First few days of my Hong Kong Trip

I arrived in Hong Kong on Mon. It was a LONG trip. I left my house in Jinshitan at 10am and arrived at my grandparents place in HK at 9pmish. There was a 1.5 hours delay for my plane to leave Dalian to ShenZhen. We were already on the plane so my legs and butt were numb after the flight. The flight was 3.5 hours. Then I had to take a bus from ShenZhen to HK border. I had to take everything off the bus and into a building to check out and in for China and HK. I had to fill out forms too. It took me a little while in there and then I had to go back on to a bus to Kowloon Tong to meet up with my aunt and uncle. They came to pick me up at the bus station. It was very kind of them. I told them I wasn't feeling very well for awhile now. I am still coughing... They went to a place were you can buy turtle pudding and a drink that would help cure colds. It's not real turtles. In addition, they bought BBQ pork for me! YEAH!!!! I haven't had BBQ pork for 6 months. Before I went to China, I thought I could live off of BBQ pork, rice and vegetables. I cannot find BBQ pork in Dalian.

Two days ago, I went for congee and rice noodles with my uncle and grandpa. My grandpa was scared that I was going to get lost on the MTR when I went to meet up with my uncle so he came along. My uncle was surprised that my grandpa came. Aww.... I already went electronic and some clothes shopping =) My uncle and grandpa went home to get some stuff done so I walked around on my own. I just randomly walked around and around. All I needed to know was where the MTR is. I know how to get home from there. I have had a lot of practice from Shanghai! Thank you to Catherine and Rachel =) Just a warning, the escalators in HK are very fast. I forgot how fast they were so the first time I got on one, I almost fell backwards. I had my first taro with pearls bubble tea in 6 months. I forgot how to say it in Cantonese so I had to point and describe it in Cantonese. I still like it more at “Bubble World”. My uncle knows that I love egg tarts. In Dalian, I only found Portuguese egg tarts. They aren't the same. He bought me a couple for a snack and for breakfast! I feel so spoiled here in HK. I've also had two home cooked dinners. My grandma is going to teach me a few dishes I can make on my own. 

Yesterday, I went for dim sum with my uncle. I had shrimp dumplings, sui mei, rice rolls, pan fried beef rice noodles, etc. Then I met up with my cousin Amy. I had to go to the doctor's first because I've been sick for a few weeks now. So the bad news is my asthma is back and also my allergies. I am now taking pills so hopefully everything will be going again. I haven't had asthma since I was a little girl. I'll keep you posted. After the doctor's clinic, we went for milk tea and thick toast with condensed milk for a snack. Amy went to work for a bit so I walked around Central. They have bars, restaurants and many stores in that area. I found a Starbucks that delivers! I found an English book store! Whoop whoop. I really like it in HK because there are so many things I can do at any time. There is a huge expact population. My cousin, Amy and I went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner with my other cousin, Charles, which I haven't seen in about 18 years. It was so nice to see him. The food was amazing. After dinner, Amy and I went for a foot massage. It was so relaxing. I slept over at Amy's for the night. Moorea  is so cute. This morning, she and I played together before she went to school. I am having a really good time in HK. Pictures to come.

New Year's Weekend and a Hospital Visit

For the New Year's weekend, I went to Harbin with a few of my colleagues. It was an awesome weekend; however, I did not sleep on the way to Harbin. We took an overnight train. I wanted to try China style so we slept on the hard sleepers. The beds were fine but it's 6 beds in one area and there is no door. I am a light sleeper so when someone is talking, snoring or walking by to use the washroom, I would wake up instantly. Also, the washroom was DISGUSTING. Someone threw up in the toilet and it wouldn't flush. Eww... Next time, I will buy tickets for the soft sleepers where there are 4 beds in a room. There is a door. The hotel we stayed at was nice and very close to everything. Thank goodness it was not too cold. We had to layer up but it was not as cold as previous years. I had the best Russian cabbage roll in Harbin. Some of the highlights were I stood and played on a frozen river, went to see the Siberian Tigers, celebrated New Year's with some of my colleagues, and went to the Ice Festival and slid down ice slides. Check out all the pictures on Facebook. 

