite a different experience than riding a horse.

Uluru represents a place of ceremony and spiritual significance to the anagu ppl. While a very secretive ppl, a few stories about the legends have been told to the outside world. My favorite is the Kuniya and Liru tale. Because it's significant, the anagu ask the guests not to climb the rock. It would be like the non-bhuddists trying to climb a statue of bhudda. In fact the land is very sacred that it's rumored that if you take a piece of rock with you, bad luck will follow you around until you return the rock. There's a collection of letters from people around the world at the cultural center making up the "Sorry" book from ppl who took a piece of Uluru with them.

Beautiful place with friendly ppl and limited cell phone reception, I recommend ayers rock to anyone that has the chance to visit down under with a real taste of the outback

Sydney, Australia

Sydney is like Washington DC with beautiful beaches minus the crazy politicians. There are a multitude of places that one can appreciate the beautiful Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. Even though highly recommended, I found the bridge climb quite boring and not worth the money ($198 AUD) or time (3 hours). Shows at the Opera House are definitely worthwhile, especially given the 50% discount ppl under 30 enjoys to encourage young ppl to go. I watched the Aria Co in a beautiful balcony room, with an intimate setting and overlooking the sunset over Sydney Harbor during the songs

There's enough to do for a week, but even if you only have a few days, you can hit all the highlights given all the major spots are at one place at Circular Quay. The one thing that should not be missed is a surfing lesson at Bondi or Manly. Only 30 minutes away, Manly is a whole different world with its beach town atmosphere and lazy boardwalk. I went to the Manly Surf School, where it offers small classes and encouraging instructors. Not a surprise, I was very bad at it and inky managed to stand up for half a second with the help of the instructors. The feeling of catching waves though, it's a feeling vie never felt before. Even the smallest wave feels so exerlerating as you are riding on it. Definitely the best thing I did in Sydney by a mile.

A shocking true story of greed, jealousy, and murder

In 2003, a riveting murder in the upper echelon of expat investment banking murder rocked Hong Kong. Nancy Kissell, the milkshake murderer, drugged her multi-millionaire investment banking husband with a milkshake given to him by his daughter, clubbed him to death using a lead statuette, and rolled him up in a carpet and stored him in their fancy Parkview apartment storage room.

A media darling instantly, the trial revealed the dirty little secrets of the expat investment banking life, where money corrupts beyond your wildest imagination. The story itself is a simple one, but the lifestyle is one that few people imagines possible. In 2006, a thirller-esque novel was written about the murder. The author cleverly describes the decadent lifestyle of Hong Kong. I pulled together a few quotes from the book that describe the world of expat bankers in Hong Kong.

"The highest priority of his employer was to assure that none of the untidy business of actually living in a foreign country would distract him from the avid pursuit of the riches. He was there to make gargantuan sums of money … and enrich himself even beyond the limits of socially acceptable greed, while living like the sultan of Brunei."

"It was much in the employer's interest, therefore, to make Hong Kong seem, insofar as possible, to be simply a post card. You could gaze upon the panorama from a skyscraper window and marvel at the human energy being expended down below, but you wouldn't have to hear it, smell it, taste it, or have it undermine your absurd but indispensable sense of self-worth. For what good to the firm was an investment banker with an inferiority complex?"

The story itself is an open and shut story. In fact, after weeks of trial, the jury only book 8 hours to convict. However, the illusion, the idea, and the lofty lifestyle of the expat bankers are real and complete. Read the book not for its plot, for everyone already knows the story. Read it if you want a glimpse of the world here.

Who needs a tropical vacation when you can go to Shek O?

I don't know why people in Hong Kong spend all the money on flights and resorts to go to Cebu, Bali, or Phuket. Shek O, an hour away from Central, on the south side of the island, is a gorgeous beach with nice sands, great facilities, and beautiful weather. Take the Island MTR to Shau Kai Wan and take bus number 9 all the way to the end. The entire journey from Central took less than an hour. Being there felt like a vacation. It's a completely different world from Hong Kong. A group of 10 of us went to Shek O for a BBQ at Lam Au BBQ. The bbq is food / coal / everything ready. You can bring your own food or drinks or buy from the store. It's right on the beach and extremely easy to find. We spent a whole afternoon making fish balls, steaks, pork chops, corn, and everything else imaginable. It felt like camp again, roasting skewers over open fire. The weather was gorgeous, the sand was smooth. Laying underneath the sun, swimming in the ocean or running on the beach, it felt like a tropical vacation just an hour away from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong. The best part is, anything outside of the banker/finance expat world of Hong Kong is extremely affordable. We did not bring anything to the BBQ and managed to stuff ourselves with various food and beer for less than HK$100 each. An entree in any of the restaurant in Soho cost more than that. Definitely need to take more outings to Shek O.

