Sjani and the City

7:15 AM Slowly waking up. Hm, will lay down for five more minutes. It’s Saturday anyway.

8:05 AM No, I don’t think five minutes is already over.

8:30 AM I think I should really try to get up. Chris needs his medicines after breakfast.

8:45 AM Having a cup of coffee. Not feeling like eating anything.

9:10 AM Browsing around, reading and writing emails, checkin on my Multiply site.

9:15 AM Quickly putting some laundry into the washing machine. Thinking about finding out  who invented Multiply and wanting to thank him for spicing up my Internet life.

10:00 AM Still browsing around. I think I should slowly take some shower.

10:30 AM Still haven’t taken any shower. Water the plants instead.

10:45 AM Kicked my ass and went to shower. Time flies.

11:30 AM Went off household shopping. On the way back grab some food at Pizza Hut. One large Super Supreme please. No time to cook lunch.

02:00 PM Going to the gym. Gotta burn some excessive fat. And train my ageing back.

03:45 PM Being short of breath from Cardio Jam class, but continue to the next class anyway. Groovy Pop.

04:45 PM Heading home. Feeling very good. Sweating is great.

05:30 PM Making some steak for Chris. Fish cake snacks and one banana for me.

06:30 PM Again sitting in front of my notebook. Internet rockzzz.

09:00 PM Watching "Doom" on HBO. Switched to Discovery Channel after about half an hour.

10:40 PM Dive into my bed. Goodnight world.

A really popular street game in HK is Pin-Down The Human. Game rule: Just try to literally crash onto someone as often as possible when you happen to be walking somewhere. At first I really thought "Am I invisible?" since people kept crashing onto me everytime I was on the street, also when there was actually enough space available for people to just peacefully pass by without even touching my skin. But with the time I slowly realize and understand that I do visible and that everybody here just fancy this bumping-and-crashing-to-others thing. So don’t be disappointed when you happen to experience the same. It’s not that you’re fat, it’s them who are playing their beloved street game. Could be that they’d be able to redeem their gained points (e.g. bigger number of human bumped onto equals bigger points) every end of the day.

I went to one of the thousand HK street shops in Causeway Bay today, and kinda found a simple white light sweater cute. I saw the price label say: "1 for 49 HKD, 2 for 90 HKD". As I already have a few sweaters at home, but none of them is white, I bought a white one with 49 HKD.

And then I left the shop. Actually with agony. I told myself, 90 HKD for two pieces of sweater is really not a big deal. And if I get another one in black it definitely won’t hurt me. I should anyway consider to slowly replace my favorite black Esprit sweater. I should give her a rest after accompanying me all these years and making me look pretty wearing her.

So after about 10 minutes max, I returned to the shop. Still the same person there, so I doubted that he already forgot my face and what I bought. So I approached him and told him that I have a second thought and decided to get a same sweater now in black. Sure he didn’t mind that I came to such a decision. So I made sure to him that for this second piece I’d have to pay 41 HKD since I’d paid 49 HKD for the first one about 10 minutes ago, referring to his special promotion. Then he looked at me as if I came from Mars, and then he said "Noooooo" and mentioned 45 HKD for this second sweater. I said "Why? I have bought this one (whilst showing him the white sweater) only about 10 minutes ago, and your promotion said 2 for 90 HKD!" Then he said something in Chinese with a gesture explaining something like I was already gone before and then came back. "So what?" I said. "It was only about 10 minutes ago!" But he insisted and didn’t want to give in. Then I couldn’t stand it anymore. "OK, then not", I said, and left.

4 HKD equals to 40 cents. But as we in Germany always say: "Es geht nicht ums Geld, es geht um Prinzip", it’s not about money, it’s about dignity, freely translated. I don’t like people playing games and trying things to me.

As I’ve experienced death of loved ones and will most probably face a few more in my future, I just think I really need to get this off my chest.

I think the party who suffers the most is those who are left behind, not the one who is going.

Funny how we mostly act as if we are sad for the deceased, while actually we are sad because we’re left alone in this crazy world.

