It was Eurotrip bad…

During my last few months in University, I had a hard time transitioning to ‘adult life’. I dreaded the thought of routine life and to delay making life decisions, I resorted to Law and Order marathons. Before I started growing couch potato sprouts, I came to my senses and made a pact with my best friend. We decided that we were going to spend some time abroad before we had to ‘settle’ in Canada, under one condition: we should do at least one trip together Anthony Bourdain style.

"Aye Aye Tony!" My idol celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain travels around the world eating anything and everything and still has not gotten diabetes. 

In 2012, we did a border-run from Hungary to Croatia to avoid overstaying our Schengen visa (a single visa granted to visit most EU countries). This is no longer possible because Croatia had entered the Schengen zone earlier this year. Unfortunately, since this trip was planned very last minute, it was ‘EuroTrip’ bad…

Zagreb was one of those trips that was plagued with moments where we failed to appreciate the city.

We took a four-hour train from Budapest to Zagreb. At the Croatian border, my friend was suspected to be a gypsy stowaway and interrogated profusely by passport control. After she had recited the entire second page of her passport, the officer hesitantly let her through. On the other hand, while I was nervously trying to recall my passport’s date of issue, it was already stamped.

When we finally arrived, neither of us had small Euro bills so we exchanged a total of 5 Euros, praying that it would be enough for a few hours. Walking to the city-centre with less than a handful of Croatian Kuna coins, we made a terrible decision to spend half of it on an extremely garlicky langos. 

Langos - A deep fried bread served with sour cream, garlic and cheese

For the rest of the day, we had to endure each other’s terrible breaths. Nevertheless, there was some attempt on sightseeing.

The beauty about ex-Yugoslavia is that it’s a perfect blend of Central Europe and the Mediterranean - urban blocks filled with Neo-Classical buildings with vibrant colours in the backdrop often not seen on the mainland.  The church of St. Markos was at the top of a hill. Its rooftop was made of colorful tiles, almost reminiscent of a tapestry. 

Llubljana, the capital of Slovenia, is one of the most picturesque capitals of Europe

The Church of St. Markos with its tapestry-like roof

Unfortunately, instead of appreciating the church, both of us were distracted by the scarily long line of people waiting to confess and began to speculate what their sins might be. This conversation got so weird that we felt the need to leave the church.

In the remaining hour, we attempted to tour more of the city, even getting interviewed by a local tourism channel. When asked ‘What are you doing in Zagreb?’ on the big screen, I answered that it was a ‘nice day trip from Budapest’. I can imagine the local residents cursing when they saw this. People like us have given Zagreb the notorious reputation as a ‘border-run destination’. The sad truth is, we could lie about our visit but we were so ignorant that we didn’t know enough about the city to do that.

The main square of Zagreb 

The botanical garden with exotic trees, including beautiful white oaks. 

In the final hour, we went to the local grocery shop, attempting to buy refreshments for the remaining 4-hours back. There were significantly more fresh ingredients in a typical Zagreb supermarket over a Budapest one. While we geeked out over the nice salads at the deli counter, we were also quite touched by how friendly the staff were as well. At the checkout line, we had a loud conversation discussing whether to buy bananas or a plastic bag with our remaining change. After garnering many judgmental stares from other customers in line, we realized that the English fluency in Zagreb is also amazing compared to Budapest. At this point, it was clear we had overstayed our welcome and headed back.

Unfortunately, we found out later through Lonely Planet that, ”Zagreb is an interesting and underrated European capital, with a huge coffee and café scene...If you have that image of Italy or Paris, sitting at a café and watching the world go by, that's preserved in Croatia”. The bottom line is, even if you have terrible experiences on a trip, the importance is to laugh at it and don’t take life so seriously.

Chiang Mai – A Real Side of Thailand

One Year in Asia Challenge – May Picture

Time Left in Internship: 6 months

Countries visited: 5 (Malaysia, Japan, China, India, Vietnam)

Countries left to visit: 6 (Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan)

Number of times moved flats: 3

Avg. Number of homemade meals/week: 2.16

Avg. Number of workouts/week: 1.5

Love for Hong Kong: 70%

Comments: Doing fine!

As an expat, my life revolves around traveling, happy hours and hosting dinner parties. Occasionally, I spend a Saturday afternoon at a café trying to figure out life.