Halloween, Foxfields, and UVA Football

My friend Yovan told me the Rugby 7s is the equivalent of my favorite 3 things in the the world: halloween, foxfields, and uva football. Halloween because everyone is dressed up with many girls in very slutty outfits. Foxfields because everyone gets drunk at dawn. UVA football because, well it's as close as Rugby gets.

It's definitely an experience for a lifetime. First, everyone is in the south stand, where all the crazy ppl dress, get drunk, and party all day. No one really knows who is playing who. After all, places like Wales and Samoa have teams. I mean, Wales is not even a country. Second, the 7s means only 7 players are on the field vs. the normal 15. It's like a condense version of the game that lasts ~30 minutes instead of the usual 90 minutes. Third, I miss the atmosphere where people actually cared about the score. Sure, we're drunk, but we're loyal drunks.

Our experience was quite intriguing. First, the tickets, scalping, costed 1500 HKD (a little over USD 200). That's much more expensive than previous years because less tickets were released this year. For some reason, the stands were all empty but there were no tickets available. It took us 3 hours to get to South Stand. After all, it was stressful experience. But, everything was worth it. I had great fun cheering, dressing up, and generally enjoying a staple Hong Kong experience. Afterall, it was so popular that the board of directors of a company we were representing could not get rooms in hotels for their meeting and had to postone it. That's a great event.

Hiking Hong Kong

One of the greatest pleasures of living in Hong Kong is nature. Yes. I said nature. You wouldn't imagine it, given Hong Kong's image as one of the world's busiest cosmopolitan. Unlike New York, Beijing, or London, nature is a short distance away in Hong Kong. Even on Hong Kong island itself, the peak is just a 20 minutes cab ride or a nice hike away. Trail start as close as 5 minutes away from your house.

To really get away from the skyscrapers though, all one need to do is get onto a ferry. With over 10 piers right in the heart of Central, ferries departs regularly to take passengers to other outlying islands, where people can enjoy that feeling of vacation by travelling over 20 minutes away.

This weekend, I did both. On Sat, I walked a few minutes away from my 19-storied apartment building and embarked on the Wan Chai Gap hike to the peak. Unfortunately, I got lost at the Aberdeen Park, but that itself was a treat. With reservoirs and trails all over the park, we walked past open bbq pits where people brought their own supplies and enjoyed the weather. Through the park, we could've hiked all the way up to the peak if we found it properly. Unfortunately, we were too lazy.

On Sunday, I took a ferry from Pier 3 to Discovery Bay on Lantau island. It is amazing how big a difference 20 minutes is. Discovery Bay is a peaceful suburbia that closely resembles the U.S. in the 50s, with golf carts driving around because of restrictions on emissions. It's an extremely expat and wealthy neighborhood, with only the wealthiest of Hong Kong residents capable of affording a life there. From Discovery Bay (or Disco Bay or D Bay by the locals), I embarked on a 2.5 hour hike, walking through different monasteries, peaks, and sights around and ending in Mui Wo. There, we sat by a beachside bar called China Beach Club. Ran by a bunch of hippie expats, everyone there was so relaxed and peaceful, giving a distinct feeling of vacation and peace. We enjoyed hummus, fried dumplings, and apple crumble with vanilla ice cream.

