You know you've been in China too long when..

I ran across this and thought it was pretty funny, and true!

It'll give you some idea of the more subtle characteristics of the culture here.

My comments are in parenthesis. Enjoy!

You know you've been in China too long when..

1. You're at an expensive western restaurant and don't even notice the guy at the next table yelling into his cell phone.
2. When someone says 'snack', you think: salted cuttlefish.
3. You only drink beer from one liter bottles.
4. You enjoy wearing flip flops on all occasions.
5. You get your haircut on the sidewalk.
6. You leave the 'Garbano' designer label conspicuously on the jacket sleeve. (Knock offs are everywhere - the real brand would be Gabbana)
7. You walk backwards in the park listening to a transistor radio.
8. You have grown used to the picture quality of pirated DVDs.
9. Badminton and ping pong are your main forms of exercise.
10. You find yourself "getting back to nature" in a park that contains nothing but concrete and a giant revolutionary statue.
11. You smoke in crowded elevators and malls.
12. All westerners look the same to you.
13. You like the smell of the bus.
14. People with bright white teeth look frightening to you.
15. You no longer need tissues to blow your nose.
16. Other foreigners seem foreign to you.
17. You find yourself exiting a major highway...on your bike.
18. You find western toilets uncomfortable.
19. You throw your used toilet paper in the basket (as a courtesy to the next person).
20. You think that the heavy humid air actually contains valuable nutrients that you need to stay healthy.
21. Any discomfort causes you to think there might be something wrong with your 'Qi'.
22. Your body no longer accepts dairy products.
23. You draw characters on your hand to make yourself understood.
24. You ask people in what animal year they were born.
25. You measure distances in 'Li'.
26. You think you speak Chinese fluently.
27. Squatting becomes your favorite rest position, anytime, anywhere.
28. You think a 30 year old woman who carries a Hello Kitty lunch box is cute.
29. You can't put a proper sentence together in your native language.
30. Your building's security guard is 4 times older than the building itself.
31. You think it's normal to have a police officer on every street corner, sitting on a stool, engrossed with their smartphone.
32. It's OK to throw rubbish, including old fridges, from your 18th-floor window.
33. You believe that pressing the lift button 63 times will make it move faster.
34. You know it is useless to protest when the lady at the supermarket check-out wraps one toothbrush in 6 plastic bags.
35. You aren't aware that one is supposed to pay for software.
36. Pink bathroom tiles can make any building or public garden beautiful.
37. Your colleagues eat sun-dried cuttlefish coated in sugar and you don't bat an eyelid.
38. A PhD in Nuclear Physics fluent in 7 languages irons your socks for a pittance but she is from the Philippines so it's all right.
39. You are not surprised to see your tap water run dark brown.
40. You tell your parents their house back in your home country has bad feng shui.
41. You are not surprised to see 85-year old ladies pushing tons of garbage up the streets of the financial district.
42. You use the word "Ayyiieeaaahh" every few sentences to convey surprise, pleasure, pain or anger.
43. You believe you are really tall when you are only 5'8".
44. You believe that the cure for all ailments is to drink more water.
45. You think that a $7 shirt is a rip-off.
46. You read shanghaiexpat.com and understand what people are talking about.
47. Your work buddy taps you on the shoulder to talk to you, and you say "Bu Yao" (no thank you!) out of habit.
48. You offer to sell your own watch to a $2 Rolex street vendor, to fend him off.
49. You think you should wear nylon sox with your Nikes, stilettos or sandals in the summer, instead of cotton ones.
50. You always leave your tray and trash on the table when you are in Starbucks and Maccas because you insist that is the way to keep everyone employed
51. You're a hardworking person, voluntarily doing over time everyday, because you only chatted with your friends on QQ during office hours. (QQ is like gtalk)
52. You buy an XXXL T-shirt when you returned home.
53. You take large sum of cash whenever you go to the hospital in your home country (because you have to pay in cash before getting treated.)
54. You are no longer flinching every few seconds in a Taxi ride.
55. You chew on "Ducks blood" like a fatty piece of beef.
56. You have no reservations about spitting sun flower seeds on a restaurant floor.
57. You start reaching for a piece of fish with your chop sticks and don't even notice the fish looking back at you.
58. Walking across the street, against the light, and in and out of traffic is a piece of cake.
59. Your brand new bicycle only cost you $20.
60. Your washing machine looks like it was made by Matell.
61. You get your ears cleaned in a public square by a guy with a two foot long Q-Tip.
62. You try to haggle over the rental price of a $110 a month apartment.
63. You accept the fact that the bathroom sink "doesn't work" and just use the kitchen sink instead.
64. You think it's silly to buy a new bike when it'll get stolen soon and stolen bikes are half the price.
65. You relish the thought of Pizza Hut, but only go on special occasions.
66. You get up early for a backwards walk and thrust your hand at a 45 degree angle into the sky over and over for balanced exercise. (My favorite is the folks in the morning that slap their hands on the trees seemingly hard.)
67. When refusing someone something they expected or counted on you just say "Sorry" (buhaoyise) with no explanation whatsoever.
68. When asked your reasons you just repeat "Sorry" (buhaoyisi).
69. You don't ask your 30 year old girlfriend if she wants to stay over cause you know her mom won't let her stay out past 2.
70. Ice cubes in beer actually make it cooler and more refreshing
