Coming soon to a Canada near you!

That's correct. I've finally book my flight home to Canada! I shall be on a plane for nearly 20 hours, but it's cheap! For $720CAD, I will fly from Hong Kong to Korea, stay there for 6 hours, grab another plane from Korea to Atlanta, then transfer again so I can finally make it to Toronto. I predict a very tired and cranky Mau arriving in Canada on April 26.

So the theoretical plan is for me to arrive in Toronto on the 26th, drive to Owen Sound with my parents, stay there for two days, then drive up to Ottawa, set up my apartment-to-be (wherever it is) overnight, and start work on May 1st. I'm still waiting for official confirmation on the job offer, but I don't anticipate any problems.

I've been in a really good mood lately. Maybe it's excitement to be returning to Canada, but I can't tell for sure. After purchasing my tickets, I went and spent even more money by buying some Chinese music CDs - I had been wanting to buy them for awhile and just never got around to it.

I keep thinking of all these things I still want to do in Hong Kong. I need to visit more museums, go to Happy Valley (horse racing track), go on a Duk Ling (traditional chinese boat), etc. I also want to buy lots of stuff that's cheaper here - e.g. MP3 player, cell phone, etc.

So much to do... And less than 30 days to do it in!!!!

***Edit: Crap, it's about 10 minutes since I posted this. I got home around 3pm. It's now 4:10pm. I forgot that when I got home, I started steaming some buns... I just remembered about them a few seconds ago. They were decidedly black on the bottom and there's a smokey smell in the kitchen. I'm just lucky they didn't catch on fire!***

Funny things I saw today

*** EDIT: I just remembered the other funny things I saw! At the one Mei Foo store, we saw some "Animal Colon"! That's got to be one the funniest typos I have EVER seen. LOL, it was supposed to be "Animal Cologne" - it was just some cologne in a bottle that had a small animal on top of each scent. Hee.

The second thing I found amusing was the cover of my pirated DVD of "Anna and the King" - I dunno where the chinese people get these thing, but the covers look so authentic, but have so many mistakes... Sometimes the back's will list the wrong actors, have a gazillions typos or the like. In the case of this DVD cover, there's a small review quote at the bottom of the page. "A gorgeously filmed studyof homosexuallust" - I doubt that the Seattle Times would allow those typos (yes, studyof was without a space).

I had a great day today. Saw many new and many fun things.

I went for dim sum for breakfast/lunch today with a bunch of European girls. Amusingly we happened to go to the same restaurant that "Uncle Richard" took me to before... I didn't recognize it until I got to the second floor though. It was a good time - one of the girls was from Italy and didn't know much about eating chinese food even though she had lived and travelled around China the year before. (How can you not know to rinse off your plates/bowls, or to flip your chopsticks around to cut communal food???)

After lunch, Limin, Ida, and I decided to go explore Hong Kong. We randomly went to Mei Foo station and walked around the surrounding area. It wasn't terribly exciting - it was pouring rain. We amused ourselves though by wandering around a couple of malls.

Because Mei Foo was boring, we hopped back on the subway and went to Sham Shui Po to wander around there. (None of us had been there before.) Turns out SSP has a flea market and huge fashion area. The flea market seemed to consist of a bunch of stalls selling random electronics and cables.... And that was it. I can't really EVER envision myself thinking, "Gee, I feel like buying some cables for my VCR. I think I'll go to Sham Shui Po and walk along 60 stalls to bargain for the best ones!" Welcome to Hong Kong folks.

We found a huuuuge shopping mall called The Dragon Centre. It was neat, but we were so tired by now... Mainly from the weather I guess. We wandered around, but didn't buy anything. After we left the mall, Ida went to meet her friends, and Limin and I tried to find the subway, but ended up going to the wrong one so we had to turn around. (Long story, but don't worry, it's not important.)

So now I'm at home and am in the midst of a movie fest.

As for the funny things I mentioned, the first one was at Mei Foo. I saw a guy standing in a telephone booth... But he was using his cell phone. I realize it was just because he was hiding out from the rain, but the sight was so ironic, I couldn't help but laugh.

