Big Time

Hi friends,

Sorry I haven't written much recently, I did not have much to say last week. My friend from NYC/Australia was in town this weekend, though, so I have a lot to report (but just a little bit of time today). Here is a quick recap of some of the things I did this weekend:

*will post photos later

Friday:

• Picked up Sarah at W Hotel Hong Kong. Woot, my first friend to visit in HK!
• Went to Rob's softball team's BBQ at coach's apt (this was fun)
• Went out after and fortuitously ran into some people I've been talking to on the job front (Hong Kong is a small but big city, and I find that I run into people ALL THE TIME here, despite the fact that I am half-way around the world and feel like I don't know many people. 'tis weird.)

Saturday:

• Took Sarah  to a tailor, where she had some beautiful silk suits made
• ''         ''       ''  The Peak, where we had a great lunch at my favorite Chinese chain restaurant Tsui Wah. I hear this is pronounced "chwee wah." I do my best to speak correctly. I was attempting to use the little Chinese I do know at Tsui Wah, and the waiters laughed at me and spoke back in English even though their English can be pretty bad! I reverted back to only speaking in English. This is kind of funny because while at Tsui Wah I asked the waiter if Sarah and I could "please order," as in "I would like to order our lunch." The waiter thought the word "order" meant "water" and brought several glasses of water to our table. After I held out the menu and vigorously pointed, he understood that we wanted to order. That is just one example of the language barrier you can find here
• Sarah and I attempted to go to Wonderfish, the spa that offers fish pedicures. I was a chicken and didn't go through with the beauty treatment, which involves sticking your feet into a tub of skin-eating baby fish. GROSS! (the fish must do a "wonderfish" job, as it is a popular place for tourists at The Peak.)

• We took the tram back down to the CENTRAL district and had shoulder and head massages at a more traditional spa
• Explored the Carnival that was taking place on my Street before Sarah headed back to her fitting at the tailor
• Rob and I met Sarah at the Penninsula Hotel to have a martini at Rooftop bar Felix. Tres chic! Watched nightly Hong Kong light show from window of bar
• Took MTR (subway) to WanChai, which is the red light district, where the restaurant Underbridge Spicy Crab is located. Had a HUGE, authentic dinner at Spicy Crab. I have a high tolerance for spicy food, but this rocked my socks off. We expected to dive into the spicy crab dish when it arrived at the table, but we picked at it like birds for the first 30 minutes because it was almost too hot to eat. I will return to Spicy Crab, but next time I will make a point to order the least spicy version of the namesake dish
• Worked off dinner by grooving and dancing at club Dragon-i. Fun place. Good people watching.
• Called it a night at the W Hotel. Sarah was very sweet and said that I could stay at her hotel one night. Because I have never stayed in a hotel in Hong Kong and because the W Hotel is supposed to be awesome, I readily accepted the offer. It is one of the coolest hotels I've ever seen. I could go on and on about the amenities.

Sunday

• Went to the Jade Market to check out the beautiful jade and pearl jewelry. This was a lot of fun.
• Ate a steamed pork bun for lunch at an authentic Chinese bakery. 
• Got lost and then got found wandering around Kowloon.
• Decided to go back to HK Island and get my bearings. I was tired. Sarah took the Ferry back to her hotel on Kowloon.
• Went to my friend JS' apartment and baked brownies for Rob...no easy task in Hong Kong, as most apartments (including mine) do not have ovens. 
• Watched Law and Order and crashed.

This weekend was busy and fun. It was GREAT to see Sarah and show her around. The activities involved copious amounts of good food, which provided stamina for trekking around on foot. It was SO great to have Sarah here. I hope more of you will come visit!

I would like to talk more, but I need to get back to studying. Have a great Monday, and I'll talk to you soon!

xx.