71. You feel cheated if you don't receive a full head and shoulder massage when getting a haircut
72. You eat three regular meals a day: lunch, dinner and night snacks
73. When you go to the toilet you start bringing your own toilet paper
74. You can pick up any type of food using just your chopsticks... even peanuts. (I can!)
75. You blow your nose or spit on the restaurant floor, of course, after making a loud hocking noise.
76. The footprints on the toilet seat are your own.
77. You no longer wait in line, but go immediately to the head of the queue.
78. You stop at the top or bottom of an escalator to plan your day.
79. It becomes exciting to see if you can get on the lift or train before anyone can get off.
80. You no longer wonder how someone who earns US$ 400.00 per month can drive a Mercedes.
81. You can shake your hands almost perfectly dry before wiping them on your trousers, or you have your suits made with terrycloth pockets.
82. You regard traffic signals and stop signs as mere suggestions.
83. You have developed an uncontrollable urge to follow people carrying small flags.
84. You regard it as part of the adventure when the waiter correctly repeats your order and the cook makes something completely different.
85. You are not surprised when three men with a ladder show up to change a light bulb and then charge you 10 yuan. ($1.35USD)
86. You look over people's shoulder to see what they are reading.
87. You throw your trash out the window of your house, your car or the bus you are on.
88. You would rather SMS someone than actually meet to talk 'face to face'.
89. You wear nylons when it is 30 degrees outside. (86 degrees F)
90. You honk your horn at people because they are in your way as you drive down the sidewalk
91. You regularly fumble for five minutes to find 10 jiao (about a penny USD) despite 10 people waiting in line behind you.
92. You ride around on your bicycle ringing a bell.
93. When shopping at the grocery store some laowai stares you down for catching you looking into his basket while you wonder to yourself what laowai's eat. (Laowai means foreigner, and I commonly have people physically get in my way while they are staring at what I'm buying. I'm just that fascinating, apparently.)
94. You have figured out that it is actually the Taiwanese who are running this country.
95. You start to describe delusional thoughts and fantasies as "healthy passions."
96. You get your first case of bronchitus and you have never smoked a cigarette in your life. (because smoke is everywhere, it's nasty.)
97. You have a pinky fingernail an inch long
98. You haven't cut you finger nails in 8 weeks.
99. You forget that the other person needs to finish speaking before you can start.
100. You burp in any situation and don't care.
101. You see one foreign person eating Pineapple (or whatever) and say "Yes, all foreign people like Pineapple"
102. You think Pizza Hut is high-class and worth queueing for. (There are always huge waits for Pizza Hut!)
103. In the rain, you spot a vacant taxi which is 10 minutes away and you have already planned how you are going to jump out with great enthusiasm in the road, elbow everyone else trying to claim it, and wave your hands everywhere in a 'look at me, I'm a goal keeper' kind of fashion.
104. You have learned how to detect someone is in a hurry behind you, and now have the ability to not only walk very slowly but also grow eyes in the back of your head, so when they start to overtake on the right hand side, you automatically move right.
105. You watch taxi drivers picking their noses whilst stuck in traffic. Instead of feeling disgusted, you actually admire along with them, the length and breadth of the boogie.
106. You see people outside wearing shower caps in the rain, and instead of thinking what a freak, you actually understand the practicality behind it. The same with clipping pegs on your trousers when riding a bike
107. Your eating manners in restaurants are now totally shot. Elbows on tables and spitting food out onto your plate is now seen as being dead classy.
108. When you turn the volume on the television in the restaurant up so high that you cannot hear what the person across the table from you is saying.
109. When you insist on paying the bill and fumble with your purse or wallet so long that the other person pays anyway.
110. When you sit in the restaurant with your finger up your nose to your elbow and stare at the laowai (foreigner). Then you pull it out, inspect it, roll it into a ball and casually flick it onto the wall or the closest person's plate.
111. When you are able to jump the queue because the idiot laowai (foreigner) left 2 centimeters between themself and the person in front of them. 
112. When you wear nylon knee highs with your best dress so everybody can see the tops of the knee highs.
113. Before asking someone's age, you ask what animal they are.
114. You start picking at other people's dinner plates before they even offer you a taste.
115. You don't have to speak to taxi drivers. Every cab in town has taken you home at least once, so they all know where you live. (True for Dylan's cab ride for work.)
116. It seems entirely sensible to take a cab across town for 12 yuan ($2 USD) in each direction to buy something that costs 4 yuan, that they sell right outside your house anyway.
117. You have absolutely no sense of traffic rules.
118. You invite friends over for dinner, and serve thousand year old eggs as an appetizer.
119. You no longer need tissues to blow your nose.
120. You start calling other foreigners Lao Wai. (foreigner)
121. You think singing Karaoke on Friday nights is fun.
122. Other foreigners seem foreign to you.
123. You ask how much people are making and expect people to answer.
124. You talk louder than is necessary.
125. You are the last of your first group of friends still in China.
126. You prefer using chopsticks.
127. Chinese fashion starts looking hip.
128. You start cutting off large vehicles on your bicycle.
