The big sights in Xiamen are Gulangyu, Nanputuo Temple, Xiamen University, Zhongshan Park and Zhongshan Road.
We went to Gulangyu on our first trip to Xiamen and we absolutely hated it. There was nothing wrong with the island itself. It might even be pleasant on its own. The problem was that you can't really see it with millions of people milling about. Literally millions of people. It reminded me of Disneyland on opening day, only the people on Gulangyu were much angrier.
A quick ferry ride gets visitors from Xiamen Island to Gulangyu, but they cram the ferry as full as they possibly can. Even fuller than that, really. If you don't want to stand in a giant ashtray and smell what everyone else just ate, don't take the ferry. Gulangyu is an island with no connecting bridges, so there is no other way to get there. It is technically illegal to smoke on the ferry, but smoking laws are merely suggestions in China. Since pretty much everyone smokes, those suggestions are always ignored.
Once you are pushed off the ferry by the mob, it is still unbelievably crowded. Chinese people naturally push their way everywhere and this island is wall to wall people pushing to get to whatever they want to see. There is an observation deck on the highest hill, but getting there was an absolute nightmare. I have seen lions on the Discovery Channel that were more polite to the zebras they killed than the way most of the people on Gulangyu acted in their mad lust to be the first at everything.
We also went to Nanputuo Temple on our first trip. That was another place that is probably nice without millions of people all pushing each other. We did not even bother attempting the top of that hill.
Our first trip to Xiamen was in the middle of June and this one was at the end of May, so maybe we did not pick the best times to go. It might be less crowded in January. Maybe some of these places are better when there are only hundreds of thousands of people.
We never went to Xiamen University, on either trip. We never saw the point. There is supposed to be a nice lake at the university, but our hotel was next to a lake, so we never bothered.
Zhongshan Road is a major tourist shopping street. We went there on our first trip with mixed results. This was where we saw the world's filthiest Walmart and a woman urinating at the front door. There is nothing else on Zhongshan Road besides tourist shopping. Since we already knew that, we did not go back.
What we never saw on our first trip was Zhongshan Park, so we went there this time.
Monday, June 16, 2014
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Weekend in Xiamen part 3
Xiamen Island is small, so getting to everywhere we wanted to go was pretty easy. There is more to the city than the island, but we were not there long enough to explore the outer reaches, and we really didn't care anyway. We mostly went for the grocery store. That was on the other end of Yundang Lake. We could have walked to it from the hotel, but then going back with all those groceries would have been too much.
We actually went to the grocery store twice. The first time, they were out of too many of the things we wanted. They said another shipment would come in on our last day in Xiamen, so we went back just before we left the city. It would have been ironic if the main reason we went to Xiamen was a bust, but that's the chance you take when you go somewhere for a single reason.
Across the street from the American grocery store are two Chinese Italian restaurants, Duole and Mamma Mia. We did not try either of them the first time we went to Xiamen because we were on a cruise ship full of free food, or at least food that was already paid. This time, we had to find our own meals, so we went to one of the Chinese Italian restaurants on our first night and the other one right next door on our second night.
From the outside, both restaurants looked basically the same. You could tell they were two different restaurants, but there was nothing that distinguished one from the other. From the inside, one definitely looked more like a traditional Italian restaurant than the other. We assumed that one would have the better food. We were completely wrong.
The restaurant with the more generic café interior, Duole, had much better food. I don't know who runs either restaurant, but I would be surprised if the chef in Duole was not Italian, or at least trained in Italy. The pasta was as fresh as could be and the sauces were excellent. Almost every single Italian restaurant in China serves dried pasta. The better places put more effort into the sauce. The worst places just slap ketchup on top. Duole served us fresh pasta that was probably made that day. The best part, to me at least, was the garlic bread. I love garlic bread. It is one of the hardest things to find in Hong Kong. Lots of places have Chinese bread. Some places have what they call garlic bread. No one has genuine, fresh bread with genuine garlic and genuine olive oil. Who knows why. Bread is not a Chinese staple, but we have fresh garlic all over the place.
