phoínix

It's been a long time, way too long. But like Chuck Norris, this blog doesn't sleep - it waits.

It's been a hectic one month - or actually a few months. I hope that with the summer coming, things will ease up and there will be more time also for other stuff than just work and sleep. Of course I can't blame all on work but it's a definite factor. I've had a bit free time which I've been using to my best ability to either rest, or discover new things in Hong Kong. I must say, the latter has become less and less frequent with rest taking more of the spare time I have - but that's simply because after work I've just been unarseable to do anything.

With that said, let's get back to matters at hand.

As mentioned, summer is heading our way. While I just received word that in Valkeakoski it was -1 degrees Celsius this morning, in Hong Kong we're enjoying 27-30 degrees.

Here's a 7-day forecast from our friends at the Hong Kong Observatory:



So we won't be freezing too badly here, as the poor mucks in Finland. Of course, however, getting the warm weather means a world of pain for me. I'm very, very well adapt for cold weather and winter in Hong Kong was just awesome - but I am one of the least compatible of humans to hot weather. So, it's back to t-shirts and sweating like a Schwein for me. Fun times.

One definite bonus of summer in Hong Kong is the blue sky. Blue sky makes me happy. Blue sky is a sign of a nice day. Blue blue blue. Of course blue sky also means it much hotter because the sun is shining straight on us without the protective cloud/smog defense shield to guard us. But it looks mighty awesome. The thing is, during winter we don't have that many sunny days. The weather may be clear, but there is a shroud of clouds covering us most of the time.

But that's all there is to it at this point. No more jabbering about weather.

Within the last few months so many things have happened that it pains me to leave them out all together. Seems such a silly idea to start telling about events long-gone as if they were something new and amazing. So, how about some current events, eh?

Thank you Schweppes! I just found a bottle of grapefruit soda from a close-by 7eleven and it's delicious! Why so happy, you ask? Well, aside from Coke, Pepsi and some basic soda's like 7-up and such, it's really hard to find additional soda flavors here. Ask about all the funky green tea we have, sure, but a decent soda... *sigh*

Actually, a lot of Western foodstuff is hard to come by in Hong Kong. Surprisingly so, actually. I've started to like cooking again after a while of McDonald's and other crap. However, the age-old problem remains persistent; that is, the western foodstuff.

For example, try finding some cream other than whipped cream. Try finding some proper bread other than toast or Chinese crap buns. It can't be done. The list goes on and on but without a context I can't come up with a longer one just now. However, it seems every time I want to cook something western style, there are at least a few food items missing that force me to improvise to some extent. Of course it's fun to try new things - but sometimes I'd rather try the old things, and have that old-home feeling. Well, sucks.

I'm quickly becoming a master of fusion kitchen - balancing between east and the west.

Manbearpig

Half man, half bear, half pig. Well, not really. But UK scientists have managed to create Britain's first part-human, part-animal embryos - creating a human-cow hybrid. Of course it operates only on small cellular level, so we won't be having man-cows around any time soon. Interestingly enough, however, between the lines it was easy to read that this is not ground-breaking research but has actually been done by US and Chinese scientists before some time ago.

To me this was news. I didn't know we can do this already. Albeit, there are many things I didn't know we can do. Seems science has stepped way further beyond the threshold of fiction than I thought. Well, I suppose it'll lead to scientific discoveries and we'll all live a very, very long and happy lives thanks to it.

Unless man-cow kills us all!

So, 'will it blend?' is not really the question anymore. Now we should be asking'Should we blend it?' but that is a totally different question and I won't even go into the ethics behind genetics and all things involved. Those are questions too big for us small mortals. Let the immortals decide!

Lingua Franca

There are a few obvious good things the British brought to Hong Kong. One is the western sense into things (though can be argued) and the other is their language. Though the locals commonly use Cantonese for their own affairs, English is very common even among lower educated people (38% of people in Hong Kong, according to Wikipedia, apt speakers). Even those who can't really speak the language, usually learn what is necessary for their profession (taxi, restaurants, etc.)

Having so many english-capable people around of course makes life a lot easier here. I don't really need to worry about a thing, in terms of language barriers - and especially with Chi around, language hasn't been a problem for the last 10 months or so.

Of course, it makes it much more challenging to learn the de facto language of the locals: Cantonese.

