It's the year of the pig! Or in HK - they seem to be cute little fat porkers, or piglets, or piggies. There are 24 k gold piggies, large painted ceramic piggies, inflatable plastic piggies, and of course - my favourite - roast suckling piggies. Yum! Luckily in HK, the pig symbol is everywhere so I know exactly what year it is. I think 2 years ago it was monkey cause I remember a similar thing with monkeys. At home in TO, it's not so prevalent - at least not where I live and work, so I have no idea what year it ever is.
I haven't been blogging much, even though I've been here a week - that's because for most of that week I've basically been shopping non-stop. I've bought my next 2 year's worth of clothes & shoes, almost - have a few things still to get, including a very expensive purse. But NOT the Christian Dior that I've been lusting after - still can't get over my guilt on that purchase, so I think I'll have to stick to this nice black leather Lancel handbag, even though it's not a well-known label at home so in some ways I'm spending a ton of money on nothing. I can't even link to a web page to show you what I'm talking about, it's that obscure - you'll just have to see for yourself when I'm back.
I have also managed to gorge myself on food every day. It's so good here! I have no pics of food because I realized a) there's no room on HK streets for both me and my camera, and b) chinese food generally doesn't look very good, it just tastes good - particularly the authentic stuff. You know what I'm talking about - fish ball ho fun soup, congee (any kind), dim sum, almond paste dessert....yum! Thanks also to GKY, aka "Hong Kong Concierge service" for arranging all of three dinners for us, all at good places. Peking Garden was great! I've been blessed with many friends to visit while I'm here this time around too, including Peter, Maria, and Ray & Sandra...so everyone except Peter & GKY are here from other cities. Funny how I tend to meet up with people in 3rd locations while I'm on vaca! The only one missing from my list is DragonX!
The last 2 days have been spent getting ready for Chinese New Year (CNY for short). It's never been a big deal for me, even getting the lucky money in red pockets - probably cause most of my CNYs have been spent in audit busy season so I've had no time to think about it or enjoy it really. A few tasty pan fried turnip cakes, new year's cake and some family dinners have been it. Even the last few years when JCL has asked me to go "hang lien siu" with her family, I've been like - what's that? For those who don't know, "hang lien siu" is basically walking the street markets the 2 or so days/nights before actual CNY day. In Toronto, I never went but I understand it consists of driving to Pacific Mall, struggling to find parking amongst the throngs of chinese people who can't drive, then wandering the mall all night and eating. So I've never even been tempted to go.
In HK - it's totally different! It's not just the night before, it's about 2-3 days before. And it stems from the tradition where everyone buys flowers for their house to decorate it and make it nice before CNY. So a lot of the market stalls are selling flowers, and the flowers here are really exotic! However I went last night with my cousin & aunt and they also sell these retarded cheap plastic inflatable toys, and those stalls were more packed than the flower stalls! At first I couldn't figure out why anyone would waste their money on these environmentally unfriendly toys that frankly I wouldn't want if I was a child, and that are only worthwhile for about 3 days. Then I realized that some of these toys were actually quite clever - and if you understand chinese words & sayings (which I don't), the market is actually a showcase for young business people to display their wit and design prowess. For example, here's something my cousin bought - a plastic trophy cup with the words "bao lei sing cup", which is a CNY wish saying "guaranteed you will get promotion". But instead of the chinese character for "cup" (it's a real character), they used the English word "cup". Get it? Trophy - cup - hahaha. Ok yes, I know - it's fobby - but still cute. :)
There was a ton more stuff, but too much to write explanations for - and it was so bloody crowded that I couldn't take any pictures. Literally it was wall-to-wall people (but no walls!) and we could barely breathe. I only lasted maybe 1 hr and we had to go - and I only stayed that long because we had no way of getting out until we walked all the way to the end! The entire "fairgrounds" ran from one MTR (that's subway) stop to the next. So it's big. And wide. When we walked down one "aisle", we could only see what was on one side of the aisle because of all the people between us and the other side!
