NOSTALGIA

There's something about Adelaide which is making me feel funny.  I am home, but why does it not feel like home? Hong Kong felt a lot more like home than Adelaide does.  Maybe I like living in confined spaces, and so now that I'm back in a 'house', it's a little too open and ....big.  Does this stem from the fact that I'm a private person and therefore I feel more comfortable in a smaller space?  Is there any scientific evidence to back that up?  Hmm, I don't know.

Maybe I'm just missing Hong Kong and the lifestyle which comes with it.  Even though it was compulsory to be up by 9 am (courtesy of my grandpa), the whole day still seemed to pass by a lot quicker than it does in Adelaide, despite waking up later.  There's just so much more to DO in Hong Kong - so much more to eat, shop, see, discover etc.  Speaking of which, I will now show you some of the delicious food which I ate! This was lunch with one of my parent's old friends.  We ate at this exclusive club where only members can pay, which means you have to be invited into the club by a member if you want to eat there. The inside design was really nice,  but I didn't feel comfortable taking a photo of it since there were a lot of business people there.

Lunch at The Bloomsbury Room

my buffet appetiser - eel sushi, seared tuna w/ mango, pumpkin & mushroom salad, chicken salad

mum's buffet appetiser - salmon & tuna sashimi, seared tuna w/ mango, some kind of jelly, chicken salad

main course - seafood rousset with saffron rice

my buffet dessert - trifle, lemon meringue, cheesecake w/ passionfruit dressing

mum's buffet dessert - sponge cake, cheesecake w/ passionfruit dressing, blueberry cup

Oh, and the toilets looked pretty as well.

HOME SWEET HOME...FOR A WHILE

I am home! I arrived back in Adelaide yesterday afternoon, but haven't really felt like blogging until this morning. I did try to start a post as soon as I got back, but didn't have much to say and wasn't really feeling coherent enough anyway.

So.

After three weeks abroad, I am finally back in my own house, reunited with my beloved computer and experiencing major winter withdrawals.  Not to worry though, because in a few more weeks I'll be flying to Seoul for my exchange, and it should still be really cold over there.  Yay.

Everything is pretty much unpacked and it it's rightful position now, save for the clutter on my desk.  I really should get to cleaning it.  To be honest, unpacking is so much harder than it is to pack.  Organizing and compartmentalizing has never been my forte.  On the other hand, pulling stuff out from the mess and making a new, neat pile is a lot more fun.  I guess living out of a suitcase suits me.  It forces me to be organized whereas having my own room and wardrobe lets me throw stuff wherever I want.

I never really updated my blog during my time in Hong Kong apart from my personal devotions, and that's because I was out pretty much every day.  And if I wasn't out, I was at home trying to get better from the horrible stomach bug I had.  I'll post up what I did in HK a bit later.  Right now it's church time aka see how everybody has changed over three weeks!

THE EYE THAT NEVER SLEEPS

The LORD will keep you from all harm - he will watch over your life;  the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.- Psalm 121:7-8

The morning after I arrived in Hong Kong, my grandpa told my mum and I that one of our relatives had passed away earlier on in the year.  She wasn't an extremely close relative, but I had visited her the last time I came back and was planning to again.  She would have been 106 years old this year.  I remember being told that she was still really energetic for her age, because she could still walk by herself and speak coherently, albeit a little mumbled.  The news of her death didn't really shock us, I mean...she was 106, but it started a few conversations about death which have continued over the past few days.

Yesterday, my mum was talking about how during the last few months she had 'left' Australia and wasn't there anymore.  My grandma, who's still a little superstitious on the language, told her off for saying 'left'.  In Chinese, my mum said 走 zou (가), which literally means to go or to leave.  It's also a more passive way of saying that someone died, which is why my grandma was so sensitive.  She reprimanded her immediately and said that my mum should have used 'I was not in Australia', instead of 'leaving'.  

