Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, primarily because you get to dress up. This year, as with every year, my costume was last minute. Shu Lan and I jointly came up with the idea for me to be Edvard Munch’s The Scream. We even painted the border together, which was a fun project [except when I started complaining that there was no green in the painting, and Shu Lan insisted on putting green in because she mixed the color]. The result is quite…well, awesome:
October 31, 2009
August 2, 2009
Nerdoday
Today was pretty grand. The culprit? Actually, nothing spectacular. I spent the majority of the day rereading the entire line of Y: The Last Man and eating take out sushi. I took breaks to do laundry and clean but it was nice to have an entire day devoted to comic books. It reminded me of some of my weekends in AR when I would raid the public library, checking out a huge stack of graphic novels and work my way through them over a weekend. Some people dig on a cup of hot tea, a book and a rainy day. While I dig that too, something is awesome about a day devoted to comics and junk food.
Of course, after the slothful day I felt I needed a exercise-o-rama. Shu Lan recently secured a bike from someone who was leaving, so I gave it a whirl. Now, I’ve walked pretty far [I felt] in the neighborhood. When you are on a bike, however, you suddenly feel every lazily winding uphill. I apparently live in a bit of a valley; so, while I wanted to try biking to a local university, I made it about halfway before I saw another hill, cried a bit, and headed home in shame. The car ride takes about 20 minutes, but traffic is usually pretty bad. The library was going to be closed anyway [it's late Sunday night] but I wanted to time it and see if I could do it. To my credit, I had been biking for about an hour – but the shame of defeat still lingered with me. Or, perhaps that was the stench of myself. Either way, I realized that my runner’s legs were not prepared for the hilly challenge. Perhaps the lure of literature will eventually pull me all the way to the ivory towers on the hill.
I finished up the night with a rousing session of studying katakana and hiragana. That was my entire night, studying. So comic books, knowledge pursuit, and a failed attempt at athleticism and fitness. Go me.
June 29, 2009
Noodles and Dollhouses
Two things really made my day in Baise, so I thought I’d share them. Of course, the first is food:
Hand pulled delicious noodleage. Really fantastic. This Muslim owned restaurant served food in a
The second day maker was architecture. I find now, as I travel, I really notice the buildings and structures around me. Weirdest thing ever – the majority of Baise’s new housing reminds me of dollhouses:
June 5, 2009
November 29, 2008
Fashion Drink???
The sheer options of teas, colas, and soy drinks in 7-11 and other convenience locations often baffles me. The tiny spaces house armies of liquid refreshment. Single lines of tea, fruit drinks, boxed milk drink, and colas fill the typical store. Sure, we have a lot of sodas in the US [you might even get 4 versions of an orange cola in some locales] but they are typically walls of Coke or Pepsi products. In HK, they are brightly colored, sport odd combinations, and are an adventure waiting to happen.
Occasionally, they even outdo themselves. Recently, while going to get my usual tea with lemon – I saw this Aloe: FASHION DRINK. Well, I mean, it’s premium – so it’s good, right? I like fashion, and want to be fashionable – so this should help, right? The best part, there is little floating stuff in it. This is often a phenom of Asia, where you get chewy bonuses with your drink [little coconut pieces, cherry pieces, etc]. These, however, did not look chewy nor have a cutesy shape. So, curiosity won and I bought one:
Despite the sketcharific appearance – it is delicious. I mean, enough sugar and flavor can probably make anything great. The little pieces make the liquid a little thicker, but they are hardly even noticible. I assume it is proof that there is really aloe vera [listed in the ingredients] in the drink. Fun times!
November 22, 2008
Sculpture in HK
One thing I love about major cities is the artwork. Smaller towns just don’t seem to have sculptures scattered around in random places – a quiet statue standing solemnly in a forgotten nook, or simply odd peices of art. Hong Kong, being so overwhelmingly packed with stuff, has randomness a plenty. So, I thought a nice entry showcasing the sculptures of the city might be entertaining. The majority of these come from Central and TST, but there are gems scattered seemingly everywhere. Enjoy…
October 15, 2008
Horse racing (or how I became an addict and penniless)…
I apologize for the long delay in posts. Sucked up in the whirlwind of Hong Kong, weeks have gone by and I have awoken, a la Rip Van, to an out of date blog and many stories to tell. So, it seems fitting to restart with the fastest part of Hong Kong, the horse races at Happy Valley.
I never really thought I would be a fan of horse racing. I’ve seen it in detective movies (they always seem to meet an informant or damsel at the races) and occasionally it has appeared on television. Although having some romantic associations, I didn’t really know what to expect when I went. Who knew a horse pounding grass can cause so much adrenaline to course through your own veins?
When we arrived, beer gardens and food stalls greeted us. Wading through people to get to the betting kiosk, I looked up at a screen filled with numbers resembling the algebraic matrices in the nightmares of my youth. Attempts to explain betting (to win, to place, split, etc) simply added to the formulas and equations. So, I decided to just plunge in. And, I did – $10 HK, Horse #1, Race #1, to win. A really complicated bet.