Damn. I can't remember what the second thing I wanted to point out was.

The last funny thing I saw today was my tear streaked face. I just finished bawling like a baby! Why is that funny? Because it proves what a wuss I really am. I watched the movie, "The Notebook" and cried and cried at the end. It was so damned sweet!

That's all for now I guess. I'm gonna watch another (much more lighthearted) movie now. Toodles!

No more cause for complaint... For now

I've officially confirmed that the Weather Network doesn't correctly report on the humidex. It currently says that there should be a humidex of 35 here. It's definitely NOT that.

Yeah, the air is warm, but it's so darned foggy, you can't see across the street and it's actually a really cold dampness. I had to wear my sweater in class because I was cold.

I guess I'll stop mocking you all with the humidex unless I'm positive it's being reported correctly.

Squishy food

At the risk of disappointing people by not updating until something exciting happens, I shall post an entry with more random rambles.

Peggy and I have been doing a daily language exchange - she teaches me a couple of mandarin words, and I teach her an English expression. It's been pretty fun, because you never know what you'll learn each day. She's been teaching me useful words like "to rain, salty, sour, wash face, brush teeth, etc." And thus far she's learned expressions like "Gung ho, It's just not cutting it, Get off your high horse," and so on. I can't believe how hard it is to explain some of these expressions. And I'm super happy about the words she's been teaching me. It's frustrating to know there's so many useful words out there that I don't know.

Today's words will be "SAVE ME!" (I realized that if I was being attached in China, I wouldn't be able to scream for help. The best I would be able to do is yell out and inform people that I'm dying. "Wo si, wo si!" (I die, I die!) Hee. We shall see what other words I get to learn in the future.

I also got to try Korean BBQ finally. It's pretty much the same as a Hong Kong BBQ (remember, the campfire thing I mentioned before?) but this time it's indoors and the "fire" is a grill in the middle of your table. So you get to go up to a big buffet table thing, grab a plate full of raw meat/veggies/other goodies, take it back to your grill and grill it yourself. (Even though there's an amazing variety of meats, mom wouldn't be able to eat it - you don't know how long it's been sitting out. :)) Once again I'm amused by paying to cook my own food. The only benefits are the variety of foods and the all you can eat deal. I got to try ox tongue and baby octopus while I was there. The tongue was boring and kinda tough. And the baby octopus's head went squish when I bit into it. Hee.

That's been as exciting as it's gotten here for the past week or so. I seem to have gained a reputation for being a movie connoisseur too - my pal Jen phoned me because she and her boyfriend wanted to see a movie but couldn't decide which, so she asked me to describe them to her and make a recommendation. I still don't know if they took my advice or not though.

I also signed up for the IASP Farewell party. It's crazy to think that we're getting near the end of the term! Everyone's making travel plans (I'm going to Shanghai for Easter) and planning their returns home. (I really ought to buy my ticket soon - it's crazy the price differences between here and Canada - tickets are so much cheaper here!) This farewell party is also making me sad and nostalgic. I miss my friends from last term a lot - it just won't be the same without them. Oh well. I shall see them sometime - don't know when or where, but I'm positive it will happen.

This is Mau, signing off!

Not a terrible surprise

Several nights ago I was bored and remembering high school. In particular I remembered enjoying my early years of math, where I could play around with formulas and take pleasure in applying my mind to problem solving. For amusement, I decided to search for some grade 10 algebra problems on the web and attempted to complete a few.

I'm not at all surprised to admit that I couldn't do them. Some of them I couldn't even solve after I looked at this hints. There's your laugh on me for the day. (FYI, for my friends who read this and think I'm an idiot - please be informed that I did take all the higher level math courses and passed them all in high school.)

Now for an even more amusing admission! I was at one of the university libraries yesterday and was seated next to a bunch of exam archives. Out of curiousity I picked up a random set of archives (from 1982) and flipped to the English exam schedule.

