My first HK Christmas experience

This year is my first Christmas in Hong Kong. Everyone tells me how exciting a Hong Kong Christmas is., but to me, this years Christmas is far from one of the best.

Christmas Eve, the streets were crowded with people. You don't get to walk where you want to walk, but you get pushed walking in the direction that you want to walk. If you don't link arms with the people you know, you'll end up lost. Yes, there was lighting, but nothing "spetacular". The restaurants were fully booked pretty early, 95% of which served buffet. What about the people who feels like a la carte ?

Christmas Day.. streets pretty quiet. All the important & special people to me arn't here (besides my brother). The close friends that are here had to spend it with family. What did I do? I went to a Christmas Party in Kwai Hing organised by one of my friends. I knew about 7 out of the 50 people that were there.

It was fun, but nothing beats spending time with my bestest friends, or having a nice hot pot or BBQ under the sun with close friends. Nothing beats recieving phone calls from those dear friends to say Merry Christmas.

Family here in HK don't celebrate Christmas, so nothing really special. Christmas to me is time to spend with family and close friends. Not in a noisy pub/bar.. squished with people who smoke their lungs out, every breathe you take is second hand smoke, and eyes filled with tears from the smoke because air ventilation is not good enough. Drinking their guts out till they vomit is not my idea of a great Christmas.

I don't understand..why do people purposly come to HK for Christmas? Why do people pay the extra peak season fare just to be here for Christmas and New Years?
What's so fun about Christmas in Hong Kong?

Merry Christmas 2007

To all my dearest friends in Sydney, New York and Japan and family around the world; Here's to wish you;

"a very very Merry Christmas & a fantastic New Year for 2008!"

Hope all your wishes and dreams come true in the new year and achievements greater than previous years.

May 2008 bring you much much happiness, success, good health and joy.

Take care & lots of love.
xxxooo

Santa Claus is coming ... to town

Christmas to me is full of childhood memories.

I remember when I was back in primary school, when I used to loose a tooth, I was told the story of wrapping my tooth in pink tissue paper, putting it under my pillow at night, and then next morning, a pretty pink fairy, will exchange it for some money under my pillow.

Without fail, everytime, my tooth was taken away from my pillow at night and some gold coins was replaced when I woke up. My dad had a tendency, that when my teeth was wobbly, he would sit there and pull it out for me. In my memory, the image is so clear. I can still picture and remember the whole senario =) He would sit down.. wobble my teeth and say "mm.. I think this one is ready". He would count to 3 and pull it out very strongly.

My reward for being brave and not crying... a great big hug from my dad with assurance it's all OK. He would walk with me to the bathroom sink, prepare some salt water so I can rinse my mouth out, and the next morning, some extra gold goins for being brave to buy lollies at school canteen.

I found it so fancinating at the time. It was like magic. I wondered...

And just like that, Christmas to me is very magical. I was bought up to believe that every Christmas, we'd hang a huge red Christmas stocking at the end of my bed. On Christmas day, it would be filled with goodies, everything that was on my "Wishlist" which, I had to put under my pillow a month before Christmas. There was always an additional suprise present from Santa, who came down the chimney, through our fireplace with a huge bag of presents for all the children who behaved themselves throughout the year.

I remember one year, I wanted to wait up for Santa to say "Thank you". Every year, I never got to say it to him in person, i've always left a card, which he always took away with him. That night, I waited till early hours of the morning, sitting on my bed, but no sign, then I fell asleep. Without fail, the next morning, my huge red Christmas stocking was filled with my favourite things.

As I get older, I obviously started to realise who the real Santa was. I'm really glad i've had this form part of my childhood memory. With Christmas coming soon, thinking back, brings me great warmth and smile of how happy and lucky I was as a child. Here, I'd need to thank dearly that special person who brought me up as a happy child, having these loving memories forever. ** THANK YOU!!

So, this year, as I walked around City Super, I bought a huge red Christmas stocking, hoping this year, i'll get what I am wishing for. hehee ... I think i've been a pretty good girl this year! =)

Christmas to me is very special. A very special day to be with family and friends, lots of love and hugs, and lots and lots of giving.

Diana in Japanese

Japanese name

Christmas Krispy Kremes!