The hike, however, also revealed the social caste system that is deeply embedded at Discovery Bay. On the trail, we walked by "villages" where the Filipino domestic helpers live. Instead of the fancy condos and posh gardens, they live in what I would effectively call shacks. Small, crumbling, and seems incredibly unsafe. It highlights the in-your-face social inequalities that is ever so prevalent here in Hong Kong. Just 10 minutes ago, we were walking by where the most wealthy of Hong Kong residents would live, seeing their spectacular living. The inequality in Hong Kong can be unnerving, given the amount of Filipino helpers that sit around on the streets on Sundays. It's a sight to behold. When visitor comes, they usually think there's a protest. However, it's simply because they have no where else to go on their one free day. The streets, underpasses, and stairwells, are the only place where they can congregate and hang out with their friends.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

This morning, I received a letter from Amex, offering me free samples of the Chanel Le Blanc series. It contains three samples: a lightening moisture nanolotion, whitening concentrate continuous action, and whitening moisturizing cream. Welcome to Asia. Instead of the looking for fake tans, women where seek pale perfection. In contrast, really, we always seek what we don't have.




I did go pick up the samples given the numerous chanel counters there are in Central. Haven't decided if I will be using it yet. The products seem to be made especially for Asian skin, but I really don't want to become paler. I seriously worry given how little sun I have seen in the past few months and desperately need a tan.

The World's Highest Bungy - 233M

Would you pay HKD 2,400 (over USD 300) to jump off one of world's tallest towers? I did on Sunday. And it is the most exhilirating experience I have ever been part off. The adrenaline hits you usually 10 seconds afterwards. When i was skydiving, I started panicking, not knowing when the chute would open. In bungee jumping, by the time the fear and adrenaline kicks in. You're already secured and bouncing up and down. Therefore, when my legs started shaking, I was already on the ground.

First, it was really easy to bungee jump. The facility was definitely not in full capacity given that I think most Asian people are not into extreme sports. You pay HKD120 to go up the Macau Tower, tell them you want to bungy, you signed the forms, change into a T-shirt, and ready to go. It takes about 5-10 minutes to strap you and weigh you. Then, there's a 5 minute explanation on what to do in the air and you're off.

The mistake I made was that I decided to let my friend Scott go first. I had to see him jump off, and hear the audience inside the tower scream and gasp when he jumped. That and the wait time completely psyched me out. When I got to the edge, I just kept on saying I couldn't do it and I can't jump. However, the two guys with me kept on saying I can and slightly helped me off the platform. Also, I feel as the countdown happens, the rope starts pulling and you have no choice but to go. It felt great to be in the air and free. I felt there was nothing else but freedom.

Guests in town = fatty time 2

It's always dangerous to have friends and family vesting in Hong Kong. Not only there's the stress of showing them a good time, there is inevitably over-eating, given the amount of good food here in Hong Kong. Last weekend, I had a double threat, with my family and my friend visiting from the US.




On Sat, I went to Chung's Cuisine with my family for Cantonese food. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of canto food but this restaurant was delish. The barbeque meat (including goose) was simply delightful. Everything was cooked simply perfectly. The vegetables were very fresh. The fried rice did not try to entice the consumer through its greasiness, but through the quality of the rice and ingredients plus the perfectly timed degree of cooked for the rice. My favorite, however, had to be the baozi. It's similar to the shanghai xiaolongbao. The skin was so tender and soft with perfectly juiced filings. Overall, it was fabulous and definitely worth a visit. Especially since it's located in the food forum in Time Square in Causeway Bay, a major site to check out for any visitor.



On Sunday, I went to dim sum in City hall with my friend from the U.S. Cantonese Dim Sum is one of the best treat you can have. It rivals with brunch as my favorite eating activity. Carts after carts of deliciousness just come and come and you eat until you can eat no more. The mango sago and mango pudding for desert are key. For dinner, we went to Din tai fung, ( the famous Taiwanese restaurant in Kowloon. The greatest part of Taiwanese food that it is just all the best food in China combined into one. The Xiaolongbao (mentioned previously) are the best and 2 is really not enough for anyone. The vegetables were cooked to perfection as well. Deng tai fung can be found around the world in Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, and of course, Taipei. And the Hong Kong Branch has just been awarded a Michelin star in December.



