My poor feet, and those cocktails . . . it's still Tuesday people.

Okay, so after this morning's epic outing to Wan Chai, I was in need of a rest by around noon. I knew I wouldn't survive the day if I didn't find a way to re-charge so I could get back out there. I hopped the subway back to my neighbourhood and found my way to the escalators that run up the steep hill. The entrance to these escalators still eludes me, and I tend to circle around it, searching for the secret door, and end up walking halfway up the hill before I find it.

This is one section of the escalators. There are 5 altogether. It's big hill.

So I'm riding the escalator, thinking about what I'll do for lunch, and my sore feet, and feeling generally weary. Happy, but weary. 

My sad, bandage-covered, aching feet. After 4 hours of wandering and 4 hours of sleep.

And then what do I spy beside me, just outside the escalator gates?

Now, I admit that M&S means zip to me. Expensive clothing? And apparently they make food too?But I know it as a UK 'thing', which my mind quickly calculated meant 'tea', meaning Earl Grey, my morning salvation. So I hopped off the escalator and went in. 

When I left, I had not only tea, but bath salts and cocktails-in-a-can. Yes, you read that right. M&S make mojitos, G&T's and more, all mixed up and ready to go. My standards would need to be lowered, for sure, but the idea of soaking my feet and sipping a somewhat familiar drink for less than $20 was very appealing to my weary self. I didn't have access to a large bowl or bucket at my place, but I had an idea.

Yep. I fit my body on to the counter, under the upper cabinets, and soaked my feet in the sink, with my cocktail in hand. Sure it was only around 1pm, but back home it was 10 at night the day before, cocktail hour was well overdue. 

After a soak, a mojito and some GF lasagna, I was good to set out again. This time my destination was Quarry Bay, the easternmost part of the island. But first, here's the rest of what I saw on my morning tour of Wan Chai.

The crazy floating construction site in the harbour. I can't even make sense of it, it was such a huge sprawl. My apartment is sort of behind that tall pointy building to the left of the crane. The fog completely covers the tall mountain that the city is built around.

Looking across the harbour to the mainland. This is not 'mainland China', but the mainland of HK. Somewhere over there is a Neko Atsume store people . . . I'll get there soon.

I think it is amazing that they still use straight up bamboo scaffolding for giant construction projects. I walked by another site where a guy was putting the scaffolding up, and he's tying them with zap-straps. It's insane and yet obviously works. 

Propaganda against the 'evil' Falun Gong "spreading lies about the gov't" it says. I won't put my thoughts into writing here, but in the West they are seen very differently.

Great art on this cafe.

More street art.

Speaking of street art, there are these little worship spots on the street in various places. Just there, always with incense burning. I love this.

Took this pic from the escalators. Ground floor rents are very high, so many businesses are located on the 2nd or 3rd floors, or else underground. It's crazy and yet makes so much sense. But it makes it hard for this foreigner to find anything . . 

A touch of traffic heading up to my place. I"m on the right just over this hill. Pedestrians just walk on the street and when taxis and trucks come barreling at you, you just step out of the way. It's nuts and yet so simple and easy. I've adapted very quickly. :)

Street-side temple in the rain. It's open to anyone who wants to stop in and light some joss.

A wee snapshot of my reflection in a window. I know you've missed seeing me in person.

I bought a collapsible umbrella in Victoria before I left. I couldn't resist all these cats. I like walking around with them over my head.

That Kotex ad I mentioned has been playing over and over on my youtube feed, and it really has me baffled.  So I found a copy to share with you. The ad I'm seeing is only the 1st 60 seconds of this longer ad linked here. I think it's Mandarin they're speaking. It looks to me like an ad for her having a mental illness that's only comforted by a rabbit. Not quite how I feel when my lady-time comes around.

I'm grooving to this tune today. Mellow and chill, but so dance-able.

xoxo

C 

Flip flop, flip flop, thwap thwap thwap thwap

Dudes, I'm only mid-way through my day and I'm beat!!! Although I guess it feels long because I've been awake so long. Time for more caffeine!

