Winter in Hong Kong

I realized I haven't blogged since May! Wow! After school ended we had several visitors and then we moved and taught summer school. Then the actual school year started and it was very busy! I'm not any less busy now but I figure I should blog a quick post anyway.

Summer in Hong Kong was long and humid. So long that it seems we skipped right over fall and went straight to winter. I was in shorts and a t-shirt until just recently. Now I've finally begun to dig out some sweaters and tights and things like that. It's nice to have a wardrobe change. There's some things about Hong Kong in the winter that I really enjoy. Like the smell of roasted chestnuts. I always knew the words to the song "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" but living here I actually know what that smells like! Street vendors roast chestnuts, quail eggs and HUGE sweet potatos. Here I'm enjoying a snack of roasted quail eggs on my walk home. They are warm and easy to peel and pop in your mouth. Yum! The sweet potatos are good too and the chestnuts smell heavenly and taste great.

I live in the district of Tai Wai and I walk home through the central "area" and it's very local. I enjoy all the sights (but not always all the smells) on my way to and from the station. It's about a 15-20 minute walk that I find enjoyable. I can also take a taxi or mini-bus but I like the freedom and exercise of walking whenever I can.

Another thing that I found I like is Pho. According to Wikipedia - Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup, usually served with beef (phở bò) or chicken (phở gà).[1] The soup includes noodles made from rice and is often served with Vietnamese basil, mint leaves, lime, and bean sprouts that are added to the soup by the person who is dining. The broth is so flavorful and the things you add give it a unique taste and I couldn't stop eating it. A little spicy and just the thing on a cold day! Yum!

So, it's Christmas in Hong Kong as it is around the world and in some ways it's the same and in many ways so different. I don't watch local TV and we don't get commercials for the U.S. products here so I'm not bombarded with Christmas commercialism in quite the same way. The malls aren't any more or less crowded. However, the decorations are stunning if not at times a little tacky. I did go shopping last weekend in the district of Mong Kok on Fa Yuen street. The weekend before there was a bad fire that killed 9 people (in the residences) but a lot of the stalls got burned too. It was quite the sight to see. According to Guinness World Records, Mong Kok has the highest population density in the world. Awesome! It's an intense shopping experience but fun nonetheless. So that takes the place of crowded U.S. shopping centers and malls! Christmas music is piped into every store and even the train stations and they don't care what Christmas carol it is. There is no censorship of the phrase Merry Christmas. It's all good here.

This year I got together with a new friend, Lauren, and we made homemade Christmas cards. It was so fun and lucky for me she had all her scrapbooking materials from the U.S. and blessed me by sharing them freely! I cannot tell you how my crafting/creativity has been stifled here due to lack of materials! When I go home in a week one of my main objectives is to bring back certain supplies that will enable me to live out my Pinterest dreams to my hearts content. (look up Pinterest if you don't know what it is - I am especially in love with all the craft and DIY ideas I find on there). Making the cards was like therapy! I NEED to be creative. More exciting creative projects to post about in the future I hope but I can't share anymore now! Well, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!