You're WELLCOME

One of the first things I did when I arrived in Hong Kong was check out the local supermarkets. Just like in NYC, you have your different tiers of markets. There are markets like 360, City-Super, and Great, which can be compared to a Whole Foods. This is where I spend most of my time…and my money. If you think Whole Foods is expensive, you don’t even want to know what I pay for an avocado in Hong Kong.

One tier lower you have your Park and Shop which would be similar to your Gristedes or Food Emporium. This is a good place to go for basics like yogurt, cheese, and canned goods. And on an even lower tier, we have the grocery store called WELLCOME.

WELLCOME stores can be found all over the city so I thought I would check one out to see what they had to offer. I was hoping to find an avocado that cost less the 2 USD but I found a little more than just that!

D was tired from a long day of exploring but I made him come inside with me to check it out. Upon entering the store, there was a strange odor which immediately turned me off from wanting to shop there. Like most people, I am very particular about the freshness of my food…ok I’m actually neurotic about it. I won’t eat anything that’s even approaching a sell by date and I hate leftovers.

As I made my way down an aisle, the stench was getting stronger. I said to D, “what is that horrific smell?” As I turned around the corner I saw a sight that made my stomach churn. The butcher had just slaughtered a pig in the middle of the grocery store! People were lining up for bloody pieces of pork. D is usually not fazed by this type of thing, but the sight and smell were so grotesque that he actually needed to leave the vicinity. I of course, needed to have closer look.

As I exited that store, amazed by what I had just witnessed, D said to me “thanks for making me go in there”. I smiled and said the obvious thing to say in that situation...”You’re WELLCOME”.

Fortune cookies...what are those?

Chicken with broccoli in a brown sauce? Vegetable lomein? Brown rice? Not here!

After a long work week for both of us, a typical Friday night in NYC consisted of renting the latest romantic comedy from movies on demand and ordering in Chinese food. We had our local Chinese restaurant on speed dial and we ordered in the same thing week after week:

Shrimp dumplings (for me)
Spring Roll (for D)
Soup (on cold days)
Vegetable lomein
Chicken with Broccoli
Brown Rice

I would place the order, hang up the phone, and in 15-20 minutes our food would be sitting on the coffee table ready to be consumed.

As many of you know I am a super picky eater but Chinese food has always been something I enjoy eating...for Dinner. I could never stomach the fish soup and congee for breakfast or the sesame chicken for lunch. Every day for six years, I brought my own lunch to work. On those days when I didn't have any fresh bread in the house, lunch consisted of plain white rice.

People warned me that the Chinese food in Hong Kong would be a little bit different than the food I was used to ordering in from my Tribecca favorite, but I didn't realize how different it would be.

PORK knuckles, PORK intestines, PORK buns, PORK feet, PORK ribs, and the list goes on. D and I don't eat PORK but it often surprises us in dishes we order.
"What's this?" I will say to D as I pick up my vegetable fried rice with my chopsticks. "Oh it's a mushroom," D will reply and we will leave it at that.

Since Friday nights are no longer order in Chinese nights, I might actually need to learn how to cook!

A pain in the neck

A simple hour of relaxation turned into a major pain in the neck. As most of you know, I have never been a fan of massages. Whenever we would head out for a girls day at a spa, I would usually opt for a Mani/pedi. It's not that I don't enjoy the light rub of my tense muscles, it's just that my body is really sensitive to touch. I didn't want to be laying on a table for an hour thinking about how each thrust into my body was going to leave a black blue mark the next day.

A popular thing to do in Hong kong is to have a massage in the very comfort of your own home. D works hard all day and really enjoys a good de-stressing massage every now and then. I decided to put my worries behind me and booked a couples massage for a Saturday morning. I had read a lot of wonderful testimonials on this company's website and thought it would be nice to treat ourselves to a morning of bliss.

Two therapists arrived that morning ready to get down to work. D's therapist who spoke not a word of English, was great. Her soothing touch lulled D into a deep level of relaxation. My therapist on the other hand, spoke a few words of English: pain, hurt, pain, and yes.

All of my massage nightmares had come true. I have never before experienced such rough treatment. I really don't know how D could have been able to relax with all the pounding, slapping, and shaking that was taking place just inches away from him. I would say "pain" and the therapist would repeat "pain" and continue pressing deeply into the sensitive spot. Once in a while she would say "pain?" and I would say "yes pain," but she wouldn't let up at all. I wonder what made her ask that? It was probably either the fact that my body was tensing up more than it was when she had gotten there, or the fact that I was loudly whimpering into my pillow.

I kept my eye on the clock and jumped up as soon as the hour had passed. My entire body ached from my poked in sinuses to my slapped calf muscles. As soon as the therapists were gone I stood in mirror inspecting some bruises that were already surfacing and cried.

