playing guide

My very first 'visitors' finally arrived in HK last Friday. After announcing that I was to be the official guide for Ham and her family when I finally met them in their hotel rooms, we set off on a long and tiring foot-mtr-bus-ferry-tram chase (that lasted all of 4 days) for some of the things that HK is more well known for.

We visited places they were keen to visit, dined at eating places where locals gather for authentic HK eating experiences, shopped along some of the street markets where we were more AND less likely to be ripped off. We had a lot of fun (I hope I'm not just speaking for myself) and Ham's family was so warm and friendly that I can't help but feel like a part of them in the 4 days that we spent together.

In the midst of the shuffling, I suddenly realize that I've been here for 3 months now, and am going on to the fourth. That's nearly a third of a year, and how awkward this figure is. It is not long enough to be considered long - I haven't been here long enough to fit in completely just like a local (and I will not proclaim to); I can't wash eating utensils with hot tea or water before meals with the 'expertness' that my local friends do, I can never say a full even half a sentence in perfect Cantonese and I am still not brave enough to get on one of those red mini-buses on my own if I am not taking a familiar route. And yet, it is definitely not as short as what it sounds like - I have experienced enough chilly winds to know that I should look at the weather forecast and put on a few more cardigans before I leave my room now, I know that toiletries sold at pharmacies are slightly cheaper than places like Watsons, Manning or supermarkets, my drink choices at tea cafes are no longer restricted to iced milk teas or lemon teas and I will try not to order hot milk teas/coffees/horlick if I'm too lazy to stir in my own sugar, people are actually referring to Tsim Sha Tsui when they say that we should meet at Tsim Tsui, and loose change (10 and 20 cent coins especially) are your worst enemies.

And I digressed.

They left this afternoon, after a hearty dim sum brunch and desserts. We waited for the airport shuttle bus to pick them up together at the hotel lobby, before I made off to meet Audrey to get back to campus together. Along the way, she bought me an ice cream cone from a mobile softee van.

It was all good. I'm really glad they came.

:)