Out to the races. Beautiful and powerful horses thundered by. I had already resigned to losing the money, so I was mostly impressed by the sheer majesty of the animals, quietly soaking in the race. Friends were comparing tickets and one turned and said, ‘Bryan, did you win?’ I look up and #1 (Bulb Treasure) had won. A grin crept across my face as I said, ‘Um..yeah.’ The odds were 13 to 1, so – I now theoretically had 130 new found HK (the actual pay out was 154 HK). Pictures were taken and my little heart jumped (who doesn’t like winning stuff?).
I did not win another race that evening, but the tiny gambler in me was emboldened and unleashed by the first victory. I bet on every race. I mastered ‘both ways,’ figuring odds, and always picked a horse that was so close. In race #4, I picked #12 randomly – a horse that was assured to lose. The odds and payout on the horse were ridiculous, like 30 to 1. So, I bet both ways – maybe the goofy thing would place at least. The race came, and he was in #4, then #2, then #3, then no where. I expected it, just good fun and money lost. Around the bend – what horse has taken off to FIRST PLACE pounding it’s beautiful legs? #12 #12 #12!!! A yelp of joy slipped out and I cheered! Had my faith in this beautiful equine paid off? Would I soon be rolling in the HK dollars, retiring from my ETA position to live in the lap of HK luxury life? Sipping pina colodas surrounded by people who only loved me for the money?
So, at the races I found I have the heart of a gambler – eager to set itself up for disappointment, hopes ready to be crushed, but ever striving for that one big fix. I’m not really becoming and addict, but I think I will revisit the track. Alas, #12 failed me in the last two seconds of the race – falling completely out of ranking. Not that a win of 300 HK would actually enable me to retire, but, those moments were pure adrenaline bliss. Who knows, maybe #5 or #3 will give me that thrill I need to throw away some more HK$. The beer was great; the food was delightful. The next time I go, I’ll be sure to bring the camera.
September 3, 2008
Chinese games with students
One night, I ran into several 1st year students in the lobby, who were playing card games. Since I like to corner students, I said hello and simply sat in the room while they finished their game. Finally, either through the awkwardness of me simply sitting in the room or their gathering up the courage, they introduced themselves to me. They invited me to play UNO Attack, which I have never played. It is fairly similar to UNO, but just different enough to be really confusing with a language barrier. There is a dispenser you press, which may give you no cards or several, sputtering them out like projectiles. Each burst had the students jumping, oooing, awing, and laughing when a player received a pile of cards.
Quickly, we progressed to new (to me) Chinese card games. The first, basically translated as ‘Pull on the Thick Blanket.’ Players have piles of cards, a la War, and the first player starts by throwing out a a card and saying “Ace,” the next throws a card and says, “Two,” and so on until Jack, Queen, and King. Simple enough, until the card thrown is the card that was said (for example, the 2 of clubs lands when a player says, “Two.”). Then, every player must thrust his hand onto the pile of cards. The last hand in has to pick up all the cards. After you run out of cards, you have to successfully NOT be the last hand in TWO more times in order to win. Of course, hands are slapped in hard, which is why soon – yours truly will likely be known as Apple Red Hands.
The second card game we played translates basically into “Level Seven Pig.” I know…my first thought was, “Goodie,” especially when they said the loser would be “punished.” The object of the game is to collect a four of a kind and put your hand on your nose the quickest. If a player rushed towards his nose, get your hand their quicker than everyone else. The last player to do this is assigned ‘Level 1.’ If any player speaks to that player, they become ‘Level 1.’ The card game starts over, and again, get the four, get your hand on your nose. If you fail again, you are a ‘Level 2.’ You can see how the game works. Repeatedly, you try to get the four, touch your nose, and avoid talking to the people in the upper levels (for fear that you will join them – and be closer still to the dreaded ‘Level 7 Pig’). The people in the upper levels try to get you to talk to them, so that everyone is in higher levels. Finally, someone becomes Level 7 and the game is over. But the fun is just beginning.
One of the students finally reached Level 7 (I played masterfully and managed to stay at Level 3), and they all turned to me for a fun punishment. I suggested that she sing ‘I’m a little teapot,‘ which was greeted by laughter. She confessed that she didn’t know the English words, but that she could sing it in Cantonese with the motions. So, the punishment for our game was that the student had to sing and dance for the other players.
Finally, we played possibly the silliest game ever. A person sits in a chair, with their eyes closed, while the others run in a circle around them. The chair points and whoever is closest has to say a phrase. I never could quite figure out what we were suppose to say, but it was close to “I am a bear.” The person picked attempts to disguise their voice, and the chair person tries to guess their name. If the chair is correct, the picked person goes to the chair. Either way, everyone then runs like mad in the circle, repeating and repeating and repeating. The benefit of this game is that I now know ALL of those students’ names (even their Chinese names). I also got to practice my Cantonese, which is still atrocious. All of the students were good natured, though, smiling and acted impressed by my atonal sounds. And, after a few hands of cards, the students seemed more comfortable speaking English in front of me. Good times…
