Archive for the 'Travelling Pants' Category

City girl

Published at March 23, 2010 in Faces 'n Places, Shopping and Travelling Pants. 1 Comment

So it’s been a bit two weeks since I moved downtown (temporarily) to live at my classmate’s place in Kensington Market. Her two housemates left early March for a two-month placement, and since she didn’t want to live alone, she invited me to stay with her (FOR FREE!!)

It has been an absolutely AWESOME experience. Not only is my commute cut down from 1.5 hours of subwaying (with 3 transfers) to 15 minutes of walking, but I get to experience Kensington Market and all its fun-ness. Last week the weather was absolutely gorgeous and KM was hustling and bustling with people on the streets. I love how you buy your meat, your (FRESH BAKED) bread, your seafood in different little shops. Also, there are lots of cool places to eat for decent prices! And Chinatown is just around the corner, so veggies and everything is just so cheap! Anyways, it’s too bad I can’t actually afford to live downtown. I’m gonna try and maximize on the experience of being a real city girl while I can.

Anyways, here are some pics to let you in my walk to school!

HK Day 7 & 8

Published at May 7, 2009 in Travelling Pants. 0 Comments

I really should upload my pics on flickr…but have been too busy/lazy/tired.  You’ll just have to be patient:) 

Yesterday was day 7 of HK/China trip.  I woke up early to get to Cheung Sai Wan Government Building to register for my HK citizenship card.  It was a short line-up because I went pretty early.  Afterwards, I met up with my aunt (goo ma), yi po (grandma’s sister) and cousin for dim sum lunch.  It was pretty good I guess…  My yi po is a really special gal.  Although she’s 74, she looks like she could be 50 sumthing.  She is the only female in her family to have gone to University…she studied and taught English for a number of years.  Yi po told me that she really respects my dad because he was (and still is) a fighter.  Although he came from a humble family, my dad worked really hard and endured a lot of hardships so he could go to school and university.  My dad is the only one in his family to have gone to University and he even has a Master’s degree.  That’s pretty awesome stuff. 

After lunch, the 4 of us walked around Garden street and I bought quite a bit of stuff.  2 pairs of shoes – one pair of boots for 50$ hk and a girly pair of shoes for 130$ hk.  Not too bad.  Garden street shopping is SO MUCH better than Mong Kok’s lue yun gai (Women’s street?)  I thought my 50$ hk sunglasses from Mong Kok were a good deal until I saw similar ones at Garden street for 20$ HK!!! 

For dinner, I met up with R and we went to a local Schezhuan place after walking around Langham place (a HUGE mall).  Dinner was pretty good…35$ for a huge bowl of rice noodle with chicken and veggies.  5$ for hot lemon tea.  We walked around a bit more after dinner and then I headed up.  I slept around 12am last night – the earliest in all the time I’ve been here. 

Today (HK Day 8), I met up with Uncle #1 (My mom’s oldest brother) and we went to have some morning dim sum.  Afterwards, we went to the market where there is fresh produce and poultry.  I’ve never seen live chickens for sale.  Interesting:)  Right now, I’m at my uncle’s flat and we’re about to have lunch. 

Tonight, I’ll be meeting up with all my cousins on my dad’s side.  I’m so excited!  All the young ppl (meaning the children of my dad’s sisters).  We’ll be going to a karoke dinner place and LKF (western bar district) afterwards. 

Tomorrow, I have to get to Kowlong Station by 5:30am to catch a bus to Shenzhen.  My friends (BDHHV & I) are flying from Shenzhen to Kunming where we’ll spend the next 2 days.  I will also be visiting Lijiang, Xian and Beijing before coming back to HK on May 20th and leaving for Tdot on the 23rd.  It’s a rushed trip I know.  Everything moves at such a fast pace in HK (I’m sure it’s the same in China). 

Anyways, that’s all for now:)

HK Day 4, 5, 6

Published at May 6, 2009 in Travelling Pants. 0 Comments

Sooooooooooooo….I’ve been too tired to update my blog for the past couple of days. A lot has happened and I’m not sure if i’ll remember it all, but I’ll do my best:)

Monday May 4 – Day 4

On Monday I met up with Arthur and he brought me to the China Resources Office near Wan Chai to get ｍy visa for China.  Afterwards we took a tram to (I *think*) Central Station area where we did a bit of shopping and then had lunch at “Lan Fong Yuen” -ａfamous local spot known for their lai cha (milk tea) and lo ding.  It was really gooooooooood:)  Lo ding is basically instant noodle without the soup (instead, there’s a green onion, ginger, oil sauce) with roasted chicken and some veggies.  The lai cha is a special lai cha called “si mut (pantyhose) lai cha” – where I think they strain the tea leaves with pantyhose (hopefully not used ones…=/)  It was creamy and delicious:) 

After lunch we went to a mall to buy a small carry-on luggage for my trip to China.  Then, Art and I ferried across to Tsim Sha Tsui where we walked a bit along the harbour and went to the Starbucks inside Harbour City Mall.  I was pretty exhausted at this point, so we just sat a bit and then went shopping again.  I bought some stuff on the street and some girly stuff at Sa Sa (a make-up boutique).  My cousin lives near Jordan station, so I walked over to her flat and hung out with her a bit.  Afterwards, we went over to my Goo ma’s (aunt’s) place and had dinner together.   In the evening, my cousin and I went back to her flat and I spent the night at her place. 

