10,000 Buddha Temple

June 20, 2007
Happy Birthday Dad!!

Today I finally made it to the 10,000 Buddha Temple. It is out in the New Territories, but not too far out, just two stops past the MTR station on the KCR (Kowloon Canton Railway). The directions are not marked very well, but I always carry my trusted map book with me, so I knew what direction to head. It was just a short walk past an Ikea store (they haunt me) & some business buildings to a narrow path heading up the hillside.

Not far along one came upon life-sized gold painted Buddha’s lining both sides of the path. Each Buddha was completely different and very interesting. I started to take pictures, then realized that if there are 10,000 (actually the book says there are more like 13,000 now) I might want to hold off on the photos until I got to the top. There were a few along the way that I couldn’t resist. The very Happy Laughing Buddha & the surprised Buddha where 2 of my early favorites.

There are supposed to be over 400 steps up to the main temple, but it didn’t seem like that many. They were low & easy steps & it wasn’t that steep. As you got closer to the temple some of the Buddhas were painted other colors besides gold. Some had animals accompanying them. At the temple there were Buddhas surrounding a courtyard – one had an arm that looked to be about 7 feet long. Another had white eyebrows just about as long. I like Buddhism, they seem to have a lot of fun with Buddha. I think Buddha must have been a fun guy to hang out with.

The temple was nothing really special, except for all the tiny Buddha lining the inside walls. The building was painted a bright pink. There was also a 9 tier pagoda in the courtyard. There was a higher temple that was closed for renovation, but on the way up to it there was a Buddha with little arms coming out of his eye sockets. That one kind of freaked me out! Take a look at the photos, they are better than me trying to describe them.

It only took me about an hour from leaving the train station to returning to it. Although the climb was not that strenuous, I sure did work up a sweat. I’ve taken to the HK custom of carrying an umbrella to create some shade for myself. Also have learned to always carry a cloth with me to wipe the sweat. I guess these are tropical tricks they use to help survive the heat. By the time I got to the train my shirt & pants were almost completely soaked with sweat. I guess the local folks don’t sweat as much, because they all looked fine & were giving me some strange looks. Oh well, I refuse to just stay inside.

I had to stop by the office to drop something off. While I was there they had me try the rice roll that the cleaning lady had made for them. I guess this is a special rice roll that is to be eaten on the holiday that occurred the day before. It was wrapped in green lotus leaves & had to be steamed. I split it with Karen & was glad I did. It wasn’t very good. It had some strange mushrooms in it & some really dry beans, pork & egg yolk. I made believe I ate it all up, but actually threw most of it away. Just some strange tastes that I guess I’m not used to. If you can believe this, lately I’ve been craving a fish sandwich from McDonald’s. I NEVER eat at McDonald’s, but for some reason I just want some horrible, but familiar Western food. Guess I’m ready for a trip State-side.

10,000 Buddha blessings to all of you!!

June 17, 18, 19 2007

I’ve decided that I need to get back into touring HK. If you can believe it there are still things I haven’t seen yet. So the blogging will continue!

Sunday June 17 – Father’s Day
Believe it or not we spent most of the day at the newest mall in HK. Don’t really believe this city needs another mall, but now we have “mega box”. It is 17 floors of shopping! I’m sure some of you are thinking that we must be nuts to want to spend Father’s Day at a mall, we must have really gotten bitten by the HK bug & are becoming locals. WELL, not that fast, we have not changed that much. Does it make more sense if I tell you that this mall has the only regulation size ice hockey rink in HK? Now you know why we fought the crowds to be there. Sunday happened to be the final day of a week-long international ice hockey tournament & we wanted to check it out. We only saw the adults play & it was men’s level hockey, nothing special, but it felt good to be watching real hockey again. Otherwise the mall was good as malls go. The ladies at the office are very excited because there is a store there that has a large arts & crafts section, like you might find in the US. This is a first for HK, so very exciting!

Monday June 18 – Heritage Museum
My intent was to go to the 10,000 Buddha Temple which my guide book said was at the same train stop as the HK Heritage Museum. The guide book said to get out at the north exit & follow the signs. I didn’t see any signs for the temple, but saw them for the museum. So I went to the museum. The area was nice, along a river with mountains all around. Still lots of buildings, but more suburbia (well HK suburbia).

The museum was worth the visit. They had a special exhibit of relics found in 2 grave sites in Central China from the ancient Shu civilization. I’d never heard of this, but the artifacts were pretty impressive. Huge bronze heads & gold masks. Seems to have been a very sophisticated civilization & it seems to have just disappeared. The calculate it was 3000 years ago. There was also a photography & camera exhibit that I’d like to take John back to. All black & white photos from all over China, but many from HK. Also a Cantonese Opera exhibit – I didn’t find that so interesting. It was lots of costumes & posters. A Chinese art section that was interesting. Finally there is a HK history section. This was interesting, but I think I was too tired from having seen the rest of the exhibits to really appreciate it.

