New World, Old World - Thanks giving mish mash

Wah wah wee wah! This holiday season has been jam packed full of excitement and friends. It has left me with no lack of social gatherings, but has significantly decreased time to do anything else. Thus, I have failed at keeping you guys updated - even though I think its safe to say, you guys are fighting through your own holiday battles.

This Thanksgiving was incredibly special to me. It was the first time I've been in a complete foreign surroundings with no relative within reach.  I thought the event would make me sad and I do have to say I was a bit nostalgic for Texas, but what I had in exchange was just as heart warming, if not more. 

Our hosts for Thanksgiving were two of my good friends Stephanie (American) and Luke (British).  After all invitees arrived, the room was comprised of American, British, Scottish, Filipino, straight, gay, you name it.  It was truly an international event.  The spread was the usual American feast with mounds of potatoes, pie, and casserole that was devoured to the last crumb by all.

I enjoyed every bit of my international Thanksgiving, but the award winning moment was getting to witness how truly uncomfortable Brits are with open and honest emotion.  From what was explained to me by our host, Luke, it is incredibly uncommon for the British population to go about expressing one's emotions on any given day, in any given circumstance, to any given person - unless it's behind closed doors in a personal setting.  Instead of living all out there in the open like plenty of Americans do, their emotions towards one another are masked in heavy cloaks of sarcasm. If you're the brunt of the joke, it more than likely means you're an alright guy/girl.

Naturally, the American (and Scottish and Filipino) part of the room glided through the verbal professions of Thanksgiving quite smoothly.  We all joined hands and laughed as the British half of the room's demeanor shifted from having a pleasant time, to blatant physical discomfort.  The nervous tension emitted from that half of the room could have been scooped up with a spoon and served with pie.  Side glances, jokes, and anxious laughter accompanied each one of the Brit's speeches, but in the end, they seemed to have been relieved, maybe even a bit proud, to have survived a moment of raw emotion.  

What was I thankful for, you ask?

Living abroad is a bit tricky from time to time.  One tends to initially endure a period of extreme isolation and loneliness when arriving in a new country.  Then one day, it seems you somehow magically trip and fall into a steadfast group of loving friends willing to do anything for you.  Bonds made abroad have a bit of a ferocity to them as there is less opportunity to conveniently trade one acquaintance for another.  The cheap bull shit small talk is, for the most part, at a minimum.  What you view as trivial or important tends to shift entirely.

The bonds I've experienced abroad, albeit transient, have been solid, concrete and have existed in a much more emotionally raw state.  For this, I am incredibly grateful.  It is not everyday that someone gets to experience these types of friendships or emotions that accompany them.  I'd say it's fairly rare, in all actuality.

I'm thankful I have this life abroad which shapes my strength as a human and I'm thankful I tripped and fell face first into a group of people who give wholeheartedly before I even have to ask. 

The Spread

The Brits.  

The Calories

Thanksgiving 

Friday night lights: Running to Kennedy Town

Space is tight these days in Hong Kong. Massive quantities of people leads to massive amounts of development and the runner is left elbowing, ducking and dodging pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk.  WHICH is why I was incredibly pumped to discover that right down the street from Sai Ying Pun (my hood) is a huge and empty shipping yard/construction site that stretches the length to Kennedy town.  I was able to get in an elbow free workout in a generous amount of space against a picturesque backdrop.  Thanks goes out to Luke Casey on this one for pointing out this area to me. 

Starbucks Economics

Holy moly.  

Check it out guys: I've been doing some mad reflecting on my addiction to Starbucks and I can officially say I'm not excited about the finances I brew up for my caffeine vice.  It's always been acceptable for me to succumb to laziness and instant gratification in the coffee department once in awhile, especially to grab a few more Zzz's in the morning.  But, lately I've really just been taking a closer look at my expenses and realizing my laziness = dolla dolla bills y'all.  It's time to trim the fat. 

This morning my bill at Starbucks was 40HKD.  Now, let's be real: 40HKD is not something to be upset about spending.  It equates to roughly 5.71 USD and for most of us fortunate enough to say this, that's chump change.  In America five bucks can only go so far. You can grab some tacos (GAH I miss tacos), a beer maybe, a coffee, a gallon of gas, a quarter pounder with cheese.  You know, small things here and there.  BUT here in Hong Kong, five bucks has a way of covering a lot of ground.  Everything here is ridiculously cheap, unless you are buying foreign.  

To put things into perspective: with my 40HKD that I spent on an espresso and a piece of toast, I could have instead bought five loaves of bread.  That's seven HKD per loaf at seven pieces of bread, yielding thirty five pieces of toast. That could either last me a week, or feed a family of seven breakfast.    

Let's pretend and say, hypothetically, I bought an espresso everyday at twenty HKD a pop.  That accumulates into 7,300 HKD a year, or 1,042USD. Or in Suz terms: a ticket to Paris or a month of rent.  