With the daylight came a better view of the city. Places I'd walked in the dark the night before now made sense. And I quickly became a local as far as navigating sidewalk politics, and queuing up for the subway. I fed myself some eggs and cheese, two cups of earl grey, and I was off.

I set out this morning at about 830 (I'd been up since 3am). I headed downhill to the MTK (subway) station. It was pouring, and I so appreciated the online advice about relying on flip flops as your main footwear choice. It was pouring again, which I don't mind as it means no sunscreen. Heat is much better without having to lather cream on to your skin too. It rained a lot, hard.

Those leaves are floating above my feet.

My goal for this part of the day is to manage the subway system and get to my Faculty gal's hotel to deliver her clothes. (Air Canada lost her luggage so I brought her a re-supply in mine). That was it, small, simple goals is a surefire route to success. Step one.

So I left my place and headed downhill.

Then more downhill . .

I'm staying on HK Island, which is a relatively small, circular island with a giant mountain in the middle. The city starts at the harbour and moves up the hill util it can't go any higher. I'm near the top of that area. Thankfully, there is a eries of escalators to help folks get up, up, up to their destination. And lots . . of . . stairs . . to . . get  . . back. . down.

HK is a really tricky city to navigate. I pride myself on having a great sense of direction. I generally know where I am in a city/area and can picture where I need to go and thus how to get there. This is SO not working in HK! I think the issue is the buildings. Every city block is crowded with multiple skyrises, and they make it impossible to sense where you are. I think 'ok great so I need to head away from the ocean about 3 blocks' and then when my landmarks don't appear and I use some data to check google maps, I've gone towards the ocean 6 blocks, or something equally ridiculous.

Can you tell which way the ocean is here? Yeah, me neither bro. And these are the short buildings!

This is not to say I didn't find her hotel. I did, and I dropped off her clothes, yay first success of the day. So then I think I'll take in the Comic Walk that is one of the many little city routes I found online. You start at the waterfront where there's an installation of Chinese anime statues. It should have been like 2 blocks MAX from her hotel. And yet I wandered around for 30 minutes and couldn't find it. Imagine you're at the empress and need to get to the Legislature building, no problem right? They're right next to each other for pete's sake! But now fill both those city blocks with highrises. You can't see where you need to go, but you know you're oh-so-close. So I gave up on the Anime thing and found a Starbucks. Before coming to HK I was excited to check out all the indie coffee shops and cocktail lunges. But after a taste of pricing yesterday I figured that'd need a re-think. And after my fruitless wandering I felt like I needed a familiar experience to help me get it together for the next part of my day. (Even though I loathe Starbucks and never go there at home).

Mochiko and I grab a Frappa, and do a little journalling. It was heavenly, considering the circumstances.

After getting grounded, caffeinated, and planning to go check out another part of town, I leave Starbucks, walk a block, and am standing in the Anime display. Jebus!

I don't know who any of these folks are, but they are obviously very popular.

I like this last one. To me it's called "Mom hiding in the tub to surf the net, but the kids find her anyway". One of my favorite books from when the kids were younger was called "5 Minutes" about a mom who just wanted 5 minutes alone in the tub.

I wandered up the street to find the local Comic shop. Another success! Although admittedly I also found this by accident.

Then I just walked the main street in Wan Chai, soaking in the utter absurdity of it all.

Were you interested in barbequed pig face? They've got that. Not mocking, just stating.

Open-air meat market. No refrigeration, no gloves. 

I love this place. It openly lets me know, from across the street, that there's nothing here I can eat. And it does so with a 'star wars' font. Wicked.

I told you, whole roasted goose. It's a thing, ass and all.

I wish I spoke Cantonese. Ads come on between some of the youtube videos I play for music, and they seem so absurd. I think understanding the words would help make sense. For example, one ad has an attractive guy pushing a Parisian-style bike cart full of stuffed bunnies. A sweet-looking young woman comes up to him, and picks up a soft toy, rubbing it on her face. She buys it from him. Then he's in the park, and she comes and buys another bunny. Then she goes into a shop, and comes back out and passes him her change (from her purchase? She doesn't have a bag in her hand). Then she walks away, and he goes on his way with his cart. And the logo for Kotex pads/tampons fills the screen. WTF? Is her soft white bunny relevant somehow? Is it the boyfriends job to buy his lady's menses needs? If I could just switch the Star Trek switch so I could understand this language I'm surrounded by, well,  that'd be awesome.