After waiting for 30 mins for the Agnes b VIP staff sale with Dida, got to the door and she said "opps, i think i left the second half of the ticket in my other bag"
We asked the ladies at the door if we could go in without the other half of the ticket,but we couldn't buy, so whats the point? We turned around and left. It was pretty embarressing and the people that were lining up behind us looked at us with questioning looks.."why are these 2 girls leaving after lining up for so long?"
Anyways.. we decided to hit CWB, window shop and perhaps start buying some xmas pressies!

Stopped by Krispy Kremes...I haven't had them for soo long. They were yummy!

Disneyland Hotel - HK

A collegues wedding at Disneyland Hotel. Feels like i've left Hong Kong and gone to another country. The air was so crisp and fresh.

A special dinner

I finally found a place in Hong Kong that does mussells. Frites in Central. Mussell pots very similar to the ones at Belgium Beer Cafe at the Rocks. They don't have as much variety (only 4 choices), and they don't have blue cheese, but it definitely satisfies my mussell fix.

This is lime, lemongrass, coconut and chilli mussells

This is a fantastic deep fried Camembert cheese. Absolutely yummy!! It's a must try!

And having it with a special friend, over laughter, chats and white wine just topped it off!

Christmas decorations at TST

Being my first Christmas in Hong Kong, it's pretty obvious i'm going to snap away and capture the lovely pretty Christmas decorations everywhere I go!! =)

Here are a few to share with the guys that arn't here.

Life is so precious

I cannot stress how precious life is. I feel a knife stab into my heart when I hear stories about people committing suicide. Why do people not appreciate life. There are so many people in this world, who would do anything to keep their lives, but can't because of certain accidents & illnesses.

I have heard yesterday, one of my brothers high school friends committed suicide. He is only 21 years old. He was good friends with my brother and was in both English and Maths class together. He left on the gas fumes in the car, closed all the windows and died in the car. His funeral is tomorrow. It's indeed very sad, I don't understand why people can think so negatively and do something like this to end their life in this world. Of course, nothing is perfect. It's what you make of it. There's no 100% happiness in life. If there's no ups and downs, how do you know what's good compared to the bad?

I just wish that people think very carefully before making decisions like this. It hurts your family and friends and other people that know you.

Counting down

5 more weeks till Christmas. 7 more weeks till Jan 2008.
It's the time of the year again where I sit down and reflect what I have accomplished and what I have done this "fast going by" year.

- Got a new job, promotion and relocated to Hong Kong
- After many questions I posed to our "non chinese" clients who some are over 50 years old and have lived in HK for 20+ years, and have raised their childrens in HK, who can't speak, read or write chinese, if they can do, why can't I ?
- Learned to be more independent, did things I've never had to do, eg. change the toilet seat, buy my own furniture (only to realise the importance of measuring before buying), change the shower hose and build my own kiddy stools from Ikea (which turned out unsuccessful anyways!!)
- Lived on my own for the first time in...xx years!
- Had my patience level for rude and arrogant people tested many many times
- Learnt to look, ignore, forget and move on (esp at people who go "AH HEM" and spit..gross!)
- Met many new friends, but have also realised even more how precious my existing friends are and super grateful for their continuous support throughout this year
- Have a gorgeous god daughter who is absolutely adorable
- Bought a Japanese Spitz - his name is "big white" now - translated to chinese
- Learnt not to trust people so easily. People are not as nice as they may come across
- Realised how materialistic and fake Hong Kong people can be
- Living in HK compared to Sydney is so much cheaper, eating-wise, transport-wise and perhaps shopping wise! hehehe =)
- Became very appreciative of MSN, email and Facebook!

Approaching winter

It's starting to get cold in HK now. I love the smell of freshly dried stir fried chestnuts and hot sweet potato every morning.

So many nice boots and jackets out there ~ WAY tooooo much shopping... =)

Q-Pot 07 Winter Collection

more info: http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/tee_blog

Eason Concert !!

My first concert in HK!! YAYA !!! Eason was soooo GOOOOD !!! Despite thinking about the exam I have 2 days later, I had a fantastic time!!!

Another friend visit

Girly chats can never be too much. It does not end in simply a couple of hours. Especially when it's a close great friend that you haven't seen for what seems a very long time! MSN is just not the same. You can never fill each other in on as much detail as when you chat face to face.

