Wetlands

Last time I visited Hong Kong, I was surprised to discover that there are ample hiking trails and many pockets of conservation areas. I always assumed that the city had expanded such that the only trees that could be found would be in parks and the occasional tree on the side of the road.

Yesterday, we went to 60 hectare Wetland Park in the northwest part of the New Territories. Did you know that most of us live near a wetland and that these wetlands support a wide host of biodiversity? One of the exhibits discussed conservation and pollution, and I learned that it takes 10L of water to make 1 cheeseburger! From the feeding of cows to growing of lettuce, there is a great deal of water invested in that burger. I'm not saying that you should not eat meat, but remember that recycling is cool, and everyone else is doing it.

After the humid and hot morning (it was 36 celcius), we met up with more family for dinner. These past few weeks, I have eaten more than I ever have, in fact, I think I've gained about 5 kilos (hopefully you won't know how many pounds that is). Nevertheless, I'm not complaining since the food is great and seeing family is wonderful.
Grandma and Grandpa







Cousins

Lamma Island

Today, I escaped from the hectic, inundated city to Lamma Island which does not permit cars on the island. Its quite serene, but unfortunately, it was extremely hot and humid out. Nevertheless, we (Uncle Wai and Aunt Polly) hiked from the north part to the southern part of the island. The island has a reputation for delicious seafood, but I think one can find great food from the sea anywhere in Hong Kong.

Fisherman in the Sea

You can see more Hong Kong pictures at : http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/semaj187/HongKong

Lost in Translation

I arrived in Hong Kong on Wednesday afternoon, greeted by my Uncle Wai and Aunt Polly (my mother's fourth brother and his wife) at the airport. Later that evening, we joined my grandma, grandpa, Auntie, and 4 cousins at an a Vegetarian Restaurant to celebrate my grandma's 84 birthday. Part of Chinese culture is that on your birthday, you are supposed to hand out money in red envelopes called 'lucky money' to the younger people in your family for good luck.

Yesterday, I spent the day solo and went to some various temples and toured Kowloon and New Kowloon, where I found this interesting translation of a dish outside of a restaurant.

The translation is supposed to read 'Fried Large Intestines' but in the dictionary, there are probably several words under the characters and the author just chose one arbitrarily.
Wall Panel behind Tin Hau Temple (Goddess of Seafarers)
Nan Lian Garden in Diamond Hill
Chi Lin Nunnery, large Buddhist complex at Diamond Hill

Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple, Taoist Temple dedicated to the god worshipped by the sick, those trying to avoid illness and other seeking more material fortune.

More adventures in Bangkok

I've ventured out into Bangkok a bit more the past few days, but sightseeing hasn't been high on my list during my stay here. The days have been spent more with family and as if you coudn't tell, consuming as much Thai food as humanly possible.

On Sunday, I was supposed to be at the Thai church to hear my aunt sing. I didn't comprehend why I was coming as I don't understand any Thai, except: "hurry up, delicious, and let's go!" Thus, when I didn't see my aunt when the service started, I thought maybe she had gone to the adjoining Chinese church, so I left and wandered down the street to this Buddhist Temple.

I actually appreciated the time spent inside, meditating in my own way. While I don't necessarily prescribe to any religion, I think myself to be of a more spiritual person who appreciates the teachings of multiple religions.


Wat Hua Lamphong



Little girl offerring prayers

Yesterday, Wei-Min and I went to Siam Ocean world which is part of another shopping complex near our home. I hadn't had the opportunity to take out Wei-Min and hang out with him sans other family, so I was psyched to explore the aquarium with him. It was fairly interesting and I actually gained some new tibits of information.

A Car Tank!

Not only is the steering wheel on the wrong side, there are fish swimming in the car!

Wei-Min in a TV Tank

I've posted all the Thailand photos I've taken at : http://picasaweb.google.com/semaj187/Bangkok

So tomorrow, I head to Hong Kong, most of my mom's side of the family resides there. After a several days, I will start orientation for my teaching program. Unfortunately, I won't be able to use my Mandarin that much, as Cantonese is the main dialect spoken in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, I've made some progress in my speaking ability, so hopefully I will be able to ask for vegetables and not pjs.

Constitution and Seafood

Today, last year's military coup d'etat group has held a country-wide referendum on a new consitution. Apparently, the new consitution resolves some loopholes in the previous one and also recognizes more minority rights. However, this is under the premise of a military takeover, so who knows if this is really more democratic?

The latest preliminary results show that the Thai people support the new constituion, but in reality, if they did not vote in favor, the government would have chosen one of 16 constiutions from the past. So its seems to me that either voting for or against would have yielded a similar outcome.