A lot of my friends back home are curious as to how I can get by with so little security, having to start over from scratch with every move. I tell them that I don’t manage that well at all - in exchange for the fun of living abroad, I have a minor crisis whenever it’s time to move on. However, comparing to my mindless wandering of four years in University, I definitely prefer this more.

There’s an old saying that, ‘When you’re making the right decisions in life, lady luck is on your side.’ I just have to trust that if I’m pursuing what I enjoy, I’ll eventually end up where I’m meant to be. Until then, I will make the most of my unsustainable lifestyle.

Next up on To-Do List - Thailand

In my life, I have collected a handful of elephant key chains from different people coming back from Thailand, each of them telling me stories of crystal clear aquamarine waters, stunning transgender dancers and amazing nightlife. I wasn’t going to see any of these stereotypes on this trip. I chose to go to the North of Thailand - Chiang Mai instead, where a decent side of Thailand still remain that hasn’t been chipped away by bachelor parties.

Once again, we managed to find a family to stay with. Our hosts are a family of working professionals looking to give their boy more exposure to other cultures. Ironically, since we were not early-risers, we had the most interaction with the grandmother who didn’t speak more than five words of English, who would always patiently wait for us to get our bums out of bed.

On our first day, I woke up to the sun shining on my butt, missing the host parents completely. While doing the walk of shame down to the living room, our host grandma greeted us in the sweetest voice, ‘Sawatika!’ and smiled at us as if we were her own grandchildren. Then she introduced us to our first quest - 

She pointed at a map that was laid out on the table. My eyes widened when I saw the map. It was a vivid illustration of the old city, a medieval citadel with a reddish brick fortress, surrounded by a moat. In it, it was filled with temples and many ancient ruins that resemble Cambodia’s Angkor Wat. Our host father had circled a few important landmarks. This felt like the intro page to a fantasy online role-playing game. She then pointed us to two bikes that were prepared for us.

We were going to bike through a sacred ancient city….

Dun-da-dun-tah, dun-da-ta, dun-da-dun-ta, dun-da-ta-ta-ta. Off I go with my trusty bike and fedora!

The Four Trials of Chiang Mai

Watering the Relics of the Buddha

Many Chinese traditions are deeply rooted in Buddhism, we pray at temples, burn money for our diseased family member and pour wine for the kitchen gods, despite all this, many people are not aware of the religion’s basic principals, viewing it more as a lifestyle instead. Coming to Thailand, I’ve seen what this religion is really about. I’ll save you the lecture on origins and scripture texts. My key learning was that life is too short, let your demons go.

Coming back to our incredible biking adventure through the ancient town. We unintentionally discovered what I consider one of the most beautiful Ancient ruins I’ve ever seen. 

Behind a popular temple decked out in gold was the forgotten ruin of Wat Chedi Luang, what used to be the epicenter of the town during its early days of development. We circled it with our bikes and I couldn’t help marvel at its magnificence. The temple has survived many earthquakes over the course of eight centuries. Although the elephant sculptures that once adorned the temple were no longer complete, I can still see what an architectural wonder this is. It resembled Mexico’s most famous pyramid, Chichen Itza. However, the difference here was that I was getting a VIP tour with no authority to boss me around.

While I was sitting right at the foot of the ruin, I noticed a pulley installed on the top of the temple and at the ground level, a water pail. Beside this station was a white board full of illustrations with Thai captions. The only English explanation said ‘How to water the relics of the Buddha’.

The pulley leading to the top of the temple

A challenging workout later, we successfully gave the holy remains its daily bath. I later realized that I was so out of shape that I injured my wrist. However, this was definitely worth it!

Learning to Cook Thai

As an avid cook, one thing that we absolutely could not miss was learning the secrets to Thai cooking.

We spent an entire day at a farm outside of the city where we made an eight-course meal that we proceeded to eat within 5 hours. Needless to say, we skipped dinner that day.

Taking ages to make curry, definitely prefer the packaged version

The famous Khao Suey Curry, very similar to Singaporean fried noodles

Mango rice, you have no idea what it took to get the rice that colour

Enjoying our homemade meal

Day of Randomness 

We signed up for a full day tour that was advertised as a visit to the elephant sanctuary but should’ve been called ‘The most random things about Chiang Mai squeezed into 8 hours’.

First of all, the tour arrived in a ‘bus’, which was essentially a truck with benches. We bonded with the other tour members while hanging onto a very bumpy ride.