I have more pics from this morning, but it took hours just to load these ones, and that's time I need to be exploring. I've had a tasty lunch (Udi's GF lasagna, with cocktails (more on that later), and I'm headed for Quarry Bay and the Japanese shops. More later.

xoxo

C

Oh f*ck.

Yeah, really. I lay in bed after I got in last night, not sleeping, and thought of the title for my first post. That is the phrase that ran through my head hourly throughout my travels yesterday.

In the morning, when I realized I was all ready; packed, dressed, fed, waiting for my ride to the airport, and all that was left was to wake up Leif to say goodbye. Oh f*ck.

On the plane, waiting to take off from Victoria to catch my connecting flight in Vancouver, and the pilot said there would be a 30 minute delay due to a baggage issue. I'd possibly miss my connecting flight. Oh f*ck.

In the Vancouver airport, as I ran the length of the building, from local to international, in flip flops, carrying my suitcase, as I'd opted not to check my bags for fear that they'd get lost. I arrived just in time to line up with the last few passengers. No time to get lunch or any snacks for the 14 hours flight. Sweaty as a glass of beer on a humid day in Hawaii. Oh f*ck.

On the plane, as it taxied down the runway, picking up speed and finally lifting off and banking right to fly North over the Pacific Ocean. Knowing that this was it, I was in this, and whether I liked it or not, there was no way out now. That I'd be spending my first solo travelling experience ever in a city as foreign to me as possible. Knowing that the things that comfort me most in the whole world, Kit, Leif, Hannah and Ivy, weren't with me, and I couldn't get to them to distract me from my anxiety. This was it. Oh f*ck.

I had the best luck on the plane, in that there were many empty rows and I snagged one before take off hoping I'd sleep on the long flight. I'd be arriving at 4am my time (5pm the next day HK time) so planned to try to sleep about halfway through the flight. I brought knitting to keep me busy.

A deliciously soft skein of Manos Del Uruguay

Realising I might have brought the wrong needles, I improvised the pattern to make it stretchier.

After 10 hours in flight, I was done with this stupid activity. Fresh air and room to move about please.

 I never thought I'd say this, but I got tired of knitting and watching movies. We were chasing the sun to HK, so my brain just couldn't think 'sleep'. I tried, really. But eventually I decided the est way to over come the jet lag fastest was to stay up and then just fall asleep on HK's schedule. This plan turned out to be crap, but I didn't know that then. And I couldn't sleep, so whatever.

As we approached HK the clear blue sky and white clouds we'd been flying over changed to grey and turbulent. It is thunderstorm season here, and we felt it on the way down.

Some outlying islands as we approach the airport. The airport is on an island as well, and it looks like you're going to land on water until the last minute when land appears.

I arrived at 630pm, exhausted and hungry. I ended up walking to my apartment after getting so turned around inside the train station that I was done with being the lost tourist, asking directions of people who did not speak English. I felt very bulky amidst all the commuters, with my suitcases and uncertain steps. The sidewalks are very narrow, very steep and very uneven, so you need to look down to not break your ankle. Or at least I did. My plan was find food and create a space in my apartmemt to get my mental shit together. I bought the above goods at the nearby organic grocer (it was food I recognised, okay, so I went in). I tried to buy stuff on sale (my soymilk was marked down to $2 Can!) but the whole bill came to 400HK dollars. Oh f*ck. It was insane. That's about $65 Canadian. As I walked back to my place, the downpour began. So glad I followed the online advice to bring an umbrella and flip flops. I passed many cocktail bars and very hipster lounges and eateries. Signage advertised happy hour prices, $10 Can for a cocktail and $15 for edamame. Oh f*ck. I'll be eating in a lot this trip. And likely surviving on a lot of appetite-supressing coffee.

My first night was hard. I reminded myself that I was starving, tired, and in a really foreign situation. So having a wee crying was okay. My one savior was having my music with me. It made me feel a bit better, a bit more grounded, enough to drink some water and make some of my costly food for dinner.