As of today, I only know this much of Cantonese:

"Wai" - I suppose this means "hello" as this is the most common word I heard when people take their phone calls

"Po fei lo" - Is the street name in Chinese where our apartment building is standing. In English it is called "Pokfield Road", so seems like "Po fei lo" is the simplified, adjusted-to-Chinese-tongue format of it. Cute isn’t it? :)

"Hon lam hin" - This is how you call our apartment building "University Heights" in Cantonese. Don’t ask me why, as this might be a different case than "Po fei lo". Gotta ask my friend, the security guard, whether he can explain to me where "Hon lam hin" came from.

"Yau lok, mgoi" - Means "stop please". Comes very handy when you’re taking those public light buses

"Mgoi" - Means "please" but also means "thank you" when you thank someone who just gave you some kind of service. For thanking someone for a gift you’ll have to use another word which I haven’t learnt so far :D

"Sai po sing" - Means "The Westwood", which is the name of a big mall near to Chris’ office which I have to mention to the cab driver when I go to meet Chris for lunch.

I guess that’s about it. So not really much of a progress in the last six weeks :(

It’s been like ages since the last time I wrote here. I’ve been sort of perplexed, caught between some kind of culture shock, craving to fill up the apartment as soon as possible and wanting to enjoy HK more. Anyway I’ve put myself together and decide to go back here writing.

In between I’ve gained more and more new experiences in the new home. I commute around using public transportation with a bit more self confidence now. I admit, I still bring my bilingual city map everywhere with me though, just in case. The good thing is, I start to be able to arrange how to travel around the most convenient way, how to for example avoid to walk up the thousand stairs from KT back to our apartment at the hillside. This conveniency costs me 2,9 HKD though, however with a chance to practice my Cantonese "Yau lok, m goi!" in real life setting. So it is like a win-win situation here. Click here for picture of my favorite public transport lately.

To you all vintage fans, let me introduce you today to the one and only Hong Kong tram. Good for sightseeing purpose when you’re not in a hurry. It’s inexpensive, fun and no aircon, thank God! Don’t be surprised if the tram is mostly full, especially along the route from Causeway Bay to Kennedy Town, as you’ll find lots of passengers with different reasons taking this tram: locals who want to save some money, locals who have time and not in a hurry and tourists who have "HK tram riding" on their must-do-in-HK list.

After visiting almost half of all the curtain shops in HK (OK, I admit, I’m exaggerating here a bit) I finally decided to give our living room some warmth with this shimmering red curtain. Purposely it is transparent, so we will never miss out the nice city view from the balcony window, especially when it gets dark outside. During daytime the room might be a little bit too bright though. Have to find a solution and to get it done before summer. Now it is still acceptable since the weather is mostly cloudy anyway.

Pictures of the curtain’s evening look and daytime look. 

Known as Hongkong’s premiere destination for entertainment and dining, you can find bunch of restaurants, bars, cafe’s and clubs in Lan Kwai Fong. Comparable to Boat Quay and Clarke Quay in Singapore, however without water :)

We went to a German bar and restaurant called Schnurrbart (means "moustache" in English) yesterday evening where people can enjoy "authentic" German food and drinks. They even serve "Schweinshaxe" (Roasted Pork Knuckle) which is actually considered very Bavarian. However it doesn’t come with "Semmelknoedel" as such is more common in Bavaria, but served with french fries. I myself was on a vegetarian trip last nite and ordered Linguini with Mushrooms which was not bad at all. Most guests are of course Germans and they somehow know each other. I guess it is something like Germans-in-Hongkong-stick-together kind of thing.

After Schnurrbart we went to Ha Ha Club which is located underground. The crowd is different since most are locals and not many foreigners inside. They played mostly R&B music which makes it still comfortable for people to talk while enjoying their drinks. It is more a place to chill out rather than to dance.

I had quite some fun in Lan Kwai Fong.

