09.6.8 and 09.6.9 Recap

Necesito escribir esto antes de que me duerma.
So I was def. too tired to type last night -- fact.
And I'm dying even as we speak/as I type this -- also a fact.
But I can't just skip two days of blogging, right? That'd be purely unethical.

So June 8, 2009. Recap!
I woke at 5:30 AM (again. It's a pattern -- can you see?), so we all went to early-morning Mass. We left at around 6:30, and the streets were just so quiet and calm. And it felt very nice to see a side of HK that often goes unappreciated. But we got to the church, and all was good. There were lots of nuns there, and it was fun(ny) to see so much white white at once. But we stayed at the church for a bit after Mass to just pray. So we did... except for the part where I felt faint and had to go outside. (I had only taken a Yakult before Mass, which would explain things; Yakult comes in very small bottles. VERY small bottles.) But I went outside to the Mary statue, and it was really nice. It's in this courtyard with a large yard behind it, and people (I assume) left flowers and stuff around the statue as a way of decorating the place. And there were also birds in the yard, and it was a bit breezy (and still cool because the sun wasn't really up yet). It was just a happy time.
Oh, I forgot! Thanks to feeling like passing out, I realized that there's a school right next to the church. See, I was in the courtyard, chilling. And then I hear all of these voices, and I look behind me. And there is this long line of little girls in their uniform, and they're going into the school gate not too far from where I'm sitting. And I was like, "Oh, yay! Traditional schoolkids in uniform! I feel so Asian..."
But afterwards, we went to Fairwood (大快_ . I'm don't know the last character... sorry.) for breakast. The way this restaurant is set up is really neat. You go up the stairs, and you see the whole menu as soon as you get to the top. Then you go to the person at the counter right in front of the stairs, and you give (usually female) her your order. Then you get in line at the food area, and they give you what you ordered. And it's all very good. :)
After breakfast, we went to the clinic. And they were like, "Okay. Jolly good. You've taken the pill daily at this clinic for the past few days, so we're giving you the rest of your dosage to take daily at home now." So they handed off a plastic bag with five individually packaged pills. And I'm happy because I can just take the silly little things at home -- no need to trek around to get my daily dose.
And then it was time to get my little brother's visa. So we headed towards the tower of immigration/visas. But we stopped to buy some nom-noms. Namely, a slice green tea-red bean mousse cake (pretty good) and a slice of black sesame mousse cake (pretty good). We ate it, and then we continued on our journey. We went into the tower, and they were like, "'Kay. Cool. We'll call you up in a sec." So... ten minutes later, they call us up to get the visa. And all is happy. (Though it's funny. They were like, "This child now has a visa. But he has to leave the country and come back once in order to validate it." WTG? But I think we're just gonna take him to Macau and ship him back. And then everyone will be pleased.) And on the way out, we also grab HK Identity Card registration forms because both my brother and I need to renew ours soon. Just saying.
Then it was off home, but we passed the Tai Yuen Street Market (Cec, correct me if I'm wrong) (we call it 玩具街, which means "Toy Street"). So we (by "we", I mean "I") OBVIOUSLY couldn't just pass without poking around. So I kinda made my parents stop and let me peruse and just look around the open-air market of goodies (from clothes to shoes, from toys to food, etc.). It was an excellent time. :) But I'm not done yet. I really only just did a quick glance here and there because I didn't want my parents to be like, "SJFSDKJFDS. Are you done yet?" So I'm going to return later. Def.
Ah, we also went to Sogo, which is a shopping building. Think of, like, 10 whole floors of shopping. And these stores are mainly upscale/brand-name. So it's nice... as well as very moneymoneymoney. o_0 But I saw something that really did pique my interest, so I must return later to obtain said item.
Finally, we got back to the apartment at, like, 1 PM. And we were like, "Lunch-time!" So we ate some oatmeal and bread that we had bought: Japanese cheese bread(stick) (meh), raisin-almond bread with a pineapple-crust top (okay), and a green tea-red bean paste loaf with pineapple-crust top (yum). It was a happy time.
Then I spent all afternoon loading Facebook pages and replying to people. And then we had din-din. And after a bit of post-dinner news, I fell asleep. Which is why I didn't post anything yesterday. Sorry!

