April 22nd, 2024
A review for a tram I was debating taking up a hill for city views, also the energy I am channeling for this slow burn adventure.
Okay, so I know I said blog posts every month, but maybe it'll be every location change??? We are really just winging it here folks. It does feel right to be writing sooner than expected however, because I am soon leaving the hustle and bustle of the city for the small beach town farm life.
So far my days have been filled with visiting markets, attempting to win plushies at claw machines, traveling to a nearby island for a coastal hike, taking the bus through the mountains to visit the Tian Tan Buddha, sitting in parks and public areas to read and people watch, drinking tea, eating LOTS of baked goods, and watching Couple to Throuple on Peacock (if anyone has thoughts I would LOVE to discuss.)
Hiked Dragon's Back Trail on Hong Kong Island
Tian Tan Buddha, apparently the largest sitting copper Buddha in the world???? WOW.
Little moments of joy
Today's blog title is brought to you by old handmade minibus plates that are now sold as souvenirs at gift shops. And since spring is in full bloom it only felt right! I have found translations on souvenirs, restaurants, stores, and t-shirts to be my favorite form of entertainment while I'm out and about these days. Some of the most memorable being--
Sorry! Not your home!
Never on diet
Please don't kiss my car
No money, so lonely
I love you ~since forever~
New York is always the main character
I'm glad that it's felt right for Hong Kong to be the first stop on my travels because besides access to English being generally not too bad, it honestly reminds me so much of certain parts of NYC, but.... no shade..... better. The landscape is very much new metallic high rises mixed in with the shorter, older, and more colorful tiled and cement buildings. People walk around in large unbothered swarms sharing the sidewalks with vendors and street performers. Maybe that describes any major city, but something about being here feels familiar. I learned after I had already decided that Hong Kong would be my first stop, that I have been to Hong Kong before, as a pit stop on my journey to the U.S. from China when I was adopted. I'm not sure if it was just passing through a layover or what not but I thought it was interesting and maybe meant to be in some way. Who's to say.
Now onto the doing NYC better than NYC part. There are so many "sitting out" areas embedded in the streets where one can lounge amongst trees and plants, even designated shade areas to rest away from the sun. It is nice to be in a public space, to sit on benches and at tables with chairs, and just exist outside. There are also public toilets everywhere AND they are so clean. At least I have yet to see one as scary as a dive bar toilet in Brooklyn. One public toilet I used, I kid you not, looked like a bathroom from an upscale restaurant in the city. Hydrating without fear of having to pee and nowhere to go is truly a gift. The public transit is also so so amazing and air conditioned from the second you enter the station. The other day I purposefully did not get on a packed trained because there was another 2 minutes away, that actually came in 2 minutes. Luxury. To probably no one's surprise, my favorite form of public transit here is the buses, which can be giant double deckers or teensy tiny little buses that remind me of the Flatbush dollar buses. As with the Flatbush dollar buses, the tiny buses here are just as chaotically fun. Being here has solidified for me that after living in NYC for a while, I have become pretty desensitized to most cities I visit nowadays. I'm always comparing them and deciding how much I like them by the similarities and differences from THE CITY.
Hong Kong Island city center
Tell me this ain't Brooklyn Bridge Park + a mountain in the background
Reflections: half baked, quarter baked, fresh out the oven
- It''s crazy how many lives one can live in one lifetime. The more I live the more I relate to that time that Shrek was telling Donkey that ogres are like onions. Already I see different parts or rather my "travel persona" coming forward, so far mainly from little things like not having my hands completely decked out in my usual assortment of rings (mostly because of the heat and humidity which is WOW here, but still pretty comfortable?) It reminds me of how many of my NYC friends have not fully experienced the swol landscaper side of me that was prevalent when I lived in the Bay or how my old roommate and friend from the Bay hasn't fully experienced my city gal side. But also, at the same time, all these evolving parts of me meld together. I mean to say all this in a way of also being anti "traveling to soul search or find myself" which maybe I can explain more later, but I'll just leave that thought here for now.
- I finished reading Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner, which I think is in the running against Zami by Audre Lorde for my favorite book. So so good, and deeply emotional, even for a Capricorn like me. I think for me, my favorite parts of it were the chapters where she talks about learning Korean recipes to process her grief and the trauma of losing a parent, especially because her loss led her to questioning the existence of her Korean side/Koreaness. Speaking from a very different context and form of loss and at times grief and longing for closeness, I still found myself really connecting to this because I think I've been using cooking and recipe learning as, what feels to me, like an accessible form of (re)connection to Chinese culture and what that means and looks like to me. I have found it interesting learning what flavors, and ingredients, etc., many of which I did not grow up with, I have felt drawn to or have made my taste buds explode with overwhelming excitement. (Thank you to the friend who gifted me the e-book so I could finish it after tragically being 3 chapters short of finishing my library copy before it was returned <3)
- Seeing so many different types of Asians, ethnicity and nationality wise as well as personal style and expression wise, in one place just existing feels like it's healing my inner child, that's all I got on that for now.
- I went to a bookstore that somehow carried every book I've ever wanted to read re: Chinese history, being Chinese, being Asian American and I was ......floored to say the least. I'm so curious how I have not come across these books before, even when visiting bookstores that are very specially focusing on Asian/Asam literature. I guess I definitely could have just missed them in passing. Many of them were UC Berkeley publications which I thought was funny because I toured Berkeley many years ago thinking I'd maybe like to go there. Obviously I did not go, but maybe it actually would've made so much sense for me to go there considering the Bay has such rich Asian American history. I guess we'll never know! Generally through my visit to this bookstore, even though potentially unrelated, it made me think about sinophobia in the U.S. and how the U.S. often likes to focus on Chinese censorship in a way that seems to purposefully distract away from the censorship that exists within the U.S. I find myself thinking a lot about how the mainstream (white) narrative of Asams often comes through the model minority lens/fallacy and how censorship and controlling of the narrative is used to cover up/erase so much. And how much fear mongering in the U.S. against China specifically happens, oftentimes without us actually having nuanced understandings or only having access to certain versions of the truth.... so many thoughts to workshop and continue.
(asam= Asian American)
In conclusion
I am kind of concerned by how long this post is considering it's only a weeks worth of thoughts. I'm hoping to better consolidate in the future so these aren't painfully long. I'm also realizing, as I am writing this, that the software I use for this website doesn't work with VPN, so we'll see if I'll be able to post while I'm in China, or if those will have to come later. If anyone can describe how VPNs work to me, please message me :'). Even with VPN I still cannot access TikTok here which feels like it shouldn't be a thing?
Okay byeee, love ya'll!! Please send me updates on your lives! New jobs? New lovers? Yurts? Day to day happenings? I yearn to stay updated on it all :,)
