Sunday, February 04, 2007  11:53 PM
Soaring above the storm
I sprained my back after a game of virtual boxing. I can imagine myself breaking my back if I ever do box in reality. Too much Nintendo Wii which includes tennis, boxing, bowling, baseball and golf, and rounds of mahjong later, this is truly a life I never pictured myself in. A great invention I must say, I never knew you could play tennis almost like in real life. You serve, hit forehands and backhands like how you would with a normal tennis racket, and the machine picks up the signals from your actions, and somehow you're playing a virtual tennis game. Technology is more advanced than I thought. I'm still living in that world where you play virtual tennis games sitting down and you punch buttons to get various combinations. And mahjong is highly fun and addictive, I can hear Cheryl saying I told you so already.
My first hotpot experience was unforgettable, and one I wish I could have everyday back home. And in the cold weather, hotpots are the best food ever. They have every single type of fishball you can imagine here in Hong Kong, with cheese filling, crabmeat filling, vegetable filling, you name it, they have it. The people living in my hall are truly God-sent, I happened to mention how I've not had hotpot since I arrived, and immediately they set a date and organized one just for us. This is what the locals do, and I love it. They sit for hours in the common room with the hotpot in the centre, cooking and talking and watching Hong Kong drama serials at the same time.
I love my literature class. It's the only class I'm really actually enjoying here - we watched clips from The Joy Luck Club during the last lecture and I loved it. I sat with my chin in my hands and for once, my mind wasn't wandering on what I would next eat, do or wear. And my new friends from my lit class are absolute fun and it hardly feels like I've known them only for a week, people I've prayed about meeting, to walk down Causeway Bay with and doing Confessions of a Shopaholic for the group project. God is truly gracious, and He still amazes me at how much He's provided. The girls took me out for KTV and shopping at Mongkok on Saturday, and they seem really intrigued by stories about Singapore. We speak in a mix of English and Cantonese, which is really funny, because I still speak haltingly and I know my tones are all wrong, but they somehow think it's good. And they're amazed at my lousy ability to read Chinese words.
Billy invited us to his home at Tseung Kwan O and I really enjoyed meeting his family and the warmth and cosiness of his apartment. His parents were extremely hospitable and even gave us red packets before we left even though it's not even Chinese New Year, and treated us to a lovely dinner at a restaurant near his place. I've experienced so much warmth and generosity from the people here in Hong Kong, and they've carved out so many positive memories of this place. I was just saying how I could imagine myself living here, if I had no attachments to family and friends back home. As much as Hong Kong is similar to Singapore, it's also vastly different. They have so much more culture, that intricate mix of old buildings and modern skyscrapers. They have local food, a local language and I deem it the best place for shopping in Asia. Give me a place at Happy Valley or at Mount Beacon, that luxury condomininum I walk past every day when I walk to school, transport my family and friends over, and I'm here to stay.
5 comment(s). Your thoughts?
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