129. The last time you visited your mother, you gave her your business card.
130. You go back home for a short visit, get in a car and start giving the driver directions in Chinese.
131. You have to pause and translate your phone number into English before telling it to someone.
132. Your idea of a larger home is an extra 10 square meters.
133. You get used to having a before dinner, during dinner, and after dinner cigarette.
134. You think no car is complete without a tissue box on the rear shelf and a feather duster in the trunk.
135. You go to the local shop in pajamas.
136. You wouldn't think of buying any appliance that doesn't come in lime green.
137. You see some real cleavage and think WOW!
138. You ask fellow foreigners the all-important question "How long have you been here?" in order to be able to properly categorize them.
139. You buy the local newspaper because you forget that you can't read Chinese.
140. You seriously contemplate putting bathroom tiles on the outside of your house back home.
141. Pollution, what pollution?
142. You think squat toilets are more sensible.
143. You notice you've forgotten how to tie shoelaces.
144. You start wearing long thermal underwear on October 1st no matter what the temperature is.
145. You stop wearing long thermal underwear on May 1st no matter what the temperature is.
146. You phone an English-speaking friend and somehow can't bring yourself to get to the point for the first 3 minutes of the conversation.
147. You stop enjoying telling newcomers to China "all about China".
148. You have run out of snappy comebacks to compliments about your chopstick skills.
149. You think "white pills, blue pills, and pink powder" is an adequate answer to the question "What are you giving me, doctor?"
150. Someone doesn't stare at you and you wonder why.
151. 70 degrees F. feels cold.
152. You see three people on a motorcycle and figure there's room for two more.
153. There are more things strapped to your bicycle than you would ever put in your car.
154. Firecrackers don't wake you up.
155. Your family stops asking when you'll be coming back.
156. You wear out your vehicle's horn before its brakes.
157. Smoking is one of the dinner courses.
158. You (female) wear socks over your pantyhose in summer.
159. None of your shoes have laces.
160. You leave the plastic wrap on all new purchases.
161. Forks feel funny.
162. Chinese remakes of Western songs sound better than the originals.
163. You realize that smiling and nodding is Chinese body language for, "Go away; leave me alone."
164. Metal scaffolding at construction sites seems much more dangerous than bamboo scaffolding.
165. The Lunar Calendar ALWAYS takes precedence.
166. You salt your fruit.
167. Household furnishings are arranged for optimal fengshui.
168. You stop calling the Guinness Book of Records people each time you kill a cockroach.
169. You don't recognize a bowl of chicken soup unless there are feet and a head in it.
170. You don't bother to take the sticker off the lenses of your fake Ray-Bans.
171. In the summer, you roll the legs of your pants up to your knees whenever you sit down.
172. You (men) roll your shirt up to your nipples.
173. You only wear a suit when you dig ditches or do home repairs.
174. You have a purse and you are male. (Totally true, so funny)
175. Your handshake is weakening by the day.
176. You would never think of entering your house without first removing your shoes.
177. Drilling on the walls of your apartment in the wee small hours of the morning is
178. considered acceptable behavior.
179. Your collection of business cards has outgrown your flat.
180. You speak enough Chinese to make your colleagues laugh their heads off (attempts with anyone else still only draw blank stares).
181. You and a friend get on a bus, sit at opposite ends of the bus, and continue your conversation by yelling from one end to the other.
182. You cannot say a number without making the appropriate hand sign.
183. You start enjoying the taste of the "meat flavour beancurd" lays potato chips.
184. You think your nose IS kind of big.
185. You can expertly maneuver your bike through any traffic situation.
186. Grown men and women often say hello to you, and when you reply they run away giggling. (Yes, true!)
187. You see nothing wrong with standing on a white stripe in the middle of a highway while cars whiz past you at 90kph.
188. You don't blink an eye when a complete stranger wants to take a photo of you with his family.
189. You use Kleenex for table napkins.
190. When a trim at the barber involves two washes, a scalp massage, a neck and shoulder massage, and a crowd of onlookers.
191. You start wearing a face mask on windy days and wonder at the "silly foreigners" who don't do the same.
192. You can't find face lotion or cleanser that does not bleach your skin white.... (Yes, true!)
193. You can open and hull sunflower seeds with your tongue.
194. You're looking forward to blending in with the crowd.
195. You point out foreigners to your Chinese friends even though you're foreign yourself.
196. You convince yourself that it doesn't matter how dirty the cook's hands are, cooking will fix it.
197. You hold hands with others of the same sex and think nothing of it.
198. You think smoking does less harm to your lungs than breathing.
199. You tell people you don't understand, so they write it for you - in Chinese. (Yes, this happens!)
200. Groups of people find it fascinating to watch you buy an orange at a fruit market. Commentary is provided in case some people don't know exactly what's going on.
201. A hike up a mountain calls for a plastic grocery bag full of junk food.
202. You start thinking instant coffee tastes pretty good.
203. Evaluating the contents of your shopping cart is the past-time of all the other shoppers in the store.
204. You can use "face" as a weapon. (Chinese value their honor greatly!)
205. You walk with your arms clasped behind your back routinely.
206. You think puking in public is acceptable and normal behavior. (I see this a lot)

