Back in the Motherland

How can we contrive to be at once astonished at the world and yet at home in it?  How can this queer cosmic town, with its many legged citizens, with its monstrous and ancient lamps, how can this world give us at once the fascination of a strange town and the comfort and honor of being our home?    --G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Next stop on my trip is Hong Kong where I'm staying with relatives (and my mom!) and celebrating Chinese New Year here for the first time in fifteen years.  While in Korea, I enjoyed being among friends and taking in the novelty of being in a new place.  It was also my last chance to absorb some quality air into my lungs before entering Chinese territory.  Walking the streets of Hong Kong makes it difficult to avoid the smell of cigarette smoke, sewage, raw meat, or some awful combination of the three.  And yet, landing in Hong Kong immediately flooded my senses with a fresh breath of familiarity. Though I'm Bay Area born and bred, Hong Kong is probably the next place in the world I would call home.  Many memories of family vacations and traditions are attached to this little corner of China.  I'm excited to be able to build more before my semester abroad in Beijing begins.

Dinner greets me after a long bus ride from the airport to my aunt and uncle's place. 

My grandma (middle) always gives me the typical Asian grandparent repetitive rant about how I should listen to my parents and study hard in school while my aunt (right) orders me around like a second mother.  And then there's my real mother (left).  Guess that means they still love me.

饮茶 yum cha...pulling at my stomach-strings.

One of my favorite dishes, 排骨饭 pai gwut fan, is spare ribs cooked with rice in a clay pot which makes the rice at the edges of the pot crunchy.  This kind of goodness is hard to come by in the US.

It's almost new year's so the markets of Hong Kong are especially busy.  This is one in Yuen Long where I picked up some dragon fruit today.  Even though my Cantonese has never been as good as my English, I love hearing it spoken all over the streets.  There's a certain crass and aggressive tone to it which makes me feel like less of a misfit than I would among English speakers.

But I hate using public toilets here!