Even if you find a place that says it has garlic bread, it is usually Chinese bread, which is nothing like Italian, French, German, Dutch, American, Canadian, Irish or Scandinavian bread. Sometimes they will put Chinese butter on it or Chinese vegetable oil. Chinese butter tastes nothing like what I think of as butter. I don't know how they make it, but something is just off, like vegan cheese. Chinese oil is usually corn or peanut oil, which is not always a bad thing, but is not ideal for garlic bread. Olive oil is more expensive and not a traditional Chinese ingredient, so few places will use it.
Cheaper places use something called gutter oil. The less said about that, the better. Foreigners can usually tell which places use gutter oil since you will have a dramatic reaction to the food right away. My rule is if any food comes out of me right after I put it in, I never go back to that place.
We actually went to the grocery store twice. The first time, they were out of too many of the things we wanted. They said another shipment would come in on our last day in Xiamen, so we went back just before we left the city. It would have been ironic if the main reason we went to Xiamen was a bust, but that's the chance you take when you go somewhere for a single reason.
Across the street from the American grocery store are two Chinese Italian restaurants, Duole and Mamma Mia. We did not try either of them the first time we went to Xiamen because we were on a cruise ship full of free food, or at least food that was already paid. This time, we had to find our own meals, so we went to one of the Chinese Italian restaurants on our first night and the other one right next door on our second night.
From the outside, both restaurants looked basically the same. You could tell they were two different restaurants, but there was nothing that distinguished one from the other. From the inside, one definitely looked more like a traditional Italian restaurant than the other. We assumed that one would have the better food. We were completely wrong.
The restaurant with the more generic café interior, Duole, had much better food. I don't know who runs either restaurant, but I would be surprised if the chef in Duole was not Italian, or at least trained in Italy. The pasta was as fresh as could be and the sauces were excellent. Almost every single Italian restaurant in China serves dried pasta. The better places put more effort into the sauce. The worst places just slap ketchup on top. Duole served us fresh pasta that was probably made that day. The best part, to me at least, was the garlic bread. I love garlic bread. It is one of the hardest things to find in Hong Kong. Lots of places have Chinese bread. Some places have what they call garlic bread. No one has genuine, fresh bread with genuine garlic and genuine olive oil. Who knows why. Bread is not a Chinese staple, but we have fresh garlic all over the place.
Even if you find a place that says it has garlic bread, it is usually Chinese bread, which is nothing like Italian, French, German, Dutch, American, Canadian, Irish or Scandinavian bread. Sometimes they will put Chinese butter on it or Chinese vegetable oil. Chinese butter tastes nothing like what I think of as butter. I don't know how they make it, but something is just off, like vegan cheese. Chinese oil is usually corn or peanut oil, which is not always a bad thing, but is not ideal for garlic bread. Olive oil is more expensive and not a traditional Chinese ingredient, so few places will use it.
Cheaper places use something called gutter oil. The less said about that, the better. Foreigners can usually tell which places use gutter oil since you will have a dramatic reaction to the food right away. My rule is if any food comes out of me right after I put it in, I never go back to that place.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Vacation to Somewhere part 6
Finland is out. The house where we were going to stay in Helsinki is no longer available. That is what sold me on going to Helsinki in the first place. Without that house, I'm not as interested. It was a very nice house.
Kevin was the only one who wanted to go to Finland anyway. No one else was excited about it, so it's probably best that we are not going there.
Now we are pretty much back on page one. We don't know where we will end up going. August is coming up, so we better make up our minds fast.
Kevin was the only one who wanted to go to Finland anyway. No one else was excited about it, so it's probably best that we are not going there.
Now we are pretty much back on page one. We don't know where we will end up going. August is coming up, so we better make up our minds fast.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Tiananmen Square
Photo from the New York Times
It was more crowded than usual in Victoria Park yesterday. It's often crowded in Victoria Park. It is a popular place to hang out on the weekends and is an even more popular place for large gatherings and protests. There are few open spaces in the city, so the park works pretty well, and it is easy to get to.