In this case, I AM surprised to admit that if I had to take the English syntax/grammar exams, I would totally fail. Why? I couldn't understand the bloody questions! What the hell do they mean by "Deduce the following sentences?!" I realized that because I couldn't understand the questions, I would have failed at least half the exam.

In one series of questions, you had to correct one or all parts of the paragraph. I couldn't find ANY problems with them. (Of course, the question did specify that the paragraph may already be correct.) Before dying of laughter, I gave up on trying to find errors.

I'm pleased to report that I would have passed the contemporary english usage exam though. :)

Mau of the Mountains

Yesterday as a means of procrastinating, I decided to sweep the apartment. I'm positive it hasn't been swept since I last did it I dunno when. Killer dustbunnies! (And this is only from my bedroom which has been swept more often than the rest of the apartment.)

Wow! A lot sure has changed in 6 months! After my little cleaning spat, I decided to take some updated photos of my apartment. This is how my bedroom first looked like. And now this is my apartment today! We also have cool posters. (The first two are of a Korean singer Peggy likes, and the one on the closet doors is mine. :)) I shudder as to how the hell to get this crap home!

Today I got (willingly) dragged to Sai Kung, one of HK's mountainous areas. You would have been ashamged to see Ida, Limin, Peggy and I. We were the biggest group of whiners in all of Hong Kong this morning. You couldn't even hear the nature around us by the complaints of "Oh my god, I want to go back home." Thankfully after the first 10 minutes or so, we got it out of our systems and started up the mountain with gusto. See the pictures of our hiking trail here.

The only problem with the first three quarters of the trail was that it was so humid, you could barely see anything. Honestly, I could barely see my companions who were less than 7 meters behind me. This meant that when we reached the peak of our trail (aka the most scenic view), we couldn't see ANYTHING. (If you look closely at the picture posted, you can see a person in the background.) Also, the increased humidity meant we were all sweating like pigs.

Luckily our trail ended faster than we anticipated. (And thank god too, because it seemed to go no other way than up or down - no flat sections!) We put in 3 hours of hiking (piddly I know, but when you're either climbing up or clambering down a mountain, it's tough work!) then grabbed a bus to wander around Sai Kung village before heading back home.

Menu a la carte

Whee. I was very proud of myself last night. I made my own spring rolls! That's not to say they were stupendous, but even though they weren't as good as store-bought ones, I'm still pretty pleased. It was also my first time ever deep-frying something, and after the first initial panic of having everything sputter and sit due to too high of heat, I was saved by Peggy and handled the rest myself.

I also made my very own sweet chilli sauce! I'm becoming quite the little chef. It was my first time making either of these dishes/sauces. (Okay, so I made spring rolls once in Thailand, but that was under the supervision of the chef/teacher.) I was very amused by my sauce though. I made it exactly according to the directions then set it aside on the counter while I proceeded to make the spring rolls. While I was waiting for my spring rolls to cook, I went to stir the chilli sauce for amusement... Only to discover the spoon was stuck solid inside it. The stuff had turned to the consistency of molasses - NO! Even more solid than molasses. LOL. Peggy also laughed out loud when I showed her my dilemma. She was brilliant enough to determine that I had simmered it too long and therefore there was not enough water - so we added some hot water to it and all was good. (We'll see how well it lasts in a fridge overnight.)

Overall my meal was very pleasing to my ego, if not to my palate.

I shall finish this quick post by telling you about some developments in my Intro to Comparative Politics class. My prof has been having some emergency issues back in France for the past few weeks, meaning we've missed two lectures and will be missing another one the week after next. In order to make up for the time we've missed, they've rearranged the class schedule to go 45 minutes longer than originally scheduled... Which just doesn't work for me, because I have class at that time, which means I'll be missing the last bit of lectures each week now. (Okay, I'll admit I'm not terribly disappointed by this because I have a hard time paying attention in that class anyways, but the principal of it demands irritation on my part.)

