....physically at least!
I know some of you have been suffering from From Chinatown to China blog withdrawal while I was back in North America. I actually got a few emails from people asking if I was was held captive or if I had fallen ill from eating the meat from the market. Some of you were concerned that I had decided to discontinue the blog. The truth is I was just very busy attending weddings in Virginia and Montreal, celebrating 30th birthdays, anniversaries, and running around NJ and NYC trying to find time to see each one of my very dear friends. Not to mention the hours spent in drug stores and Costco stocking up on the items I can't seem to find on this continent.
Well here I am after a 2 day trip back to Hong Kong. After sitting for hours on a Newark, NJ runway, our good friends at Continental decided it would be better if we all deplaned and spent the night at the lovely Crown Plaza Newark only to make us get back to the airport at 5:30 am.
Although security was tight trying to get on the shuttle bus from the airport to the Crown Plaza (the driver literally threw me off the van) The gracious Anu hooked us up with a nice top floor room and a cozy dinner for 2. (I tried to stay away from anything Asian sounding menu item)
After spending 20 minutes inspecting the mattress for bedbugs (we hear there is a major epidemic in the New York/Newark area) we settled into bed only to wake up 5 hours later to start our entire travel day over again. We once again boarded the same plane, sat next to the same people (who already new our life story), wearing the same outfits from the prior day (no one had any thing to change into since our luggage was locked up over night) and began our 16 hour journey to the far East.
Tonight's sleep may not compare to last night's sleep on the plane, or the night at the Newark airport hotel, but after traveling to 4 countries in 4 weeks (6 countries for D) we are happy to finally be"home".
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ReplyDeleteI'm back too...Sorry I missed your last blogs before returning to the states.
ReplyDeleteWe enjoyed having you stay with us. It was really fortunate that you so generously purchased us a super comfortable aerobed for our anniversary present (in advance of your visit).
I wanted to make sure you were aware that the Mooncake Festival is approaching. The festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar. Since you probably haven't converted your daily planner over, you should know that it will occur on the evening of September 22nd this year.
It is customary on mooncake festival to do the following:
1. Eat a lot of food and make sure the food is red — for good luck. Besides salmon, apples and pomegranates, one of the local favorites is fatt koh. Fatt koh, (yes, pronounced "FAT COW") is a dessert that is kind of like a sponge cake. The literal translation is prosperity cake, bringing you prosperity if you eat it; but it probably brings what it sounds like. I think it's implied but I would probably eat more of the salmon and apples...
2. Stay up late - after midnight so you can moon-gaze at the roundest and brightest moon of the year.
3. Most importantly - you are supposed to give gifts to your family. It is customary to give moon cakes (hence the name Mooncake Festival). Moon cakes are round pastries filled with lotus seed paste with one to four egg yolks. The more egg yolks in the moon cake, the more expensive it is, and generally reflects the status of the person to whom you are giving the cake.
I think you should get your order in now for moon cakes to give D. He probably deserves 2 egg yolks at most which run about $6 USD. However, the bakers in Hong Kong tend to offer discounted moon cake coupons where you pay in advance and redeem when it's closer to the festival so that they get the money earlier. If you are able to do this it might be worth upgrading to 3 egg yolks. Alternatively, you may buy them after the festival since it's a lot cheaper because no one wants it any more. If you decide to do that I think you should go all out and get him 4 yolks in his cake.
Thank goodness you're back on the blog Jason. What will you come up with next...and I, like your dad, are beginning to worry about when you do your work since you have become a student of all things Hong Kongish.
ReplyDeleteMarisa and D: having you for 3 days makes me miss you even more than before.I'm counting the weeks until the next visit.
And, finally, a happy healthy sweet new year to everyone, on both continents.
Love Joyce
Good thinking checking out the mattress! Glad you made it back!
ReplyDeleteStacy
Thanks Ja! Since I worked in Chinatown for 6 years, I am very familiar with the holiday. Last year I received 11 mooncakes! Most of them had 3 or 4 yolks and the children told me they were the expensive kind. I wonder if they used coupons?
ReplyDeletemmm...salmonella moon cakes.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are back to blogging. Love keeping up with your travels. Be well. Don't let the bedbugs bite....
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Jason's posting as much as yours Marisa. It was great to see you and Dan in Montreal. Did you hear there was a tweet about a bedbug bite in a Toronto theatre, where the Toronto Int'l Film Festival will be held soon? Trained (in finding bedbugs) sniffer dogs didn't find any, but it sure got a lot of press!
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