When I read this morning's Bible passage, it struck me that my Hong Kong family is still so sensitive about death.  As a Christian, I know that I will be going to Heaven when I die, which is why I'm not scared of death at all.  In fact sometimes I wish it could come sooner, but that's a different issue.  God has promised that he won't sleep or slumber while watching over us, so we shouldn't be scared about anything.  He's like Big Brother, but in the best way possible.  

(After our mission trip, my mum challenged the whole team to a new year resolution.  She asked us to improve in one part of our spiritual life, and I chose to do personal devotions.  As you might have read, I'm not really that great at doing them everyday.  Therefore, I've decided to keep an online journal of them in hope that I will feel guilty if I miss a day.  I won't update them daily, just the ones which I think are important for myself :) )

HELLO DRUGS

One of the things about going to a doctor in Hong Kong is that they will give you all sorts of coloured medicine. Right now I have pink, white, blue, orange, yellow, green, light pink, light orange and light blue. What's silly is that almost half of the medicine that they give you isn't necessary - it's like they just want to give you lots and lots of medicine to say that they're doing their job.  My mum and I have had the misfortune of falling ill in Hong Kong, and together we have eleven packs of medicine to take, plus a bottle of syrup. I guess the fact that they're different colours gives it a bit more of a novelty factor.  Staring at eleven packs of white tablets would probably make me feel even more sick.

I don't think I've ever taken so many tablets at once in my life.  Now I know what my grandma feels like everyday.  She has to take a lot of medicine as well - she even has one of those days-of-the-week medicine compartment things to store her multiple pills.  Luckily we only have to take my medicine for a few days and then it'll be over.

A good thing about being sick in Hong Kong, though, is that even the 'clear' and light foods taste good.  My mum went downstairs this morning, after her doctors appointment, and bought some congee and rice pastry.  It was so yummy :)

BACK IN HONG KONG

I am back in Hong Kong! It hasn't been the most smoothest journey back, with late luggage, cold weather and me getting sick....again.  For some unknown reason my body has really failed me this trip, in both Cambodia and Hong Kong.  I think I've been sick for at least 75% of my overseas trip so far, and that really makes me frustrated.  In Cambodia I was sick for a whole week, and it happened to be the week where we did most of our children programs and teaching.  I stayed in my room for the whole day on various occasions, which got to be kind of boring because all I did was sleep and not eat.  It was kind of sad listening to the noises of children outside and knowing I couldn't go out.  It was even worse on Sundays because they used the big room upstairs to teach the children, where the toilets were.  Fun times.  I guess a positive thing about being sick is that I lost weight? Which I put straight back on after I got better in Siem Reap and where we had buffet dinner every night.  So no plus there, really. 

Our flight back from Phnom Penh was good - business class seats for economy class price! The seats were so luxurious and wide, so I was able to sleep pretty well and the food was nice too.  When we arrived at the airport, we told Lawrence to race towards the customs desk because he was the only one without a residents card, which meant he would have to wait in line for a passort check.  It was funny, because he ended up getting out to luggage collection faster than we did.  Luggage collection took so long.  We started waiting at 10:20 pm and didn't get it all back until 11:30 pm.  Luckily the bus was right there outside, so me and mum quickly ran and then it took off towards home.  Unfortunately, my body caved and I was sick for most of the night.  My poor mother - she had to hold my hair back while I tried to throw up into the toilet, and now she has a cold and is sleeping right next to me. :(  I hope she's okay.

I'm all better now, luckily, because this week will probably be pretty hectic.  I think I need to write down a plan of what I'm going to do, who I'm going to see and when, and what I need/want to buy.  Before we left for Phnom Penh from Hong Kong two weeks ago, my mum took me to this supermarket called "Fusion".  It was so pretty!  I am a big fan of ordered, nice-looking supermarkets.  I only had my iTouch with me, so the photo quality isn't wonderful, but here are some photos.  I know, I'm weird for taking photos in a supermarket.  But it's FOOD! And it's prettyyyy :)

I like her pants.  HK ahjummas ^^

packaged fruit - a Hong Kong specialty