Tonight I'm apparently going to a ritual ceremony in Sheung Shui. That's about all I know. I don't know how to get there, what time to meet my friends or anything else.

Hmm. I'd also like to mention my lack of faith in the Weather Network's overseas temperatures. Yesterday it said that Hong Kong had a humidex of 31, but it certainly didn't feel like it! I don't know if it actually was that hot, or if I've acclimated so much that I don't notice anymore - it could be either because when it's humid, I do notice the wetness in the air, but it doesn't bother me much. Today I'm wearing sandals and capris!

That's all for now because I've got to go finish reading a book. Toodles!

Just a monotone hum

I'm terribly sorry about the lack of updates lately. My father mentioned that I hadn't updated lately, and I felt bad (since this seems to be the only way I communicate with people), but the truth is, nothing interesting has happened lately! I get up, slack, try to study, slack some more, and sometimes, there's even a class in there.

Last week I went to see two movies. On Thursday I went to see "Pride and Prejudice" with Limin... I adored that film. It was so cute and romantic. And on Saturday I went to see "Brokeback Mountain" which was interesting. In retrospect I was a little disappointed by the film. I knew it was going to be the way it was, but I had hoped for a little more romance and the like. I was amused by the audience reactions though - there were a lot of embarassed twitters from the packed house. And Jen and I were thoroughly amused by the "oohs" and "aahs" after a scene when the characters shot an elk and were drying the meat. The audience was so amazed by it for some reason. Tee hee.

That's it for my update. Seriously, NOTHING else has happened.

Last night Peggy and I had a long chat. Add another 3 or so "longs" in there. Gah. I think she came home around 11pm and we chatted until 3am. Wow. It was nice because we haven't had a long talk like that since last term. I don't have a freakin' clue as to why she started talking to me last night though - she started off by describing the time she worked as a waitress in a hotel. It was interesting to hear the co-worker dynamics and stuff she put up with at the job... But I still don't know WHY she started with that particular topic.

Anyways, we moved on to other topics such as jobs we want. She wants a job in marketing (specifically a job in setting product prices at a grocery store) - that explains why she's always comparing prices and the grocery store and driving me insane with what I thought was indecision. :) And I finally voiced my recent decision that I want a job in a sector that is both international and makes a difference in the world. I don't have to be in an upper position or on the front lines - I could be quite happy writing a report in a little corner somewhere, but I'd like to know that I'm serving a company that's not just working to meet its own ends.

From there our conversation moved on to comparing jobs in North America and Asia - whether it was important to live close to home or not, etc. We also discussed resumes (here it's apparently common to have to include a page-long auto-biography with your applications) and the like. I can't remember all that we chatted about.

We finally ended the conversation with some language exchange. Peggy learned the words "Oblivious" and "vicious" and I learned how to say "excuse me" more properly and how to greet someone informally in chinese. (The chinese way of life revolves around food - to say hi to someone, you asked, "Did you eat food yet?" - Ni chi fan le ma?" Silly skinny chinese!

I have to admit that lately I've been facing a lot of my own presumptions in the face and trying to overcome them. It sounds retarded, but I've always had this idea that if I told everyone how good Canada was, and could get them to go there, they'd automatically want to immigrate there. But now I'm seeing that there are a lot of good things about Asia that easily would make you NOT want to pack your bags. (I know this should be an obvious realization, and it is, but I just have a hard time grasping it.) Some examples are the night markets here in Asia, as well as the cheap restaurants. In Canada we have neither such markets, and eating out is a helluva lot more expensive. These are only surface comparisons, but it's been hard for me to admit that I can't convince everyone to come to Canada.

And finally, to end on an amusing note I shall briefly comment on Canadians gone international. We are some of the most patriotic people ever. Practically EVERY Canadian I've met here in Hong Kong, or abroad on my travels, has a Canadian flag somewhere on their backpack. A European pointed this out to me. You don't see the French or the British with flags - just us Canucks. And I know for a fact that I've been pimping Canada a LOT more while here in Hong Kong. Very strange.

That's it for now I guess.