the waiting game
so now four days after my father's cremation, i'm playing the waiting game. as per policy, it takes about seven to ten days to get the ashes back. don't ask me why. and maybe it's the same in the states. then it takes another three days or so to get the exit papers ready. anyhow, i'll be here in hong kong for another ten years or so. *sigh*
although it's only been a month since i've been in hk, it feels a bit longer. the previous times i've visited my parents here, i always hated it because i knew exactly how long i have to be here. usually i visit them for about two to three weeks. which meant that i would be here long enough to get acclimated and then i leave. it totally sucks. not that i would like to stay longer, but just when i'm accustomed to life here, i leave.
this time, luckily or unluckily, i didn't feel that. i guess since i didn't have a pre-determined leaving time, i wasn't anxiously waiting to leave. so having been here for a month, i've gotten passed my acclimation period. still kinda sucks though since... well... you know.
one thing i found interesting, and i've never noticed this before when i visited, is that in my parents' building (they live in a flat), the lift (or elevator to you americans) only has a 'down' button. that means if i wanted to go up, well, i just have to either walk up the stairs or take the lift down to the lobby and then take it back up again. isn't that odd?
there are 22 floors in the building. my parents live on the 15th floor. so pretty good view of the harbor. in the lobby, there are two lifts; one for the odd-numbered floors and the other for the even-numbered floors. well, in the last three or four days, the odd-numbered floor lift was broken, so i had to take the even-numbered floor lift to the 16th floor and walk a flight of stairs down to my parents' flat. kinda of a pain, especially when everyone else is doing the same thing.
my father was cremated at one of hong kong's seven (i'm guessing at this number) official crematoriums. cape collinson. as serious as this subject is to me, when i was doing my search, i found this article in one of the results.
excerpt: It was only when the German-built incinerators were installed and the first coffins were loaded inside that the authorities realised they had a problem.
hmm... german-built incinerators... kinda makes sense doesn't it? i mean, if any country had a leg up on incinerating bodies, i would guess it would be germany. *snickers*
anyway, so my father was cremated at cape collinson, which is basically a mountain cemetery with all your funeral ammendities. places of worship for your major religions (christianity, buddhism, islam, etc). there's also a prison there as well. i was watching tv this morning and they were advertising this show about how there is going to be a lack of burial plots in hk. good thing we're bringing dad back to the states.
on friday night, i had dinner with keith and jonathan at indochine 1929, one of jonathan's many restaurants in lan kwai fong. if you don't know what lan kwai fong, it's an area in the central district of hong kong where a lot of the expats go to hang out. it's was nice seeing them again. if you're interested, here's a short article on jonathan's father, mr. lan kwai fong. oh, btw, he also executive produced american haunting.
mcdonalds... yes, mcdonalds is bad. and this does not exclude the mcdonalds here in hk. they have this riceburger called "fan-tastic," playing on the cantonese word for rice, which sounds a lot like "fan." well, after seeing it advertised all over the place, my mother and i decided to get one and it was the most greasy, disgusting combination of "rice" and meat i've ever eaten. it's really nasty. the burgers look nice, but they really aren't.
it's been raining the past four days here. kind of a drag, but at least it's not hot and humid, which is worse. the one thing i hate though is when i get off the bus or from a highly air-conditioned building, my glasses get fogged up. so i have to try to wipe my glasses while walking at the speed of my fellow hong kongers. oh, and don't even get me started when it rains and i have to hold an umbrella while doing all of this. i have only so many hands.
i've been going to this cafe where i talk to deidra and friends from home so many times that i've become quite the regular. the waiters know that i drink lemon ice tea. the only question they ask is, "hot or cold." depends on my mood, but i usually get it hot because i can control the level of sugar that's in the drink. (the cold one comes with a simple sugar syrup while the hot one comes without any sugar.) i've eaten there several times, but the sucky thing about it is that i can't read the menu (all written in cantonese) so i just go by what i know like noodles with brisket, congee with pork and thousand years old eggs, or rice with curry chicken. i want to try something new damn it! sucks to be illiterate.