So it's now 8am HK time, and I've eaten most of what I bought, having been up all night (still can't sleep! Which is now a migraine, oh f*ck). So I'm going to head out and try to navigate the city. It's pouring rain and about 31 degrees (plus the humidity brings it to about 34+). I'd like to succeed today, to find where I want to go, and not feel like I'm in the upside down world of another dimension. I'd like to not cry. Wish me luck my lovelies.


until later
xoxo

C

My first Typhoon season . . .

This is a test post, to see if this public space can be revived once more. I'll be travelling to Hong Kong in a few weeks, and rather than inundate my social media spaces with all my travel photos and thoughts, I figured corralling them here would be better. I'll be there for 5 days, and have scoured the net for of-beat, cheap and awesome things to do and see. I'm not an experienced traveler, so this might be a trial-by-fire sort of experience. I hope it rocks and makes me want to see more of the world.

xoxo

C

Flashbacks

flash·back (flshbk)

n.

1. a. A literary or cinematic device in which an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronological order of a narrative.

    b. The episode or scene depicted by means of this device.

2. An unexpected recurrence of the effects of a hallucinogenic drug long after its original use.

3. Psychology A recurring, intensely vivid mental image of a past traumatic experience

 

 

Today we'll be discussing definitions 1 & 3 above.

 

 

Last week the kids and I were walking through the neighbourhood, on our way to their summer camp. Leif & Ivy were about a block ahead, he pusher her along on her bike, and Hannah was walking with me, holding my hand. As we approached a house, I could see the following: a young boy, about 5, riding his little bicycle along the sidewalk in front of the house; his younger brother sitting on the sidewalk with his smaller bike tipped over, apparently upset and frustrated with the challenge of learning to ride or getting up a slight slop or something; and their mother trying to lock the front door of the house, empty grocery bags in hand, fussy baby strapped to her chest.

 

 

A literary or cinematic device in which an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronological order of a narrative.

 

 

On reflex, my flat palm flew to my chest and I stumbled a bit in my steps. I had to take a minute to breathe and look at my surroundings to take stock. No, that wasn't me struggling to carry out the most basic of tasks with 3 young kids in tow, desperately hoping for some glimmer of joy in an otherwise tedious every-day-looks-like-the-one-before-this experience of mothering a lot of young children at once. I had paid my dues and done my time. I was now the woman freely walking along, at a regular pace, with her chill, relatively older kids.

 

 

I watched this foursome get their stuff together and begin to set off. My eyes met hers and I said "Don't give up, it will get better, I promise". She grimaced and said "Really? Okay."

 

 

Our culture fears the dark side of motherhood. We dress it up, focusing on the maternity clothes, space-aged strollers, cute nursery decor, mommy blogs, milestones and sense of personal achievement. We don't acknowledge the other part. The things you get along with all that eye candy. The personal struggles and doubt, the blood, sweat and tears, oh the tears. The total sacrifice of self necessary to get you through it at all, and oh by the way you'll be heart-breakingly lonely a good chunk of the time too. I don't know why we do this. Are we afraid people will stop having kids if we tell them it will really, really suck at times? That sometimes, late at night, you'll truly consider getting out of it if only there was a way to give the crying baby back to somewhere, to someone? Are we afraid to admit that this western style of living, where we are all separate and alone, not living with our families or friends literally right-next-door, to help us, to relieve us, to give guidance if we want it or just to push that stroller around the block so we can sleep or weep in private, could be flawed? That maybe, the old way was a better way? Maybe that would lead us to question progress just for progresses sake, and then we're questioning capitalism and the education system and our whole way of life. Better to distract us with sexy maternity clothes and lie about sleep schedules and how becoming a parent completes you as a person or couple.

 

 

A recurring, intensely vivid mental image of a past traumatic experience.