We then paid a visit to the village of the beautiful long-neck women. These women start wearing brass-coils at age five and each year they wear a longer coil, which elongates their necks. The original purpose is to protect them from tiger-bites. Since some of them were catholic and spoke English, we had a nice chat with them. It appears that they originate from Burma, however due to war they were displaced and came here instead. Fortunately, they have successfully adapted to their new life, making handicrafts while their husbands work in a nearby industrial center.

Afterwards, we went to the advertised elephant camp. Unfortunately, it was not the elephant sanctuary as we imagined. Instead of giving a baby elephant a mud bath, we were riding them through a river during their lunch hour. I think I was just as uncomfortable as the elephant. It was also extremely sad to see them in chains. That is the last time that I’ll ever go elephant riding.

Nothing is more spontaneous than going white water rafting with a group of young boys who developed their own rules. I have never been a fan of extreme sports and this trip has been full of it. After getting a tutorial in broken English. We embarked on the rafts and were told that to maneuver the boats in fast rapids we have to physically all move to the right or the left of the boat. I somehow fell off the raft when my friend came to my side too fast and bumped me off. Initially we all panicked as I drifted through the rocks but I was in no apparent danger with my helmet and lifejacket. The hardest part about this rescue was when I lacked muscle power to climb back on the raft and two other people had to help me. The next thing I knew, everyone wanted to try it and we were all drifting in the water.

At the end of the day, I took a painkiller and made a note to myself to get a Thai massage.

Flying through a forest like Tarzan

I regretted signing up for this the moment they push me to the end of the platform. The thought of jumping off a tree with an entire valley beneath me was extremely scary. However we had a wonderful service team that would push me off when they were fed up with my cowering. Eventually I got over my fear of heights and was able to enjoy the thrill of flying like a bird. Unfortunately, I chickened out of the abseil and begged our servicing team to carry me down.

The forest we flew through

Flying monkey 

Right before I freaked out at the sight of the abseil

So this is the end of my Indiana Jones adventure. Until next time!

My Big Fat Mid Autumn Festival

While most of my friends back in Hong Kong are enjoying their 'almost' day off as the Bunny Typhoon missed the island this morning, I'm on an extended Mid-Autumn holiday with my family in Chengdu, China. 

In the 5th day of a traditionally one-day celebration, the feasts continue! I'm completely bloated and my taste buds are dying! Sichuan food is absolutely delicious but I do need my weekly fix of white pasta.

So, what am I doing in China?

Mid-Autumn Festival happens around the first full moon of Autumn and it is one of the most important Chinese holidays. You can think of it as our Thanksgiving, it calls for big family gatherings, an elaborate feast with exotic ingredients, and anything that resembles a full moon, from mooncakes to pomelos.

My grandma’s family originates from the province of Guangdong and migrated inland during WWII. Together with her family of six siblings and countless uncles and cousins, they settled in the oldest neighborhood of Chengdu and lived in a traditional Chinese residence called 四合院 Si He Yuan, essentially four small houses surrounding a square courtyard. Life was never boring here. I can listen to their stories for hours about their popular pastimes revolving around a white lily tree, their favourite food vendors who would sell them a beef pattie for a mere 10 cent RMB and what they endured the Cultural Revolution. In the family album, I can see a picture taken in the courtyard right before my grandma headed to Beijing to teach, a youthful version of herself surrounded by ten or so kids.

Today, this family has grown tenfold. It’s a running joke in the family that if everyone showed up we will need a proper banquet hall with five big roundtables.

So instead of my usual lazing around on weekends, I decided to celebrate it with the biggest family in Chengdu.

With my youthful 85 year old grandmother

Family photo
Back: My Grandma and her siblings, cousins and in-laws
Front: The children (including those who are in their 30s and 40s)

Myth confirmed – Chinese women do not age

The last time I saw everyone was over 12 years ago. This past weekend, I had no problem recognizing anyone, because they all pretty much look the same, minus a few grey hairs. A lot of people attribute this phenomenon to genetics, however I think it has to do with how you take care of yourself. If you ask anyone in my family what is the key to longevity, they’ll tell you it’s keeping fit, eating well and a healthy attitude. The occasional Chinese mother will tell you that alcohol’s bad, but my great grand mother lived until 89 and she had a shot of liquor everyday.