although it's only been a month since i've been in hk, it feels a bit longer. the previous times i've visited my parents here, i always hated it because i knew exactly how long i have to be here. usually i visit them for about two to three weeks. which meant that i would be here long enough to get acclimated and then i leave. it totally sucks. not that i would like to stay longer, but just when i'm accustomed to life here, i leave.
this time, luckily or unluckily, i didn't feel that. i guess since i didn't have a pre-determined leaving time, i wasn't anxiously waiting to leave. so having been here for a month, i've gotten passed my acclimation period. still kinda sucks though since... well... you know.
one thing i found interesting, and i've never noticed this before when i visited, is that in my parents' building (they live in a flat), the lift (or elevator to you americans) only has a 'down' button. that means if i wanted to go up, well, i just have to either walk up the stairs or take the lift down to the lobby and then take it back up again. isn't that odd?
there are 22 floors in the building. my parents live on the 15th floor. so pretty good view of the harbor. in the lobby, there are two lifts; one for the odd-numbered floors and the other for the even-numbered floors. well, in the last three or four days, the odd-numbered floor lift was broken, so i had to take the even-numbered floor lift to the 16th floor and walk a flight of stairs down to my parents' flat. kinda of a pain, especially when everyone else is doing the same thing.
my father was cremated at one of hong kong's seven (i'm guessing at this number) official crematoriums. cape collinson. as serious as this subject is to me, when i was doing my search, i found this article in one of the results.
excerpt: It was only when the German-built incinerators were installed and the first coffins were loaded inside that the authorities realised they had a problem.
hmm... german-built incinerators... kinda makes sense doesn't it? i mean, if any country had a leg up on incinerating bodies, i would guess it would be germany. *snickers*
anyway, so my father was cremated at cape collinson, which is basically a mountain cemetery with all your funeral ammendities. places of worship for your major religions (christianity, buddhism, islam, etc). there's also a prison there as well. i was watching tv this morning and they were advertising this show about how there is going to be a lack of burial plots in hk. good thing we're bringing dad back to the states.
on friday night, i had dinner with keith and jonathan at indochine 1929, one of jonathan's many restaurants in lan kwai fong. if you don't know what lan kwai fong, it's an area in the central district of hong kong where a lot of the expats go to hang out. it's was nice seeing them again. if you're interested, here's a short article on jonathan's father, mr. lan kwai fong. oh, btw, he also executive produced american haunting.
mcdonalds... yes, mcdonalds is bad. and this does not exclude the mcdonalds here in hk. they have this riceburger called "fan-tastic," playing on the cantonese word for rice, which sounds a lot like "fan." well, after seeing it advertised all over the place, my mother and i decided to get one and it was the most greasy, disgusting combination of "rice" and meat i've ever eaten. it's really nasty. the burgers look nice, but they really aren't.
it's been raining the past four days here. kind of a drag, but at least it's not hot and humid, which is worse. the one thing i hate though is when i get off the bus or from a highly air-conditioned building, my glasses get fogged up. so i have to try to wipe my glasses while walking at the speed of my fellow hong kongers. oh, and don't even get me started when it rains and i have to hold an umbrella while doing all of this. i have only so many hands.
i've been going to this cafe where i talk to deidra and friends from home so many times that i've become quite the regular. the waiters know that i drink lemon ice tea. the only question they ask is, "hot or cold." depends on my mood, but i usually get it hot because i can control the level of sugar that's in the drink. (the cold one comes with a simple sugar syrup while the hot one comes without any sugar.) i've eaten there several times, but the sucky thing about it is that i can't read the menu (all written in cantonese) so i just go by what i know like noodles with brisket, congee with pork and thousand years old eggs, or rice with curry chicken. i want to try something new damn it! sucks to be illiterate.
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