Tuesday May 5 – Day 5

So originally my appointment for the HK Smart ID card was on this day, but because I’m an idiot, I applied for my visa the day before so I didn’t have my passport.  Thus, I had to miss my appointment.  Yes, I should’ve gotten my visa in Toronto, but I didn’t have time in between exams, interviews and getting ready for the trip.  However, I had to meet up with an auntie to give her something (a church friend asked me to bring something to an auntie in HK). 

In the afternoon, I met up with CDSV along with my cousin and her friend to go to Lan Tao Island (sp?).  The cable car ride was pretty fun…the view is really nice and it was just a beautiful day – 24 degrees with a nice breeze.  The main thing about Lan Tao Island is seeing the Big Buddha…which I didn’t care too much about but I know it’s pretty famous.  After coming down from seeing the Big Buddha, we had tofu dessert and then headed back to Tung Chung.  We did some shopping at the Outlet mall…There were some pretty good deals on brand names.  S and I hung out afterwards and tried on random dresses we knew we wouldn’t buy.  :)

Dinner was at Mickey D’s for me (I’ve always wanted breakfast at McD’s for dinner, and so this was my chance).  After that, CSV and I walked around Mong Kok for more shopping.  I bought an alarm clock and a pair of sunglasses (which I bargained down from 99$ to 50$).  I had a headache yesterday so I headed home early.

Thursday May 6 – Day 6

Today I went back to Wan Chai to pick up my visa..afterwards I mtr-ed back to Tsuen Wan to meet my two uncles and my grandma for dim sum.  “Big” uncle (Dai kou kou) who I haven’t seen in 21 years, Uncle #2 (yee kou kou) I haven’t seen in over 10 years…So it was pretty neat.  They were warning me about things to be aware of in China (ie: don’t eat raw food in China, keep an eye on your belongings at all times…) I know they mean well, and I appreciate that they care…so I just nod in agreement.

Tonight I’m having dinner at my aunt (yi yi), uncle (yi cheung), and grandma (po po).  I was be staying the night.  Tomorrow I will head over Cheung Sai Wan to register for my Smart ID (citizenship card).

HK Day 2

Published at May 2, 2009 in Travelling Pants. 0 Comments

Ley ho ma?  I always thought my cantonese is above average-CBC (considering I immigrated when I was 11 months and have never been back to HK since).  But my goo ma has been making fun of the way I speak.  Grrrrrrrr….Let’s see HER try to carry a convo with me in English. I’d pwn her so bad.

Today I went with my biu goh to try and get my visa for China…We took instant pics and then went to the travel agency.  Unfortunately, everyone (my biu goh, aunt, dad, and mom) had thought I wanted to apply for my  “wui heung jing” – a card that enables HK citizens to go into China at whatever time they want… when really, all I wanted was to “chim jing” – a one-time visa.  Gosh that was so frustrating.  And sort of embarassing too… Yeah, so apparently I have to apply at the Immigration centre on Monday (it’s not open on weekends).  I hope that with the Swine flu I can still get my Visa approved in time.

So after that, I went to my grandma’s and uncle’s place in Tsuen Wan…it’s a short bus ride from where I’m staying at goo ma’s.   We had lunch at a nearby restaurant…had some really good shrimp (YES I ATE SHRIMP!!  And I enjoyed it:P)..it was fried in salted egg yolk – so unhealthy and yummy.  We also had scallops, chicken and a veggie dish with rice vermicelli.  The afternoon was spent pretty much at grandma and uncle’s flat…We had dinner in the food court of a mall in Tsuen Wan (I forget the exact name).

Being with Grandma makes me think about aging and what things will be like when my own parents get older.  In Chinese culture, it is the children’s responsibility to take care of their parents when they get old…sometimes this can be a real burden, I imagine.  I think that North American culture stresses independence over family closeness/interdependence.  Being stuck in the middle (a Chinese who grew up in Canada), I struggle with this issue a lot at home.  I want to be a good daughter but a part of me just wants to be independent and look after my own needs.  I know, I’m pretty darn selfish.

Tomorrow I’ll be going to Island ECC, and then Mong Kok for SHOPPPPPPPING!!!  How exciting.