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Hong Kong: Welcome to Sai Kung

Sai Kung town is just a five minute walk away from Sha Kok Mei Village and this is where I did some growing up too. Located right next to the ocean and surrounded by mountains, Sai Kung is a popular location for seafood and expats. It has a towny feeling but also the busyness of the city. Everyday that I want to go out to the city, I had to walk to town to catch the minivan.




This is the a harbor view of the ocean from Sai Kung. Notice the contrast between the motor boats and the small wooden boats. Those small boats are inhabited by the tankas or the boat dwellers. They make a living off fishing and spend most of their time in their boats.









Along the harbor lies these cramp aquariums with all types of seafood. There's literally everything imagined from giant eels to things that I can't even name. This is just one restaurant front out of many more.









That's me obviously. Picture was taken by another fellow visitor.











Typical aesthetic of the town. Notice all the clothes being hung off the balcony. People in Hong Kong almost never use a dryer to dry their clothes.








The gate to the old side of town. What's behind the gate? Why more seafood restaurant of course.











A glimpse of the old part of town. Don't let the photo fool you! This street is actually not empty (that is impossible to find to Hong Kong). The dingy appearance is a prevalent theme of Hong Kong.











Much to my surprise, this was actually my kindergarten. I never knew that I went to school in Sai Kung when I was young. All I remember about my kindergarten day was that every day at the same time, tens of pigeons would fly into the classroom and we would all scream hysterically.

Hong Kong: Sha Kok Mei Village

I acknowledge that my Hong Kong blog has been a big failure. I didn't update it frequently and I didn't put any pictures up due to the fact that I couldn't have regular access to a computer. But now that I'm back, I can do my Hong Kong adventure blog justice! To kick it off, let me introduce to you the village that I stayed in!

Introducing Sha Kok Mei Village:

The town entrance

The town pagoda

This village is where I was brought up until I was like 4 or 5. I don't quite remember much about it except that this town has really developed throughout the years. There's constant construction going on and most roads are not even paved yet. Many foreigners are actually moving to this village for its relatively peaceful location. It's right next to the ocean and the houses are relatively bigger than the ones in the city.

At night, the dogs rule the streets. My 14 year old cousin would carry a broom stick with her when she's walking around the village because the dogs are a different creature at night. During the day, all they'd do is sleep and eat but at night, their eyes turn red and chase anyone in their path! I almost got bit once coming home late one night.

In addition to dogs, this village occasionally gets visit from wild cows. After living here for 2 and a half weeks, I spotted one just hanging around and eating grass. That thing was HUGE! I walked passed it like it wasn't there but there was a point when it was staring at me. I was so afraid that it was going to charge at me.
A wild ox grazing next to the village's parking lot.



Me with my grandma

So I stayed at my grandma's place when I was in HK. Everyday she goes to "work" (meaning play mahjong with other gamblers) at 10 in the morning and comes back around six. I had the hardest time communicating with her since she speaks a hakka dialect of cantonese (which makes me half Hakka), so I faked it and nodded a lot. She seemed content with just that.

What is Hakka you ask? Well, that is one of the four main ethnic groups that migrated to Hong Kong. As the second group of people to migrate to Hong Kong, the Hakka settled on land that was not of the best quality. One other ethnicity of interest in Hong Kong is the Boat dwellers. They literally live on boats all their life and some still do that till this day. I've been approached by several old ladies asking me if I wanted to ride on their boat for a tour.

The living room My little room. I literally couldn't stand in my room because it was so small.

So there you go. That's the village that I stayed in. Tune in next time for my presentation of the Sai Kung Town and my kindergarten.

Seal Music Video on the Flip

"caught in a hit and run"

Saturday, September 7th
After a wild night out at the last Hot Lunch queer party ever, our friend Jake was hit by a car and flew from his bike onto his chin. We spent several hours in the ER. Jake has a bunch of stitches now.


Sunday, September 8th
After our wild night on Saturday we decided to stay in and play board games with our friend Debbie who was in town from Oakland, CA. We ordered Terryaki House delivery, which is always delicious - and you can have bubble tea delivered! Wing, Jake, and I decided to go to the ATM right down the street. On our way home we felt an erie silence, and noticed a group of 4-7 people behind us. I asked Wing what was going on, and after one more glance he yelled, "RUN!". As we ran down Warren Ave and West Brookline Ave. the group began grunting/hooting a strange noise and chasing us. Wing was also street wise enough to start yelling help, and Jake and I followed his lead. Poor Wing's flip flops fell off so he was running in his bare feet. We are all okay, but still wondering why the area surrounding the South West Corridor of Boston is still completely unpatrolled by police. I read online that the police are fighting about who's responsibility it is. I have heard many reports from the coffeeshop to my coworkers of people being mugged by groups of young men in the area.


Monday, September 9th
Randolf Country Club 2007!

After that kind of weekend, we needed to lay in the sun by a swimming pool! Yay Labour Day! The boys even convinced me to play Volleyball - and of course it was ouchey! Never again.
My glasses, towell, lounge chair, and reading materials must always match in public! I tease, I tease!

