coming back to hong kong was such a comforting feeling. it's like seeing a familiar face again after a long time apart. it was really nice to feel the sea air, the mountains, and walk amongst the busy people. the transportation is my favorite. its so efficient and fast that i can go whereever i want whenever i want. our apartment is old as ever, but carries the same sweet and musty smell.
i met with lily the afternoon that i arrived and had a snack with her. i was able to catch her during her long breaks from work. i had to buy underwear for her on friday. she was going to vietnam this weekend, but the laundromat where she left all her clothing was closed. since i didn't have anything much better to do, i bought her underwear. buying underwear at deparment stores in hong kong is terribly awkward. for some reason, they put so many more sales ladies in the underwear section so that every customer gets special, um, attention. they're so pesty! they hover over you and ask one question after another. "did you find your size? what's your size? what color do you want? do you see your style?" i think i just mumbled aggitatedly under my breath until i quickly found what lily wanted and left. after i gave lily her "present", we went to throw at the bus terminal. i don't know why i was afraid of the disk. so unfortunately, i got hit in the face, again. i had a little bit of a fat lip, but it healed pretty quickly. i practiced stepping into my catches and keeping my eye on the disk.
after that episode, i had an hour to kill. i thought i should do some shopping, since hong kong is all about shopping, but i was quickly bored. i couldn't really find anything i liked in the stores around the area. besides, the sizes were horrendously small. the largest pants size they had were about 29 cm. if i tried wearing those pants, i would have to tuck in my stomach so much i would never be able to laugh. instead, i walked around by the harbor and the ferries. the fresh air was nice.
i then went to lynda's apartment in cyberport. her place is in a brand new development and it is gorgeous. it's on a steep mountainside and looks out to the water and a mountainous island. the sun sets right behind the island. the facilities are like a ten star hotel. they have a pool, an arcade, very nice fitness equipment, and an indoor basketball court. oh yes, they had one of those climbing treadmill things! we played badminton for an hour or so, and then showered. even the shower was a stand up jacuzzi, with several jets of water shooting out from the wall. while i waited for her to finish showering, i took the ten minutes to do some lifting. i've hardly been keeping up with the ultimate workouts, so i felt at least a little better after that bit of lifting. we then went to the mall to ate some japanese noodles...mmm. it had lots of vegetables and mushrooms and two pieces of clam to top it off. afterwards, we went to the arcade and played pool.
yesterday, i saw karen! it was so exciting. she even gave me yummy cookies :):) i hadn't seen her for almost ten years...since my two weeks at delia school of canada. we decided to go to stanley for food and fun, and because the bus terminal was right there. we talked about everything, from being back in hong kong and what MIT and USC were like. i found it extremely hard to put into words how painful MIT is, but at the same time so rewarding because of the people you meet. while we were talking, she mentioned she wanted to be more active and find a sport to play in college. she thought about fencing and some other stuff, but of course i told her to play ultimate. and surely, after lunch i took her to the beach to throw. even some random chinese girls came over and asked if they could join us. so the four of us threw on the beach and i was happy to be outdoors and throwing. the wind was just right so my discs floated graciously in the air. and by the end, karen's throws were definitely looking better.
i'm tired of writing...more to come later
