Finally out of the house

Hi kids,

Woke up at 9 this morning, took a shower, did some odds and ends around the house, and finally got out of the house around 11ish. Our first stop this morning was the stationary store to get some wrapping paper to cover my luggage and then off to the post office. We were hurrying as fast as we could to get there because we were under the impression that it closed at noon on saturdays...turns out they close at 1 so our rush was pointless, lol.

Before I ever even came to Hong Kong, Ka Wai did some research and send me the link to the Hong Kong Post office with rates and such. Australia has restrictions that no parcel can be more than 20 kgs (44 lbs) and no more than 2.0 meters total with circumference and height. My dad and I both measured the pieces of luggage and came up with them being around 1.8 meters...but we measured them by length, then width, then height. Well the post office wrapped the measuring tape entirely around it and then did the height which put me way over! So you know what that means? Ka Wai's family just inherited two pieces of luggage! ARGH!!!!!

I was pretty upset about it, but hey-what are you gonna do...no point in being angry or a situation that you can't change. I bought two boxes at the post office and had to repack all of my junk into them. These two boxes were mailed today (mainly containing clothes) and won't arrive in Sydney until 6-8 weeks from now! I was really freaking out about not having any clothes to wear for 3 to 5 weeks upon arriving in Oz, so I bought a third box that I will be sending on monday by air mail containing my computer and a few clothing items. Looks like I'll be spending $200ish on shipping item. Pretty steep, but nowhere near the $1200 that I was looking at by sending it UPS.

After the post office fiasco, we headed to Tsim Sha Tsui (an area of Hong Kong over Hong Kong Island) for Yum Cha (yum-chow)! Yum Cha (or Dim Sum in the states) is a social event that the chinese do, most commonly on a sunday. You get together with friends and everyone orders a few different dishes that are all small portions...think of like chinese tapas. Ka Wai invited some of her friends to join us, so it was great. We had an incredible view of the harbor, the food was incredible, and the conversation was...well, it was a bit of a struggle. I'm really awful at Cantonese...all I'm able to say is "mmmguy" which means thank you, haha. When they speak to eachother, it sounds so harsh but they aren't yelling at one another (most of the time.)

Following Yum Cha, we headed to one of the local Starbucks to get a quick pick me up before heading to Mong Kok to do a little bargain shopping. We hopped on the metro and before you knew it, we were in hustle and bustle of the market. This place was PACKED! Everywhere you look there were just heaps of people, flashing signs, cars, busses, etc. The best way I can describe it is NYC x10. Josh and I bought some playing cards and Uno (figure we'll get our money's worth), a chinese fan (those will come in handy on those long bus rides without A/C), and some bubble tea (a tea with tapioca balls in it) while we browsed. I saw many things that reminded me of many of you at home...I would love to send them to you, but I think I've spent enough on shipping for the time being. Sorry kids!

Following Mong Kok, we went home and got ready to head out for dinner. I knew we were doing something a little special for dinner, but didn't know that it would be quite so unique. Before we arrived at the restaurant we pulled over at another market...a seafood market. We get out of the car and all you see tanks upon tanks with all sorts of sea life! I saw lobster that are THREE TIMES the size of the ones back home, no joke! All sorts of clams, scallops, fish, crabs, lobster, these weird slug looking things, and the list goes on. We bought 2 lobster (not the super huge kind, two smaller ones), a grouper, 4 huge scallops, and some of those slugs. They packaged them all up in bags (still alive), and off we went down the road to the restaurant. We get to the restaurant, the man at the door takes the bags, and we were seated. Within a matter of minutes, dishes were showing up at our table that looked strangely familiar...including the slugs.

If there is one thing that I've done thus far this trip is put my big boy pants on and tried some pretty unique cuisine. I've always been pretty good at eating strange things, but this is bringing it to a whole new level. I mean, fish eyes, chicken feet, pork belly, and sea slugs are alright and all...but I don't think I'll ever order them on my own. In general the food has been pretty good, I will admit.

Just got home and I'm worn out! I'm over my jet lag for the most part, but I still find myself being really tired toward the evening. Tomorrow Josh and I are on our own to conquer the city. I know we are going to Victoria's Peak, Deep Water Beach, another market, etc.

Oh, and please either e-mail me or leave a comment every once in a while! I'm curious to know who is reading all this (if anyone) and what you think about it. I've had a few people ask about pictures, but I'm afraid that those will have to wait until I get back to Syndey :( I'm not using my computer right now and don't feel right about uploading all my pics onto Ka Wai's computer. Don't you worry, I'll be making albums after albums as soon as I get back.

Night ya'll!