Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Late night theories continued...


福 (pronounced "fook"), is "luck, or fortune" in English. If you are Chinese/Taiwanese or have friends that are I am sure you have seen this in around (on calenders, on the wall, back of the door, above the door, etc..) I find it to be an interesting word..
old people sometimes say 沒有福氣 (or to have no luck) if they don't have kids that care for them when they are old.. or they don't have much money... or live in an old home.. etc.

Recently, I was talking to a friend from Korea whilst in Hong Kong and I came to the realization that 我有福氣 (I am lucky, or I do have luck). I have always thought that I was someone who didn't take anything for granted and had little sense of entitlement. I was telling my friend how I was staying with my uncle and the things I have been doing... he told me wow you are really lucky there are not that many uncles and aunts that would house you and feed you for so long even though they are family.. looking back I see that a lot of things fell into place, my mom was the only girl in the family so she was pretty close to her brothers because they took of her and she took care of them.. so I was fortunate to be always around my favorite uncle's family when I was younger. Even now we don't talk and see each other as much now, its still really cool to be back in HK and still hang out and be cool with them and talk. Like they say, "you can pick your friends but not your family"... and even though every family has a black sheep (my family has a few..) I am extremely appreciative of mine...

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Back from my Motherland..

Back from a one week vacay from Hong Kong... it felt so nice to be back since the last time I went was 5 years ago. Unfortunately, I didn't take much pictures because I didn't feel like a tourist so I hardly brought my camera out. Things haven't changed much in Hong Kong..

Going back to some of the places where I grew up and roamed as a kid brings back some fond old memories, made me reminisce. Basically the Hong Kong trip was EAT EAT and EAT MORE. We always met friends and family for lunch or dinner =P However I did do a little sightseeing and experiencing; went to Macau and discovered that they mainly play Baccarat there and Craps is hard to find and Poker even harder... people that go there are real gamblers or ballers they drop mad cash at the tables.. didn't sleep much that night, it was definitely something I will remember for years to come. I also went to Cheung Chau which is an island 45 min ferry away from Hong Kong. We got there to walk around and ate some REALLY fresh and good seafood there (tried this type of long clam that i never had before)


I learned to appreciate the casualness of many Hongkongers because in Korea EVERYTHING is bali bali bali.. hurry hurry hurry, for example not everyone is running to transfer to the next train or pushing people out of the way to exit the MTR. Another thing noticed was that service in Hong Kong has significantly improved since the last time I was there.. people are more courteous and accommodating then before, not as brash and nonchalant. This time around I learned whats good chinese food and whats good milk tea so it was really fascinating to eat and judge things and comment without my parents or relatives saying whats good and whats decent first.

Theres this ritual that involves burning things to the dead in Chinese/Buddhist culture, I am not sure which because the two seems so intertwined. We did this when we were visiting my grandfather's grave, and it just reminds me of the attachment and commitment to ancestry and family... duties and filial piety.

more to come....