week seven

This week was the same old same old. I have been working on social media posts, sale banners, upgrading web design visuals and so on. As great as that all was the absolute highlight happened on Tuesday. It was just a normal day until I received a surprise package in the mail. Who on earth sent me something!? Yet after looking at the hand writing I automatically could tell. Mum, what an absolute gem. Having an inkling of what it might be, I didn't open it till I got home. Thinking it would be one chocolate egg it turned out to be 4 Whittakers Kiwi eggs, 2 bags of little eggs and a note. Mum, are you trying to make me fat. Even though it was just chocolate it was so nice to receive something from home. Obviously being in Hong Kong is absolutely amazing but there is always a little part me that misses home. So by getting this package it was very comforting. Knowing I could easily polish off all the chocolate, I made the sensible to decision to show my colleagues what real chocolate tastes, so I brought two chocolate Kiwi's into the office. I shared one of them round and left the other in the kitchen to find the next day it was missing in action. From this I can happily say I have converted a mystery people in the office to love Whittakers. Due to it being Easter time we have a super long weekend with both Friday and Monday off, this made the 4 day work week fly by. With the weather forecast due to be terrible for the majority of weekend, on Friday we decided to go to grab lunch and then check out the Van Gogh exhibition in Kowloon Bay. Our lunch spot was decided by Lilian who is ticking off every place in Hong Kong and today we went to go get Dim Sum. This was not any dim sum though, this restaurant had won a missional star. With this in the back of my head I was expecting a fancy setting which is quite pricey. Yet when we arrived the restaurant was in the MTR station and looked like any of your Hong Kong local restaurants. I thought to myself, are we in the right place? Yet after seeing the crowds of people lining up to get a table, we must be. We ordered the usual. Pork stem buns, dumplings, stemmed vege and rice rolls yet this time round we ordered something a little different, chicken feet. Apparently it is a Hong Kong delicacy (very questionable) so I thought I need to try this. Upon arrival, the chicken feet were swimming in sauce and looked like they only have 2 toes. Coming from a farm where we have our own free range chickens I am 99.99999999% sure that chickens have more than 2 toes... hmmm not so comforting. However I pushed past this and dug in. It was slimy, textured, boney but also not the worst thing I had ever eaten. It was a cultural experience I am happy I have done but would not do it again. Lilian polished off the last of the chicken feet and then we headed to the Van Gogh sensory experience exhibition. Within the 2 hours we were there we learnt the story of Van Gogh and experienced his artwork through projections upon walls, ceilings and floors. Having seen his real work whilst in Europe and Russia I wasn't overly impressed by this exhibition. The space was crowed with people who were talking/yelling over the music and were standing in front of the projections to get photos. It just ruined the experience for me as people weren't there to see the paintings, they were there to update their instagram feed. Feeling a little disheartened we made our way home through the beginning of a storm that lasted most of the weekend.

On Saturday Georgia and I decided to check out a museum in Central. It was the old prison building (same place I went to the 60s/70s rave) which now has been converted to restaurants, art galleries, a museum and gift stores. We explored a tiny part of the museum however after lunch the weather had turned for the worst and there was a massive thunder and lightening storm with insane down pour. At this point we were cold and saturated so we called it a day and headed home early. After relaxing all of Saturday afternoon I wanted to check out more of Hong Kong on Sunday. The weather had completely changed so it was extremely hot, humid and sticky. Due to being Easter Sunday, Georgia and I wanted a little taste of home so we scooped out a place to find a hot cross bun! And not going to lie Hong Kong can do a good hot crossie! Feeling satisfied I parted ways with Georgia and headed to the Chi Lin Nunnery and gardens. The tranquil gardens were decorated with traditional Chinese architecture and places to worship. Buddhas the size of giants made from real gold decorated the nunnery and was also where I was made to pray to the Buddha by a local women. Afterwards she gave me a book on buddhism and a milk tea box to take on my journey. Due to it being ridiculously hot I was feeling ready to get into some air conditioning yet I knew there was one other place I could visit on this side of town, the Choi Hung Estate. It is a Instagram famous location where celebrities and everyday individuals go to take photos, and I can see why. Buildings tower over basketball courts yet are everything is in pastel colours. People with iPhones to expensive camera equipment flock here to capture to the wonderland of Choi Hung Estate. Due to being incredibly hot I just sat by the courts and people watched. With local kids playing basketball, small children dressed as princesses on scooters to adults having photoshoots, this place caters for all. However my enjoyable time was cut short when an old man decided to ask for my number and said he could 'look after me.' I politely declined yet he was persistent so I told him to 'bugger off.' He finally got the message and it was now my cue to leave. This was my first uncomfortable interaction here in Hong Kong but I know if these appear in the future you need to just get out of the situation. Little did I know I would experience this again the next day. On Monday, Georgia, Lilian and myself headed to mainland China, Shenzhen. Not really knowing what we were getting ourselves into, after getting our visas (low key a marathon) we wondered into Shenzhen city. Here I felt like an animal in a zoo. Everyone stared and it wasn't a subtle glance. It was long intensive staring which would not be broken after looking back. It only got worse. Once in town women would grab my arms yelling, men would continue staring and one man cornered me into an escalator saying things to me in Chinese. I hated it. It got to the point that even a glance or a smile from someone made me furious. I know I am the minority by being blonde, pale and blue eyed but it doesn't give them the right to touch, stare and yell at me. Absolutely mentally exhausted we headed back to Hong Kong and I was relieved. Even though people still stare in Hong Kong, it is no where near as intense as in Shenzhen. I am happy I went but I wouldn't go back anytime soon.

Choi Hung Estate