The Ancestors like Gucci, too!

They do. 

This is in a wet market in Kowloon district. There, the deceased may also enjoy Chanel (paper) goods, although it is hard to tell if those are knock-offs.

An interesting cultural note about a traditional Chinese society that cares for its alive and its deceased.

For those who are beginners in Chinese traditional culture, ancestor worship, or at least ancestral piety often takes the form of burning paper imitations of goods such as money, clothes, etc, so that the deceased loved ones could enjoy these material goods in the afterlife.

Dream Big, Kid

I guess I can talk about the location in where I work. It's not too interesting on the surface, unless you're a closet clotheshorse like me.  :)

First day is at the LegCo (short for Legislative Council, a historic government building in Central, Hong Kong). My first morning, I headed to my boss's (one of his) office, located in the upper floors of the Prince Building, which is across from the LegCo Building. I suddenly wished I had packed better work clothes.

My boss just told me to come to work in "whatever I like". Oh. Here's the quandary. I'll explain.

With pictures. One picture is worth a thousand words.

There. I've just written my longest post ever.

But here I come to the real commentary I'd like to share. It's really not commentary at all--just people watching, one of my favorite activities in a new environment.

For those politically adept, it doesn't take a press release to known how the situation on the ground involves a myriad of different faces, all pulled along in a current; seldom touching, always weaving, barely noticing watching each others' vastly diverse lifestyles.

Under the statue of the founder of the Hong Kong Standard Charter Bank (if I remember correctly), the cleaning lady contracted by the government sweeps up the ginko tree leaves from the cracks in the paved concrete. A dull small dustbin and red plastic broom are props to a game of "ninja"; she's formidable at attacking the debris when suited businessmen and eager tourists are not looking. A group of professionals similar to her lounge and picnic during lunch hours in the upper tier of the public park in Central, an artificial-looking, but leafy and enjoyable rock hill two steps behind the HSBC.

The HSBC monument and Citibank are almost like cathedrals, with other high rises towering above the central square. These brand names and corporate moguls are not just workplaces, nor industries, they're landmarks. >> A perfect example would be the Coach store that has become many-a-Yalie's meet up spot before Lan Kwai Fong (popular nightlife district up the steps behind the heart of Central district).

Again, this is not a social critique nor commentary on a way of life, nor on a corporate culture, merely observations (but they hold significance for myself, nonetheless). It's much too hot for commentary, and my hair becomes a dense frizzball--blocking all further thought--when I watched and listened sitting under the bus shelter at Central MTR Exit J.

But just look at all that Armani (six boutiques in one Building, in fact).  Dream big, kid, dream big.

The Fruit Challenge

What is the GREATEST thing about living in a sub-tropical climate (or, at least, above one)?

The Fruit!

Coconut Juice and Fruit Flesh

After watching my roommate try out fresh cocnout, lychee, asian pear, and other things I could name... we got to the fruits which were impossible for me to even recognize. In fact, they started looking kinda funky.

 "In fact, they started looking kinda funky."

But persistence is key, in life and in fruit. And as fun as a-new-fruit-a-day challenge is, I prefer to ride on the coat-tails, catching the breeze, so to speak. That is, I prefer to stick to some of my favorites, in new variations of course! Desserts are possibly my favorite part of the meal here in Hong Kong, and that's hard to say in some Asian regions.

Smoothies, with agar chunks, red rice bits, custard floats, etc etc... all with good ol' mango.

The Little Details

See if you can spy what's wrong with this picture!

(Hint: imagine you're in America)

Or, rather, what's very RIGHT.

Dragonboat Festival, June 5th

A long, loooong time ago...

China's first known poet, Qu Yuan served also as Minister of Law and Ordinance for his home state of Chu in southern China. He lived during the Warring States period (481 - 221 B.C.). Qin, a large state in the north, was determined to control the state of Chu. Qin leaders gave the King of Chu a peace treaty to sign, which they had no intention of honoring. Suspicious of their motives, Qu Yuan advised the king not to sign the treaty. Unfortunately, the king was threatened by Qu Yuan's stature, believing the poet was trying to gain greater political power in the government. Not only did he sign the treaty, but he banished Qu Yuan to a remote region in Hunan province. Eventually, Chu was defeated by the stronger Qin state.

It is thought that the news of Chu's defeat destroyed Qu Yuan's will to live. As a result, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 278 B.C., he committed suicide by grasping a large rock and throwing himself into the Miluo River.

Local fisherman raced to their boats to recover his body, beating drums and splashing their paddles on the water to scare away the fish. But it was all to no avail. In one version of the legend, they began throwing rice on the water. The rice packets were meant for the fish, in an effort to keep them from devouring Qu Yuan's body.

The death of Qu Yuan gave rise to both the dragon boat races and celebrating the day with zongzi - delicious dumplings made with glutinous rice that are stuffed in bamboo leaves.

Source: http://chinesefood.about.com/od/foodfestivals/a/dragonboat.htm 

The Hong Kong Dragonboat Races are held each year. Below is Stanley beach, where teams (from Corporations or other groups) of people join for longboat races in the hot, humid weather.

Below is what the head of the boat looks like (guess). Hence, the name "Dragonboat".

20 hours of fasting-forward

Here's the tale of the trip over to Hong Kong (mostly to let others not repeat my same mistakes). Here I wryly explain the bad pun of the title--> yes, the trip fast-forwarded 12 hours. But it was also a period of fasting.

An Unhappy Itinerary:

• 17 hour plane ride from JFK to Hong Kong International Airport
• Add another 2 hours of a scenic but excruciating Hotelink shuttle bus ride to Kornhill Apartments
• = nearly 20 hours of absolutely no food intake. And maybe half a regular water bottle of H20

Notes: Apparently, ordering a "low-lactose, no nut" meal plan on Cathay Pacific Airlines means that you get scrambled eggs and potato wedges every meal. WHAT. No one even asked me if I wanted to forgo the small pack of mint Milano cookies, or even the Nature Valley bar.

Upon arriving to Kornhill Apartments,

Caption: Kornhill is foggy in the morn.


I realized I lived above a huge shopping plaza, sort of like a giant underground mall with prices better than Walmart, perhaps. After two floors of ladies' clothing, I finally stumbled (literally) into the grocery floor, whereupon I bought a rice ball and a kid-sized VitaSoy package.

Yum.


The checkout line was atrocious, and the woman at the cash register didn't understand my English, but other than that... success.

2 Blogs @ Once??

I may soon rue the day I started a blog, but so far so good.
In fact, to get me in the spirit, I started a sister photo blog for this one. You can find the link to the right of the page (see wix link).

I generally enjoy galleries, and they do say that photos are worth a thousand words, so why not give you more pictures before I bore you with thousand word-posts?

As you can guess, these are dedicated to travel, rather than my mundane daily life (but when daily life consists of traveling places, there's no help for it). This summer, I'll be in Hong Kong for the first time, hanging out with some lawyers and politicians, as well chill college interns.

Here's to a happy blogging summer!

Many cheers,
S