Feb 12 & 13 Local shopping, HK Univ, Incense at the Temple

Mon., 12 Feb, 2007 Around town:

John left me with a few errands to run today, get some Splenda packets for the office, find a tailor who could reproduce a simple garment that had been in our guestroom in a plastic bag (I had no idea what it was, but figured something for work so didn’t ask), arrange for the other corporate apartment to be cleaned (some people are coming in for a week), & get some local stamps to mail some bills off. This would normally seem like a simple list, but I knew the easiest looking thing on it was going to be the toughest, finding Splenda packets.

I started out at the desk downstairs where you arrange for house cleaning. The guy there, Simon, was the one who told me all about Chinese New Year & is always very helpful and nice. Good start. He had stamps for me to buy, but to send the 2 USA letters he said they charged $30HK as a service fee (guess they have to get their money somehow). That is almost $4US, so he suggested I just find a mailbox. I arranged for the apartment cleaning, although not the dates John wanted as everyone is off for the week of the New Year. Guess I can do some cleaning. He also had the name of a tailor, which he called for me.

Mrs. Poon doesn’t speak any English, so Simon told her what I wanted & she said she needed to look at the garment, but it shouldn’t be a problem. Simon gave me very exact directions to Mrs Poon’s shop which was straight down the hill from our apartment, near where I was wandering on Saturday. This was an opportunity to explore a new location, so I was glad to go. Simon’s directions were good except for the building. Good thing I had the address written in Chinese because there wasn’t anyone around that spoke English. I went to a few tailors in the wrong building & they were not very helpful. Finally the guard of the building showed me that I was at the wrong address, I needed to be a few buildings over. I found Mrs. Poon & she was very nice. We seemed to make ourselves understood & she pointed to the calendar & showed 2 weeks to come back. She wrote down $350HK as the price, so I didn’t argue since it is for the business. It is for 2 of these kind of bathing suit cover things with pockets. She’s getting material & all, so $45US isn’t bad. I can’t sew, so I think it’s worth it.

Since I was in a new part of the city I decided to venture on down the street instead of catching a bus. I crossed the street & there was a vendor with a microphone strapped to his chest selling & demonstrating some cleaning stuff. These people are all over the place, it is like live infomercials & they always have the microphone turned up so loud, it’s just funny. Next to him was a little storefront that was filled with chairs & women in white coats. I hesitated & was immediately confronted by a man in a suit. He started poking at my neck & shoulders & saying “velly bad, velly bad. You much need my lotion and rub.” I realized that he was selling some Chinese healing lotion & these women were applying it with massage. There were 3 men & a woman in the storefront (all open, no door or front, just an open area with chairs). The men all had their shirts off & the women in white were rubbing their bellies & poking them with some black animal horn looking thing. One of the men was down to just his underpants & the woman was rubbing all over. I was a bit nervous, but one woman spoke a little English & said “You no good blood flow in neck, make you velly sick. You need me rub special Chinese medicine in you neck to make you no mo bad health.” She told me to sit & started rubbing. She was ruthless & really hurt, but it felt great. She used her fingers, then her elbow, then she got the black horn & dug that into my pressure points. The medicine must have a lot of menthol in it because it cleared out my sinuses & felt wonderful. She worked on me for about 10 minutes & charged me $200 with the medicine ($25US). I probably got ripped off, but it was fun & I could feel the medicine for a good 30 minutes afterwards.

On down the street I came across a small shoe store. The prices were very good, so I picked up a pair of thongs (shoes, not underwear) that felt comfortable. I haven’t worn shoes like this for years, the thing between the toes always bothered me, but those were the old flip-flops. I’m hoping these will be better. I also got a pair of brown leather slip-ons that are casual but nice. Now I’ve ventured past knock off crocs to some real shoes. The cost was about $12US for both.

On down the road I passed a small electric supply store. The lights in the apartment have bothered me since I got here. They are just light bulbs coming down from the ceiling. I’ve looked everywhere for covers for them with no success. It baffles me that they don’t have light covers. The man spoke English & knew what I wanted & said I would not find a light cover, ‘It isn’t something we have here.” he said. I thought that was the end of it until a few stores down I noticed in the window a frosted globe shaped light bulb with small flowers painted on it. It was very attractive. This looked more like a large supply store, as other than the 8 light bulbs on display in the window it was just filled with large boxes. The man called up to a woman who came down & spoke English. I pointed to the bulb & said I wanted 2. The man went off & came back with 2. Asked if they were screw in & I said yes (what else is there?). He took each one out of it’s box & tested it in some special sockets he had next to the counter. How nice that they make sure they work before sending you out with them. I was very excited about finally having some nicer lights (isn’t it always the little things that really drive you nuts?).

I felt like my day was going very well, so it was time to attempt the really tough task of seeing if I could find Splenda. I had stopped in a few drug stores & grocery stores along the way, just to check, but it was hard enough just to find the regular sugar (seems like the keep it hidden). The only artificial sweetener any of the had was Equal. So, I headed for the MTR station & City Super, where I’ve been successful in buying Splenda in the past. It was a good walk to the station & to the store once out of the station. Unfortunately they only had loose Splenda, no packets. It seems you either find one or the other. OK, on to Great to see if they might have it. I was not feeling optimistic. That required another MTR ride to the next station, then the walk through the mall to get to the store. Again, very tough to find the sugar section. I haven’t figured out how they arrange their products. There isn’t a baking section like I’m used to where everything you’d use for baking is grouped together. I think it is because they don’t really do much baking here. Well, they didn’t have it either. Time to give up, I wasn’t going to go all the way to the other City Super, I’d already been out about 4 hours on my missions.