The Myth

You cannot refuse food

One thing that will impress any Chinese host, is your ability to eat everything that is given to you. Who am I kidding? You can't really refuse food even if you wanted to. Lines like ‘I am really full’ and ‘My stomach is going to explode’ are rebutted with, ‘It’s good for your health’. I’m actually also guilty of this, when serving dinner to my friends, I give them more than they want because a part of me thinks they’re too shy to admit their actual appetite ;)

You'll bring back with you more snacks you eat in an entire year

Whenever you go visit a relative’s home, you will inevitably come out with bags of snacks. I’ve been told this will continue happening until your 30s. Right now, I have a desk drawer full of snacks that I share with my colleagues.

Top 5 Mid Autumn Feast Countdown – The most memorable foods this holiday season

5. Mooncakes with Sausages

Forget the lotus paste, this is the future of moon cakes. The sweet crust resembling shortbread is paired with a pudding with Chinese sausage bits. The balance of the sweet and salty taste makes it very addictive.

4. Smoked Rabbit

I have eaten some weird stuff in the past, but never a rabbit. We got this from a family owned deli down the street. I imagined that the children went hunting in the park and brought back dinner. Apparently, wild rabbits have lean meat and very low in fat. It tastes delicious, better than chicken.

3. Chatang (Literally Oily Tea)

A popular afterschool snack in the olden days. It is essentially a plain millet porridge topped with a dash of a salty paste, breadsticks and spring onions. Maybe I’m old at heart but I loved this! It’s like a healthy alternative of the Canadian poutine! 

2. Beansprouts with Mushroom

This dish was served at our feast and I couldn’t resist the crispy sprouts in its cold soup dressing. It is so simple to make: a cup of vegetable broth, thinly diced mushrooms and carrots and fresh sprouts that you can find at any wet market. Mix them together like a salad and voila! You’ve got a refreshing and healthy dish.

1. Baby cucumber in garlic

Another favourite at our table! There’s something about the sweetness in baby cucumber that work really well with garlic. I guarantee you that your breath won’t be a deal breaker after eating this.

So there you go, that's what you can expect out of a typical holiday in China! I hope you get to enjoy one of these yourself in the coming future!

The Remnants of Communism - Ho Chi Minh City

I’m standing before an intimidating road where hundreds of motorcycles and rickshaws make their way through the afternoon traffic. Alongside me are some spring roll and crafts vendors, some of them still soliciting me even with my back turned. I almost fell into a trance staring at the red headlights, probably due to the exhausting journey over. Suddenly my friend grabs my hand and we suicidally wonder into the traffic. Cursing to myself along the way, I can’t slow down because apparently that could be ‘dangerous’. Praying that the motorbikes will dodge me, I literally held my breath until we reached the other end. That is how you cross the road in Ho Chi Minh City.

Hordes of motorbikes travelling at less than 5km/hour in the congested traffic

With my quivering legs, we then managed to have a wonderful night wondering around a city where communist themes have been built into a French Colonial landscape. What is different about this city is that you can sense the restlessness in the people, who cannot wait to thrive in this developing economy.

   

The French Quarter 

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Vietnam was top on my list of countries to visit in Asia. I am among the thousands of tourists wondering into Vietnam annually just for the food, having no idea of the rest of the country. What we end up with is a significantly more emotional trip than we expected.

To start, our flight there was cancelled due to a rainstorm. Since it was Easter, many travelers had to postpone their plans for the long weekend and were stranded in the airport. A random of few of my friends also had their flight cancelled, so we assembled our own little camp to pass time together. While wandering the terminal looking for up-to-date flight info and a phone plug, we saw an elderly man collapsed due to exhaustion. At this point, I could sense the cabin fever settling in on most of the population. About 5 hours into the delay, I felt like I was in a social experiment - angry travelers demanding updates surrounded the customer service desk. Fearing that things may get out of control, security came around with big guns. That night, I saw the inside of a Hong Kong hotel room for the first time since moving here. They’re not as small as I thought.

8 hours into our trip, still in Hong Kong and headed for a hotel in TST

Twelve hours later, we finally arrived in Ho Chi Minh City. After we checked into our hostel, the number one priority was to dash for food. 

