Okay. These past few days have been very busy, so I couldn't post. I'll explain:
Three mornings ago, I woke up when my mom got back from her morning rounds (though it rained, yuckyuck). And so I had some yummy bread (fresh out of the bakery, as per usual in true Hong Kong style). And then Aunt Kuen arrives back from her morning Qi Gong. And she was like, "Would you like to eat breakfast at a restaurant nearby?" But I had just eaten, so that was not an option. So my aunt was like, "Oh, okay. Hm, I need to go downstairs to buy some groceries. I'll be back in a bit."
But Sara called about booking plane tickets to Japan (we've been trying to figure this out for the past few days), so my mom and aunt got tied up with that for a bit. I just realized that I've forgotten to mention these plans, so I'll mention them in a bit.
Anyways, this gave me time to change clothes. So when they finally finished, I was like, "I'll go to the market with you, Aunt K." And it was nice. I took lots of pictures at the open-air market near Aunt K's. We bought some purple yams to make yam dessert, some "sheet sugar", and some leaves for making "zong" (糭) because I asked her to teach me again to make them. (糭 is a packet of glutinous rice and filling steamed within a bamboo or reed leaf. Traditional filling for regular 糭 includes any combination of peanuts, green mung beans, fatty pork, chicken with bone, Chinese smoked sausage, egg yolk, salted duck egg, char siu, shiitake mushrooms, chestnuts, and dried shrimp; you can dip this in soy sauce. There's also a sweet variation which uses either no filling at all or neutral ingredients like mung bean and chestnuts; it is dipped in sugar before being eaten.) It brought back some really nice memories, and it was nice to have that experience. (And there was a bird that was flying in the plaza, haha.)
After that, Aunt K and I went back to the apartment. We stayed there, being really excellently cool (not temperature-wise) people for the next few hours. My, oh my. It was HOT. And humid. It was terrible. So we sat around, talking and stuff. And we kind of skipped lunch because some people came to look at Aunt K's apartment because of some leaking in the wall/ceiling, which we suspect the neighbors upstairs caused. (It's been like this for a while now.)
And since we didn't officially eat lunch, I had some Grill-a-Corn (I've been chowing down on entire bags, which is totally disgusting for my body) and yam dessert. It was SO good, oh my. It had yams, purple yams, hot-dessert mochi (you place it into a liquid and cook it), ginger, and sheet sugar. It's very simple but oh-so-good, so I had another bowl (which I couldn't finish, in fact).
And then I had some Chinese herbal medicine. Surprisingly, the kind that the herbalist prescribed me this time is not terribly sour or bitter. I didn't even need to clear my palate after drinking it.
My afternoon consumption made my tummy really full. So I walked to Maritime Square by myself, which was nice because the sky was gray-ish now. I mean, it was still stuffy. But at least the sun wasn't burning me. So I walked to the shopping mall and directly looked for socks to wear. See, I had packed extra underwear and clothes to Aunt K's (because I had correctly assumed that our stay would extend to at least two days) but had forgotten to bring extra socks (as well as slippers and my toothbrush. Thankfully, Aunt K had some in stock, but this was not so for socks). So I walked to Maritime Square without socks, and the top of my foot started to hurt. So I did some quick looking and found 4 pairs of socks at $100 at Giordano. And so I bought them and went to bathroom, where I slipped a pair on. They were really comfy -- just as I'd expect from a Giordano product. However, I was still kicking myself a bit when I did some actual store-browsing and found 2 pairs of socks at $40. But still, Giordano is reliable stuff, so I told myself to chill out. :) (So anyone who wants to know, IceFire has the best deal on socks in Maritime Square right now; however, I don't know how their quality is, so 4 for $100 at Giordano is also a great option!)
Anyways, I went looking around and eventually found myself in Meyer, which is a really cute shop that sells lots of household stuff and cute miscellany. There are stickers, stationary, pens, staplers, paper, staplers, hole-punchers, tape, origami paper, stuffed animals, adorable folders, snow globes, etc. Inagine a stationary/supply store that got enbubble-ated by a cute specialty store. Get the picture? :)
Anyways, I was looking at the stuff there when my mom called. She was like, "We're ready to go to Uncle 3's** now." (The plan was to go to his apartment for dinner after the wall/ceiling people finished.) Aunt K told me to take the MTR (remember, the MTR links to the mall), but I knew that she only wanted me to do that because it would be less for me to do. So I insisted on going back to Serene Garden to take the green van with Aunt K, LilBro, and Mom. (The green van will take you to the exit of the Tai Wo Hau (大窩口) MTR station, so both methods virtually take you to the same place. However, taking the green van not only costs a fraction of the price at a mere $2 but also involves fewer stops along the way. Furthermore, taking the MTR would require you to find the right exit and walk the correct path of stairs and halls in order to get to the right place. So in the end, taking the green van was cheaper, faster, and more convenient in this case.)
So I walked back to Maritime Square, and the four of us went to Uncle 3's.
We got to the apartment, and all was a happy affair. We forced Hei Hei to entertain us with some piano (poor thing) and target LilBro afterwards. But he was lazy, so we mainly goaded Hei Hei to show off her skills.
But then dinner came. And it was SO yummy. (Uncle 3 really knows how to cook -- no lie. My mom says that he loves to eat, so he can cook really well.)