One of my dear friends Jen came to Hong Kong from Sydney and yesterday I spent a day of eating and shopping with her. 10 hours of chatting, filling each other on each others lives. It seems like we have been through so much together in the last 8 years. Uni & shopping days, our graduation, families and relationships. We know each other quite well. We know when the other person is on a topic, on the verge of tears & know when to stop. We know each other so well that we know whatever we say, is the best for each other.

We didn't get to chat as much as we did yesterday when I went back to Sydney. I'm so glad that she will be here in HK for a month. Friends here are not the same as friends back in Sydney. There's just simply no comparison.

my adorable Latte

Funny enough, i realised my dog has MANY names. On his microchip, he was named Little White - for those who are chinese, please translate that to chinese. My brother named him that as he refused to call him Latte. As for my mum, i am not quite sure what she calls him. I just realised he has another name Timtim?
I've decided i'm going to call him what I wanted to call him in the beginning - Latte. I wonder if he will come to me if I call him that when I go home. The poor dog.. he must be very confused =(

Anything BUT...

Can I please please please do anything BUT study...
I am very tired....
I am very unmotivated...
very very very......

My first hairy crab meal

I've always heard about how great hairy crabs are. From my mum, my brother & friends. I've never been fortunate enough to be in Hong Kong during hairy crab season. Apparently only from October to the first 2 weeks of November when they are in season. Obviously, this year i'm here for it!!

Hairy Crabs posing for my pic!

Cooked..

And this is my crab!! Thank goodness Vicky was there to each me how to open it up and telling me what parts I can and can't eat! Suprisingly, it was not as messy as I expected. It was YUMMMMM !!!

Our set dinner table with other yummy dishes!!

My cousin Vicky who joined us =)

Thank you to Kali who organised a hairy crab eating gathering. It was so yummy and thank you for booking the clubhouse so we can all fit & all cook together.

Heartless Hong Kong people

I've thought about this for a long time and now I've decided is the time to put my feelings to words.

Seeing rude chinese people drive me insane. I whince when I think of them. I get angry and fustrated. Stepping on people without apologising. Pushing right in front of you when you are waiting for the MTR when clearly, you are standing so close to the door that unless you are "pushed" other people cannot get any closer than you. Picking their nose right in front of you and holding onto the MTR pole.

Once in a blue moon, I'll feel someone push me or step on me and say "sorry" but when I look to see who this polite person it, it's definitely no a local chinese person.

Yesterday, I was utterly surpised to see a scene that I often see on TV. Someone from their house, some high levels up poured some dirty water down the street. One poor girl was walking past, with her handbag, shopping bag, got soaked with dirty water. What kind of horrible person will do that? Can they not pour the dirty water in the toilet or down the drain? Why do they need to pour it down the street? This is totally ridiculous. Makes me wonder what goes through peoples mind when they do things like that.

Yes, I am chinese. No I am not racist, however, I'm proud NOT be a local HK'er.
Hong Kong will "never" be called my home. I will always just be a visitor, a working visitor getting mad at the heartless things that HK people do.

I am not labelling. I'm sure there are people with heart in HK and DO NOT do things like that.

Catch up session

Another friend from Sydney is here in Hong Kong for good. I've lost count now of how many friends have come by to HK. And more that is coming back. Jen will be here next week and Alice will be here sooooon too !!

I remember sitting and chatting and having similar conversations that I had today with J but with my gf's in Feb 07. He's still adapting and getting use to the HK environment. Being in HK for 2 weeks, still dividing everything by an exchange rate of 6.9 (now 7!!!), and I still do that now! Just laughing and talking about how cheap a milk tea and "afternoon tea" was and how cheap a taxi rides are and just general living in HK. We both agreed that we HAVE TO stop this "conversion thinking". We're earning honkie dollars now... no longer earning aussie dollars!

We started off shopping in Causeway Bay, cheese shopping at City Super and then heading to LKF for drinks. Having a D & M chat for 5 hours non-stop over white wine was something I haven't done in HK in a very a long time =)

LKF was packed, even when we got there at 6pm. They had a Californian Carnival. It was sooo crowded. I can imagine it just being like this on Christmas Eve or New Years Eve!!!

My lovely family ~

A very nice Aunty facebooked this pic to me just to make me really really jealous!!!



How I wish I was in that photo toooooo ~