Yesterday, about 100,000 people crammed into Victoria Park to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest. People gather every June 4th, but this was the 25th anniversary, so turnout was exceptionally high.
The amazing thing is that Hong Kong is part of China. There is never any mention of the protest in Mainland China, but in Hong Kong, everyone can say whatever they want about it. Internet service is far less restricted in Hong Kong. Every anniversary is all over Hong Kong news while it is completely ignored on Mainland news.
People talk about “one country, two systems”, but Hong Kong is very much Chinese. There is definitely more personal liberty in Hong Kong, but the government, people and culture are decidedly Chinese. Most of the people in Hong Kong or their parents are originally from Mainland China and the older generations see China in a positive light. Some people say that Hong Kong police are becoming more and more Chinese every day, while civil rights and labor rights already lean more toward Chinese.
What I find really amazing is that people from the Mainland can come to Hong Kong relatively easily. The city is mostly seen as a giant shopping mall, but the people in charge of China's government have to know that Hong Kong newspapers and TV have enough freedom of the press to criticize China and its leaders. When people visit from China to go shopping, they can easily hear news stories that they would never hear in China.
Chinese visitors in Hong Kong this week might be surprised to learn about what happened in Tiananmen Square. Some of them might go home and tell others about it. That is definitely not so good for all that control and repression the Chinese government has worked so hard on. On the other hand, there is money to be made in tourism.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Weekend in Xiamen part 2
We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on the island, which was a very good choice. Even though we had been to Xiamen before, we knew nothing about the hotels since the cruise ship was our hotel.
In Fuzhou, you have few options. There are a few western hotels, but they are easily the most expensive. Most of the hotels are Chinese, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but Chinese customers seem to have different ideas about what is clean and comfortable. Chinese hotels also look like they were decorated 50 years ago. I don't care about the latest furniture and whatever this week's trends are, but I think you have to redecorate your hotel every once in a while. If nothing else, newer carpets and beds tend to be cleaner.
Xiamen has more choices. They have plenty of Chinese hotels, of course, but they also have a greater variety of western hotels. It's not just the most expensive western chains. They have cheap western hotels, too.
The Crowne Plaza is neither the most expensive nor cheapest hotel in Xiamen. It is supposedly a 5 star hotel, but Chinese 5 star is usually not the same as actual 5 star. I have seen some Chinese 5 star hotels that Motel 6 would not want to touch. The Crowne Plaza would probably be 3 stars in Paris. It was clean and comfortable, which are the most important things to us, and it was in a great location.
The hotel had all the basics you expect of an international hotel that are sometimes hard to find in China. Everything in the room worked properly and did what it was supposed to do. The hotel even had a swimming pool, which is not as common in China as it should be, but the pool was being renovated while we were there, so we never used it.
The hotel was a few blocks away from Yundang Lake. We could not see the lake from our room because we were facing the opposite direction, but it was an easy walk. We went to the lake during the cruise, but we spent more time there this time. Yundang Lake is not the most exciting piece of real estate in the world, but it is a pleasant place to walk around and a lot cleaner, and a million times safer, than walking on the street.
Since we stayed at a major hotel, it was easy to get a taxi. We were on one of the major streets that cross the island, so taxis and buses were always an option. Buses in China can be difficult to impossible if you don't understand the Chinese system. Most foreigners just use taxis, which can also be difficult if you don't speak any Chinese. In my limited experience, I would say that Xiaman taxi drivers are almost guaranteed to try to rip you off, until you say something to them in Chinese. Once they hear Chinese, they immediately shape up, and perk up. More than a few taxi drivers stopped for us begrudgingly, but were suddenly animated when I spoke even the smallest amount of Chinese. I can't assume anyone's political persuasion, but my impression was that some of these drivers were sick and tired of waiguoren expecting them to speak anything other than Chinese. Since Xiamen is not among the most popular of international destinations, there has never really been any effort to bring in English or Japanese. Hong Kong taxis are the opposite. Most drivers are comfortable, or at least tolerant, of English while some are personally offended by whichever Chinese dialects they have political disagreements.
