The happiest place on earth

Disneyland Hong Kong truly is the happiest place on earth. I've never laughed so hard in my entire life. "Crocodile" tears rolled down my cheeks during a guided tour on the river raft in Adventureland. Lucky for you, I caught this magical moment on video.

Yes...that is me cackling in the background
Yes...she is employed by Disneyland
And yes...this is the ENGLISH tour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4yqtSmoqhc

The weather outside's delightful

Merry Christmas...Hong Kong Style

A day of (mis)guided meditation

One of my many goals for my new life in Hong Kong was to learn how to meditate. I've always has a hard time turning off my mind at night even though I currently don't have a single thing to be stressed about (let's hope it stays that way!)

My friend J asked me if I wanted to join her for some morning relaxation at a local mediation center. I didn't have high hopes for this 1 1/2 hour class since I have a hard time sitting still for more than 20 minutes, but I was ready to try something new.

When we arrived at the center, we were greeted by a nice British woman who was playing with a dog. She was talking to the dog like it was a human. "I will not be back until late tonight because I have to go see a sick cat," she said. Ok, so some people love animals. I am not one of them.

This animal lover told us she would be our instructor and that we were the only two scheduled for the class. "Great," I whispered to J. "Now I won't be able to duck out in the middle of the session if I don't like it!" As some of my teacher friends from NYC know, I have had to "duck out" of yoga during the meditation part a few times due to my uncontrollable laughter.

The instructor, we will call her R, escorted us into her studio. (she couldn't open the metal gate door and we had to slide our bodies through a small hole) R told us to sit on the floor while she got the materials ready. Materials? What kind of materials did she need for guided mediation. Oh she needed her magic crystals, angel cards, healing book, and background music.



She started asking us questions about our lives. She told me I come from a very spiritual family and that my mom and grandma are/were very spiritual ladies. She added that I really need to start embracing my spirituality. I swear I thought she was going to read my palm and tell me my fortune.

We participated in some strange stretching and chanting, which I couldn't handle because I was trying so hard to control my laughter. The three of us had to hold hands in a circle. I was squeezing J's hand so hard as to say "what the heck are we doing here?" She squeezed back just as hard so I knew I wasn't alone in thinking this was a little wacky.

We finally reached the guided meditation, the reason for attending this class in the first place. R put on some music and began. Her British accent was soothing and I thought to myself "this is actually going to be nice!" After a minute of focusing on our breathing and our inner child, we were in Stonehenge! Jesus, the saints, the gnomes, fairies, elves, and angels were among us. We went down into a crystal cave and there he was! Merlin, white beard and all! At this point, I thought I was listening to a recorded version of Harry Potter.

When we were back on planet earth, R had us pick angel cards and read them out loud. Mine said:



And it was...

Something's Fishy

When I first arrived in Hong Kong people told me I must check out the Wet Market. They said, "It's like nothing you have ever seen before!" I had a pretty good idea of what a Wet Market was. Walking through the narrow fishy smelling streets of Chinatown for 6 years has left visions that have been ingrained into my mind. I'm pretty sure those sights and smells will last a lifetime. Did I really have to experience them here in Hong Kong? Apparently, I did!



The seafood section of the Wet Market is kind of like going to a fish store...that sells live fish. As one stall owner put it "the more alive, the more better." Wet market products are generally stored for short periods of time and are always expected to be fresh. Freshness is so important that many of the fish are scaled, hit on the head, and cut before being killed. Some stall owners will slice the fish open right in front of you to assure the freshness. Others bag it for you while the fish is still alive. Yes, it's animal cruelty but no one here seems to mind.

As I made my way through the market I ended up in the shellfish section. The shrimp, since they were still alive, were trying to fling themselves into the bucket of water sitting beside them. The stall owner had to keep slapping them down into the basket! I wish I had gotten a picture of this!


There is such a vast selection of fish to chose from. There are fish of all shapes, sizes, and colors. I have no clue what each kind is since the signs are only in Chinese!

The stall owners take pride in the fish they sell. They will tell you their fish is the freshest fish in the market. I'm still not ready to buy my fish live at the market. I hope one day I will be more confident to make the purchase...I just wish I liked the taste (and smell) of fish!

Phone a friend

A while back, when I was complaining about the packed trains during rush hour, my brother Jason mentioned the underground discount taxi service. He told me I could call them up and negotiate a discount for my ride.

He wrote "The one downside to using a discount taxi service is the amount of cell phone chatter you have to bear with during the ride. Apparently a discount driver has 4-5 cell phones: one for Personal, one for the Official Taxi Association, one for the Unofficial Discount Taxi Syndicate 1, and one for the Unofficial Discount Taxi Syndicate 2. Coming from New York however, I think you should be fine since you are used to annoying drivers."

My brother always comes up with great ideas but I wasn't about to call a taxi and negotiate a price with them. It's hard enough getting them to understand my address. Luckily, I learned how to say it in Cantonese: Lobinson doh bat sup sum.

D and I were having dinner with some friends up on the peak and decided it would not be worth our while to wait in the massive line for the tram. We hopped into a cab and to our amazement, it was one of these discount cabbies! No joke there were 16 phones in the cab and they were all ringing simultaneously. There were 8 on the dashboard (see picture above) 3 on the windshield, 3 on the steering wheel, and 2 on the rear view mirror. Every time a phone would ring, it would light up the car.

