Extremes

Hey Everyone,

You'd think that coming from Winnipeg, a city which has a range of temperature from -45 degrees to plus 30 degrees, would give me some sort of climatization advantage, right? WRONG. Lately the weather here has been around 30 something degrees, and sunny. Perfect summer weather, right? WRONG AGAIN. After being here a week, it isn't the heat that has been bothering me but the humidity. Who else has experienced 75-86% humidity? It's ridiculous! Regardless of how hot or humid it is outside, I find myself lugging around a sweater in my purse. Why you might ask? Because the moment you find yourself walking into an air conditioned building, whether it be a restaurant, a shopping centre or even the side shops opened to the outside, the air condition is blaring. One has to wonder sometimes why shops even bother opening their store fronts if their air-conditioning is being used to cool the outside of their store too, not that I mind when does get that hot, which it will.

The other day, I went to Ladies Street market. It was extremely hot and extremely humid. I found myself ducking into the side shops because of their air conditioning, and the shopping of course. I was there for a couple of hours. I went with Aunt P, and we stopped in a few restaurants as well, to take a break and rehydrate with "cool tea". After sweltering in the heat we went to Central, and visited the main library, similar to the Millennium, in that it is the largest.

Unlike the Millennium though, this library had 12 stories, each one designated to a different section, each containing a media area on that floor. Apparently, when it becomes hotter in July and August, it is very common to see more people enjoying the A/C and taking a nap.

Afterwards, we headed over to Aunt P's place for dinner. I was looking forward to eating seafood linguine, but sadly I couldn't stomach anything. The constant change of temperatures really did a number on me. I had the biggest headache I'd had in a while. It was worser than the migraines you get from hunching over your drafting board due to sore muscles. I wouldn't like to say I'm a wimp when it comes to pain, but wow. I'm not sure whether it was because I did not drink enough fluids during the day, the heat and humidity, the stress of adjusting, or all the above but I was nauseous. I couldn't even drink the ginger tea offered to me to settle my stomach, and I love ginger tea! I'm especially thankful to Cousin N for taking me home afterwards. Taking the bus back would not have been fun.

After a good night of rest, Tylenol and lots of water, I'm much better! So no need to worry! I've learned my lesson: bring water, drink lots of fluids and don't stay outside during the hottest hours of the day.

Noodles Lah!

Hey Everyone,

So Aunt P and I went for dinner near Admirally, which is a major business district. On the weekends a lot of the restaurant owners lower their prices to attract locals back into the area. I've heard dim sum can be half off sometimes, and I'm really excited about it.

We decided to try a new restaurant that had just opened a week ago, it was called...

                                                                                                    ....cute no?

There weren't that many people there when we ate, but I guess that was the result of us eating earlier, around 6, and the restaurant having been just opened. The restaurant was several stories up and provided a bird's eye view of the street activity happening below. Even though there was only a trickle of people walking in to eat the service was wonderful, and everyone was busy doing something. The girl who served us was friendly, and very cheerful. She made great food suggestions, and had a great sense of humour. It's nice to see someone who looks like they're enjoying their job.

The waitress suggested that we try the Curry Laska, which featured coconut cream, spices, an assortment of veggies, dried tofu, and a choice of sautéed beef with home-made egg noodles or seafood with egg noodles. I chose the sautéed beef option and WOW, I was very happy with it. I'm a big fan of curry, I love it, but in combination with their home-made egg noodles and coming out steaming hot?... Yum! If you're in HK I would suggest you try it. Until next time!

Walking the Avenue of Stars

Hey Everyone,

This past Sunday, my Aunt P took me to the historic district of Wan Chai. Here, proudly displayed was the sculpture of the Golden Bauhinia, a gold clad flower blossom. The statue symbolizes the unification of Hong Kong and Mainland China. There were so many tourists trying to take a picture of themselves and the statue that it was almost impossible to take a clean shot of it. Along the side of the statue were many photographer booths that offered a picture in front of the statue and the picture would be printed on site, for 20HK$... yea right! I can buy a coffee with that!

We later took a Ferry to East Tsim Sha Tsui, and walked the Avenue of Stars. The Avenue of Stars was influenced by Hollywood's Walk of Fame and celebrates stars both alive and deceased. Among the plaques embedded into the side walk are hand imprints, of Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Jet Li, and Chow Yun-fat. I managed to take a picture of Jackie Chan's plaque... There were so many people walking the avenue that it was difficult to take pictures of all of them. 

The reason why there were so many people out was because there had been dragon boat racing earlier in the day that we had missed. It was a shame, but considering the amount of people that stuck around afterwards, I wonder if there would have been room on the pier to enjoy watching it. Oh well! Next year right? As we walked around, there were a few local bands playing, as well as a high school band playing for passer bys. The atmosphere was festive and I'm glad we made it out.

Bus Misadventure

Hey Everyone,

The day before last, I was invited to my cousin's kids' birthday party in Kowloon. I was excited to go as it would be my second time meeting their eldest son, and the first time meeting their youngest.