If you can't speak any Chinese, any decent hotel should be able to write down where you want to go. The Crowne Plaza, like most better hotels, has business cards with a Chinese map on the back. Whenever you go back to the hotel, you can simply hand the driver the card. Whether he approves of funny sounding foreigners or not, he can probably read the Chinese card.
In Fuzhou, you have few options. There are a few western hotels, but they are easily the most expensive. Most of the hotels are Chinese, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but Chinese customers seem to have different ideas about what is clean and comfortable. Chinese hotels also look like they were decorated 50 years ago. I don't care about the latest furniture and whatever this week's trends are, but I think you have to redecorate your hotel every once in a while. If nothing else, newer carpets and beds tend to be cleaner.
Xiamen has more choices. They have plenty of Chinese hotels, of course, but they also have a greater variety of western hotels. It's not just the most expensive western chains. They have cheap western hotels, too.
The Crowne Plaza is neither the most expensive nor cheapest hotel in Xiamen. It is supposedly a 5 star hotel, but Chinese 5 star is usually not the same as actual 5 star. I have seen some Chinese 5 star hotels that Motel 6 would not want to touch. The Crowne Plaza would probably be 3 stars in Paris. It was clean and comfortable, which are the most important things to us, and it was in a great location.
The hotel had all the basics you expect of an international hotel that are sometimes hard to find in China. Everything in the room worked properly and did what it was supposed to do. The hotel even had a swimming pool, which is not as common in China as it should be, but the pool was being renovated while we were there, so we never used it.
The hotel was a few blocks away from Yundang Lake. We could not see the lake from our room because we were facing the opposite direction, but it was an easy walk. We went to the lake during the cruise, but we spent more time there this time. Yundang Lake is not the most exciting piece of real estate in the world, but it is a pleasant place to walk around and a lot cleaner, and a million times safer, than walking on the street.
Since we stayed at a major hotel, it was easy to get a taxi. We were on one of the major streets that cross the island, so taxis and buses were always an option. Buses in China can be difficult to impossible if you don't understand the Chinese system. Most foreigners just use taxis, which can also be difficult if you don't speak any Chinese. In my limited experience, I would say that Xiaman taxi drivers are almost guaranteed to try to rip you off, until you say something to them in Chinese. Once they hear Chinese, they immediately shape up, and perk up. More than a few taxi drivers stopped for us begrudgingly, but were suddenly animated when I spoke even the smallest amount of Chinese. I can't assume anyone's political persuasion, but my impression was that some of these drivers were sick and tired of waiguoren expecting them to speak anything other than Chinese. Since Xiamen is not among the most popular of international destinations, there has never really been any effort to bring in English or Japanese. Hong Kong taxis are the opposite. Most drivers are comfortable, or at least tolerant, of English while some are personally offended by whichever Chinese dialects they have political disagreements.
If you can't speak any Chinese, any decent hotel should be able to write down where you want to go. The Crowne Plaza, like most better hotels, has business cards with a Chinese map on the back. Whenever you go back to the hotel, you can simply hand the driver the card. Whether he approves of funny sounding foreigners or not, he can probably read the Chinese card.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Weekend in Xiamen
It's getting busier and busier at work. Summer is one of the busiest times, along with Christmas/Chinese New Year. Ironically, Memorial Day weekend is nothing special. It is not technically summer yet and no one here cares about American vets. So I took some time off a little earlier than usual because it is only going to get busier.
Ryan came to Hong Kong the last two times, so it was definitely my turn to go to him, but since it was a holiday weekend, at least to us, we decided to do something different. Instead of me going to Fuzhou or him coming to Hong Kong, we went to Xiamen.
We went to Xiamen on our cruise last summer. Ryan hated it. I did not exactly hate it, but I was not all that impressed. What I liked the most was a small grocery store that had a surprisingly large selection of American items. These were actual American groceries made in America by American companies, not the “genuine” “made of USA” things with Chinese packaging and Chinese names you see throughout China.