Labor Day, A New Playground

The start of this week was Labor Day here in China. So Maddie had a special preschool day on Saturday, and then no school Sunday through Tuesday. I don't send her to weekend preschool unless she says she wants to go. This time she decided to go. She didn't want to miss the fashion show, I guess. What is extra funny/cute is that sometimes she'll start walking like they showed her in school for the fashion show. Hands on hips, shoulders back, belly forward, chin up. It's ridiculously cute and makes me giggle. I wish I could get a picture.

Have I mentioned how when there are holidays here that land during the weekdays, they just reschedule work/school during the weekend to make up for the days off of work? It feels like a holiday, but is it actually? I'm used to always having the weekends off, unless there is some emergency work situation, so I think I prefer the way we do it in the US. The last two days of a 7 day work week would really drag for me. Though, I suppose I would just love those holiday days even more after a 7 day work week.

Fundoland ("The Maze")

There's a company here called Fundoland and they seem to have play areas and arcades set up in most of the malls. They're quite impressive play grounds, but the equipment is all the same no matter which play area (mall) you go to. Each location might be rearranged a bit, but it's all the same. It's pretty clear that Maddie's getting a little bored with it all.

Recently I took the time to explore a new mall. I've been here many times on my way to the Indian Grocer because the metro lets out here. And last week I came here and actually walked the 7 stories of huge mallness that it is. It's easily miles of mall. I was quite pleased to find a new play ground for Maddie. This one was a different company and had very different equipment. It was pretty cool.

