off to the races!

Here's an adventure that I was in the middle of blogging about but forgot to post halfway. A couple weeks ago, I went to the Hong Kong Jockey Club (in Happy Valley) to watch the horse races for the first time. Horse racing is huge in HK so even though I'm definitely not a gambler (although I do have a love for BINGO - I'm such a grandma right?), I thought it would be interesting to tag along with my other two Canadian friends and see what the hype was all about.

It was a huge stadium with a whole tonne of people. Obviously, there were all these gung-ho horse racing fanatics who actually had memberships and could afford the box seats. Us commonfolk just paid $10HK to get in and watch from ground level (where all the other tourists were). haha. Apparently though, if you bring your passport along with you, you can actually go and get better seats up-top with something called a "tourist ticket".  

My friends actually ended up betting money and both of their horses won. Beginner's luck! One of the best parts of the night for me though was eating a giant FOOTLONG HOTDOG and getting SPARKLY PURPLE BOWTIES! Since it was Easter, I kept on seeing people at the stadium walking around with either a purple sequined bowtie or furry white bunny ears (all these European guys were walking around with beers + bunny ears. you might spot a couple of these real-life playboy bunnies in some of my photos below ).

Anyway, I really wanted a bowtie so I tracked down the booth where I thought they were selling them. But unfortunately they were all out of bowties. I was walking away with a depressed face when suddenly I saw this guy holding a whole bag full of the purple bowties!!! I instinctively pointed at the guy and probably yelled a slightly toned-down version of "WHOA!!! THERE THEY ARE!!! ATTACK!!!" The guy saw my overly-excited face, and gave me four bowties for free, probably so that I wouldn't harass him. That totally made my night. HAHA. I love free stuff.

After the races were over, we took the TRAM to a nearby ROOFTOP LOUNGE called Wooloomooloo Steakhouse where we had drinks surrounded by a gorgeous 180-degree view of Hong Kong. I didn't try the food but I would just go for the view. If you're in the Wan Chai area, I would definitely recommend that place to visit at least once!

Okay enough nonsensical narrative. Here comes the PICTURE ONSLAUGHT!

Isn't the view gorgeous? Aside from my occasional complaints about the poor air quality, the stifling pollutant smog, and the heavy humidity, Hong Kong is such a beautiful city. =P

New Year Festivities

This week, I've enjoyed being a tourist again and going to all the different Chinese New Year festivities. This is the first time I've ever experienced a Chinese New Year in Hong Kong so it's been interesting...

On one night, I went to the Lunar New Year Fair in Victoria Park where the crowd was so insanely huge that I felt more like a cow than a person, being herded and forced to walk in one direction. I've never been in such close proximities to other strangers haha... I didn't even need to walk with my own feet since the people behind and in front of me were propelling me forward on their own. My verdict? I think the Hong Kong Government should take advantage of this event and apply for the Guinness World Record of "Largest Asian Sandwich".

The next day, I went to a tiny, rural village in Lam Tsuen where they had another festival going on. 

 Of course, they had the standard red and gold lanterns hanging from the rafters...

 ... and these tiny orange bushes, which seem to be everywhere in Hong Kong during New Years...

 There was a wishing pond where people could send off their aspirations into the blue...

 ...and the highlight of the festival was the wishing tree where you buy an orange with a blessing tied to it and if you can throw it up into the tree, your wish will supposedly come true. The tree and the oranges were fake by the way, because I think when they used to use real trees, the oranges got too heavy and the branches started breaking.

In theory, throwing the fake orange into the tree seems easy enough, but in reality, it was way too hilarious to witness. There was one woman who kept on trying to throw the orange up... let's just say that if she was playing basketball, it took about 15 airballs before she even got anywhere close to the rim. Oh man... I actually have a 5 minute video of her sad attempts but it's way too cruel to post. So for now, this poor woman is saved from viral video shame.

 During New Years, I also had the chance to go to Cheung Chow (Long Island) to eat a fresh seafood meal outdoors at the pier. I got to eat something called PEEING SHRIMP which totally reminded me of the gigantic ALIEN PRAWNS from District 9. Yup... these aliens were delicious.

Lastly, here is something that isn't at all related to Chinese New Year, but is pretty cool all the same. This is a machine that sells FROZEN COKE. I didn't know these existed until my friend pointed it out. Apparently this product is exclusive to Hong Kong (don't know why... maybe Hong Kong people are Coca Cola's guinea pigs...)... dun dun dunnnnn...

The machine had instructions on how to drink the coke properly. Apparently, you have to take a quaff.

Here's a video of my first frozen coke experience.

 It was a super icy/windy night... perfect for a freezing cold beverage. haha.

=)

Christmas Adventures Part 1: Hong Kong

Hellooooooo.... yes I'm still alive and I know it's been awhile since I've updated, but I tell ya, I've been freakishly busy. Anyway, I know Christmas is over but it was such a memorable holiday season for me this year I thought I'd share some pictures anyway. Before I went back home for the holidays, I had a chance to experience a little bit of Christmas in Asia...

Hong Kong is always buzzing with life. I feel like the city never sleeps.

During Christmas time, there were lights on every street corner...

...ginormous mutant cupcakes...

...and an overload of TOY STORY characters everywhere you go. (by the way... it looks like someone stole one of the aliens off the Christmas tree!) haha, it wasn't me.

This Christmas, my uncle made an amazing feast, complete with a turkey...

...and mashed potatoes with escargot. It was the first time I tried escargot, and I have to say... snails just taste like... snails. Not a big fan. But I totally overdosed on those potatoes.

This Christmas, my collection of gingerbread men grew quite a bit...

I bought this edible-looking gingerbread man ring... 

and they were giving out free gingerbread man bookmarks at McDonald's. The lady gave me four because she could tell I was obsessed.

My coworker also made me this dry-erase gingerbread man (what an awesome craft idea), and of course, I just had to give him a unibrow.

...and since I had all these props lying around on my desk, I got a little carried away.

Then in late December, after my last day of work, I immediately hopped on a plane to fly back to Vancouver.

Even though flying for 12 hours is pretty brutal, I love staring out the window because the view always amazes me. Below is a shot of Hong Kong just as the plane was taking off.

Flying always makes me feel so small especially when I see so much unexplored land.This photo was taken only a minute after the previous one. It's crazy how the view changed so dramatically right after we left the city and flew over all this vast space where no one lives.

After a few more minutes, we were up in the clouds! 

12 hours later, I opened my window to see it covered in frost... haha and that's how I knew I was close to home.

It was such a welcoming sight to see snowy mountains.

Anyway, those are some pictures that I just wanted to share because even though these past few months have been crazy-tough to be away from home, I'm truly grateful for all these memories and adventures I get to experience along the way. 

=)

Adventures in Hong Kong: Part 1

Hello my dears. It's been a few days, but I've been busy relaxing and vacationing. I still want to keep you all updated though so I put together a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. Here are my thoughts on Hong Kong after being here for a week!

I think Hong Kong is a beautiful place.

The city is always bustling with taxis, cars, and buses...

...and many MANY people.

There are also huge malls everywhere...

with shopping from day...

to night.

During my time here, I've seen some beautiful designs...

and amazing scenery!

I've also witnessed interesting dim sum...

giant cleaning tools...

awkward mannequins...

...and hilarious advertisements.

Hong Kong also has its fair share of weirdos... like these ones here.

At first it was just me and my brothers...

...and then we got the whole family involved!

My Hong Kong escapades are just beginning... I'll be back with more soon!

:)