One thing you will never be running out of in Hong Kong is food. There is enormous number of variety of food the city has to offer; from American BBQ ribs over to Japanese sushi. As I am a typical gourmet person who enjoys every kind of food, you could say that it is for me here something like heaven on earth when it comes to delicacy.

Since my arrival last week, I’ve tried quite a number of food here. I’ve even been to a local food stall and tried their 10 HKD/portion wonton noodle, which was absolutely delicious. For additional 5 HKD I spent there I even got a portion of yummy fresh boiled vegetables served with oyster sauce. I shared the table with a stranger during my lunch time -which is something normal here-, but who cares about that?

When I was at the food section in a super store here a couple of days ago I was like perplexed; I didn’t exactly know what I wanted to try first since there were so many choices. They sell most of things in fresh and also in frozen form for those who prefer conveniency. I’m OK with both of them.

I wonder whether I would be able to taste all of them while I am here.

Actually, I had a wonderful afternoon today. But my problem is, don’t ask me where it came from, today I miss Germany more than I ever did before since I got here :( I miss my friends, I miss our family, I miss my job, I miss Cham, I miss talking German with my funny Bavarian accent, I miss my hectic life, I miss the road I took everyday to work, I miss the canteen, I miss the small shop around the corner, I miss everything about home.

I hope this is just temporarily and won’t stay in me too long. There are so many things and options I can do here in Hong Kong, but if my mind is somewhere else, it’s useless.

I feel that I am a just another stranger here trying my luck to survive. Like I’m no part at all at anything. Null, nothing, nada. Nobody.

I miss home where I feel close to everybody, where I can feel that they care about me and where I feel that I can do something for them when they need me. Basically there I am somebody.

Hope I will manage to go through this tough time soon.

I think I’d never seen so many stairs and elevators in my entire life before like in Hong Kong. They have public stairs and elevators like everywhere. This is what differs Singapore to Hong Kong since it is everywhere flat in Singapore so you don’t exactly need to climb to get somewhere.

Actually they might be good for your health when you have to walk them up and down everyday. Especially if you carry dozens of shopping bags with you while stairs-climbing. Can compare it to weight-lifting training in the gym. Good exercise :-)

From the three days I am here in Hong Kong I would say today is my busiest one.

I actually thought about taking it easy today because thanks to my jetlag I only slept about four hours last night. But plans and reality can be very different sometime. Especially when we are talking about me :)

So much about "relaxing day", I was somehow everywhere in Hong Kong today. First to IKEA at Causeway Bay (saw a nice couch, hope it meets Prince’s taste too so we can finally watch TV properly) and then back and had dinner nearby our place, and after that I went to Kowloon to check on curtain prices at Mong Kok. Through this day trip I got to know that there is another life in Hong Kong beside that in Kennedy Town :D

Everything I saw and did today is very nice and fun. Furthermore, I finally got a nice pair of ballerina shoes for 39 HK$! The colour even matches to one of my bags I brought from Germany. I think I love HK even more and more now.

Let’s see what new things I’ll be experiencing tomorrow. I’m already so curious :)

Today’s highlight of my quest "Discover Hong Kong" is hairdresser. I’ve been to one today, mainly because I can’t use the hairdryer and hair-iron I brought with me from Germany. Here in Hongkong they have a different type of plug, that’s the reason. Since I don’t have any clue yet where to get those two things here, I decided to go to a hairdresser.

My friends in Germany would definitely think I am out of my mind if I tell them how much money I spent today for this luxury being pampered having my hair washed and done. 28 HK$ exactly, which is about 2,80 EUR. The work is well done, so I can’t complain. The communication is a bit funny because I speak English and they speak Chinese back to me. Body language and gestures support our "conversation". The magazines they provide for guests are all in Chinese, so I had to look for those with lots of pictures while they were doing my hair.

I already see how my future looks like: at least twice a week I’d sit at my hairdresser of choice. Now I’m not too sure whether it would be worth it to buy new hairdryer and hair-iron with local plug anyway.

From this point of view, HK is really my thing!