Went home & emailed one of the women at the office, Sophia, who lives near the other City Super & asked her if she would take a look for it. She was glad to do so. Thank goodness. At least I got most of my duties accomplished. I found out later from John that the garment I’m getting made at the tailor is for John’s boss’s mother or something like that. You’d think he makes enough money that he does have to send me running around HK finding a tailor to get it custom made. It is just a terry cloth one piece shorts/top thing for wearing over a bathing suit. I think had I known that ahead of time I might not have been so accommodating. It is funny, the people with the most money are the ones who send us out for the copy watches & handbags.

I almost forgot, those light bulbs that I was so excited about, well there are other types of bulbs besides screw ins. The ones in our apartment have 2 prongs that stick out & they just give a slight twist. So the great bulbs with the flowers have to go back. Whaaaaaaa!

Queen’s Rd again. Return light bulbs, kitchen products, red packets, new years stuff, McDonalds, Man Mo Temple, uphill home
HK Univ.
Tues. 13 February 2007 Out on the street again & some culture

This morning I got out early & did my Morning Trail walk. I didn’t do the entire walk, just to the top of the steep part. I figured that got me the most exercise for my time. It was an overcast morning, but I wasn’t going for the view. Still pretty warm here, I worked up a good sweat. I’m guessing the temp is still in the upper 70’s.

I decided I might as well return my light bulbs & see what else the guy might have. I took a sample bulb from the apartment to make sure I got the right thing. I headed on down the hill. I did pretty well finding the place I needed & even avoided the shoulder massagers. I’m sure they would have found something else velly velly bad with me. The light bulb man only had one flower bulb in the type I needed, so I settled for one flower & one regular. Oh well.

I got some New Years stuff, chocolate Chinese coins, cards, red packets (for putting the money in), some year of the pig items that looked fun. I also went into McDonalds, but not go buy food. They are having a promotion & the Happy Meal toys are these Sanrio figures. If you don’t know about Sanrio, they are the people that bring us Hello Kitty. There are tons of other characters, my favorite being Bad Batz Maru (a bad ass penguin with a Mohawk). So I’m trying to collect the set just for the heck of it. Bad Batz isn’t released until next week. I also found some kitchen items I’ve needed. It is good to find some regular stores where the locals shop.

On my way home I made one more stop. I promised one of my best friends in the entire world that I would light some incense for her at the local temple & send up some good stuff to the Gods that be for her. She has surgery scheduled for tomorrow, so I’m just doing my part. Whatever you believe in please say a prayer or whatever for her. I really do believe in the power of positive thought. The friend is Sue Lezon, but I won’t go into details as that is her story to tell, but I figure the more positive thoughts the better. I have observed enough “temple behavior” to know just what to do. I went to the incense table & bought a really big pack of small sticks & a pack of 3 really big sticks. I’ve observed that more is better & bigger is better. I walked in & lit the incense at the appropriate place. I’m not sure which Buddha is the one for good health so I hedged my bets & gave them all a few sticks. This is what most people do anyway. I think each one represents something specific. I focused on the one that looked the meanest, I figured he’d be the one to scare away anything bad. He was black with a really big black beard. He is probably the Buddha of war, but sometimes keeping healthy can be a war. I included some positive thoughts & incense for a few others (Kathy’s friend Lynn & my high school friend Leroy who are all struggling with health issues). Apparently this temple is for those believing in Buddha, Confusious, & Taoists, so that covered a good bit. On up the hill I passed a church & said a few prayers outside there too, just in case.

When I got home I looked up the University of Hong Kong, which I have discovered is right down the road from us. Turns out the have a museum with a few interesting looking exhibits. After lunch, I walked on down to the University. It is about a 15 – 20 minute walk, but no hills – yippee! One of the exhibits was paintings by a Chinese artist who lived in Canada. The paintings were Chinese style, but Canadian scenery. They were really wonderful. There was also an exhibit of photos around Hong Kong. I always wonder about photographers, sorry Sue, but most of these photos were blurred night photos of lights tracking. They looked like the photos that I delete after taking them because I jiggled the camera. I just don’t get it. Guess I’m not artsy enough yet. There is also a tea gallery in the museum. They explain the different types of tea & tea ware & you can buy a cup. I didn’t get any tea, but plan to come back with my friend, Sarah next week.

On the way home from the museum I passed a Community Center, so I went in to see what it was about. Turns out they have Tai Chi & line dancing classes. I think I’ll pass up the line dancing, but the Tai Chi sounds good. She said the teacher speaks English, so it would be a good choice. They have it twice a week, but classes have stopped now until after the New Year, so I’ll have to wait until the end of the month. I’m excited to have found this though & it is only a few blocks from the house.

All in all it was a good day. I feel really good about the things I discovered. I’m going to see what else is at the University, I’m sure there are lectures & other things going on. My friend Sarah was supposed to go back to the states yesterday for a court case (she’s a lawyer), but at the last minute the client settled out of court so she doesn’t have to go. That is good news for me. We are getting together Thursday to go to the New Year’s market & have lunch. Tomorrow I meet with Heifer International for my training to go out to the schools.

Happy & healthy thoughts !!!