09.6.6 Apartments and (maybe) History Lessons

D-Day today? Just saying.

Today was apparently a day that merited air conditioning. It was predicted to reach 32 degrees Celsius, and my parents were like, "Mahhhhhh... It's so hot. We need air conditioning." I found this a little odd because I was perfectly fine. See, my parents grew up in Hong Kong their whole lives (minus 11 years in USA). This means that they should be better-accustomed to the weather here. But I was perfectly fine today, and they were like, "A.C.!!! Now!!!"
So they turned it on. And they were in shorts, etc. as I was freezing. And I am now in pajama pants, and I'm still a little cold. (But in all fairness, I have been sleeping on the couch without A.C. for these past two nights. So maybe I have an unfair advantage?)

But ANYWAYS! This is probs what you most cared to hear: we haven't heard from the medical people, so it's looking like we're pretty safe. This is rather excellent news (for now). But as always, I'll keep waiting to hear from them.

I woke up today and made some more thank-you notes while the sun was rising, right before it started to get humid; this is important, because Hong Kong's crazy humidity can do crazy things to ordinary paper.
After breakfast, we went to take our daily medicine (we take a pill daily at a clinic nearby. It's called Tamiflu). We started ever since our medical check-up (which took place after my brother was a confirmed carrier), and we'll continue taking the medicine for about a week... I think.
Afterwards, we went to visit the apartment that my dad bought. This probably merits some explanation, seeing as we are already living in an apartment. Okay, then.

-EXPLANATION BEGINS-
My dad started working (as the managing director of the Asian branch) for a company based in the Pacific Coast about two years ago. See, the company had wanted to open up a market in Asia, but they didn't really have an Asian branch... so they were like, "Hey. When we finally open up quarters in Asia, will you kinda supervise?" My dad was like, "Sure." And so he moved to the headquarters in Western USA. (So my family was kinda dad-less for a year, but he visited when he could -- mainly as a kind of pit-stop between business-flight destinations. Therefore it wasn't completely terrible, but this explains why you guys probs didn't see my dad a lot.)
But then, the company finally opened up their Asian market headquarters in (incidentally) Hong Kong. And so my dad had to move even farther away from us, once again only being able to visit during business flight stops. This was a little taxing on my parents/family, so general consensus (between my parents) decided that the family would be brought back together after my graduation (to live permanently, God willing).
And so... we're here, living in the one-bedroom apartment (although at about 750 square feet, it's considered a big one-bedroom apartment for Hong Kong) that my dad has used since moving here. And it's fine for us; it's modest, but we're simple people who like small, clean living. But my brother, unlike me, will actually be living here for a while (he'll be attending an international school), so my parents bought a two-bedroom apartment over the spring. We're not living there yet, though; we have to renovate it first. But after that, my family will move into it and say our farewells to this apartment.
But that's a while from now (the renovation will probably finish after I move back to the States to start college, so I probably won't even be able to see experience it), so it's kind of whatever to me.
-EXPLANATION ENDS-

So. That was my (really confusing and probs incoherent) explanation. We just visited that apartment to see what it's like so that my mom and dad can agree on the necessary renovation changes. It's kinda funny to watch them do this because they kinda disagree here and there, and so they put on funny frownie faces... which is probably not supposed to be funny. But I think they're being silly and slightly immature, so it's a little comical to me.

But we ate lunch after returning. This lunch was bought from the street-side restaurant from downstairs (though I don't know if it really qualifies as "street-side" because it's not on a street side. But it's modeled under the same idea, so I think it's fair to call it this), which I will hopefully explain later.** (If not, please remind me to talk about restaurants and stuff.)
And after lunch, I fell asleep at 2. And woke at 6:30. Which is kind of yucky. I feel so... BLAH.

And then we had dinner. And now I'm here, typing in this blog (which is serving as my HK journal. I guess this is more enviornmentally friendly, as I usually journal in an actual book. But I guess I decided to go green/electronic this time, haha).

**But to fill in the lulls that come with being in quarantine, I thought I might do a bit of cultural explaining. Basically, I'll try to type up little HK-in-a-bottle (or maybe HK-in-a-post) things. I'm thinking that I'll try to present:

• Food & Food Etiquette
• Climate
• Culture
• Language
• Religion
  

Is there anything else upon which I should touch? (Though I cannot guarantee that I'll actually do this because writing little travelling guides is REALLY taxing.)

But I'll see you all later. :)

7:57 PM
June 6, 2009

We just went for a walk around the neighborhood (different area). It was nice, and I took a few pictures. I'll post them later, I promise. (If the internet connection's good enough for it.)

Also forgot to mention! While in the taxi on our way to the clinic today, I saw my cousin. My mom and I opened the window to yell for her attention, but my dad was like, "Don't do it. :(" So we didn't. I guess he thought that we'd be embarrassing, which is a fair insight.

9:09 PM
June 6, 2009