Eventhough I was actually dogtired after not having any sleep within 40 hours during the journey (blame it on those irresistable inflight movies!) I was already on the move in HK today a bit to look around and to gain some orientation. Typical me :)

The weather was so hot and humid, I felt like running around inside a huge knotted plastic bag. But the place itself is nice and unique.

I got to know a nice couple, Shirley and Holger, who are so kind to me and took me around. Holger even let me eat those yummy (but to him kind of disgusting) chicken feet at the same table :) Shirley is just as nice and she will show me around in the shop-till-you-drop area in Wanchai sometime soon. I almost can’t wait!

Unfortunately my prince has to work this weekend so he hasn’t had the time to personally show me around in HK. But I can wait. I am not like leaving HK tomorrow!

I think they are wrong. I think there is no such thing like creepy Friday the 13th.

Here comes the proof. I managed to arrive in one piece in HK in spite of flying from Dubai to Bangkok, and then further to HK on Friday, October 13th, 2006. I even consider myself lucky because in all flights, nobody sat next to me :-) Furthermore, I got to see a bunch of new movies on flight which I didn’t manage to see in the cinema before like The Devil Wears Prada, The Break Up, X-Men III and The Lake House. Not to mention those short episodes of The Simpsons, Friends and King of Queens in between. It was totally cool! :-)

So guys, it’s absolutely okay to do things on Friday the 13th. Believe me!

Finally I survived the first day after my last working day yesterday.

Lucky I will still be involved workwise with the company. Can’t imagine if I would have to sit around everyday at home or at the mall doing nothing.

I think I would die hard in such circumstances. At least in the head.

Life pressures keep me alive.

As my departure day is approaching, mixed feelings are getting stronger by the day.

People come and go in life. Some are just individuals without any special meaning. Leaving friends are something different and by far more difficult.

Such moments like this remind me how much I love my friends. Hope I have the same special place in their hearts as they are in mine.

I am so lucky I have found my soulmate. Thank you, God.

Others seek desperately and simply grab the first one who comes by. "It would be very embarrasing if I come to this year’s New Year’s Eve Party alone AGAIN. They will surely make fun of me. So I must react now in time!"

Pathetic big time.

I have a heart, as big as the ocean
People do not understand me

I have an energy, as high as the mountain
People do not understand me

I have my own belief, as simple as the naked truth
People do not understand me

I have my own opinion, as strong as a typhoon
People do not understand me

On the other hand, I am obliged to understand people
What kind of world am I living in?

I guess most of people do not understand the true meaning of love.

To my personal opinion, you really love someone when you can put aside yourself from the focus center and highlight the happiness of the person you love above everything.

So it is not about yourself, it is merely about the other person.

And it is amazing how thin the layer is between love and hatred. People loving truly would let go peacefully, others simply turn to hate the person they "loved" once their craving is unsatisfied. How egoistic.

I wonder whether it was really love or just some camouflage of greediness.

Feeling so alone in this very moment. At work it is still bearable. Work distracts me from loneliness. As soon as I got home, emptiness rules all over.

Help me please.

People say, you’d never been in Bavaria if you were never personally at the one and only "Oktoberfest" in Munich. Being worried that people in HK might not believe me that I’ve been living about six years long in Bavaria, I see the urgency to secure some authentic proof before I take off.

So here are some pictures taken during my Oktoberfest visit on Oct. 1st 2006:

The Oktoberfest Gate, Augustiner Beer, Cheers, Augustiner Tent, Giant Ferris Wheel, Chocolate Coated Fruits

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Sina unfortunately didn’t win to fight the illness. She left us for good yesterday, September 22nd, 2006.

May she rest in peace; may Pumuckl and I be given enough strength to go through this mourning period together.

As my in-laws are gone for two weeks on holiday, I’m taking care of their cats at home. They are Sina and Pumuckl.

Pumuckl is an easy-to-maintain guy. He’s very fun to be with and his life is like party-all-the-time kinda type. He is very fun-loving, warmhearted and gets along very fast to strangers. Sina is on the other hand a very sensitive girl. She keeps distance to everybody, especially those she doesn’t know well.

