October 31 2006 - Halloween in Hong Kong and Other Topics

I was really surprised (and pleased) to find out that Hong Kong celebrates Halloween. This year Halloween came the day after the Chung Yeung Festival, which is the day that families go to their ancestor’s graves, sweep them and tidy them up. They must do other things as well, because apparently they set off brush fires all over the New Territories. Last night Lan Kwai Fong had a Halloween party. We just happened to catch it because we decided to go to dinner at a restaurant there. So there we were, eating Lebanese food, while little kids paraded around in costume in the street. Funny.

Now today our apartment complex set things up so that kids could go trick or treating. We had to “register” our apartment and say that we were willing to participate. Then they put a paper pumpkin on our door, and from 4 to 6 pm this afternoon little kids came to ring our doorbell and get their candy. It was so Chinese though…the little kids had their amahs leading them from door to door, and each little procession of ghosts and goblins was shepherded by one of the managers. Of course I bought too much candy. Now I have to figure out a good way to get rid of it. Maybe Sandy will take some tomorrow?

While the Tokyo 3M ladies were here we went to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. This museum was interesting but not as good as the Hong Kong History Museum. There WERE two things in it that I really enjoyed however. One was the collection of antique Chinese name card holders. Jan and I were fascinated by these. They beat our Mulberry card-holders all to heck! The other was a strange modern art exhibit. It was set up like a grocery store, with art on shelves next to various products. The art was labeled as if it was food or household cleaning supplies; the cans of coke and laundry detergent were labeled as if they were art. It was an odd, but entertaining exhibit. The strangest thing in it was a series of fish tanks containing water plants. Underneath the lid of each aquarium was a screen with a TV show playing, so it looked as if the plants were watching television.

I’ve also become a little more educated about the goodies to be found in the Jade Market. I’ve gone on a tour of the market with some knowledgeable people, found out about jade plates, and how you supposedly tell if something is made of good Jade. It’s a crapshoot, though. Even experts can’t really tell, so you just buy stuff you like and don’t worry about it too much. At least now I know a couple of good vendors to go to there if I want.

I took Lee to Marianne’s to look at fancy jewelry yesterday. She really is a hoot. She sat us down, gave me a coke light and Lee a beer (over his protestations) and proceeded to show us beautiful jewelry. I showed Lee some of the things that I had liked, but he drifted over to some gorgeous diamond and sapphire rings and bracelets. They really are pretty, but it will probably take some major milestone to justify their purchase.

The other thing I did last week was go on a couple of hikes. One was through the AWA.  The group of ladies that went were in REALLY good shape. They didn’t slow down on the hills at all, which is impressive in Hong Kong. I could keep up, though, for the most part. The hike was fun because it kind of went off the beaten path. They use hiking books written by a guy named Jan Littlewood, who doesn’t always stick to the usual paths and trails, and combines various trails to make an interesting walk. I went and bought a couple of his books the other day so that Lee and I can try one of his hikes on our own.

The other hike was a Michael Hansen hike. The hike was sponsored by the Hong Kong Harvard Club, but most of the people didn’t actually go to Harvard; they had either signed up for the hike through Michael’s webpage, or were friends of someone else that HAD gone to Harvard. On this hike I felt like I was in really good shape compared to most of the people. I felt kind of antsy and wanted to forge on ahead. There were a couple of other fast walkers too so I just walked with them. Lee stayed back with the biggest part of the group and was sociable. The hike ended at a seafood restaurant looking out over Clearwater Bay. Our dinner was great but I’ve been suffering from indigestion ever since, the price you pay sometimes for eating in the “authentic” eateries of Hong Kong.