When it’s too hot, just find somewhere to eat

There's a decent Vietnamese population in Canada and every kid would've grown up with the delicious taste of Pho (Rice Noodle Soup). I often wonder why it's so damn good, then I finally put two and two together over my visit. Vietnamese food belong to a category of subtle cooking, much like Italian food. It makes its legacy through keeping the seasoning simple, so to not overwhelm the natural taste of the ingredients, but supplement it instead. 

Here are some key ingredients you can find in practically any corner of HCM city in the early morning: - Condensed milk: It can keep so it’s used in a lot of tea and coffee to add richness, which leaves you savouring more than your regular Starbucks drink.
- Rice noodle soup: It's cooked with a few of spices that blend perfectly to give an unexplainable flavor that is often craved during exam period.
- Rice paper: It doesn’t even matter if it’s wrapped around grass, once you dip it in a tangy or peanut sauce, a bite is absolutely euphoric.
- Banh mi: The King of all Vietnamese food. A French baguette with pate, pickles, salami and grilled pork. When the vendor heats it on their makeshift grill, the pate melts into the baguette, making it soft compared to its crusty exterior. I had about five of these when I was there.

Vietnamese coffee made with condensed milk

Spring roll fillings 

Banh Mi

Last but not least, Pho!

A Country Never Forgets…

The Vietnam War is still fresh in the minds of most of the population. It was less than 40 years ago that this nation was torn apart by bombs, chemical weapons and the foreign military. This is a country with a bloody past, having been constantly invaded for the past millennium. Yet, its people never stopped fighting, until they finally got the freedom that they deserve.

Sculpture depicting a peasant woman offering her family's ration to a soldier

All throughout the city, you can see propaganda telling the people to never forget the atrocities committed against their people. Our visit to the Vietnam War Museum was probably one of the highlights of our trip. It told us of exactly what its people went through, with no censorship. There is an entire gallery dedicated to Agent Orange victims, which I had to think twice before entering. Whether the museum was biased or not, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Children crying for help after a Napalm attack

We also had the opportunity to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels, the headquarters of the Communist Viet Cong during the war. Although small and stuffy, these intricately dug tunnels hosted resistance forces up until their victory. We took a dive ourselves, 20 meter of crawling later, we gave up...

Five very claustrophobic minutes later in the Cu Chi Tunnels

Despite such a sad past, nowadays tour groups from the US, China and France flood the sites where their nation once occupied. We live in an age where holding a grudge is a silly thing to do. Vietnam looks forward, after coming a very long way.

A part of me knows that I didn't really scratch the surface with this country, but however short this trip is, I'm glad I didn't miss it altogether! 

Back to the Roots

I realized I’ve been absent from here for close to a quarter. I’ve gone on a few trips and just hibernated in between!

It started with flying back to the birthplace for my first ever Chinese New Years celebration in over 13 years. Before this trip, anyone and everyone warned me about the air pollution. At the time, I would just snicker and think ‘amateurs’. However once I flew in I felt like Ben Affleck landing on an asteroid, I guess I didn’t know my hometown as well as I thought.

As soon as I got back to our family home I found everything to be frozen in time. My grandma sat in the exact same arm-chair, eyes glued to the TV on some generic soap opera about a polygamous royal marriage, the decades old telephone with the same address book that I scribbled my classmates’ numbers on and my pencil boxes left untouched in the desk drawer. There’s nothing cozier than changing into my pajamas and going into couch potato mode with my grandma. Over the course of the following week, I put on all the winter weight I missed out on in Hong Kong as my entire family of food enthusiasts feasts our way through Beijing. We’re like a tornado- we come fast and leave nothing behind.

I went on a hunt for childhood mementos around town. I used to bike through districts looking for McDonalds’ with my classmates, go to the zoo with my dad but get distracted by the nearby arcaded instead, visit the fanciest theme park with my grandpa because it had a merry-go around, race with my best friend on finding the shortest route back from school and play for hours in the campus garden. After recognizing nothing but a rainbow arch among the financial district that fell out of the sky, I decided I might as well go sightseeing with my friends like a first-time visitor. That actually wasn’t bad, I hiked the Great Wall in -7 degree smog-free weather, visited the festival fair with half of Beijing and saw five motorcycles in full motion in a circular cage at the acrobats. Every-time they brought in another motorcycle, I gasped louder than the most visible foreigners in the room. I’m glad I got to see two different perspectives of Beijing and appreciate both of them. Sometimes the touristy things aren’t all bad.