Ryan misses American food even more than I do, especially since I live in Hong Kong where I can get a wider variety of international food. He lives in Fuzhou where his non-Chinese options are limited. They have plenty of Chinese Italian restaurants, but they are even more Chinese than our Chinese Italian restaurants. I convinced him to go back to Xiamen for the food.
I also told him that if he really hated it that much, we could just stay in the hotel all day naked. It was an empty compromise since I knew he could easily say he hated the city no matter what he really thought and he knew I was never going to spend the entire trip inside a hotel room.
Even though neither of us was all that impressed with the Xiamen stop on the cruise, I knew there had to be more to it than what we saw. We were only there while the shipped was docked, about nine hours. Since then, I have heard a few people say how much they like Xiamen and how much cleaner it is than most Chinese cities. I figured there must be something to it that we missed.
I went to see what else was there. Ryan went for the hotel. We both went for the American grocery store.
Ryan came to Hong Kong the last two times, so it was definitely my turn to go to him, but since it was a holiday weekend, at least to us, we decided to do something different. Instead of me going to Fuzhou or him coming to Hong Kong, we went to Xiamen.
We went to Xiamen on our cruise last summer. Ryan hated it. I did not exactly hate it, but I was not all that impressed. What I liked the most was a small grocery store that had a surprisingly large selection of American items. These were actual American groceries made in America by American companies, not the “genuine” “made of USA” things with Chinese packaging and Chinese names you see throughout China.
Ryan misses American food even more than I do, especially since I live in Hong Kong where I can get a wider variety of international food. He lives in Fuzhou where his non-Chinese options are limited. They have plenty of Chinese Italian restaurants, but they are even more Chinese than our Chinese Italian restaurants. I convinced him to go back to Xiamen for the food.
I also told him that if he really hated it that much, we could just stay in the hotel all day naked. It was an empty compromise since I knew he could easily say he hated the city no matter what he really thought and he knew I was never going to spend the entire trip inside a hotel room.
Even though neither of us was all that impressed with the Xiamen stop on the cruise, I knew there had to be more to it than what we saw. We were only there while the shipped was docked, about nine hours. Since then, I have heard a few people say how much they like Xiamen and how much cleaner it is than most Chinese cities. I figured there must be something to it that we missed.
I went to see what else was there. Ryan went for the hotel. We both went for the American grocery store.
Monday, May 19, 2014
Vacation to Somewhere part 5
What really brought me around to Finland was the house where we can stay. Since there are four of us, we have always been thinking about renting a big villa or house instead of just staying in the usual hotel rooms. There is a really nice house in Helsinki in the downtown area. It looks like it's close enough to walk to Helsinki Cathedral, which is one of the main sights.
Helsinki Cathedral is close to the main train station, so getting around should be easy. It all looks pretty close together on a map, but you never know until you are actually there.
I have never particularly thought about going to Finland, but I have never been opposed to it either. It is just one of those places I never thought much about. The more I look into it, the more I'm warming up to the idea.
Kevin wants to go to Finland more than Bali. Ryan wants to go to Bali more than Finland. Lily & I are currently on the fence. I suppose we will know which one it will be when one of us makes up our mind.
I'm just glad we finally narrowed it down to only two choices. Hopefully, no one will come up with another option.
Helsinki Cathedral is close to the main train station, so getting around should be easy. It all looks pretty close together on a map, but you never know until you are actually there.
I have never particularly thought about going to Finland, but I have never been opposed to it either. It is just one of those places I never thought much about. The more I look into it, the more I'm warming up to the idea.
Kevin wants to go to Finland more than Bali. Ryan wants to go to Bali more than Finland. Lily & I are currently on the fence. I suppose we will know which one it will be when one of us makes up our mind.
I'm just glad we finally narrowed it down to only two choices. Hopefully, no one will come up with another option.
Friday, May 16, 2014
Vacation to Somewhere part 4
What do we know about Finland? It gets very cold. But our trip is in August. That is the warmest time in Finland and that is when Finns seem to leave Helsinki, making hotels much cheaper.