E-Kids Island, The "New" Playground
 Love the bouncing rooms with balloons

Maddie played there on Monday and then she was persistent about wanting to come back there again on Tuesday. So, we came back and she played again for hours, only to stop a couple times for food and bathroom breaks. Towards the end of her day playing she made friends with an older girl and they seemed to have a blast together. 

I sometimes wonder what we've done to her by moving here. I remember some occasions just before we moved when I watched Maddie make friends with a new kid on the playground and play with them. They were using words and negotiating. I was so impressed to watch the "parallel play" start to turn into playing together. Then we moved here, took away her ability to communicate with other kids, and brought her to a place where she sticks out and either gets favored or targeted for it. 

A couple weeks ago we were at a playground and these two older (5+) kids decided to target Maddie. They were pushing her, grabbing her, and just plain messing with her even as she was trying to get away. I got involved after she stopped trying to flee and started to hit and punch one of the kids. I try to give Maddie enough space to work things out on her own, because I really believe that kids will work out most situations themselves, given a chance. 

On the other side of this is just how common it is for people to tell us our daughter is beautiful (daily) and to give her candy and toys. Sometimes they even take toys away from their own kids and give them to Maddie. It's pretty weird and I've had situations where I've made it clear not to give her anymore candy and they'll give her more and more.

Thunder and Lightening and Memories

Pacaya Volcano

The other night there was a fantastic thunder and lightening storm. And this evening there was another one. I love these storms and got to stand on our 11th floor balcony and watch the neighbor buildings get struck by lightening again. It was so loud and bright. It's such a magnificent demonstration of what nature is capable of. And the rain was warm. It reminded me of one specific storm on one of my adventures abroad.

I was sitting near a central courtyard in the place I was staying because the power had gone out due to a crazy thunder and lightening storm. I had just arrived in Guatemala City that evening and was still a little confounded that I had made it there; my first solo trip abroad for three weeks! As soon as the storm started I came out to sit and watch it. Eventually, the power went out and the storm only became more awesome. I ended up hanging out there in the pitch dark for many hours while the storm raged on, despite being exhausted and in awe of the adventure I was embarking on.

Market at Chichicastenango

I went to Guatemala during my winter break from college in 1994. It's possible it was in 1995. It was my first trip abroad on my own. At this point I had actually been to many foreign countries for a variety of reasons (with my family, with a school trip, with a medical outreach program) but never completely on my own. I remember starting to get a little nervous as the plane touched down in the late evening. I hadn't even worked out where I was staying yet.

That storm and the more recent storms are so much alike. The temperature, the sounds, the lightening, the humidity. It just helps make these moments feel even more like an adventure abroad. And living here still is, but then again it's not so much anymore. I've been here half a year already and I have to say things have become "normal." I know the places I like, and I find something new here about as often as I did back home. It's just not that different, except for some details.

Exercise Equipment Everywhere

Did you catch that alliteration up there in the title?

You would think that people really like to exercise here using these particular simple machines considering they are all over the place. Except that I've rarely seen anybody using them. Except kids. They really love climbing all over them, or spinning on the rotating plates. I like playing with them too. But when I tried using them for some exercise I found that they didn't really fit my body that well. It felt all wrong. I suppose that's why there's all those adjustments on the equipment you find in modern gyms. 

What are these things? They're in every park and every apartment building I've seen. Always neatly tucked away in some corner. There has to be some kind of national organized exersize program that goes with these things. Required in all construction. If you know, could you please tell me? please? I'm really curious.

Thanks!

Finding Ingredients, Secret Indian Grocer

One of the first things I learned when I arrived here is how much work it takes to procure ingredients for our home cooked meals. I frequently travel 40 minutes by subway to get to the neighborhood of Shekou. This is where the majority of westerners live and there's a couple small (expensive) specialty import shops that basically sell everything you can't get in the grocery stores; even the International grocery stores. Things like ground coriander, basmati rice, avacados, orange lentils, garbanzo beans, corn tortillas, vegetarian refried beans, edamame and ricotta cheese, just to name a few. I'll admit that I'm so used to having such a wide variety of ingredients available at my local grocery store (Berkeley Bowl - I miss you!) that I assume that they should be things that I can get easily here. I'm sure in other parts of the US I might have to go to a "specialty" shop also. 