On a brighter note, tonight, we went out to a recently renovated, fabulous seafood restaurant for a farewell dinner for Jimmy. We scarfed down Tom Yum soup, Thai vegetables, mollusks, Pork satay (I abstained) and other creatures of the sea.


This restaurnat is famous for its Curried Crab, which was lightly spicy and yummy! The fish was continously heated with coals underneath and tempered by ice which was maintained by my nephew, Wei-Min.














(L-R: Auntie, Jimmy, Cousin Suparp, Wei-En, Cousin Peng, Wei-Min, Cousin in-law Jee, Uncle Visal, and Auntie Nancy)

1st Birthday Party

Wei-En turned one year old today and to celebrate, we had an "American" dinner. Everyone had mashed potatoes, corn/pea mix, salad, and steak, but me, who had some salmon. In addition, there was some cream of chicken soup. My aunt later in the evening said, "oh its okay that Jimmy eats the soup."

My aunt keeps on trying to trick me to eat meat. Earlier today, I was helping myself to dumplings and she was encouraging me to eat it and served me some sauce. As I cut into the dumpling, I thought that it resembled a little pork ball. So I turned to my cousin and asked her and she confirmed my suspicion. My aunt replied, "oh, its okay." Its actually amusing and I don't mind as she's only trying to look out for me.

In Chinese culture, noodles are served to people on their birthday because its believed that eating long noodles grantees a long life. So Wei-En is enjoying some noodles and as my cousin pointed out "eating it primitive style" with his hands.


One of his gifts is the yellow polo shirt pictured is all the rage right now in Thailand. The shirt was created last year and honors King Bhumibol Adulyadej on the 60th anniversary of his ascension to the throne. Its yellow because Thai tradition assigns color for each day of the week. He was born on a Monday, thus now Bangkok is blanketed daily in yellow. When I wander outside, each day, there are plethora of people wearing this shirt. The support of royalty here is incredible.

Tone deaf

Tonight, I had my Chinese lesson a bit later than normal, at 7pm, because of my trip earlier today and my teacher had obligations until 4:30pm. We definitely got off to a bad start because her transport time between her first bus to the Sky Train then to another bus was 2 hours . I sort of laughed because I feel like in those types of situations all you can do is laugh, but I don't think she appreciated my humor. D'oh! So I think she was a bit grumpy and then I started to be a bit combative.

One of my problems in the Chinese language is the ˇ sound. One is supposed to drop their voice low and then quickly go to a higher pitch. My problem is that I think I raise the intonation of my voice, when in reality it is monotone. This frustrates my teacher, which frustrates me because I think I'm doing it correctly and think she's bonkers. However, I think she may be right.

I often think of Cranium in these situations. Its a fabulous game if you are not familiar with it. There are 4 categories that challenge all 'parts' of your brain: spelling, trivial pursuit type questions, artistic and performance.

There was one time that I was playing and picked a card from the "star performer" category. I was given the task to whistle a song, I can't remember which one, but that doesn't matter. As the other team flipped over the timer, I started to whistle with all my heart. My teammates sat there bewildered, not having any clue of what was coming out of my mouth. See what happened was, in my head, I thought I was fluidly moving between musical notes, but in actuality everything that flowed through my pursed lips was monotone.

So I think I might be a little tone deaf, which does not bode well for my Chinese intonations. As my bad pronunciation continued through our lesson, we became increasingly agitated with each other. To the point where we were arguing about the colors of my shirt. My response in Chinese to her color question was that "this shirt is dark purple, light purple, and white." She proceeded to tell me that my shirt was dark blue, grey, and not white. We argued for a few minutes before our respective language barriers (she speaks a little English) shut us both up and we moved on.

Who do you think was right?


(James, wearing a dark/light purple and white shirt with Wei En)

Si Racha

Today, my aunt, cousin, and Wei-En travelled north about 1 1/2 hours to Si Racha so that the ladies could run errands and take care of the condos that they own there. On the way up, we stopped at an outdoor market, where we bought several of these bamboo sticks filled with sticky rice and raisins that have been cooked over a fire. The vendor breaks them open with a hammer when she sells them. There are 2 kinds one with white rice and the other is red, both with sweet beans. Its more of a dessert, mildly sweet and tasty.

After I went for a run along the beach and they finished their errands, we went to an outdoor cafe. They claimed that this place has the best Phad Thai in the whole country. I couldn't get over how cheap it was! For the seafood phad thai dish above, it was only 40 baht (about $1.10). The other dish was a flat crispy egg and mussel dish with chili sauce. Everything was thailicious!