It looks like Helsinki has an efficient public transportation system. They have lots of trams, which I like a lot better than subways, and you don't have to take a taxi from the airport into the city. I would rather take a train from the airport than a taxi any day. Taxis have different rules and systems everywhere in the world and you have to know how the locals do it to do it successfully. Trains are pretty straightforward and don't charge different prices at the driver's whim.
Most of the main attractions in Helsinki are all in the same part of town. That just makes it easier. There are cities in China where everything is a million miles from everything else. You can't just walk from one sight to another. When I'm in a city for the first time, I want to be able to walk as much as possible. You don't see as much from a taxi that is taking you on a wild goose chase, and you see even less from a subway.
None of us can speak any Finnish at all. I don't know a single word in Finnish. But I can say, “Jag pratar inte svenska” in Swedish. A lot of people seem to speak Swedish in Finland.
Not that it matters. I don't think you need to know the local language to enjoy your visit. Sometimes not knowing the language makes it more interesting. I don't know a single word in Thai, but I had a great time there. I don't know any Dutch and precious little Italian, but Amsterdam/Rome was a great trip. I don't know any of Indonesia's languages, but Bali was one of the best trips of my life.
English is also very common in Finland, so there should not be any problems. We were thinking about Thailand, the Netherlands, Israel and Jordan and none of us speak any of those languages.
It looks like Helsinki has an efficient public transportation system. They have lots of trams, which I like a lot better than subways, and you don't have to take a taxi from the airport into the city. I would rather take a train from the airport than a taxi any day. Taxis have different rules and systems everywhere in the world and you have to know how the locals do it to do it successfully. Trains are pretty straightforward and don't charge different prices at the driver's whim.
Most of the main attractions in Helsinki are all in the same part of town. That just makes it easier. There are cities in China where everything is a million miles from everything else. You can't just walk from one sight to another. When I'm in a city for the first time, I want to be able to walk as much as possible. You don't see as much from a taxi that is taking you on a wild goose chase, and you see even less from a subway.
None of us can speak any Finnish at all. I don't know a single word in Finnish. But I can say, “Jag pratar inte svenska” in Swedish. A lot of people seem to speak Swedish in Finland.
Not that it matters. I don't think you need to know the local language to enjoy your visit. Sometimes not knowing the language makes it more interesting. I don't know a single word in Thai, but I had a great time there. I don't know any Dutch and precious little Italian, but Amsterdam/Rome was a great trip. I don't know any of Indonesia's languages, but Bali was one of the best trips of my life.
English is also very common in Finland, so there should not be any problems. We were thinking about Thailand, the Netherlands, Israel and Jordan and none of us speak any of those languages.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Vacation to Somewhere part 3
Lily, Kevin, Ryan and I finally decided where to go on our big summer vacation. Our short list was Amsterdam, Thailand, Scotland, Bali, Israel and/or Jordan.
We ruled out Amsterdam because there were too many temptations for the men. I am generally not fond of judging people, but I don't want my travel companion to be baked the entire trip. I wanted to get some cheese in Alkmaar, but it would have been hard to get the others to leave Amsterdam, even for a little while.
We ruled out Thailand because it would have been a pain to get to every place we all wanted to go. If we just went to Bangkok that would be easy, but going to one place then another and another is never the most relaxing vacation in the world.
We ruled out Scotland because I was the only one who wanted to go there. There are four of us, so it has to be somewhere with more interest.
We ruled out Israel/Jordan because there are just too many issues. Going to one or the other might be easy, but flying into one and then flying home from the other turns out to be problematic. I don't care about the politics, but Ryan and Kevin do. We could not get past the unnecessary bullshit enough to have a good trip.
That left us with Bali. I'm always up for a private villa with a private swimming pool. With four of us, we could get a four bedroom villa with a bigger pool. Indonesia has been in the news lately with some less than flattering stories, but that was true the first time we went to Bali. None of it ever affected us. Bali seems to be removed from a lot of the general turmoil, or at least they do a good job of keeping it under the surface.