The most interesting thing was a film about the Chinese holidays. It explained what they do for different holidays in the area. For the Bun Festival the build huge (60 feet high) towers & cover them with buns (yes the kind you eat) & some guys race to climb the towers & throw the buns down to the people. The higher up the bun is that you get the more luck you will have in the coming year. There was another festival where people through old chicken feathers from their window. A specially chosen teenage boy from the town has to go around collecting the feathers & puts them in a paper boat which is then burned, to signify cleaning out of the old & bringing luck. There were several others & mostly they have to do with burning big paper effigies of bad gods for good luck. I guess when you have a culture that has been around as long as China’s has, there has been lots of time to develop many interesting traditions. I think it is great that they are so good about keeping the traditions alive.

The best part about the visit to the museum was the gift shop. I was just looking around & I was shocked to see that in the display of little animals that stand on pedestals & you push the bottom & the wiggle & droop – there was a hockey player. I couldn’t believe it, no other sports represented, just animals & a hockey player. Of course I was tempted to buy it, but thought, no that’s silly. Then I picked it up & looked at the back & it was #21! For anyone who knows us well, 21 has been Brooks’ number since he first started playing hockey!! Well, I figured it had to be there just for me – karma! So of course I bought it & he stands by my computer to remind me of my little hockey players.

June 19 Tuen Ng Festival
Dragon Boat Races in Stanley

Yet another holiday in HK! I think John said the staff gets 18 public holidays. It’s no wonder they have to work on Saturdays!

This festival commemorates Qu Yuan, a 3rd-century poet-statesman who drowned himself to protest against corrupt rulers. The people loved him so they throw flowers & other things into the water so the fist will not eat him & he will be protected. I guess the dragon boat races began because the churning of the water from the paddles also distracts the fish so they will not eat Qu Yuan. Most people say, its just an excuse for a holiday!

I got on the bus around 9:30 & got on at the initial stop as I thought it might be crowded. I was right. The bus was packed, but I managed to get a seat. I was glad to see that most of the people on the bus got of at the beaches we stopped at before reaching Stanley. This was a holiday for the Philippino maids & most of the people on the bus I realized were maids. They had bags full of food for bbq on the beach. They do have a good time their days off.

On my way to the beach I encountered as the US Consulate team. I had to take a photo & one of the women asked me about my camera (I had John’s nice Nikon). Of course we struck up a conversation. I ended up getting her card, so now I have an in at the Consulate. Also funny that she is from Greenville, SC; so we are almost neighbors. She’s an information management specialist, so I’m not sure she’ll be able to help me with any favors, but she seemed really nice.

Once down on the beach, it was the usual happy, festive, crazy, disorganized crowd of people that are at all HK festivities. There was the usual horde of men with huge cameras pushing & shoving to get their shots. There were dragon boat teams in colorful shirts all over the beach along with the spectators just enjoying the show. The beach was very narrow, so most people were up to their thighs in the water, which was pretty filthy. I was relieved that I got through without getting the camera wet or dropping the lens cap into the water!

I have the feeling that not many of the teams take winning that seriously. I think it is more a chance to have a day off & hang out & enjoy the festivities. Having fun seemed to way over shadow winning! Many of the teams were dressed up in special costumes for the occasion. The Nordic Paddlers wore baby blue caps with silver horns protruding from them. An Asian team was dressed in baby clothes with pacifiers & caps. The women were in pink & the men in blue. The HK police team all had black & white striped shirts & their drummer was a very sexy woman dressed in a very short & revealing police outfit. Another group had a drummer dressed like a Nordic goddess all in gold with huge conical breasts & blonde braids. The US team had an Uncle Sam look alike & another guy with a woman’s blonde wig & lots of tattoos. Another group of men were dressed in black tank tops with gold wings on their backs & wearing bee antennae that were covered with gold sparkles. There was a group of men that had pink feather wings & little halos.

So you can see that for many it was more about the costumes & fun than about the actual race. The boats are long narrow wooden boats, which are supplied by the sponsors of the event, so the just keep recycling the same boats for every race. There are enough boats so that one race it going on while the next group is getting ready. The bow of the boat has a dragon on it & a large drum. There is a drummer in the bow, 18 paddlers & a helmsman in the stern. Each race had 8 boats & they seemed to run about every 15 minutes. They started at 8:00am & the final was at 6:30pm. So you can see, there were lots of people there. Although it was fun, it was also scorching hot. I only stayed about an hour & then had to leave to get out of the sun.

Maybe next year I’ll figure out a way to get onto a team. I think that is where the real fun is.

So Happy Tuen Ng Day everyone!!!

Making Cheesecake in China

Cheesecake
June 14, 2007

The short version (I’m trying to be more brief):
Making cheesecake seems like a simple enough task. I took on this task for someone’s birthday at the office. Found a recipe that didn’t involve using my oven, which I still have not figured out even with a thermometer. All the ingredients were easy enough to find, EXCEPT the graham crackers for the crust. Went to 6 stores and never did find graham crackers, but City Super had the Keeblers ready made crust – EUREKA!