I just HAD to get a picture of this. I begged D to snap a shot of the inside of the car. I was sitting behind the driver so I was at a bad angle. We didn't even have to use a flash since the phones were bright enough for us to take a decent picture!

The phones rang non-stop and there was chatter coming from each one of them. Talk about multi-tasking! I don't know how the driver was able to concentrate on the road! Although the cabbie didn't offer us much of a discount, he got us to our destination in one piece. I wonder what kind of cell phone plans he has. Hopefully his friends are "in network".

Hong Konukkah

Last night I had my first real dinner party here in Hong Kong. Even though Hanukkah has come and passed this year, I thought it would be fun to have some friends over for a holiday feast. Knowing that it would be difficult to obtain any Hanukkah related paraphernalia here in Hong Kong, I did a lot of pre-shopping when I was home in the states. I got everything from dreidels to menorah cookies cutters to decorations.

As many of you know I am a novice when it comes to cooking. I have no problem following a recipe but I just don't get any satisfaction in standing on my feet in a cramped kitchen slaving over food that I don't really enjoy eating anyway! I figured I would give it a shot. How hard could it be to cook a meal for 8?



The hardest task was learning how to use the old style oven in my apartment. I still couldn't explain how it works or even how to turn it on. As you know temperature here is measured in Celsius so once again I had to put my expert mathematical skills to work in converting each recipe from Fahrenheit to Celsius. Thankfully there's an app for that!

The oven is the size of a small child. You can really only fit one tray of food in there at a time, so your timing of each dish has to be perfect. Thankfully, my wonderful mom helped me create a time line to ensure that all the food would be cooked and still hot when served. After a few reheats, everything was just that!

Food shopping in Hong Kong can be a real schlep. I was able to get everything I needed (except peanut butter chips) but it took stops at 5 different grocery stores to get all the ingredients (not to mention the 4 trips I sent D on after I thought I had all the ingredients I needed!)

Well all that hard work paid off for the dinner party was a total success. Friends left with full stomachs and doggies bags of food to enjoy during the upcoming week. I had pulled of a multi course gourmet and had 7 happy customers. Well at least no one has called yet to tell me they were up all night with food poisoning!

Sweet Potato Latkes


Salmon, Veggies, Couscous



Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Cookies and Haystacks

Bet you can't eat just one.

Why did my students in Chinatown always vote for a Chips Party? After a recent trip to a Hong Kong supermarket, I found the answer to that question. I ventured into a Wellcome Supermarket even though I vouched never to step foot in there again after the swine incident. I was just looking for a bag of tortilla chip to go with my guacamole. To my amazement I couldn't find a plain chip in the entire store! I did however find...



and



I had a hard time deciding between the BBQ Crispy Pork or the Thai Style Fish Crisp. As my students would say, the fishier the better.


Indian food has never been a favorite of mine so I opted out of the Curry Flavored ones.


I think my stomach would look similar to that picture after ingesting the fiery tomato devil.


This was the closest I could find to normal since it was made by Lays. Swiss Cheese Flavor? Blah!



This beef flavor really tempts your taste buds...if you're a dog!



As I reached for the bag I thought to myself, "will Tums be strong enough or will I have to reach for the Maalox or Pepto Bismol?" Oh wait! They don't sell any of those products in Hong Kong!
I think it would be safer if I stuck with the Baked Lays I received from the lovely Continental Airlines flight attendant.

From China back to Chinatown

The winds were 65 mph! It was raining cats and dogs! Umbrellas were flipping inside out! I picked the perfect day to return to my home away from home....good old Chinatown, NYC.

I looked around at my surroundings as I walked through the neighborhood of the school where I used to teach. Most things were exactly the way they were when I left in June. Tour buses with soaked passengers were still whizzing by me, old men were still hocking luggies on the sidewalks, and the force of the wind still paralyzed me as I tried to walk forward.

For six years I would wave at the security guard at the visitor's desk on my way into the school office where I would sign in and pick up my mail and classroom keys.

It felt strange entering the school and having to stop at that same visitor desk to show identification. It then hit me that I had no mail to check or keys to grab.

I went upstairs where I had lunch with my old colleagues. It felt just like old times, minus the laughter of a few good friends who were part of the 20% turnover rate this year.

After lunch, I bounced from classroom to classroom catching up with teachers and the latest school gossip. Then the bell rang. I knew it was time to do what I had come to school that day to do....visit my students from the past two years!

I stood in the cafeteria doorway and one by one the students caught sight of me. They jumped out of their seats, ran to where I was standing, and almost bowled me over. I had about 40 students crowding around me asking for hugs and wondering if I was back for good. We talked about their new classes this year, Hong Kong, and what they missed most about 2nd and 3rd grade. I noticed many of them had grown taller, had a new hair style, or a complete set of teeth.

I walked out of the cafeteria with a smile on my face and warm feeling in my heart. I had made a difference in each one of my student's lives. I left the school with a sense of accomplishment. My job as a teacher there was done...well at least for now!

It's holiday time!

"May love and light fill your home and heart on Hanukkah"

-Author Unknown

Wishing all my readers a joyous holiday season!