I haven't given up my relentless quest to learn the language. But it's slow. It's so damned slow. I suppose I should go to a proper course and have a weekly schedule for learning. Can't be arsed though. But I'm still learning.

Not being forced to use the language daily is a problem. Almost in any country you would at least have to face the language more often. Of course I hear it all the time but since it's not directed towards me, it's easily ignored. And since I look like gweilo, the locals automatically switch into english when talking with me.

Sometimes after purchasing something or paying for a bill, I say "thank you" (something like "mgoy") in Cantonese, and even from that I receive surprised glances and even smiles, or giggle - as if I've done something totally remarkable! "HOLY CRAP! The gweilo speaks our language!"

Chi is a good teacher, I'm a crappy student. Yet, I'm making slow progress with each week.

I am learning small things all the time and with time they're bound to sum up to something. However, I don't expect myself to be at all capable of speaking Cantonese until a year or two from now. The progress is simply too slow for anything sooner.

I'm more aware of the tones and other finer things concerning the language but they still pose me a serious problem. It's not once or twice that I've repeated the same word (or so I thought) to Chi, and she saying I got it right half the time, other half was wrong. I just don't understand how the people can hear any difference in the tones --- I mean something that would be so significant as to be a totally different word.

It's all kung-fu-talk. Damn it all! One day I'll be the master of it!
And then I can be an actor in kung-fu movies and kick ass! That'll be cool! With great language-skills comes great responsibility.

Daily routines

Daily routines exist no more. The only routine I have is Chi getting off at 21:00 and coming to Tung Chung at around 22:00. Everything before that is a hassle. I really, really need to get some more routines to my life - this is very much draining on my mental well-being. The way things are, I'm usually so tired by weekend, that I don't go out at all. In fact, it's been a really long time since I properly went out with friends.

So, what's the cause of all this?
You guessed it. Work. Plenty of work.

It seems things are easing up now, and I hope to see some significant changes up ahead, but lately our office has been like Santa's workshop on December 23rd. I don't know what has happened to create this situation, but it's definitely there. I remember this time last year I was stressed out for NOT having enough work to do. Funny enough, back then I thought it's much worse that having too much, making a silly claim about how I'm being just a burden to the company and how it's not right others are busy and I'm not. Well, I was wrong. Being totally overwhelmed by work sucks more. Period.

So, anyways... Even my week is full of busy days at work, I will try to change my routines for the weekends. With my parents here, I realized how much more stuff I could do during my free time if I just got up early and went out. These days I've just been sleeping late and staying indoors.

Need to sleep more though too... Hmmh, it's a bit of a problem actually. Need to sleep more, but need to wake up early. And then, Chi gets off so late I kind of have to stay up late... and... I don't know. Need to come up with something.

updates

It's been a long, long while since my last post. A bit too long, actually. When I started my blog I had in mind to keep posting as often as possible because if I don't, it doesn't make much sense to have a blog at all. It is kind of like a diary, I suppose, so what's the point of having one if it's not up-to-date.

Anyways, obviously a lot of things have happenned, much which now seem a bit trivial to write about. The main thing that happenned, probably, was my parents visiting here a few weeks back - which was really great! I had asked to have several days off from work to be able to spend more time with my parents as a tour guide and obviously just for spending time with them.

The first few days, for me, were a bit awkward as such because I didn't really know what to do with them and how to go about showing Hong Kong in a way that would be interesting for them. You know, so far I've only had younger people visiting so they pretty much have liked the same things as I... but my parents, well, I needed a different approach. Everything went really well in the end, however, and there'd be many stories to tell but I just can't be arsed right now. It's old news.

One thing, however, I need to mention. Of all the places we went to, one really stuck out of the mass and that was Tai O. Tai O is a small fishing village in West Lantau Island and has really saved a lot of its authentic feeling. The people still try to retain their old way of life, even with the occational tourists flocking in, and the place has just an awesome feeling to it - compared to the overly-modern Hong Kong most people know. I've put some pictures of Tai O for you to see at the bottom of this post. I think they speak for themselves. The place will definitely be on the menu for anyone ever coming to visit me here again.