As vegetarians we eat a lot of beans. And unfortunately all of the grocery stores I frequent in our neighborhood, about 6 of them, only carry a couple types. They are black beans, a red bean (adzuki or kidney), black eyed peas and green mung beans. There are no lentils or garbanzo beans.

Kerry's gifts to me

Pretty early on I had the luck to meet a guy named Kerry. He was being relocated and posted in an expat forum for anybody interested to come take all his masalas and spices. I jumped on that opportunity and ended up getting a lot of information from him while I was there. I think he would have been a good friend if he hadn't been moving. He told me about the best Indian restaurants and about a secret Indian Grocery store. 

I say secret because it's not a store front. It's in an apartment that you have to be in the know about. Getting to that apartment was hard for a variety of reasons. First, the lower floors are commercial and you can't get through that into the apartment side. You have to figure out how to go around back, past the security guards at the gate, to find the correct entrance to get to the apartment side elevators. Second, inside the apartment building there is security and you need to know that you can walk right by them and that the doors that have the keypad locks on them aren't locked. Once you get past that there's the elevators. There are 3 elevators, but you need to know that one goes to the even floors only, one to the odd floors, and one to all the floors. I'm sure they're marked in Chinese. Then once you manage to get to the correct floor you might walk around and realize that only apartments A-H are present. Where is apartment I, the one I seek? Well, you then need to figure out that there are two towers in this apartment building and now you start all over trying to find the entrance to the other tower. If you can get through all that and find apartment I, you will be rewarded with the cheapest and largest variety of beans you have ever seen besides every other ingredient you might need to make an Indian feast. This tiny bit of information is worth such a huge amount to our culinary delights.

It was a pretty fun adventure, though I was worn out and pretty close to giving up, when I finally found it the first time. Each time I go it gets easier and easier to find. 

I went today because after looking for a month now, I haven't been able to refill my coriander spice bottle. Of course they had it.

I asked them if I could take pictures, and they understandably told me no. I really wish I could show you a picture of this place. It's so fascinating! Instead I'll leave you with a video of one of the better nearby grocery stores.

Weekend Adventures, Eaten Alive

The only open space in the park

This weekend we had two adventure filled days together. Saturday we went back to a park that we hadn't adequately explored before and Sunday we explored a part of town that I've been meaning to explore because a friend mentioned a really cool kids exhibit. 

There is a ton of construction here. Sometimes when they block off areas for the construction they make it really hard to get to certain areas. There's a coffee shop that I frequent that is surrounded by construction and thus only has one way to get to it which includes walking on the side of a highway. For one of my daily adventures, I decided I would walk the other way around the construction to get there. As a result of this I ended up having to frogger across a huge highway, 12 lanes or so. But the up side was I walked into a really beautiful park that is almost impossible to get to using normal walking routes. I brought Dylan to this recently discovered park and while we were there we found a coffee shop in the middle of the park. How random is that? The owner was quite excited to see us and really wanted us to stay there. We were on our way out for lunch at that point, so we didn't stay. But we wanted to go back. And we did.

Across the street from the park is a shopping area that I frequent. It's called Central Walk and has a really good grocery store. On the top of this mall is what looks like a highway overpass that goes into that park I've already mentioned. From looking at it from the street there's tons of plants growing up there; very green and lush. I know that mall really well and I felt fairly confident that you couldn't get to that green space from the mall even though it seemed to be partly on the roof. I was wrong. You have to go into the center of a clothing store and go up a spiral staircase to get there. Who would have figured that out?

On Saturday we went back to the park. We actually had a hard time finding the coffee shop again, mostly because the two signs in the park with the coffee cup were pointing in the wrong direction. (Ha Ha!) I had a really good drink and hung out for a bit. As a result of sitting there for maybe half an hour I walked away with 30+ bites all over my calves. Yuck! We decided to try and get to that overpass from the park and we figured out how to get there, and then went into Central Walk for lunch.

Craft fairs are the same all over the world

On Sunday we went to a neighborhood that we had never been to in search of a kids art exhibit that I had heard about. This neighborhood is filled with old warehouses; it reminds me of ABCO, the Oakland warehouse Dylan used to live in. Before we found the museum we ran into a craft fair! It's interesting that pretty much everything there is the same as you would find in the US. Custom T-shirts, lots of jewelry, leather covered notebooks, felted things, toys. 

