HK #5 Lamma Island

June 21, 2010

First of all, Special thanks to the staff blog photographer Sureena Johl for taking all the photos that have appeared in my blog…except the first one.

I understand that my “blog”, for lack of a better word, is in essence the ramblings of a very polarizing world citizen. You either love it or hate it, as is expected. I may not talk about the gorgeous skyline of Hong Kong harbour, or how weird it is that everyone is speaking Chinese or something, or how “the food is so different”. I see these as topics that anyone can come here and observe. I would rather not waste our time together writing about the most simplistic sights and senses. Instead I try to focus outward on a critique of where I am and who I am, along in conjunction with the culture I have immersed myself in.

A few days ago our group along with Ellen, Christy, Horace and his brother, and the Hong Kong girls took a very nice ferry ride to Lamma island. When we docked I felt like we had journeyed to another land. Part Apocalypse now, part Fantasy Island. We got off the boat and walked through the gauntlet of fish markets, restaurants, and snack shops that lined the shoreline of that harbor. When we reached our restaurant it had that familiar look of large round tables with place settings and a large lazy Susan in the middle. Once again, we were served food after food after food. Now knowing how the Chinese do it, I paced myself in order to savor every last dish. However, when I got to the garlic covered scallops…oh man…words cannot describe. The garlic was cooked for a long time and the flavored was very mellow, but still rich. This allowed for copious amounts to be loaded on to the half shelled scallops with noodles placed in the shell. I have never seen an unshelled scallop and was not sure what this clam type food was. After tasting I knew immediately. I also knew, that I wanted another. The meat of the scallop was still connected to the half shell and when it was torn apart and mixed with a generous dose of garlic and some noodles. It was a buttery, rich, and delicious dish. One of the best I have had, and surprisingly simple. There were two left on the table so I grabbed one, leaving the other for manners.

While at lunch the Hong Kong girls asked me a series of questions varying from “What is ___ like in America?” to questions about my relationship with my loving, amazing, and beautiful girlfriend Camy (Shout out to you Cam). The girls are very interested in “America” and it appears that most of what they, and other countries, know about us is from Television or Movies. They talked about how foreign (Sean’s and mine) eyes are more beautiful and golden eyelashes etc etc. It is interesting to here how much Chinese and Japanese want to look like Americans, but then I think of some American’s who do their makeup and styles to look like they are Asian. Andrew coined this view of America as the archetype for trends and styles as “Sex and the City Syndrome”…I hope HBO does not sue me for that. One sociological trend that interested us was the desire for girls in China to have very fair complexions. They drank a barely tea because it makes their skin lighter. One of the girls in our group, who is Indian (shout outs to Sureena), was asked if she was interested in face bleach. MJ jokes aside, it was an interesting lesson.

The hike took several hours through the hills of Lamma. The view was spectacular, and at one point we crossed a ridge and was presented with a panorama of a huge coal power plant. Beauty and the Beast one might say. From there we continued on to a small beach area where our group parted ways. Three stayed and swam while the Hong Kong girls, Andrew, and my-self continued on. The remainder of our trip into town and through the shops was peppered with the occasional question about my relationship with Camy. What is hard to describe to the typical American became more taxing to the Hong Kong girls. I do not view Camy and myself as the normal relationship in America. With modesty aside I would say that ours is ideal. I was not sure whether to tell these girls who were so eager to learn of America about what a relationship SHOULD BE, or what it IS in America. Luckily they asked very direct question about how long we see each other a week etc. When I mentioned marriage I learned a VERY interesting fact. In Hong Kong it is customary to not get married before 30. We asked why and the girls explained it is about getting your own life in order before you bring someone else into it. I could not argue with their rationale, but told them that in America some people rush into things when they are young (and sometimes when they are old) without that kind of thought. I would have expected that thought process in Japan, but not in China…even though we are in “Hong Kong”. All in all, the day was a great adventure in more ways than one. I hoped that my answers to the girls’ questions were both positive and accurate. Many of you know I am a sarcastic cynic when it comes to a great many things, but it was hard to complain about the things I usually hate in America like relationships (or lack thereof), politics, and the media. Call it a new found respect and appreciation for the freedom of my society, or blind nationalistic pride, but either way I am glad I have the choice.