Well, yesterday was one of those days. Corinna and I were in the computer lab all morning. Her daughter sent her a video link on YouTube, and the fun commenced. We started looking at various YouTube clips and laughed a LOT! Then we broke for lunch and over lunch, a bunch of people started talking about the Improv Everywhere sensation on YouTube. After lunch, we looked at a bunch more videos.
By the end of the day, we were in stitches, both tearing up. But along the way, we watched some for-real tear-jerkers...ones that actually were heartfelt in a way that made us cry. Oh, we were having too much fun.
So class ended and a few of us decided to "explore". What the definition of explore was, we weren't quite sure. We knew we wanted to see an area we hadn't yet been to, so we looked at the MTR and decided to go to Mong Kok East, grab dinner and go to the markets.
We got off the train and once on the streets, we realized we were on the street where the flower market was. Walking past all these flower shops, my favorite flower was the purple orchids. I also saw a lot of aloe plants. They were huge.
We found some hole-of-the-wall restaurants, and decided to go into one of them. We got ushered into the back and realized the menu contained no English. Again, we were up a creek without a paddle. But then one of the gals with us started speaking in Mandarin, hoping she could communicate enough with the waitress to get us food. Well, we all ordered bowls of noodles with meat. I got pork. Well the meal came and my pork just didn't look cooked. I mean, I know it was, but it just didn't seem all that appetizing. It didn't help that the table I was sitting at was directly opposite of the only bathroom in the restaurant. And it was a busy bathroom. I suddenly lost my appetite to eat. Here's the dish I got:
And here's Holly showing how close the bathroom is:
So everyone (else) finished dinner and we walked out to go to the street markets. This is some of what we saw:
At one point, we all were sitting along this ledge watching people. I had seen mangosteens, my favorite fruit from Thailand. I wanted to go and get some, so Corinna, Holly, and I went to get some. We then kept seeing people walk around with these drinks. They were clear, plastic cups, with foil lids and then a thick clear straw poking through the foil lid. We found the stand where they were selling these drinks, and decided we had to have one. I got a passion fruit green tea drink. The vendor asked if I wanted tapioca pearls at the bottom. My response: "Sure, why not?!"
The moment I got my drink, I didn't know quite what to expect. I took a sip and up the straw came one of these little gems. It was SO weird, but SO fun at the same time. I determined it was one of my most favorite things so far. I think I should start a these-are-a-few-of-my-favorite-things list soon.
Anyway, that's how we "ended" our night. We took our drinks and boarded the Mong Kok East MTR and came back to ICS, saying over and over again how much fun we had.
But...before I end this post, I must tell you of some "fails" of the day:
FAIL #1: Corinna and I went to the bakery in the morning. We found some goodies and were on our walk back to ICS. Along the way, we had to pass through (but not enter) the MTR. Corinna commented that people were looking so unhappy; no one was smiling. So we (well, she) decided to greet people, and said a few times, "Thank you for traveling the MRT. Thank YOU for traveling the MRT." And I started to LAUGH. I approached her and said, "Corinna, maybe they'd not look at you so strangely if you actually said the correct name of the train...it's the MTR, not the MRT.
(I need to give a disclaimer to this next one....Hong Kong has this system, whereby you can purchase an Octopus card. I mentioned it before. You put money onto this card and can use it for many things....you swipe it to enter the MTR station, you can use it as grocery stores and on the public buses, even in some stores. It's pretty convenient. And when you run low, you can simply recharge it.)
OK, without further ado...
FAIL #2: As we were walking to the MTR to catch our train to leave for Mong Kok, I said to Holly, "You have an OSYTER card, right?" What I should have said was, "You have an Octopus card, right?" :)
FAIL #3: Without needing to provide much further explanation, all I have to say is pork dinner in close proximity to squatty-potty. Not only was our dinner table close to the bathroom, but we found out it was a squatty potty, meaning there was a hole in the ground that you squat over to go to the bathroom. Just thinking about it while I ate made me want to hurl.
So, so ends another adventurous day in Hong Kong.
It's HOT here today...gonna go out to lunch with Colleen in a few.
Happy (almost) June 30th....which means a HAPPY HAPPY birthday to my sis Gail!
Love you; wish I could be there....
(Gail and her fam at Easter this year)
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