@ Steamed tofu and fish-paste (魚肉, "fish meat"; it is also called minced fish). This dish is called 老少平安 ("peace for both old and young). Both the fish paste and tofu are chopped or ground, and then they are mixed together with egg (and you can add small bits of dried citrus peel, which adds extra taste and aroma). Then the dish is steamed. It's really yummy even when done quickly (tofu and fish paste are still in small bits), as my uncle and mom (the post of June 9th) did it, but the proper version of this involves making the tofu and fish paste so chopped/ground that the end result is a dish which looks like one ingredient alone (the fish and tofu are that well-blended), as my aunt did it in December.
@ Egg-fried shrimp. This is like a shrimp omelet, and I usually don't like it because I don't feel that the two mix well alone. (It's not even able to be saved by onion,which my mom's version of this dish includes.) However, the one that Uncle 3 made was really delicious. I think it was because he used big shrimp (unlike my mom's frozen I-don't-particularly-care-because-it's-a-regular-dish-and-not-worth-using-the-fancy-shrimp-for shrimp). Or it might be that the shrimp here tastes better or that Uncle 3 just really knows how to cook this dish. Regardless, it was really yummy.
@ Stir-fried vegetable in bean-curd paste. You take the vegetable (I forgot its name) and stir-fry it with garlic and oil. And then you add the paste, which is made of fermented bean curd onto the vegetable. Be careful not to add too much paste, though; it's very pungent, so you should mind your guests' tastes. I liked this dish very much.
@ Steamed chicken with ginger-scallion sauce. It's a very classic dish in Chinese cuisine. Steam the whole chicken. In the meantime, chop scallions and ginger into small bits (though don't make the scallions too small). Add oil and salt. Serve the chicken, and place the sauce next to the meat for easy dipping. (Note: The bone and skin are still on, so be Asian; take your piece and get rid of the skin and bones without using your hands.)
@ Soup ingredients. My uncle made winter-melon soup, so he scooped the ingredients (winter melon, 淮 山 (Chinese yam that's been dried and cut into slices; it's used in soups and herbal medicines), pork-on-bone, and assorted grains/herbs) into a dish. I love winter melon, 淮山, and the grains/herbs, so I attacked this dish (which was conveniently placed in front of my face).
After the really filling dinner (omigoodness, I was dying), we just sat around the table and talked. Well, by "we", I mean that LilBro went to play video games. This left everyone else (Uncle 3 and his wife, Hei Hei, Aunt K, Mom, me) to talk. It was nice, but I was getting drowsy on account of never sleeping and being full. So I was very happy when we left -- not that I didn't enjoy the meal and company! Believe me, I was very happy for both. The fact is merely that I was falling asleep at the table (in the midst of conversation, which I felt was rude).
So we took the MTR back home (to Causeway Bay), which was a happy affair. It was nice to be back, but I was so tired that I collapsed as soon I finished taking a shower and stuff. I just melted.
**Uncle 3 belongs to my mom's side of the family.
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And then two days ago, I went to do some Tik Dah with Mom and LilBro. However, it was once again packed, and we'd have to wait a few hours to come back and draw a number-chip. So my mom was like, "Let's just go."
And so we went to get my brother's uniform at the tailor shop. Sigh, people grow up so quickly...
Afterwards, we wanted to go to Toy Street, but it was not a happy affair on account of the raining which then happened. This kinda nixed all plans to do the open-air shopping at Toy Street. So we went to eat lunch at a congee/rice restaurant. I ordered seafood rice in soup with winter melon; my mom ordered pumpkin (Chinese pumpkin tastes different) congee with corn and beef; and my brother ordered twisted doughnut/Chinese fried dough/Chinese cruller/fried breadstick (油條, "you tiaou", "oil stick" OR 油炸鬼, "you ja gwai", "oil-fried ghost") (it is traditionally cooked as a pair of dough strips which are fried together -- they will stick together in the middle. This is usually dipped in congee or soymilk) and grilled-pork congee. For drinks, I had egg pudding soymilk (soy milk with egg pudding in it), and LilBro had regular soymilk.
Since it was still raining, we headed home after the meal. I did some shopping along the way, and my mom and brother ditched me (I shop like nobody's business, so my family has no patience for me). Anyways, it stopped raining as I finished my clothes-shopping. And so I went to Bonjour to find some hair products and ended up buying some hairspray and fiber putty (which is -- I found out last night -- not the same as molding clay, which I was seeking. Oh well, better than nothing at all).
And then I got back after my shopping, and we had dinner that night. Then I spent the whole night typing up my blog... but fell asleep. It was a pretty busy day.
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Then yesterday (full day of rain since we've been experiencing a level-3 typhoon), I woke up at about 8 when my aunt came over. So I waved good morning to her and then went back to sleep because I was so tired (and had fallen asleep at about [way-early-morning], so that was no good). I felt a bit rude for not really saying anything to her, but it was like meh... I really can't open my eyes. Anyways, I actually got up at about 9. And I ate breakfast, and then we all had a big day of cleaning. It was kind of a ridiculously busy day.
Although! I did get a bit of blogging before lunch. But I got accosted with an IM from Quinnifred, one of my fellow Dustbunnies. It was really nice to talk to her. :) She's a sweetheart.
Anyways, I spent the whole day with Aunt K (and with cleaning). And then I began packing for the Japan trip on Tuesday. And then I went online to do some more blogging. And then we called Cec at about 11 PM (her 11 AM). And then my dad, mom and brother went to bed. And Cec and I talked 'til 1:23 (my AM, her PM). And then I showered and did some more blogging... But then once again fell asleep. This time at 4 or so. And so I kept this post short -- because it's not only overdue but also because I've been typing this up for a while. And I'm sick of it, meh...
I've gotta go now, though. So I'll ttyl. :)
Yesterday was Cec's birthday. Happy birthday, PhattyCec. Loveya mucho.
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