It was worth it to experience though. Today I went with my aunt & uncle to a flower market during the day. It was also packed, but not nearly like last night. I tried to capture the crowdedness of the market but I think I'm too short to achieve the right perspective. Anyhow here are a few shots of the different kinds of flowers they have:
I haven't been blogging much, even though I've been here a week - that's because for most of that week I've basically been shopping non-stop. I've bought my next 2 year's worth of clothes & shoes, almost - have a few things still to get, including a very expensive purse. But NOT the Christian Dior that I've been lusting after - still can't get over my guilt on that purchase, so I think I'll have to stick to this nice black leather Lancel handbag, even though it's not a well-known label at home so in some ways I'm spending a ton of money on nothing. I can't even link to a web page to show you what I'm talking about, it's that obscure - you'll just have to see for yourself when I'm back.
I have also managed to gorge myself on food every day. It's so good here! I have no pics of food because I realized a) there's no room on HK streets for both me and my camera, and b) chinese food generally doesn't look very good, it just tastes good - particularly the authentic stuff. You know what I'm talking about - fish ball ho fun soup, congee (any kind), dim sum, almond paste dessert....yum! Thanks also to GKY, aka "Hong Kong Concierge service" for arranging all of three dinners for us, all at good places. Peking Garden was great! I've been blessed with many friends to visit while I'm here this time around too, including Peter, Maria, and Ray & Sandra...so everyone except Peter & GKY are here from other cities. Funny how I tend to meet up with people in 3rd locations while I'm on vaca! The only one missing from my list is DragonX!
The last 2 days have been spent getting ready for Chinese New Year (CNY for short). It's never been a big deal for me, even getting the lucky money in red pockets - probably cause most of my CNYs have been spent in audit busy season so I've had no time to think about it or enjoy it really. A few tasty pan fried turnip cakes, new year's cake and some family dinners have been it. Even the last few years when JCL has asked me to go "hang lien siu" with her family, I've been like - what's that? For those who don't know, "hang lien siu" is basically walking the street markets the 2 or so days/nights before actual CNY day. In Toronto, I never went but I understand it consists of driving to Pacific Mall, struggling to find parking amongst the throngs of chinese people who can't drive, then wandering the mall all night and eating. So I've never even been tempted to go.
In HK - it's totally different! It's not just the night before, it's about 2-3 days before. And it stems from the tradition where everyone buys flowers for their house to decorate it and make it nice before CNY. So a lot of the market stalls are selling flowers, and the flowers here are really exotic! However I went last night with my cousin & aunt and they also sell these retarded cheap plastic inflatable toys, and those stalls were more packed than the flower stalls! At first I couldn't figure out why anyone would waste their money on these environmentally unfriendly toys that frankly I wouldn't want if I was a child, and that are only worthwhile for about 3 days. Then I realized that some of these toys were actually quite clever - and if you understand chinese words & sayings (which I don't), the market is actually a showcase for young business people to display their wit and design prowess. For example, here's something my cousin bought - a plastic trophy cup with the words "bao lei sing cup", which is a CNY wish saying "guaranteed you will get promotion". But instead of the chinese character for "cup" (it's a real character), they used the English word "cup". Get it? Trophy - cup - hahaha. Ok yes, I know - it's fobby - but still cute. :)There was a ton more stuff, but too much to write explanations for - and it was so bloody crowded that I couldn't take any pictures. Literally it was wall-to-wall people (but no walls!) and we could barely breathe. I only lasted maybe 1 hr and we had to go - and I only stayed that long because we had no way of getting out until we walked all the way to the end! The entire "fairgrounds" ran from one MTR (that's subway) stop to the next. So it's big. And wide. When we walked down one "aisle", we could only see what was on one side of the aisle because of all the people between us and the other side!
It was worth it to experience though. Today I went with my aunt & uncle to a flower market during the day. It was also packed, but not nearly like last night. I tried to capture the crowdedness of the market but I think I'm too short to achieve the right perspective. Anyhow here are a few shots of the different kinds of flowers they have:
And pics of the crowds in the flower market, including a vendor hawking her wares - there were literally people with megaphones and loudspeakers yelling out to the hordes:
Ok - time to say night - way past my bedtime. Thanks again to Hong Kong Concierge, going to this church tomorrow. Can't even be late because I don't know how to get there so I have to meet people!
Kung Hei Fat Choy everybody!
2 comments:
No chance to han leen siew here in London! But I watched a crazy display of fireworks and firecrackers in Leceister square, packed full of people, and with trees that somehow didn't catch on fire. Insane the way pyros work over here... I like the cup thing, cracked me up haha =)
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