Sina has not been doing well the last few days. She’d been away long hours, more than usual, and acting very strange. So quiet and powerless. Seems like she is fighting something in her. Today when I came home after work, our neighbour, Mrs. Lehneis, showed me where Sina’d been. She was sitting in the bushes under the rain, and didn’t want to move not even an inch. She was like listening to me when I was talking to her asking her to come to the house, but somehow she was ignoring me. At a certain point I couldn’t stand it anymore, took her into my arms and brought her inside. She didn’t want to eat cat food i served her. She took some sip of water and that’s it. Then I tried to feed her with plain yoghurt, because I heard from my in-laws that both their cats always have some plain yoghurt for breakfast. You know what, she licked some yoghurt out of the spoon i served in front of her! You can’t imagine how happy I was!

Now she is downstairs and sitting in a not-exactly-look-convenient position. Poor Sina. Whatever pain you are fighting at the moment, I hope you’ll get well soon!

—–Original Message—–
From: Nana
To: Christian
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2006 12:18:25 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: Schatz …..

…… darf ich?
<http://www.hkcaf.org/e_Urgent_Rescue_display.asp?action=load&uid=391&offset=0>
Kiss,
Princess

Chatted with Chris just now. He said, Kennedy town’s neighbourhood, where our new nest is located, is known as primarily Chinese. Near to our new place is a big traditional marketplace, I almost can’t wait! Smart shopping is my passion :)

He has taken some pictures of the apartment. Here is the view from our balcony, allow me to introduce you to our pool ;), and this is the view out of our bedroom window.

I didn’t mean to make myself sound too romantic; this is just the naked fact.

Anyway, we chatted yesterday thru ICQ, and he showed me around in the apartment using a webcam. Kinda sweet of him. I wanted to see the view out of the balcony, too bad the cable was too short. But seems like I wouldn’t be able to see anything anyway since it was so dark and our tiny little twinkle webcam doesn’t come with any sophisticated feature that can help us.

Just checked my calendar, if everything goes smoothly I only need to survive another three weekends without Prince.

Long time no sign of bloglife from me. No wonder, I’ve been running back and forth taking care of tons of things.

The apartment has been handed offer officially back to the landlord. Thank God. She didn’t make much of a fuss, so I was really relieved.

My successor has started working too about two weeks ago. So currently I am like transferring all my job knowledge to him so he can work independently once I left. Funny how you realise how much you know things in your job once you have to explain everything about it to others.

Chris has found a home for us too down in HK. At 15th level it is. The building itself has in total 43 levels. Seems like it’s pretty much normal for HK.

Currently I’m busy preparing the cargo. Not an easy job if you have to do it alone. I hope I can manage to finalize everything this weekend. 

Since yesterday I’m staying at Chris’ parents’ place. It was a hell lot of work getting our things out of the apartment and getting them transferred to the other house.

A young guy, Manuel is his name, has helped me with moving out. When I see how much power he has, up and down the stairs carrying all those carton boxes, I got the feeling that I’m getting old. I carried one or two light things and needed longer time to recover and catch my breath :)

So now I’m back to Chris’ parents’ guestroom, just like back then the first time I got here. Funny feeling. As if all new chapter of my life always starts from here :)

No news from Hong Kong today. So I assume he is doing just fine. Maybe he was in China (Mainland) today as he wrote me yesterday. Hm.

Meanwhile I’ve been continuing packing up our things. I’ve told myself to bring only those indispensable things with me out of this apartment this coming Saturday. As of this moment, I realised that I have sorted about six boxes of "indispensable" things. And there I haven’t even started with my clothes and shoes. I can’t wait to see how many boxes I am ended up with! This moving thing really drives me nuts.

As I am getting closer to moving out, e.g. to giving away our furnitures and other things in the apartment, funny feeling starts to prevail. Not so easy to let go of things which somehow have become part of our lives and the witnesses of our ups and downs, sadness and happines we’d gone through all these years. But do I have any other choice?