Evidently, my identity crisis peaks whenever I’m in China. I’m fresh off the boat enough that I can still pass off as a local but my mannerism, thought process and delay in response throws people off, the result is a confused audience wondering if I’m slightly retarded. So it seems that I should start brushing up on my mandarin so I can still speak it by the time I’m raising kids.

The best part about my trip was learning about holiday traditions with my family. My dad felt the need to reference other holidays in explaining Chinese New Year’s. On one hand I’m shocked that he thinks I’m so ignorant but sadly, I had no clue for example that Chúxī (除夕) is equal in significance to Christmas Eve for the Chinese. I proceeded to talk the ears off my family asking about what festivities happen on each day of the festival.    

I’ve always been proud of my hometown, I get quite obnoxious about it and tend to bash any competition (i.e. Shanghai). However as it now seems, a lot of it lives in my memory and my friends and family have all moved away. In all honesty, the continual facelift will probably render Beijing completely unrecognizable in five years. This makes me realize that memories are precious. I better start using that new camera!

What Do We Live For?

I had just cruised from one end of the Penang national park to another at the cost of a frozen yogurt in Hong Kong. The boys that operated the motor-boat smiled at me as they collected my life jacket. I had no doubt that these young men enjoyed their jobs as much as racing cars, they were the princes of this coast. Looking back to the rainforest, we cannot believe how far we had trekked. The day was so far so good. 

We immediately gravitated towards the smell of coconut curry as we climbed up the hill. We had our eyes on the food shack Mum and Papa's even before our hike. The owners of the stall were an elderly couple famously known throughout the island for their cooking. As our meal was being served, I felt like a little kid making it home just in time for dinner. We curiously asked the lady what was her favourite thing about Penang. She replied, 'Penang is heaven. We have plenty of sun, a beautiful nature and the people are simply just happy.' Together with her husband, they were born and bred in Penang with a multicultural heritage. Everyday, they get their groceries from their neighbours and cooks for the entire community and the occasional travellers. Internet and TV is not important in their world, their kids can play for hours in the nearby waterfall. Their family could live like this for generations, born and dying happy and free.

Coming from a career-focused culture where people are constantly stressed to feel a sense of worth, I wonder why we can't just be happy like these islanders. At the end of it all, are we valued on how much money we make or on how much happiness we feel?

My Malaysian Odyssey

Although I didn't know anything about this country, I had fantasized about living here for a very long time. Since I was in the area for the time being, I just absolutely had to visit. I wouldn't be able to eloquently convey my impressions of Malaysia. This is not a country that fit any stereotypes, I was constantly blindsided by what it can offer.

Roaming around Georgetown, the historic centre of Penang, I felt like I was at the World Expo. Ladies and gentlemen, to your right you can see pastel-coloured colonial architecture common in Latin America and on your left you will see a neighbourhood typical in pre-war Shanghai. If you look straight you can see a mosque, a Buddist temple and a Baptist church. Somehow these ethnicities managed to coexist with little conflict and adapt into a whole new culture. This doesn't happen in most parts of the world.

Breakfast with our favourite host

This phenomenon also led to Penang to have the most friendly people on earth. Our homestay host took us in like we were his own kids. He took us to his favourite food shacks, drove us off the beaten path and introduced his friends who just as awesome. We celebrated our trip by going to a retro karaoke bar on Christmas Eve. I'm thankful for Glee or else I would not know any of the songs. At a downtown restaurant in Chinatown, a fellow customer helped us order Hokkien food and instructed us on what combination of condiments tasted best. On our last night, we were practically treated like family at the local church's Christmas service. This was a place where I didn't feel silly smiling at complete strangers, wasn't worried that I would be ripped off because I'm a tourist and didn't feel embarrassed asking ignorant questions. Now that's what you call chicken soup for the soul.

Lost in Food Heaven

I can go on and on about the food. Naturally, I'm in a satisfied and very bloated state post-Christmas. Imagine wondering past a food shack every five minutes, how do you resist not having five meals a day? In fact I think if I lived in Malaysia, that photoshopped photo of chubby Sandra will look pretty accurate. I can still recall the tangy taste of the fragrant Laksa soup noodles, the tasty rojak salad dressed in hoison sauce and peanuts, the greasey but mouth-watering Hokkien char goey teow and the freshly baked roti served with the curry of the hour. I tell myself that I deserve to binge eat in Asia because last year in Hungary, Asian food was something that I would have only on my birthday. This helps me sleep better at night.