We might be skinny little boys but we sure love to eat!

Saturday, Sept. 1 2007

To start our day we had a picnic on the Charles river.

That is an iced green tea latte. Soy, of course.
After sitting down, we saw a gondola. (see video)

It's a Saturday night! We're going out to the last Hot Lunch - a queer party in Allston.



Hello Kitty belt buckle brings much joy to all.
(Click Here for Mark's hit song: Hello Kitty Time! As featured on cutekitty.com!)

These power sissies are ready to light up the night!

Quiiiiiiiche with Ugly Betty!!!

Last night's dinner deserves to be marked in my life's accomplishments. Why? Because it was the first time that I've made a quiche! A spinach quiche to be exact. You can find the recipe here. Be careful not to break the pie crust though! I had a bad experience with the continuous outflow of the milk and egg mixture. Not to mention, it was vile and sticky!
In the end the quiche turned out to be lovely and delicious. Now I can die with a smile on my face.


Our entertainment of the night was disc 5 of Ugly Betty, the best show ever! I think the reason I love that show is because I can see myself as Betty sometimes.

dinner 08/29/07

I made a quick meal from a recipe in Vegetarian Times. Yum! Basically you bake some polenta and throw on some red beans, diced tomato with jalapeno (comes in a can), some spices like paprika, and cumin. Then top it off with cilantro and feta cheese.

anti-war vigil

MoveOn.org anti-war vigils were held nationwide on August 29, 2007. The deaths of US soldiers were read aloud. It is time to unite the anti-war movement. It is time to block recruitment centers.

eating yummy the lazy way

So this was my second turn making dinner for us since we started taking turns, and putting more effort into cooking. And tonight, our roommate Trevor and our best friend Jake joined us. I decided to use some of the stuff we already had. I did it the lazy way :) We had a salad of mixed spring greens (the ones that come in a bag). I hate iceberg lettuce so I always buy dark green leafy greens like kale and such. I added sliced Asian pears, and gorgonzola cheese to the salad, and topped it with Newman's Own raspberry vinaigrette.

Then, I baked our pre-breaded, frozen eggplant cutlets from Trader Joes with some mushrooms, and boiled some fettucini. For our sauce I just heated up some olive oil with minced garlic, chopped up basil leaves, a little oregeno, and some "Italian Spices." Then, I mixed everything with the eggplant, mushrooms, and some fresh diced tomatoes.

Trevor pauses while telling us a story about his friend who had sex with a mortician at a funeral home last night. Don't worry, we caught the whole story on video, and we'll share it with you very soon!

singing beach trip

We took a trip to singing beach, and it was super super fun! To get to singing beach from Boston, just take the commuter rail to Manchester and walk up the road. I think it is probably the nicest beach in the Boston area. It costs $5 just to get onto the sand, but it is worth it. The ocean sprays over the rocks and cliffs creating majestic views and fun swirling pools of water to play in. There is even a secret spot that we discovered. It is a tiny beach surrounded by large, rounded rocks.


Before you get to the beach there is a pretty inlet with lots of boats.
The waves are not too big and not too small.

If you look closely, you'll see the cool hippie guy. He sat there drawing all day. Just beyond those rocks is the neato secret spot!

an "oprah approved" dinner

This is Wing and Friday was my night to make dinner! Tonight's special is Teriyaki Seared Salmon over Steamed Organic Spinach and Mushroom with Rice. I generally don't follow recipe and just follow what I think would taste well together. I fried some garlic, basil and ginger first and used that as my base to grill the salmon. Then I just add the pre-made teriyaki sauce and stir fry it some more. It's THAT simple!

Mark takes his first bite and loves it!
Then he got the salmonella...
Alas, he survived, hence my dinner was a success. We then concluded by sitting back down for a nice treat of more cheese, wine and surprise chocolate! :)

wine and cheese yum

We just had a grueling couples therapy session. Hey, no one said we were perfect. On the way home the Wingman went to the grocery store and got the ingredients for dinner because it's his night to cook. Mark stopped at the farmers market in Copley Square (Boston) and picked up a local cheese. Little did we know this was going to be the most delicious cheese EVER! It turns out these little cheese cubes are called Hannahbells, made by Shy Brothers Farm. Our Hannahbells are rosemary flavored. They also have lavender, chipotle, and other flavors. Yumtastic, and worth the $6 splurge. Click here for a fascinating feature story on the Shy Brothers farm. Click here to learn more about the coalition Shy Brothers belongs to that supports local and organic farming!

paintings

Last night we sat down together, and we painted for the first time in years! Here are the faaaabulous results!

Wing's Painting (video)




Mark's Painting:

This is the first time I have actually sat down, or stood, to paint since seventh grade. I love art, but art has never loved me. I always get frustrated and pissed off that I fucked up my painting. But last night, I just tried to forget all that and start fresh. We used fast drying oil paints so it was easy to cover up our mistakes. Yay! I painted this jelly fish character because I have had a love affair with cute little painted characters for the past several years, probably a spawn from my love of HK (hello kitty). - Mark