first cny away from home.

wow, given the frequency i blog at, i cant believe i haven't blogged for almost a week! =P erm...and so i spent my first cny away from home. of cos the feeling is different, and the atmosphere is different. just to let you know what has happened in the last 4 days....


we had a steamboat (fyi: the europeans call it hotpot) reunion dinner, but i thought it was slightly disappointing cos though the food was okay, it was pricey and not filling! haha =P and they dun seem to have a buffet culture here. oh, i thought the restaurants will be bustling with people on new year's eve, just like those back home where you probably have to make reservations way in advance for the more popular places, but no, kowloon city was almost a dead town.

and while the rest slept till 3, 4, 5pm on chu yi (=P), i got up at 12noon to head to the temple, cos that's what we usually do on the first day of new year so i decided to keep the "tradition".


i went to wong tai sin, and goodness me, there were so many people lah~! i was lost for a while cos i dint know what set of joss sticks / incense paper i was supposed to buy, but fortunately it wasnt that difficult after all. at least not as difficult as squeezing through the crowd and figuring out how / where to light the candles and joss sticks cos it's kinda different from the practice back home. i had to borrow a fire, and i'm glad some auntie came to take over my candles when i was done cos i dint know what was appropriate to do with them. and i had to squeeze with the rest of the world you see in the photo to get to the main altar where i had to put joss sticks. i stood in front of the urn for the longest time trying to get near it cos i was just being jostled left right centre by those aunties and uncles who were just PUSHING their way through. -_- lucky i have long hands man. it was quite an experience lah i must say. =)

i dropped by mong kok (which for once wasnt crowded, though it wasnt a ghost town either) to have my favourite dumplings and carrot cake (my stomach was bursting cos i forgot that it was quite big a portion). and then i decided to go look at peach blossoms (i think that's what 桃花 is called in english right?) at a park in tsing yi, which is super far away, like only a couple of stops away from the airport. if i had my passport and a strong-enough urge, i would have flown home. haha =P


saw the olympic countdown clock at central on the way to tsing yi =)

and i thought tsing yi park was quite a nice place to be...the serenity and the fresh air. haha =P


the view from the lookout...and i saw these people there taking photos of something.

for a moment, i thought they were reporters trying to take photos of something that only happens during cny, but after a while, i figured that they are probably photography enthusiasts taking photos of some interesting phenomenon.

erm they were taking photos of some kind of birds (can you spot them in my photo? sorry lah, no DSLR cannot zoom so much. hahaa =P), but what exactly is the interesting phenomenon i really don't know =X was tempted to ask a lady who was there looking with a binoculars, but with my very limited and broken cantonese, i decided not to. haha =P

and seeing these orangey trees made me feel like i wasnt in hong kong, but somewhere in korea for some odd reason (i think it was in autumn in my heart that i saw trees like these? =P). i think it's a pretty sight =)


and finally the pretty peach blossoms! but i think i went a little too early, cos they are not in full bloom yet. erm i wonder if i will 走桃花运 just by looking at them? hahahaha =P


finally met the rest of them - who were pretty high cos they slept sooo much! oh, and this is the first photo jinli has with her new cap on. lol =P

we had a steamboat (again!) lunch on the second day, but this time round it was at ivy's home. ivy is another singaporean here, but she's a full-time student. it was so freaking filling and satisfying! YUM YUM! oh, and it was half the price too! haha =P


and thank goodness she has a webcam so i could go online to meet my paternal extended family when they were all at our place! =) =) =) i was elated to see them, and it was kinda exciting and funny too! and i saw my little neice and nephew, so cute! haha =P it's good to know that some people actually miss the noise i make (LOL =P) and that people at home do care. really leh, the wonders of technology. i miss the atmosphere and all the goodies (thanks for tempting me with all the food can -_-) back home, but well, i guess being away from home will make me grow up and be stronger? =) hopefully man. haa.

oh oh oh, i'm glad the others 迁就 me and braved the crowds (thank you! =D) to let me watch the fireworks! though we dint have a full view of the display at the harbour, i guess it was good enuf! =)





i took a couple of videos too, if anyone is interested... =)


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i woke up at 1plus on saturday, caught up with shixiong (we havent spoken in ages!) but the sun was shining so brightly that i felt i just had to be out there to soak in the sunshine! =) so i went for a walk, passed by 2 parks - saw boys playing soccer / basketball, kids running around on huge green spaces, an elderly couple playing badminton (awwwww), 街坊们 gathering at park benches for a chat, and parents bringing their kids out to cycle. such a 悠闲 afternoon, i like. =)



this reminded me of a scene in some hong kong drama. imagine this exact same scene at night, you know how the couples / couple-to-be will talk in the parks, or someone will be consoling someone else or sth? haha. can visualise or not? =P


and this reminded me of a typical HDB estate... =)

i walked to a place called kowloon walled city park, which dates back to the qing dynasty. i dint know we can find a place like this in hong kong. i guess hong kong isnt just about the shopping, food and the skyscrapers, there must be a rich history behind waiting to be discovered. it's a good place to seek some peace and solace. maybe one day i should return there with a book (imagine layming saying she's going to read!) and while the whole afternoon away =)


the 2 stone plaques that read "South Gate" and "Kowloon Walled City) were found at the south gate during the excavation and preserved in-situ. COOL.

this was the yamen, which was later used as a centre for the elderly (if i dont remember wrongly what i read when i was there). and this is the only whole building that's left behind from that era.

206 vanishing point! haha =P




and i met up with my sister's friend today to get some more goodies from home! =D belachan! yay! haha. trust me, it's super difficult to find good chilli here man. =X and my little spring rolls with hae bee! =) i brought her around a bit...felt good that i could be a little tour guide - as if i've been here for a long time. haha =P and i tried very hard to use my limited canto. AIYO. -_- i really hope i can go home with an improved level of canto man. trying lah, trying very hard.

okay, i think i broke my own record for the number of photos posted in a single entry again. i think i should update more frequently so i dun have to spend so much time uploading so many photos =X and it's incredibly late (okay, very early) now. shant say how early, cos my mum will nag and nag. haha =P my body clock is all screwed up already anyway. lol. time for bed, seriously. =)


p.s. my stomach is growling~! -gasp-