there's always time for food in HK

last week, i got to hang out with one of my best buds, Shawn, when she and her dad stopped by HK for a brief visit. i wanted to take them all around and show them the best that HK can offer, but the weather was muggy and overcast, and they didn't have time. so we took the harbour ferry to see the night skyline, and then did what everyone who visits HK always ends up doing, which is EAT all day long! from dim sum lunch with dessert, to pre-dinner desserts, to a tasty Chiu Chow chinese dinner with desserts... see a pattern here?

it was so wonderful (and surreal) to see them in HK. i last saw Shawn a few months ago when i visited her in LA. the last time i saw her dad was 10 years ago when Shawn and i were college roommates at Berkeley!

come visit again! we'll go back for more Hainan chicken with flavored rice!

ackkkkk!!!

i woke up to a very unpleasant surprise this morning.
there was cockroach in our apartment!

LUCKILY, Larry hadn't left for work yet when he spotted it in our living room and killed it. *whew* i don't know what i would've done if i was by myself!

i'd actually just woken up right after he'd killed it. the first thing he said to me was "umm, i have to tell you something. you're not gonna like it" (never good to hear first thing in the morning). when i walked out, i saw it, and screamed. good thing it was dead already!

it must've crawled in through the living room window which we'd left open throughout the night, even though we only left a crack of 1 cm wide. jeez, those monsters can squeeze through any narrow crack, huh?

the freaky thing is that we've been leaving a few windows open during the night to let in some fresh air (our apartment gets unbearably hot and stuffy), and we've been leaving the bedroom window open as well. but this window is literally 3 inches away from my face. if a cockroach crawls in through that window while i'm sleeping inches away, i'll have a heart attack!

i'll admit that i have a severe case of insect-phobia. especially spiders. basically i'm terrified of all insects (except ants and flies, they're just annoying). cockroaches are pretty damn freaky, we just never came across any in California, but Hong Kong is infested with them. they skitter across the sidewalks in HK, and i'd sprint away from them. but we've never had one in our own home before, and it's not like i can just run away and expect it to disappear.

that's it... i'm never leaving the windows open at night anymore! and i'm reluctant to open them during the day now. the choice is between letting cockroaches in or not having fresh air, so clearly i'll have to sacrifice the fresh air.... which really sucks because i just found out that i have asthma, and blasting the air-conditioning all day and night makes it worse for me... =( dude, this suuucks...

(shaking fists) damn you, roaches!!!!!

one fish, two fish...

we went fishing over the weekend with friends. we went to a man-made fishing pond in the New Territories where a supply of fresh fish is manually added to the pond three times a week so that people can fish there. it felt a bit odd fishing at a small body of water where the supply of fish is "planted". it just seemed a bit "unnatural". but i guess there's a better chance of catching a fish if you know there are fishes in there and they're all confined to a pond.

in the 3 hours that we were there, our friend caught 2 fishes... she was the only person in our group of five to catch any. larry had 3 misses- by the time he reeled in his line, the fishes had escaped each time. meanwhile, a couple to our right kept catching a fish every 20 minutes. they probably caught about 8-10 fishes total. some people just have all the luck.

when we checked out, they weighed our catch. i guess they felt bad that we had caught only 2 fishes between the five of us, so they actually gave us 2 extra fishes for free! how cool is that?! that would never happen back in the States. in the States, if you end up not catching a single fish that day, they'll say "too bad, better luck next time!", and that's it buddy! there's no way they'd throw you some free fishes just because you didn't "catch enough"!

last night, Larry cooked up one from the catch, and it was yummy... :)

stretchin' it

i finally did it... i'm finally taking yoga classes!
i just made the commitment in joining a 1-year membership at a yoga studio.

in the last few years i've heard about how wonderful and healthy yoga is, and how good it's supposed to be for the body and mind, and improve flexiblility, balance, and relaxation. even my doctor recommended that i take up yoga to help ease my sleeping problem. for years, i've had the intention to give yoga a try... but i guess i just never got around to doing it. but since many friends here in HK are really into yoga and there are tons of yoga studios conveniently located around the city, i became motivated to try it. last week i took my first two trial yoga classes at a yoga studio with two other friends, one of whom was already a member. my other friend and i went ahead and signed up for a membership, and we vowed to take the classes together to serve as motivation for each other.

so far i'm really enjoying the yoga classes... although the last class was pretty intensive and now, 4 days later, my muscles are still sore and aching! but i'm really looking forward to the health and toning benefits of yoga. hey, doesn't Madonna practice yoga? and look what great shape she's in at her age!