Currently Listening to: Neon Bible by Arcade Fire (Thank you wonderful Hong Kong!)
So, I have been lost in cyberspace for the last few months. My apologies. Of course, I have a handful of valid excuses:
- Blogger has been inaccessible recently.
- The weather is wonderful now, which calls for long bike rides exploring the city (including my first minor bike accident!)
- Too much to get caught up on. I've made peace with myself that the last few months will go unblogged, but I resolve for remaining two months to be better!
Things to Think about: My family! My great-uncle died in February and then my grandfather just died last week. Those stresses added to both my parents beginning new jobs has made for an eventful spring.
Hong Kong: The entire season of Lent was spent anticipating my sister's visit. She flew into Shanghai two weekends ago for her spring break from college. We did Shanghai in a day, including going up the JinMao Tower, then shopping in the Old Town, and ending with a nice stroll on the Bund. Minus the rain, it was a wonderful weekend. We came back to Wuxi for the week since I still had to work. She went with me to school, helped me decorate my room and even cleaned my apartment for me (after I accidentally locked her IN the apartment...oops, don't ask!) Joy was such a trooper--she braved the streets on a bike and even made it through her first Chinese banquet successfully. On Good Friday, we ventured to south China by airplane in order to cross the border to Hong Kong by foot. We visited my friend from Calvin, who very skillfully played the role of tour guide all weekend.
We arrived late Friday and made the best of Saturday that we could. We started off by visiting a Buddhist monastery on a hill that had some amazing ornamentation. From there, we took a quick visit to Ikea, a book store and a music shop--my soul food in so many flavors. Throw in a little Italian food and I was all set to come back to China. From there, we visited some markets and then we took a ferry across the famous Victoria Harbor to Hong Kong Island. The skyscrapers were so tall and there were so many of them! We took the trolley up the mountain to look down on the city--it was a great view from the top. My day was made complete by eating Mexican food for dinner. It was a packed day, but I can say that I've been and, more importantly, actually seen Hong Kong. Easter Sunday was filled with a nice English fellowship, traditional Cantonese dim sum, and a flight back to the Mainland. It was certainly a memorable Easter weekend!
As seen on the tray table in front of us: "Derby the world in my finger"--do I even want to know what they were trying to say?
My sister, Joy, in the airport of "City of Joy": Shenzhen.
"No striding" the banisters, please.
The view from my friend's apartment.
"Stop Feeding Wild Monkeys!" What an awesome poster :)
The Monastery with the Hall of 10,000 Buddhas.
One of the outdoor statues at the monastery.
Could his eyebrows BE any longer?
A statue with 1,000 hands.
I finally made it to Ikea! Joy and I bought matching cheese graters that are both really fun and funky.
Did you know that "spitting spreads germs"?
The quintessential photo of the streets of Hong Kong.
Riding a double decker bus--the view from the top deck.
Victoria Harbor by day.
Tim and me on the ferry crossing the harbor.
Tim and me sporting our Calvin gear at the top (we're hoping to get in our alumni magazine!)
The amazing skyline that is Hong Kong.
The Meyer girls together again after one year.
The skyline at night--so cool!
"Escalator [it was more of a people mover] users wearing sandals/Please beware of the edges of the steps and mind your toes." I don't think I want to know what kind of accident prompted that sign.
Looking back at Hong Kong Island from the ferry at night.
The airlines provided some of the best English on this trip: "Hygiene wet turban needless wash"are more commonly known as wet wipes.
Well, that's all I have for now...
'Night
rpm