We decided that we were hungry and so we went to lunch at a hot pot restaurant. It was such a great place! I wish we could always eat like that. Basically, the menu consists of raw vegetables, tofu, noodles and soup bases. You pick your ingredients and then cook them at your table. This is one of the first restaurants that I've been to that had their dishes plastic sealed and they gave you tea to rinse them with before use. I'd read about this before I came here, but hadn't actually seen it yet. 

After the art exhibit, which turned out to be really great (see video), Maddie and I explored OCT more. The neighborhood is so great. Lots of walking paths that are off the roads, tons of green. And the buildings are mostly shorter, except for a couple apartment buildings. I think if I had to choose right now, that is where I would want to live. Futian is nice enough, but OCT is funky and artsy.

More art exhibit. It reeked of Burning Man type stuff.

In this part the kids got circle stickers and the space was
covered, toilet included.

More art exhibit

Outside art exhibit

Hong Kong - Data, Stanley, Noodles, Rickshaw Tires

Yummie Noodles near Lai Sun Commercial Center,
Who can eat this entire bowl?

This was another exciting exploring adventure to Hong Kong. I'm so glad I went again because last time I spent most of my time visiting the main shopping areas. And while that was great fun, and the variety of sheek, swank, trendy clothes almost inspired me to lose the drab grunge style I've had my whole life, I didn't end up buying anything. I think I was just too overwhelmed with it all. I didn't buy anything this time either, but for a completely different reason (my debit card had expired days before my trip, and I didn't notice until I couldn't get money out. Oops! Thankfully I had enough to make it through the trip.)

One of the coolest things I figured out was how to get data on my phone in Hong Kong!! Just buy a CSL Power Prepaid SIM Card and activate the mobile broadband feature. Unlucky for me the instructions in the booklet, complete with menu selections, didn't work. I finally had to track down a One2Free shop and they set it up for me. He told me the printed instructions included with the card are out of date. Lame, but I had maps in Hong Kong! I'm a much more adventurous explorer when I'm confident that I can't really get lost. W00t!

Similar to the one I'm seeking a tire for

I also spent some time tracking down my friend's rickshaw replacement tire. It's a weird tire and so far neither he nor I have had any luck. I sought out the oldest bike shop in Hong Kong and talked to the owner who's easily in his late 70s. He gave me some leads, but unfortunately had never seen the tire I was seeking. Sigh. Next time I go to Hong Kong I'll follow that lead. It's actually kind of fun to have a scavenger hunt to help me end up in certain parts of the city. And I would never have been near that bike shop to find the noodle shop otherwise.

As I was walking out of the bike shop I was thinking how much I wanted just a simple bowl of noodles. And about a block later that's exactly what I found. The bowl was so big. How do people eat that much? And they're mostly smaller than me. It totally hit the spot and was cheap. Awesome!

And there's this (disturbing) phenomenon where people are using the sound of a cat screaming as their text message indicator. All over the trains and streets I kept hearing that sound. Yuck! I don't like hearing cats in pain.

Before this trip I did some research on more off the beaten path shopping places and other destinations and that's what led my path. Things like:

• where to find the best chocolate croissant (Le Salon De The De Joel Robuchon) and it was so delicious! I'm thinking it was even better than the ones I was eating frequently in Amsterdam.
• Stanley Market - where I discovered a cool beach town complete with a cheap street market and a plaza surrounded by ridiculously expensive things. Interesting and beautiful.
• Temple St Night Market - which I expect is typically much better without the rain. The stuff that was there wasn't that great IMO. But a fun adventure finding it nonetheless.
• Mandarin Bar & Grill - which is supposed to have a pretty mean eggs benedict. I had an hours long reconnaissance trying to find it. I ended up walking around the Landmark and throughout the many, many blocks of buildings all seamlessly hooked together with walkways and such. When I did finally succeed in finding it; it was closed for repairs. It should be faster next time, now that I know that area a little better.
• I went to TrendyZone and Kig Woh Centre which are malls with tons of tiny shops geared towards the Chinese teenager. They were kind of interesting, but not really my style. The people watching was the best though!

This time I stayed at the Kowloon Ramada which was sooo much better than the hostel I stayed in last time. I slept well there and it was in a cool neighborhood in which I explored a ton. I like it there. Lots of cool clothes!