It's been a few weeks since my parents headed back to Finland and since then things have gone back to normal. With my parents here, it was two weeks of walking, walking, walking, walking and walking a bit more. They were always going somewhere and everyday there was to be some program. I don't know how much I walked totally during their stay, but it was a LOT. Now, however, I've been able to skip that tedious form of moving.

Hmmh, I thought there'd be more to write down, but honestly not much has been going on since. It's all pretty much routines, I suppose, that have once or more been already discussed in this blog of mine.

There was a fire at the mountain next to my apartment. I took a few photos (below) of the firemen at work. Nothing much of interest but well.. since nothing else has happenned... Ha. Well, anyways.

I suppose I'll just stop typing now. Next time I try to have something more purposeful to write. Tchau!

TAI O,Lantau Island, Hong Kong





FIRE!,Tung Chung, Hong Kong

Tourists

Tourists in Hong Kong, my parents. It'll be interesting having them here. It's been over half a year since I saw them, so it's also a welcome piece of home to see them. They will, in fact, arrive already tomorrow morning so I'll be quite busy as a tourist guide from now on. I asked to have some extra days off from work during their stay just to have more time to play a guide.

Also, for Chi this is interesting times, to meet my parents. She's having some mixed feelings about it, actually. Basically she is of course happy and interested to meet my parents - but it's also a bit terrifying experience for her to meet Gweilo-parents for the first time, not really knowing what to expect. The norms she knows from Hong Kong won't apply. I have, of course, tried to calm her down and told plenty of the way Finnish families function (or dysfunction), and that she has nothing to worry about. Well, we'll see tomorrow once the first introductions are made.

Talking about family meetings, I've also had the privilege to meet Chi's parents (and family) on several occasions now.

Last time was for the family Chinese New Year dinner. Present were most of Chi's family from her father's side, a total of 50+ people. All locals. No Gweilos, except me.

I was received very well, and as far as I've understood I'm now the "jolly Gweilo who speaks 'really good Cantonese' (thanks to my vocabulary of 20 words)." The dinner was very traditional in Hong Kong style. We had our own big room in a nice restaurant, and we were divided into several round tables of 10-12 people. Food (I think 6 sets) was served on a steady pace and no one left hungry.

Talking about the culture here, and how I perceive is starting be a bit repetitive topic, so I won't go into further details anymore. Let's just say, that family life and all that go around it here is very interesting - and like so many things about Hong Kong - complete opposite to that of Finland.

Of course everyone's experiences vary. Hong Kong is such a strong mixture of different sub-cultures and variations as to how closely traditions and values are followed. So, I can't say my experience would be anything universal - but just what I see as I've been taking part in the local family life.

During the dinner, I was received very well and no one seemed at all offended by a Gweilo taking part in their traditional celebration. In fact, seems I was more of a peculiarity (in a positive way), everyone surprised to see me there. Chi and her parents got some "face" (i.e. 'respect', 'personal honor') for having a foreigner boyfriend - something that is not common among the "normal people" of Hong Kong - and being able to speak such good English to actually talk with me actively. In local culture, even the strangest things can be thought of as a merit to a family. Never thought I'd be one of those things, a prize. Hah.

I received several laizhi's (red pockets; a small red envelope containing some small amount of money) as it is tradition, and actually even as the new guy, I totaled in around HKD 400.

The laizhi-tradition is (I don't know where it originates) a strongly established cultural feature of Chinese based cultures. During Chinese New Year, married couples give laizhi's to their children and to their unmarried friends and family. Individual red pocket usually contains only sums of 10 or 20 dollars (and 50 or 100 for closer family) but receiving them by the dozens will make it a nifty sum in total.

Anyways, I suppose I can close this post for now and continue later on, if need be. Life is sweet and changes lie ahead. Worries and high hopes. Let's see how it all goes. More to come, stay tuned.

Tchau!

proof of life

I've been rather busy lately, and will be for the coming few weeks. And for that reason, I have been neglecting my grave responsibility to write stuff here occasionally.

So, why have I been busy? Mostly work, and after work I don't usually like writing much. Maybe I should take that (writing my blog from home) into a habit, seeing these days it is quite impossible to do it other anyway.

Interesting times in Hong Kong, many things worth mentioning. However, since I'm lacking time yet again, I will leave those stories for another time (hopefully soon).

Basically I just wanted it to be known that this blog has not yet died, but is just catching some breath.

Until a later time, tchau!