I got very sick after I went to Harbin. I was coughing and hacking day and night. My students even told me to go home. Therefore, I took one day off and went to the hospital. Do NOT panic. I do not like going to hospitals but I needed some medication to help me sleep and stop the coughing. People in China goes to a hospital to see a doctor. They do not go to a doctor clinic. Thank goodness I have a MSH medical plan so I went straight up to the 5^th floor into the VIP room. If I didn't have that plan, I would have been totally lost. There were lines everywhere for paper and for scans and blood tests. I had to fill out some paper work and the nurse, Nancy, was very friendly. She spoke some English and helped me. The doctor's English was not very good. I do not know if he understood what I was saying. The only words that came out of him was “pain, breath deep (pronounced as breast deep), no, dating, period regular, hot?” I had a blood test right after. I did not have to wait and go another day. Everything is done instantly. Then I had a CT scan. There was a huge line up for the locals to get a form and a number. The nurse showed me where to go and helped me throughout the process. While I was waiting, I saw men smoking and spitting in the hospital. Hmmm.... I also saw a man wheeling his wife on a stretcher to go into the CT scan area and they had to line up. I wanted to get out of the hospital ASAP. I guess people can get everything done at once in a hospital. I found out my results on the same day and I had medications made at the hospital. Everything was so convenient. I hope I will not be returning to the hospital. I have an appointment to see a doctor in Hong Kong today.

Before 2011

I know I haven't blogged for a long time. I will be posting quite a few within the next few days. I am now in Hong Kong for my 5 weeks break. Hopefully I will be going to Singapore and Malaysia too.

My last few hours in Dalian was quite memorable. Thank you Will for carrying my suitcase down the stairs for me. I am going to miss you as my neighbour =( You are always so helpful and a great person to just check in and out with. Thank you to my sister, Anjali, for going to the airport with me. It was sad to say good bye for 5 weeks. Next time, I'm going to hire a driver. On the ride from the qing gui to the airport which is about a 10 minute ride, the taxi driver was yelling on his phone as he was driving. He was almost hit another car on the right side and he started driving on the wrong side of the road. A truck was coming right at us. It would have been ugly. I started this blog while I was on the plane in Dalian because my plane is delayed by 1 hour. They play such cute anime on the plane televisions. Heehee... Just my luck. 

Summary of the end of 2010. I have been so busy with work. I live on the girls campus but in the teachers' apartment. As I was walking home from the boys campus and I entered the gates of the girls campus, I heard a very familiar male voice. One of my students and a few of his friends were on the girls campus. They had permission to be on the girls campus because they were watching the debate but they were wondering around the campus. I could hear and identify that student's voice from anywhere. I escorted them off the girls campus and my student's last words to me were “Do not worry Miss Ng, you taught us how to use a condom properly so we will be okay.” I received a few Christmas presents from my students. I received a lot of chocolates. A student bought me a mini decorated Christmas tree. A student of mine bought a nice white t-shirt and he drew some pictures on it. It is quite cute and very thoughtful. I made 120 cups of hot chocolate for my students for Christmas! It is very popular here to give beautifully wrapped up apples during Christmas time because in Chinese, apple is call “ping guo” and “ping” means happiness. People sell wrapped up apples on the street and their business can move around because it's on a wooden cart. One of my female colleagues received a pack of condoms from a student as a joke. Thank goodness my students did not give me condoms to repay for the ones I bought for them to practice with...

I had a lovely Christmas weekend. On Christmas Eve, we had a Christmas potluck at Anita's and Catherine's. I made stuffing and bought a pumpkin pie. Catherine made a TURKEY! It was the best turkey I've ever had. It was so juicy and moist. Everything was perfect. Each of us had a secret santa and a small stocking. Thank you for making it so special girls (Anita, Catherine, Anjali, Sui Ki, and Rachel). On Christmas Day, Anj and I went to a Spanish Tapa in Dalian City and we spent a few hours at Starbucks. The malls in Dalian were too crowded. For Christmas dinner we had “jiao zhi” (dumplings). We had a China Christmas dinner with good friends. This year I have been to Canada, United States, Japan, and China. Next year, I'll be travelling a lot in 2011.