Then Kevin came up with Finland. We all collectively said, “Finland?” I assumed that since no one else liked my Scotland idea, no one would like Kevin's Finland idea.
We ruled out Amsterdam because there were too many temptations for the men. I am generally not fond of judging people, but I don't want my travel companion to be baked the entire trip. I wanted to get some cheese in Alkmaar, but it would have been hard to get the others to leave Amsterdam, even for a little while.
We ruled out Thailand because it would have been a pain to get to every place we all wanted to go. If we just went to Bangkok that would be easy, but going to one place then another and another is never the most relaxing vacation in the world.
We ruled out Scotland because I was the only one who wanted to go there. There are four of us, so it has to be somewhere with more interest.
We ruled out Israel/Jordan because there are just too many issues. Going to one or the other might be easy, but flying into one and then flying home from the other turns out to be problematic. I don't care about the politics, but Ryan and Kevin do. We could not get past the unnecessary bullshit enough to have a good trip.
That left us with Bali. I'm always up for a private villa with a private swimming pool. With four of us, we could get a four bedroom villa with a bigger pool. Indonesia has been in the news lately with some less than flattering stories, but that was true the first time we went to Bali. None of it ever affected us. Bali seems to be removed from a lot of the general turmoil, or at least they do a good job of keeping it under the surface.
Then Kevin came up with Finland. We all collectively said, “Finland?” I assumed that since no one else liked my Scotland idea, no one would like Kevin's Finland idea.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Old Ryan, New Home
This was going to be my turn to visit Ryan in Fuzhou, but since we just moved into the new apartment, we decided that he should come here to check it out. Usually when Ryan comes to Hong Kong, we go to a hotel. The old apartment was just too small for everybody at the same time. Staying in a hotel gave Ryan & I some time alone and also worked out for Lily & Kevin. Now that there is plenty of room for everyone, Ryan can stay here whenever he comes to Hong Kong.
Lily & Kevin were at work a lot, so Ryan wanted to test drive the apartment. His top priority was to have sex on the balcony, but that was never going to happen. It is certainly a big enough balcony. It is the biggest balcony I have ever seen in Hong Kong. There is plenty of room to do all manner of unspeakable things, but this is still in Hong Kong. Our building is not pressed against the next building, but we still have neighbors who can easily see our balcony when they are out on theirs. The balcony is big enough to have a party, but you are never going to have any privacy on it.
Naturally, Ryan suggested we wait until night time. Hong Kong is never truly dark at night. There are always plenty of lights on everywhere, but you could probably go unnoticed on the balcony with the living room lights off. So maybe there is slightly more privacy at night, but there are also far more mosquitoes. There are plenty of mosquitoes in the day time, more than enough, in fact. But night time is when they really come out in full force. Since this is mosquito season – anywhere between March and December is mosquito season – I would prefer to be as covered as I can when I'm outdoors at night. There are parts of my body that really don't need mosquito bites.
Lily & Kevin were at work a lot, so Ryan wanted to test drive the apartment. His top priority was to have sex on the balcony, but that was never going to happen. It is certainly a big enough balcony. It is the biggest balcony I have ever seen in Hong Kong. There is plenty of room to do all manner of unspeakable things, but this is still in Hong Kong. Our building is not pressed against the next building, but we still have neighbors who can easily see our balcony when they are out on theirs. The balcony is big enough to have a party, but you are never going to have any privacy on it.
Naturally, Ryan suggested we wait until night time. Hong Kong is never truly dark at night. There are always plenty of lights on everywhere, but you could probably go unnoticed on the balcony with the living room lights off. So maybe there is slightly more privacy at night, but there are also far more mosquitoes. There are plenty of mosquitoes in the day time, more than enough, in fact. But night time is when they really come out in full force. Since this is mosquito season – anywhere between March and December is mosquito season – I would prefer to be as covered as I can when I'm outdoors at night. There are parts of my body that really don't need mosquito bites.
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