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June 9, 2009
Today, my mom woke me up at 5:30 AM to ask if I wanted to go to Mass. And I was like, "Eurghhhhhhhh. I am asleep." But I was like, "Ah... Whatever. Might as well just get up." So I went to Mass. And became sleep-deprived. Which is why I'm dying as I'm typing this.
Um. After Mass, my dad had to leave for work (seeing as we are no longer in quarantine, he's not working at home anymore). So my mom and I headed back to the apartment. And we had yummy food: noodles, siu mai, and some odd kind of dumpling (but it was yummy. It had a thick, translucent wrapper, and it was filled with water chestnut, meat, and some other lugume-ish stuff). My mom also ordered pork blood congee. (Congee's like rice porridge. And pork blood usually comes in cubes because it kind of holds together when cooked. Yeah. So imagine really watery rice with cubes of violet-maroon cubes.)
But we just sat in the apartment for a bit. It was kind of humid today, so my mom was just trying to relax a bit. And then we decided to buy some groceries before it rained (which it did yesterday. And today. And is predicted to happen for the next few days).
So we headed out to the open-air market (grocery-style street vending this time). And it was fun to do the kind of shopping that I always associate with Hong Kong.
We bought some ex-live fish from the seafood stall. (WARNING. Graphic decription ahead.) See, they take the fish and smack it a few times with the flat of the butcher's kinfe in order to kinda knock it unconscious. But a few smacks aren't enough. So you watch as the fish goes (and it's still kinda flopping on the wooden chopping board that is red with the blood of other fish. And it's opening its mouth, and its gills are struggling to get some oxygen. And it's sad) and gets chopped. They chop and make gashes just behind the head (for easy eating later) and de-scale the fish with a meat tenderizer. The scales come flying off, and the next thing you see is slit after slit going into the fish -- the side, the belly, etc. And there's blood flowing onto the board as the still-squirming fish gets de-skinned and disassembled (take the organs out, cut it into distinct parts: head, left side, right side, middle-end, tail). Though bloody and terrible for children to watch (apparently, my brother cried the first time he saw a frog get killed at the market), it's all done with skill and proficiency. Mainly because of the amount of times they've had to do this.
Watching the eel's death was probably an even better testament to the skill that is necessary. (Once again, here's a warning: GRAPHIC ANIMAL VIOLENCE AHEAD.) They take the eel out of the water. They smack the eel with the butcher's knife (I don't know how much the smacking really does because the fish and eels -- and probably all other animals, in that case -- are still very much alive and moving). Chop, the eel's head is chopped just right so that there's a bit of flesh holding the eel's head to the body (think of Nearly-Headless Nick). Then they take what looks like a big nail with a wooden handle, and they drive it into the tail of the eel. (Do eels have tails? Is it just a body?) And they use the flat of the knife like a hammer to secure the "nail" into the cutting board. And then they grab the eel's head and pull the body straight. Then they grab a thinner, sleeker knife. Srcshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. There it goes, slitting the eel open and allowing the person to open the eel up. They unfold the eel (there's no other way to really describe it) and take the butchers knife to make a horizontal cut lengthwise. And so the whole spine (I assume it was the spine, but it was all so RED that I can't really be sure) comes neatly out of the eel. Then they take the "nail" out. And then, they bag it for you. There you go -- one strip of eel-flesh for your enjoyment. (I felt queasy as I watched this. This is why I wanted to be a vegetarian.)
Anyways. My mom and I then went to Wellcome for some more groceries. And all was happy.
At 5 PM, we went to my dad's office. And we all got together to look at an apartment that my parents might get (if they like this one enough, they might choose this one over the previously mentioned one. It'd be a hassle to deal with the paperwork, seeing as they already signed on the other one. But they decided this).
It was nice. Some parts of the design were silly and impractical, so my parents are thinking that they'll knock a few walls down and have other stuff done. But it's nice -- it's got a good view, and it's in a quiet neighborhood. I approve.
But we got back at 7:15 PM, and I was so tired (since my mom woke me up at 5:30) that I just passed out on my bed/the couch. And so they woke me at 8 PM for dinner. And we had yummy re-stuffed fish (fish paste stuffed back into the fish before frying), steamed fish paste-tofu (although there was too much cilantro in it tonight), and papaya soup. It was yummy.
And then I passed out again. And woke to type this. And now my dad's yelling at me to get off so that they can sleep. So I'll ttly?

Love.

11:14 PM
09.6.9