Figuring that I would take a bus to the train station, and then the train to Elements Mall, I wasn't too worried about getting lost along the way. I mean who gets lost with cell phone? Anyway, I hadn't quite figured out the schedule for the buses, but I at least knew the bus number and the direction to take. While waiting, of course I had to ask if the bus I intended to take was going to bring me to Central Station. Yes, it was, except that I had missed it two minutes before. I wasn't at all fazed, there would be another one along the way. As I was waiting, an elderly man who had overheard my conversation asked me where I was headed. I told him that I wanted to get to Elements Mall. He kindly explained that I could take the bus that he was taking, the 970, and that would take me right to the mall, perfect right? Well, I'm a little stickler for plans, but why not if I didn't have to transfer. Well, I made it one piece, thank you little old man, you saved me a transfer!

Birthday cupcakes made by my talented cousin.

Okay, so I'm not going to give you a play by play of what happened while I was there, but I can say that it included: bikes, remote cars, badminton, basketball, lots of food, presents, cake and cupcakes. Fun right?

After all the fun and games, I was invited to go for dinner with my cousin and the kids' families, in Sham Tseng which is famous for their BBQ goose. It was delicious, and entertaining at the same time. Children do and say the most amusing things.

View going to the bathroom which was tiny (3ftx2.5ft tops!)
The hallway was definitely a squeeze if there were people waiting
for the bathroom and walking by with dishes.

By the time we finished dinner, it was already past 9pm. I was invited to stay the night. And may I say, thank goodness...because I probably wouldn't have made it home

                 .... okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, I wouldn't have made it back until very late.

When I left the next morning, I thought, "Hey, I can take the same bus back, and it'll stop right by my place!" which would have been true, had I taken the right bus. Instead, I took the 971, goodness!!! ONE digit off!!! And where did this bus take me? Nowhere near where I was staying! I managed to make it all the way to Aberdeen bus station. Oh! I also forgot to mention, my phone died, and I couldn't figure out where in the world I was. By the time I figured out how to get back home I'm sure it had taken me close to two hours to get back when it should have only taken me 15 minutes. Oh well, now I know! Never again... I hope!

Note: Bring charger now that the iphone 5 has a different plug <groan>

Marble Pop

Hey Everyone,

A few days ago, I went looking for dinner on Water Street, in Wai San, and I stumbled across this cute little sushi restaurant, My Sushi. It was very tiny, but the service was great. The waitress invited me in, and because I had gone as a single, she placed me across another person who was eating alone as well. This was quite new to me. I had seen it done before, but had never really experienced it. Let's just say that a phone comes in very handy when you don't want to make eye contact.

 Instead of menus being handed out, there were pictures and prices plastered all over the wall. They were all written in Chinese. For those of you who don't know, I don't read Chinese! What ended up happening was I spoke in Cantonese (probably rich in an English accent) and asked "You know the picture priced at 60HK$? What is that?.... I'll have that!" It was quite delicious. What do you think?

Now, other than good food, what I really wanted to share with you was what happened when I was waiting for my food to be brought out. Sitting next to me, maybe three feet away was a small family. The little boy had just finished his pop, and was asking his dad to open it. Why? Because the pop had a marble inside! I am not kidding you. I knew right then that I just HAD to have one. Why should I deny my inner child? Anyway, when the pop arrived I had no idea how to open it. Again, the instructions were in Chinese, but what person couldn't open a bottle of pop anyway? 

So I went for it. The next thing you know, I've pushed the marble into the bottle, and SPLASH! Pop EVERYWHERE! Of course the waitress was waiting for it to happen, she handed me a stack of tissues. Oops! Once I finished, I attempted to get the marble out by twisting the blue cap, which is what you're supposed to do, but it did not budge. The waitress tried helping me, and still it wasn't moving. Probably seeing how badly I wanted the marble, she went to the sushi chef and they tried to open it. Even though they placed it on the concrete floor and brought a hammer to it, nothing! The next thing I know is that they brought the bottle to the back lane, CRASH, and then came back with the marble. SUCCESS!!! I was later told by my cousin that if I wasn't a foreigner they probably wouldn't have cared and left me to my own devices. Oh well! if I don't come off as a native then why not take advantage of it.

Hello Everyone,

My name is Michelle, and welcome to The Little Things. As Robert Brault once said, "Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you'll look back and realize they were big things." For those of you who don't know me personally, I was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the "cultural cradle" of Canada. Winnipeg is the Slurpee capital, and is also the home of Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet, The Jets, The Blue Bombers, and host to many festivals and art related organizations: The Fringe Festival, Jazz Fest, Winnipeg's Film Fest, Rainbow Stage, Winnipeg Arts Gallery, RAW etc.

Recently, I've made a major transition in my life and have decided to move to Hong Kong, China. I intend to continue my studies at HKU for my Masters in Architecture, and hope to share with you, the people at home and whoever may be interested, the challenges, excitement, and discoveries I make along the way. I hope you enjoy the journey, and I'll be looking forward to posting.

I can not guarantee that I'll post a lot or often, but I will do my best. Feel free to comment and say hi.