Monday was Valentine's day so we wanted to make sure we had a table for our visitor from abroad. When I called Sijie, the Sichuan Private Kitchen in Wanchai, it took me five minutes to convince them that I wanted a reservation for 3 people, not 2 people. The guy even tried to convince me to put a table for 2 and a table for one. This is all in Chinese so I don't' believe it was a language barrier. Anyways, Sijie, located in someone's apartment, is the best Sichuan food I've had before. For 3 people, we can order 2 cold dishes and 4 hot dishes. The Sichuan cold noodles (dan dan mian) are simply to die for. I can just have that and be happy. The pork belly is of exquisite quality. Before the hot dishes even came, we were beginning to feel full. My favorite hot dishes are the Tomato soup with fish (so much fish meat that there were at least a couple of fishes in a huge bowl of food) and Drunken duck. I stuffed myself until I could move no more. The only time I have ever been so uncomfortably full was when I had the pasta tastings meal at Babbo in New York City. This might actually be better than that.

A day in an ancient city

There are a few perks on going to the middle of nowhere in China. On the second day of the new year, I went on a day trip with my cousin to Pingyao, Shanxi. We took an early D-train to Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi. Before the ultraspeed trains, it would take over 7 hours on the train to get to Taiyuan from Shijiazhuang given the trains have to circle around the mountains in Shanxi (in Chinese, the province means West Mountains). However, on the D-train, it took 80 minutes, and it is relatively cheap, $168 RMB for a roundtrip ticket (~$25 -$30 bucks). The development of high-speed infrastructure is truly amazing in China.

From Taiyuan, my aunt and uncle picked us up for a day trip to Pingyao. Only 100 km, Pingyao is the best preserved ancient Chinese walled city in the country. Made onto the list for NY Times' top places to visit in 2011, Pingyao offers a traditional feel of China in a holistic and complete manner. Two of the best sites of Pingyao is the first bank/exchange house of China (Rishenchang) and the County Government Office (Yamen). One of the most profound things after visiting those two places have been that things really have been the same since the Qing dynasty. According to our tour guide, the head of the government of Pingyao, equivalent of a mayor or chief justice, gets paid 45 liang (Chinese currency then) for a year of service and lives at Yamen, this grand collection of courts, living rooms, waiting rooms, and back gardens complete with its own temple. A highly-skilled worker at the exchange house, responsible for writing the letters in code to communicate across branches, would be paid 200 liang a year. I guess it pays to go into finance back in the old days too. Even back then, to work for an exchange house, one has to have passed several levels of national exams and be extremely qualified academically for the jobs are highly desirable (but in our case not so much after a few years).

Flying Shenzhen Airlines

Air travel in Hong Kong is the most reasonable and pleasant (or as pleasant as air travel can be) air travel I have been. Shenzhen airlines through Shenzhen, less than 100 km away, is a whole new story.

To begin, it flies to remote cities like Shijiazhuang (I was there for Chinese New Year, hence the need to return). The airport there is pretty ghetto for a city of over 4 million people. There were only 10 gates plus the bathroom is more foul than most restuarants I have been to. Un-befitting of an airport where people pay quite a bit of money to travel.

On the airplane, the shows were a combination of chinese and english shows, which made sense given the growing internationalization of the country and its people. However, Kunfu Panda was only 30 minutes in when the airplane tv shutted down... you would think they can time the shows properly for a 2 hour flight. However, the most exciting thing happened after the TV shutted down.

The flight attendants led the passangers on exercises of neck, shoulder, and various other joints to help the passengers relax and feel better about the long flight. Seriously! It was like the warm ups people did together in gym classes in high school. Except over 75% of the grown adults on the planes were following the flight attendants on the silly rituals!

After landing, it was fairly easy to locate the counter for buses to Hong Kong, a hot pink bus that carried the passengers to Kwoloon station. While very easy and straight forward, going through customs in Shenzhen to Hong Kong was a total nightmare. There were at least over 1000 people in line and took well over an hour. However, I was told by many it was not the norm and it was probably due to Chinese New Year. Still, I felt like I was literally going to drown in the sea of people as people sprinted toward customs through the metal gates. Over 50 police officers were present to keep the order.

A real dose of Chinese New Year after 16 years

After 16 years, I have finally arrived back at Shijiazhuang for a Chinese New Year celebration with my grandmother and the rest of my extended family. To be honest, I was really nervous. I haven't been back for so long that I barely remember what traditions are relevant for Chinese New Year, especially since all the changes China has undergone in the past 2 decades since I have been away. When I left China, it was quite poor and still firmly fell into the developing country catagory; now, China is an economic superpower and a symbol of new wealth for the rest of the world. Of course, all the traditions would have changed as well.