 

 

Now when I pass that house I think of them, the people inside those four walls, the stage of family life that they are in, and my chest tightens, a touch of anxiety I guess. Yes, we have tons of great, hilarious, heart-warming memories of our time as a family with really young kids. With all those babies to snuggle and carry around on your shoulder, all that laughter and the silly phrases and off-key singing. They were fun, they were so cute, and our English language is lacking when it comes to words to describe the awesome feeling of becoming a parent. But I have never tried to hide the flip side of that coin, the other edge of that sharp sword. When you become a parent, and those early years of constant diapers, pee, shit, laundry, vomit, crying, being awake, being awakened, being sad, angry, forgetful, isolated, exhausted, uncertain and sometimes feeling none of it would ever get better. I'm not one to dress things up, to put on a happy face when it means denying your own experience. It is our experiences that shape us, that make up who we are. I cannot imagine my life without my kids, nor my personality without the breadth of my experiences.

 

 

When I look at my kids, I feel amazing, they are amazing, my life is full and rich and good. And when I drive by that house, I say a little blessing, that I made it through that marathon, and that I never, ever have to go back.

 

 

xoxo

C

We are fa-mu-ly

You know the song, right? We had a lovely opportunity to visit with my brother and his sons a few weeks ago. They are moving farther away this summer, and I wasn't sure how/when I could get us all down there to hug them before they left, so we were so glad they offered to come to us!

The gang at the park.

We chilled out, island-style. Went to the market, bought popsicles, played ping pong, fell asleep with the kids when we'd meant to stay up afterwards to chat. :) Ah yes, we're siblings, who are both now busy and tired parents. The catching up will have to wait until we have teenagers.

We took Leif's slack-lining kit to the park. It is a lot easier than it looks!

 

Leif and Hannah fought over who got to play with their younger cousin Emiliano.

Whereas Ivy didn't give a hoot about Emiliano so much, she had her buddy in town and wasn't going to miss a minute with him.

 Mmmmmm . . taco party!

We are really looking forward to our mega-family-road trip to go visit them this winter. Until then, it'll be all about Skype and the US postal service.

Love you Bro and my little nephew-Dudes!

xoxo

C

Simple Song

We (meaning Kit & I) are all over this video lately. We've tried explaining the details implied by the unsaid things in the video, the relationship between the parents, between the siblings, between the parents and the siblings, and how it was in childhood and now has played out into adulthood. We don't think they get it, but we know you will. :)

xoxo

C

Down at the farm.

It's funny that when the kids were little I loathed the petting zoo. Really, I loathed any community activity created for families, as I knew it would draw crowds of kids (duh!) and their parents and I am not a fan of kids or crowds. So I never took them to the little local farm. That was the Grandparent's responsibility.

Now that we are all older and more capable, we've been volunteering at the farm once a week since early spring. It is the perfect opportunity to let the kids choose to give back to their community, to volunteer, at something they enjoy, that they chose to do. I've struggled with the reality that our culture lacks many opportunities for kids to give back in a real way, not just with money, and part of this is that we've become so libelous, many places will no longer accept children as volunteers, even with parental accompaniment. So the petting zoo is one of our last bastions for kids to lend a hand and really feel like they're DOING something, really helping out.

Our jobs vary each week, but there are some basic tasks we expect to do at every visit.

We need to cajole the pony and donkeys, to get them back in their corral before the public arrives. Those guys know kids are not to be obeyed.

Finally, success!!

We need to change all the water buckets for the goats, after we help run the stampede of goats down to the petting area.

There are a lot of water buckets!

There are peacocks all over the farm, screeching their high-pitched calls and fluffing out their feathers. Yes, it IS beautiful, a spectacle of nature, but these guys do nothing but THIS all morning long, and honestly, they kind of get in our way. They're not quick to move because they want to be sure we've seen all their glory. They give you the eye, saying "Do you SEE this, how glorious we are? Are you stunned at our beauty?"  They don't get it that we're not peahens, we're hu-mans.

And frankly, the peahens don't care about the cocks feather-show either.

There's always poop to scoop. (The other side of Ivy's bucket says "Zoo Poo Patrol". She feels very responsible with this task).

Our reward at the end of our shift, when the daycare and school groups leave, is having the baby goats all to ourselves. They climb on us and chew our sleeves. We just sit there and let them fight over our laps, the little cuties.

I try to give my love to those tired mama goats. They like a good chin-scratch session.


On our way out we fawn over the baby pigs.

 It's a pretty good way to spend the day. :)

xoxo

C