It didn’t occur to me that cream cheese doesn’t get smooth & creamy if you mix it by hand. Back to City Super to get an electric mixer (only stopped at one other store first). Now the cheesecake is completed & it only took me 2 days to make it. So next time you see a shelf full of graham crackers, please think of me!!

The long version (for those who have nothing better to do):
So, it’s been a while since I’ve written in my blog. We’ve had visitors, so there wasn’t time while they were here. Then I thought about doing the daily blog thing about what I did with the visitors and it just seemed too overwhelming, for me & for the readers. I’ve felt a bit lost since the boys left last week, guess I just need to get back into my daily routine. There is more exploring to do of HK, but it is so bloody hot outside that I think I’ll have to put it off until the fall. The indoor options include the few museums and of course there are the ubiquitous malls. A new one just opened with an Olympic sized ice rink. There happens to be an international hockey tournament there this week, so we just might join the hordes & hit the new mall, for hockey, NOT shopping!

I was mentioning to Jen Pribble that I didn’t really think I had anything interesting to write about if I wasn’t out exploring new places. She said her friend just writes about her everyday life & sometimes it can be rather funny & entertaining. This week I thought about that, so I’m going to tell you about my cheesecake experience. A seemingly simple process made difficult in a foreign country.

Anyone who knows me will not be surprised to know that I am the Mom at the office. When someone has a birthday, I take a request & make a cake or pie. Seems everyone so far has wanted pies, because you can’t get them here. I finally found a place to buy pre-made piecrust (I’m just not very good at making it & I HATE rolling it out), City Super. This is one of the stores that carries lots of western items, but it means a trek down the “hill” to get to it. Last week was Ruby’s birthday. Ruby does not like anything sweet, so she is a challenge. She finally admitted that she does like cheesecake, so I thought that would be a fairly simple request. She was away for her actual birthday, so I said I’d bring in the cake on Friday (tomorrow).

My wonderful sister sent me a recipe that does not involve baking. This is great, because I still have not figured out my oven. It either takes hours to cook something that should take 30 minutes or it overcooks things that I put in for a shorter than called for time. I have a thermometer in there, but it still doesn’t cooperate. My sister says maybe it’s the altitude since we are on the 31st floor – right!

The cheesecake recipe has very few ingredients: graham crackers, butter, cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk & lemon. SIMPLE I thought. I found everything except the graham crackers at our local store, I was very excited. I know the crust can be out of any cookie, but the choices here are not great & Ruby doesn’t like chocolate or anything very sweet. I went to 6 different stores yesterday looking for graham crackers. They are so commonplace in the US, but nobody here even knew what I was talking about. I felt like when we moved to NC & I asked for Fluff at the store & they didn’t have a clue what I was talking about, but at least they spoke English, well sort of.

Finally, at the 6th place, City Super (why didn’t I just go there first?), I found pre-made graham cracker crust, no boxes of graham crackers, but this would be fine. Interestingly, they had about 4 different varieties of crusts made by Keebler. Those cleaver little elves! This is also the first place I’ve seen brownie mix other than Betty Crocker (which we think is too cakey). And the brand they had, Ghirardelli!! I’m excited (this is a Father’s Day treat, not regular fare). It’s interesting the things you get excited about when away from home.

With crust in hand I felt like I was all ready to complete my task & have cheesecake in the office on Friday as promised. So today, Thursday I made the cake. The only cream cheese you can get here is the regular, so it is not as soft & creamy as the Neufchatel that I’ve used in the past. I let it sit out so it would soften. I even used fresh lemon juice. I mixed everything together with a spoon & realized that cream cheese mixed by hand doesn’t get smooth & creamy. Lumps are OK with mashed potatoes, but not cheesecake.

We don’t have a lot of storage space, I don’t do too much cooking, and we won’t be here that long so we had avoided getting many electrical appliances that we won’t be able to take home (different plugs). I decided it was time to break down & get a mixer. Checked the closest place I knew that had kitchen items, Japan Home Store, but alas, no mixers. I figured I might as well go right to City Super. This involved walking down the hill to the mall, but I managed to find a time today when it wasn’t raining & made the venture back to City Super. I am happy to say that I found the mixer. They even had a manual one, but it was tiny & the electric one was not much more expensive. AND best of all, I didn’t have to go to Ikea, that would have been my next attempt!!

So the cheesecake is now well mixed & hopefully nice & smooth and creamy. I’ll take it in tomorrow & hopefully it will be good (they won’t tell me otherwise). I got some mango, kiwi & strawberries to put on top. We get the best mangos here & I’ve become a mango addict. If you’ve never had mango & sticky rice, go to a Thai restaurant & get some, it is wonderful!!

I guess you can make a story out of simple daily experiences, especially when you live in China. It might not come across as amusing as I thought it all was at the time. Just funny how something that seems like it will be so simple can consume so much time & energy. Another example, today after completing the pie I went to the local Italian deli (about a 10 minute walk) to get some hummus (the only place in the neighborhood that I’ve found it & it is very good) and they were sold out. I know, why didn’t I get some when I was at City Super today – I’m asking myself that same question! That was a wasted 20 minute walk, except for the exercise.