Monday, February 21, 2005
yay!
they decided to NOT make us wear skirts to school anymore...yipppeeeee!!!! we can now wear "smart pants", and still no open-toed shoes. but i am soooo happy because i HATE wearing skirts, especially when it's frickin' freezing and there's NO heat AND a few crazy teachers like to leave the windows open in their classrooms! i seriously cannot feel my feet and hands on the cold days at school...and i ain't wearing stockings stockings anytime soon, not that they'd help much anyway. another bonus, it's not comfortable trying to keep your knees together when you're sitting in little kiddie chairs that are too small...yes, even for me.
anyway. just thought i'd like to report the good news to everyone...effective tomorrow! whoopdeedoooooo!
they decided to NOT make us wear skirts to school anymore...yipppeeeee!!!! we can now wear "smart pants", and still no open-toed shoes. but i am soooo happy because i HATE wearing skirts, especially when it's frickin' freezing and there's NO heat AND a few crazy teachers like to leave the windows open in their classrooms! i seriously cannot feel my feet and hands on the cold days at school...and i ain't wearing stockings stockings anytime soon, not that they'd help much anyway. another bonus, it's not comfortable trying to keep your knees together when you're sitting in little kiddie chairs that are too small...yes, even for me.
anyway. just thought i'd like to report the good news to everyone...effective tomorrow! whoopdeedoooooo!
Saturday, February 19, 2005
happy year of the rooster!
let's see, what have i been up to? we went to guangzhou to play golf over the chinese new year holiday. we took 2 days of lessons (in chinese! aren't you proud of me?) and played 3 rounds of 9 holes. that was fun. it was my first time to REAL mainland china.
we also went to go see some sites like the seven-star crags and dinghu mountain. i swear...they commercialize EVERYTHING and suck as much money outta you as possible. if chinese people just invested, or even just stuffed under their bed, all the money they waste of stupid good fortune rituals, they wouldn't need to wish for good fortune.
so dinghu mountain is supposed to be this forest, right? i expected it to be all yosemite'ish, but nope, it was temple after temple, filled with statues to burn incenses at (they have some of the biggest inceses i've ever seen...taller than me!), fountains and ponds to throw money into, pots to throw red balls into (which you have to buy)...one good thing about the commercialization is that there are tons of yummy food stands every 2 steps, kinda like disneyland.
the seven-star crags lit up the inside of the caves with colorful lights and you could pay for little boat rides inside (yes, just like disneyland). they also had this outdoor area where you could rent boats equipped with water guns to shoot at other boats (even more like disneyland). you could also buy food to feed their coy. the coy were nuts! there were so many that they're literally swimming out of the water on top of each other to get food. and some of them were frickin' huge...about 2 feet long? anyway, there were also game booths all over the place. these places are supposed to be places you go to to enjoy the scenery and nature...if i wanna go to an amusement park, i'll go to an amusement park, but i wanted to see some nature dammit! o well. it was still a good trip overall.
happy rooster year!
let's see, what have i been up to? we went to guangzhou to play golf over the chinese new year holiday. we took 2 days of lessons (in chinese! aren't you proud of me?) and played 3 rounds of 9 holes. that was fun. it was my first time to REAL mainland china.
we also went to go see some sites like the seven-star crags and dinghu mountain. i swear...they commercialize EVERYTHING and suck as much money outta you as possible. if chinese people just invested, or even just stuffed under their bed, all the money they waste of stupid good fortune rituals, they wouldn't need to wish for good fortune.
so dinghu mountain is supposed to be this forest, right? i expected it to be all yosemite'ish, but nope, it was temple after temple, filled with statues to burn incenses at (they have some of the biggest inceses i've ever seen...taller than me!), fountains and ponds to throw money into, pots to throw red balls into (which you have to buy)...one good thing about the commercialization is that there are tons of yummy food stands every 2 steps, kinda like disneyland.
the seven-star crags lit up the inside of the caves with colorful lights and you could pay for little boat rides inside (yes, just like disneyland). they also had this outdoor area where you could rent boats equipped with water guns to shoot at other boats (even more like disneyland). you could also buy food to feed their coy. the coy were nuts! there were so many that they're literally swimming out of the water on top of each other to get food. and some of them were frickin' huge...about 2 feet long? anyway, there were also game booths all over the place. these places are supposed to be places you go to to enjoy the scenery and nature...if i wanna go to an amusement park, i'll go to an amusement park, but i wanted to see some nature dammit! o well. it was still a good trip overall.
happy rooster year!
Saturday, February 05, 2005
we bought a new digital camera today (to replace the one that was stolen). canon ixus 40. hopefully i can hold on to this one for a bit longer. what a waste.
i recently determined that, though it doesn't seem like i do, i think i spend more money here in hk. i haven't proven it, it's just a general feeling. i go out less, i spend less when i do go out, i shop less, but somehow, i think i spend more.
part of the reason is because even though i've been here for over a year, the colorful money still makes me think it's play money. in addition, i still suck at converting it into US dollars and usually end up underestimating or just saying, eh whataever...i'll just get it. i also have no idea how much things are supposed to cost, so if an orange costs $3, i suppose it's normal, i want an orange, so i pay it...where in the US, i would NEVER pay $3 for a dumb orange becuase i KNOW it's not normal.
plus, i'm not familiar with which stores to go to for which things because there isn't a big old costco or home depot where you know no matter what, you're not getting ripped off. here, there are just tons of little mom 'n pop hardware stores and misc knick-knack stores, so i just go to whichever one i happen to be passing by when i remember what i need, which is usually in an expat area where you're paying a premium for everything.
like today, after getting the camera, we checked out a few golf stores in the area to look at prices for golf clubs, shoes and balls because we're going on a golf trip over chinese new year. we had no idea what was good, what was crap, what was expensive, what was cheap. in the US, we could've just gone to costco and picked up halfway decent everything for halfway decent prices and not have to do lotsa research and worry about buying something super shitty or getting ripped off. we could've gotten the camera there too!
i miss costco. haha. i'm a geek.
i recently determined that, though it doesn't seem like i do, i think i spend more money here in hk. i haven't proven it, it's just a general feeling. i go out less, i spend less when i do go out, i shop less, but somehow, i think i spend more.
part of the reason is because even though i've been here for over a year, the colorful money still makes me think it's play money. in addition, i still suck at converting it into US dollars and usually end up underestimating or just saying, eh whataever...i'll just get it. i also have no idea how much things are supposed to cost, so if an orange costs $3, i suppose it's normal, i want an orange, so i pay it...where in the US, i would NEVER pay $3 for a dumb orange becuase i KNOW it's not normal.
plus, i'm not familiar with which stores to go to for which things because there isn't a big old costco or home depot where you know no matter what, you're not getting ripped off. here, there are just tons of little mom 'n pop hardware stores and misc knick-knack stores, so i just go to whichever one i happen to be passing by when i remember what i need, which is usually in an expat area where you're paying a premium for everything.
like today, after getting the camera, we checked out a few golf stores in the area to look at prices for golf clubs, shoes and balls because we're going on a golf trip over chinese new year. we had no idea what was good, what was crap, what was expensive, what was cheap. in the US, we could've just gone to costco and picked up halfway decent everything for halfway decent prices and not have to do lotsa research and worry about buying something super shitty or getting ripped off. we could've gotten the camera there too!
i miss costco. haha. i'm a geek.