Lean in close guys, I'm about to tell the doctor how often I really drink (it's not just socially anymore):  the drink in my hand when I walk out those glass corporate doors on a daily basis is never just an espresso.  It's either a triple espresso at twenty three HKD a pop, or a grande tall black coffee at twenty six.  That's also not including the fancy coffees I willingly shell out thirty five to eighty HKD for on my days off, or the second round of coffee on days that require a little extra TLC via the coffee bean.   

Wanting to explore my opportunity costs of buying coffee a little further, I took to the streets to suss out just what exactly I could score for forty HKD.  I have to say, the results not only surprised me, but inspired me to live a little off the beaten track. 

Let's take a look see:

Meals

Top pic: a common lunch of mine, ten dumplings, a bowl of soup all for 32HKD.  Both the meals on the left and the right cost 35HKD at any local Chinese eatery.  Cheap, good, very filling.

In every part of town there is a cooked foods center.  These typically are where locals eat many of their meals due to a lack of kitchen space and time to cook. Eating out on the reg. is cultural and cheap.  The above menu was for a Thai stall in the center in Sheung and the entire menu was 38HKD.  Eating here also takes a little mental preparation on my part as I would than likely be the only foreigner there.  

Street Snacks

Eggs cooked in vinegar are six HKD each and not bad, although it looks like something resembling a witches cauldron. The little, round, wooden containers hold the gold of delicious dim sum snacks: dumplings.  Four for sixteen HKD. I could get 8 and get stuffed.

If you go to various markets or heavily populated areas (where isn't it heavily populated in HK)  there are plenty of other street snacks for equally low prices like: waffles, fish balls, various things on a stick including veggies, tofu, and entrails.  

Transportation

Transportation here is pennies on the dollar.  With 40 HKD I could ride the bus to or from work four times, or at 2.3HKD per ride on the tram, one can get on and off 17 times.  Riding the tram is one of my favorite things to do, other than taking the star ferry which will give you a stellar view of the Hong Kong skyline for 2.2HKD. I could also take a cab to SOHO (the going out part of town) and back for forty dollars, although it is pretty much guaranteed I'll be spending much more than forty while I'm there. 

  

Quick Eats

Fast food here is cheap, just as it is in 'merica.  One can get a footlong at Subway for 35, some sushi at Park 'N Shop for 39.8, or tear up the dollar menu at Mickey D's and get three hamburgers some fries and a coke.  Gross.

Produce

Produce at wet markets = cheap.  These bananas up top are 8HKD for a bunch.  Therefore, I can walk in with my 40HKD and buy the whole banana wall and have a banana monopoly.  I could also buy five bags of carrots or forty eggs.  Or.... I could just be a normal person and buy a variety of produce for forty bucks.  That's how Hong Kong and wet markets roll.

While at the market....

Why not just plant my own living things? Tomato plants are 28HKD and the plants in the middle as you can see are two for forty.  Or I could buy four new friends for my brand new fish tank since keeping a cat or dog here would just be cruel.

ETC

There is a little used book store by my work that has buy one get on free sales.  Forty HKD could potentially get up to four books.  That's hours of entertainment, or great bookshelf fillers to make you look well read.  I could also get in my co-workers good graces by bribing them with cakes at ten for forty.  With cheap postcards for sell and forty HKD, I could keep up with at least five people.

Are you exhausted from all the possibilities of things one could purchase with forty HKD???  I am.  I need a coffee.  Which- I will be making at home in coffee pot for awhile now that I know the buying power of forty HKD!

These guys are out of our budget at 90HKD.  BUMMER.

Café Petanque

Much like the french culture itself, this petanque bar seems to have withstood the sands of time allowing minimal change.  The tracks blared over head were all Beatles era and the bathrooms were closed off by heavy velvet curtains.  There was a certain grime to it, but I couldn't decide if that were age or the fact that smoking was allowed indoors. The decor screamed what I imagine the sixties or maybe seventies looked like: lava lamp, velvet velour and all.   

The drink menu is nothing out of the ordinary, but if it's something you fancy, you can grab a set of petanque balls (boulles, bocce ball) and just go to town on the indoor court.  My friends and I definitely thought this bar was a hoot and a holler.

One of these days I promise I will get a proper camera, but until then, these are some inside pics:

Petanque courts 

Eiffel Tower poster and velvet.  Could you get any more Parisian chic??  I think not.

Happy Halloween

Halloween is usually the most magical time of year for this gal, but this year I stayed in character and just played spy on the wall in the mad scene of LKF debauchery.  

Two days after Halloween and LKF is still at it

super secret spy

Barriers, Blockades and Blokes Oh MY

Sounds about right

Scene Snaps

Cheung Chau

Cheung Chau Island. 

Boats to bikes to beaches with a boy.  Ballin'.