When I arrived the night before, it was so exciting. Everyone as chatting; remembering their old days. Arranging the menu for the lunch the eve of was a big deal. The number of dishes must be even, but can't be 14 because it's unlucky. Everyone decide don 16 because it's even and it's a lucky number. There must be the right amount of fish, meat, cold dishes, warm dishes, types of dishes.

After that, I checked out the automatic shuffling Mah-Jong machine that my uncle bought. I managed to play with my three uncles and even won a few hundred RMB. Beginner's luck I'm sure and I'm probably going to lose it back the next evening. However, it is definitely much more interesting than cards. Just the table itself is amazing. 

When we woke up, the first thing was my family went to my grandfather's tomb to burn paper and pay our respects. Only the sons were allowed to go. The daughters and sons-in-law were expected to stay home and cook the 16 dishes that was ordered the night before. Then, lunch was an intense affair with too much food. Everyone was chatty and excited that we came back for the holidays. After the the afternoon nap, everyone gathered around to make dumplings from scratch. Actually, everyone was delightfully surprised on how good I was at making dumplings (my parents and I did it almost every new year to celebrate by ourselves). Dumplings from scratch are the most delicious dumplings you'll ever had. We had leek and pork dumplings and lamb and cabbage dumplings. This is why I am so skeptic of dumpings in restaurants. Really no restuarant can compare with the Guo family dumpling enterprise.

Evening activities involved setting off all sorts of firecrackers. All my uncles (40 and 50 year old men) seemed like teenagers setting off firecracker and firecracker. Throughout the evening, there was alwasy firecrackers and fireworks in the background. Not a minute goes by without something going off in the neighborhood. Then, promptly at 8PM, the Chinese New Year Eve Celebration Broadcast comes on live on every channel in China and the entire family gather around for the 5 hour telecast. It's a mix of songs, dances, and stand-up comedies. Unfortunately, I have no idea who the new celebraties are and what the cultural jokes meant so it was actually a quite boring event for me. The obvious comedies I get, but the skillful ones, especially the ones that uses cultural references and word tricks are quite over my head.

On Chinese New Year, there's nothing really to do given everything is pretty much closed or closed early. With nothing to do, my entire family would gather around to talk about the old village stories. Really lots of interesting stories from the country-side in China. First of all, it seems that none of my father's sibiling knew that they had a half-sibling still in the countryside. Today was the first time my father told them after knowing for 20 years. My aunt and uncle were dumbfounded.

Then, I was told that in the village days, lots of domestic violence happened. If a guy beats the wife, it's told that the wife's brothers have the right to go make the husband's life total hell, including beating him up. (This is instead of police presence I guess?). Also, I was told that if the son does not perform the proper filial piety for his parents, the uncles have the right to beat him up too. However, the wife does belong to the husband's family and is expected to serve the husband and his parents dutifully.

In the village days, for Chinese New Year Eve and day, the sons would return with his family while the daughters would be with her husband's family. On the Second day of the New Year, the daughters would return to the family to pay her respects. Red packets are expected on the Chinese New Year for those younger than college-age. Even I have to give packets now that my cousin has a son. My first time giving red packets. Man, I feel old now.

Poon Choi

For Chinese New Year, the traditional thing to do in Hong Kong is have the family gather around and enjoy Poon Choi, layered goodness filled with picked vegetables and canto-style meats. 13 lbs of food enough to feed a family of 10. The weekend before CNY, a couple of the analysts and myself decided to order a set and try it out.
The delivery came cold... which was expected by me but disputed by others. As we tried to heat it up, I realized there was blood in the chicken! scary. I didn't really want to touch any of it afterwards. We separated the bloody chicken and all the other stuff the blood touched into a separate pot. When we finally managed to heat up the 13 lbs of food in a small hong kong apartment, the food actually was quite good. The tofu and duck with my favorite. There was plenty of lotus root and califlower to go around. Overall, a very delicious meal. I highly recommend it (except probably better with people who actually knows how to cook it.)