I'm slightly sad that such a great cultural experience was over, but I also missed Hong Kong (I guess this means that I have become fond of the place). With New Year's Eve and the Spring Festival coming up, could I ever be bored in Asia?  

Out of Comfort Zone

When I decided to blog, I wondered what kind of thoughts I would be publicizing. Initially I wanted to write about up and coming entrepreneurs, business savvy artists and geeks or nomadic freelancers. I also wanted to dedicate a blog to fascinating women who defied all odds to thrive, such as the likes of Anne Boleyn or Malka Zimetbaum. Finally, at my farewell party in Budapest, I realized that even though it was incredibly difficult for me to leave this community behind and that many did not want me to leave, everyone supported me in reaching for my sky-high and slightly obnoxious goals. I felt like I must make the most out of life or I would be letting a lot of people down. I'm hoping that this blog has helped spread some of my hopelessness :)

I've been in Hong Kong for three weeks now and it's been a Behemeth of a roller-coaster. There have been days where I wake up on the wrong side of the bed, line up for over 20 minutes for coffee and get bumped into five times on my way to the MTR and a few hours later I would be sitting in seawater in my soaked hiking clothes and hearing nothing but the sound of seagull cries and children laughter. Similarly, I could be eavesdropping on Cantonese conversations at work, deciphering thick Hindi accents at a Diwali celebration and making friends with fellow Torontonians in LKF. Hong Kong is emotionally and physically exhausting and I'm loving how I'm always hovering outside of my comfort zone and testing my limits. After all, that is why I chose the life of an expat.

Unlike other Asian tourists, I don't normally read up on a city before going there. Mostly because unexpected travel plans sweep me away like a Tornado and dumps me somewhere with enough junk to have a decent holiday. Despite my ignorance, I've managed to put together a checklist for Hong Kong.

Checklist Hong Kong

1. Enjoy a piping hot latte at the highest point in Hong Kong - Check. The best thing about hiking all the way to the top of Victoria Peak is that there's a Starbucks up there that serves the inappropriately dressed visitors. The clouds can't cover the magnificent view of the Hong Kong skyline during the night-time, it's like a mega-souped up pin-ball machine.
2. Go to a lecture at a local University - Check.  I'm not particularly fond of school but it's interesting to see how courses are taught differently due to location. We attended a talk where the local community leaders of Christianity, Islam and Judaism come together and discuss how their religious texts contribute to/disagree with the UN Declaration of Human Rights. Hong Kong is a magnet for brilliant academics and inspirational businessmen. These eye-opening opportunities is one of the main reasons that I targeted Hong Kong. 
3. Go hiking every weekend - Check. Whereas some people need to party until they blackout to distress, I have developed an affinity for hiking. It takes me about a good minute to catch my breath at the end of every hike (I swear I'm more out of shape than smokers), but looking back to how far I've come is just so satisfying. This must be how athletes feel like. 
4. Get mistaken as a prostitute - Check. I've learned that if you're all dressed up to party and waiting for your friend, put on a sweater or a perverted business man will think you're a 'siu ze', a prostitute. 
5. Indulge in street food in Mong Kok while window shopping - Check. The difference between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island is dramatic. Whereas the Island is a popular destination for foreigners and full of extravagant shopping centres, Kowloon is much more modest and authentic. The district of Mong Kok in Kowloon is where the locals like to hang out, where you can get great food and pretty shoes at a decent price. Amazingly, getting the attention of a street food vendor is close to impossible if you don't scream out orders in Cantonese. I think I've got 'Ya go gai', 'one chicken kebab' down to a tee. 
6. Hold a dinner party and serve my famous vegetarian lasagna recipe
7. Hike to the Peak in the early morning after a night at LanKwaiFong and catching the sunrise
8. Dance to Mariah Carey’s ‘All I want for Christmas is You’ on the streets in LKF during the festivities
9. Camp out somewhere in Central on Sunday like the hard-working laborers
10. Organize/participate in a scavenger hunt
11. Ride in the top level of '1904 est' tram. 
12. Go to a horserace
13. Go fishing (what a patient sport)

Well, I'd like to think that I'm off to a good start in Hong Kong. It seems like I'll have to be extra ambitious this year in my New Years' Resolution.