Four excruciatingly sore days later I received an email from the company requesting feedback from the massage. Boy oh boy did I give them some feedback. I received a letter apologizing for everything that happened or didn't happen that hour. They said as a courtesy they would send the SAME therapist, yes the SAME therapist to work on me again at no charge. Needless to say, I politely declined the offer.

I guess I learned that massages aren't for me...they are more of a pain in the neck.

Masking the gas

(thanks mom for my princess piggy bank and my gas mask!)

Cough, Cough..I guess 6 years of breathing in the polluted air in Chinatown was not enough. I had to move to a location where the pollution is 3 times worse than New York City. There are days when the smog is so thick that I can't see anything but white smoky clouds out my window. Then, there are also days when it's actually harmful to go out and breathe in the air.

Everyone has their favorite websites that they visit on a daily basis. When I was living in the city, my favorites included The Weather Channel-to get the daily forecast, NY1-for local news, and The Superficial for local celebrity gossip. Now the most visited website on my computer is Environmental Protection Department which gives a daily reading of the API (Air Pollution Index).


Air Pollution Index at 17:00 12-Oct-2010010
Air Pollution Index at 17:00 12-Oct-2010

Station	API		Air Pollution Level	Contributing Pollutant
Causeway Bay	57		High	Nitrogen Dioxide
Central	77		High	Nitrogen Dioxide
Mong Kok	69		High	Nitrogen Dioxide

I live above Central, and today is good day....enough said...cough, cough...
(if anyone wants to know what Nitrogen Dioxide is, it's a reddish-brown toxic gas)

According to research preformed by Hong Kong University, around 1,100 people die and more than 7 million people become sick every year because of air pollution. When the API readings reach above 100, the government puts out a warning for people with heart or lung illnesses to avoid being outside in heavily polluted areas. Maybe all the people with the masks on, who I've desperately been trying to avoid, have the right idea. I guess I should buy cartons of masks on my next trip back to the states. Does Costco sell them? If not, you might see future pictures of me sporting the gas mask!

Sugar High Tea at the Hyatt

I've been told you are not an official Hong Kong Tai Tai until you've attended a fancy high tea. I guess I can now say I am an official Tai Tai (although I didn't actually drink the tea).

I've always thought of tea time as a social gathering of older woman sipping flavored tea out of fine china and eating English biscuits and scones. This was not the case at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong. This tea time was literally fit for the Queen.

In Hong Kong, "tea" consists of a light meal served in middle afternoon from 2pm to 6pm. No one told me that "high tea" in Asian countries usually replaces lunch. If I had known there would be such a variety of food, I wouldn't have eaten lunch beforehand...or breakfast for that matter. The hotel had everything from your typical finger sandwiches and salads to exotic puddings and cupcakes sporting all colors of the rainbow. They even had a waffle with ice cream station that included a bar where could choose your own topping.



As we chatted and stuffed ourselves with an assortment of goodies, live music comprising of a three piece orchestra played in the background.



Although I was supposed to meet D for dinner afterward, I had fallen too deeply into a sugar coma to possibly eat anything else. This experience has left me with a completely different feeling toward High Tea...a sugar high that may take me a long time to come down from.

Happy Birthday to ...

the best Dad out there!

xoxoxox

Two tickets to paradise on the MTR please!

A bike path, a pool, tennis courts, mountain air, the harbour.....what more could you ask for of a vacation? How about being a 45 min subway train ride away from your downtown city apartment!

Sha Tin is a wonderful weekend spot to get away from it all. It's located in the New Territories region of Hong Kong, a place where most expats will never venture during their stay here. Many locals have "country houses" in this part of Hong Kong so they can escape the heat and the crowds of expats taking over their city.

D and I found the weekend to be more relaxing than most vacation trips we've been on! The hotel amenities were wonderful and food was delicious (except for the fact that you had to deshell your own shrimp and conch)

I just couldn't bring myself to eat it

There were a few language confusions, since English is not as widely spoken in Sha Tin. D asked for a Caipirinha, Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça sugar and lime. I told D that the waitress looked a but confused when he ordered and that he should have stuck with something more local. In the end, I was right because instead of his drink he ended up with a pot of peppermint tea.

Our favorite activity was the long bike ride we took one afternoon. We had beautiful views of the harbor and it was so nice to breathe in some fresh mountain air (that is when we weren't riding next to the sewer treatment plant). We planned on using the gym and the tennis courts the following day. Unfortunately, we were both too sore from biking to move.

Before 1.5 hour ride

After 1.5 hour ride

After a busy few months this summer, Sha Tin was the perfect weekend retreat. Would I do it again? Of course, but next time I think I will just stick to the basics.