Cantonese all the way 没有不可能!
One of the best parts of Hong Kong for me is the fact that I can morph several identities at once and pull them out on demand. Most of that included switching languages when I needed to; so mostly Cantonese with my family; English with my American friends, and semi-Cantonese/English with my HK friends. I spent most of the day with Felix today with occasional breaks back at home with my aunt. We went suit shopping again today and bought another two sets of really cheapo suits. I didn't really have time to get a custom-made suit with all the works...next time, I'll have to spend a lot more time out here in HK to really make good use of my shopping experience.
I met up with three old friends today! Felix: American exchange student with me at CUHK; Adith: very nice local HK student from CUHK met on tour trips; and Vincent: my roommate who we would debate in Cantonese about societical norms. It was really cool and such an amazing flash back to meet up with them again.
Adith, Felix, and I met up first to go shopping in Sha Tin, an old CUHK favorite and in fact, one of the largest indoor malls in the world. She introduced me shops that were more upscale and places I should go to for real designer suits. We had a good time catching up over shopping ideas and let me know her bf knows how to shop for suits well. I'll have to hook back up with her for suit places next time with more time to do a better search. We offered Salsa dancing tonight but I think she was a little bit nervous about it. Next time, I'll have to use a better bait. :-)
I also met up with my former roommate at CUHK, Vincent. It was really nice to meet up with him again as I haven't talked to him in about 2 years but we caught up like we never left the dorms...we discussed everything from fashion, the job market, our own jobs, relationships, traveling...in Cantonese (with English words sprinkled throughout). It was fun to have someone who knows exactly what I'm saying with me feeling comfortable discussing fun topics in CATNONESE! The timing was almost too good as he was leaving tomorrow for mainland China and I got a chance to see him on mid-Autumn's festival. He's also planning to visit Japan sometime within either late this year or early next year which I'm so excited. I love hosting guests but after I can pretend like I know the area well. So I wouldn't let him come until at least the end of the year, but it's nice to know some more people who are definitely coming!
Felix and I were pondering why we liked HK so much and also the cultural differences we notice since we somewhat straddle the fence. For us, we agree that Mullets are out and shouldn't be a part of HK fashion. The bright colors with the Japanese influence can stay because on certain people, looks really good. The polite culture (ke qi 客气)is a little bit confusing, especially when it comes to money and who's supposed to pay for what but I think we have a gameplan in place. The desserts at Hui Lau Shan is still one of the most delicious places I've been to...and when I retire, I'd like to bring it to the USA. I found out that one of my favorite desserts today doesn't have grapefruit but instead pompello. Maybe it's the same fruit but I just realized they translate it as Pompello instead of grapefruit.
Oh yum!
11 comments:
You know, there's actually Hui Lau San in the States! They have one in the NYC Chinatown!! Though it obviously doesn't compare to HK...
Omg... this is totally driving me crazy... reading about the people & places in HK... bringing me back completely...
Miss you babe!
I agree with Jessie. There's Hui Lau San in the States. There's one in San Francisco too!
All the shopping and eating makes me wanna hop onto a plane and just go. I miss HK!!
Take care of yourself.
Just stop by to say Hi!
Bring me some food from HK.
See you on Moday!!!!
I know...but for some reason, it's just not as good/delicious as the ones in HK! Supply chain? Customer service? Any MBA's out there willing to explain to me why it's just not as good?!
It's not as good in the U.S. cus we don't have sweet mangos all the times like HK. I think that's why =)
Mmm... I think in addition to supply, it's our moods... You know, just like food and things taste & feel different when we do them together vs. otherwise...
Hey Chris!
I love this new blog thing. I might have to try it out myself one day. Your emails made me miss HK and I have a feeling they will make me miss Japan too. I'm glad you found some suits while in HK. I am still wearing the ones I had made in Beijing in 2002. Luckily they still fit. I will have to have some more made next time I'm over there...don't know when that will be. Take care buddy and keep writing!
Jeff
yo yo yo
can you post your address in JP in Japanese? it would be a good language excersise for me to attempt to write it out! And I'd rather send a post-card directly to you than to some intermediary in Philadelphia. Cheers on creating the blog-I wish I have the wherewithall to do something similar!
Glad you are enjoying HK! If you decided that Mullets are out, you are going to have a fun time in Japan where it's apparently the height of hair fashion =) Thought u should be prepared. Miss ya!
So for some reason, every time I tried to read your blogs, it crashed my web server. Finally I was able to read em all. Wish I could have gotten up with you before you went off to the other side of the world. Have fun and of course buy me lots of things... :-)
Also people don't have the same tastes in the States, so Hui Lui Shan will get less customers...stuff will be less fresh and more expensive because of this.
Last time I went there in NYC Chinatown it was shut down! Oh, and on the mullets...I'm not against them...I'm quite neutral about them. In fact whenever I'm in Asia I usually get one since that's the way they cut my hair here.
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