June 13, June 14

Okay. So I really suck at staying awake at night (and therefore never get around to publishing my posts)... But you forgive me, right?

----Saturday, Jun 13th----
I woke up at about 8 AM (because I've been typing 'til midnight/later lately). After breakfast, my mom's sister (my mom's the youngest of her immediate family; this aunt is the younger of her two older sisters. I will refer to her as "Aunt K" from now on*) came here to the apartment to do some cleaning. And afterwards, we had lots of yummy Japanese food. It was good, though parts of the meal were too salty (and soba noodle aren't as good as I had imagined they would be). After she was done, we walked to the apartment in Happy Valley (跑馬地) -- the one that my dad has but is not yet renovated. (This one where I am right now is in Causeway Bay (銅鑼灣).) And my dad was showing my aunt around the place as my mom talked about the renovations that needed to be done (I agree with destorying the wall between te kitchen and the den because the kitchen is WAY too narrow. It's about three feet across. Sadface. And then one of the bathrooms is too cramped. The door is half an inch away from the door when it (the door) is fully open. So you have to open the door, move into the bathroom, move to the right, close the door, and move back to the left before you can do your business.)
After that, we went to afternoon tea at this place in Happy Valley that is known for its thick toast. It's nothing remarkably special, but the toast is thick. This makes people really like it (especially my dad's side of the family because they love food). So we ordered a thick toast (厚多士) for my brother and me to try (though the five of us all shared). As I said, it's not especially good or anything -- just fun.
Then we went our separate ways (we came home and my aunt left for hers) and later had leftovers for dinner.
And afterwards, we went to look for some dish towels (because my mom doesn't like sponges). But I ended up finding a chain of clothes stores (five all in a row), so my dad and brother ditched while my (sleepy) mom accompanied me. I bought some loveliness, but I only got through three stores because my mom was getting tired/sleepy.
It was a fun day -- mainly because I love my aunt to pieces and because I love shopping (which means that I will def. need a job in college).

----Sunday, June 14th----
We went to Mass in Chai Wan (柴灣) in order to have a mini-reunion with my dad's side of the family. At the parish, we also incidentally met up with a lot of old-time friends (my parents'); it was nice to see people that were so happy to have us back in Hong Kong (even if I can't recognize most of them). (Also, a lot of them were like, "Omigoodness. You've changed a lot. I remember when you were young -- so fat and cute!" And one of them gave my brother and me each a red envelope with lucky money (紅包 with 利是/利事).)
I saw my grandmother, my dad's older brother (Uncle Francis) and his wife, and my dad's younger sister (Auntie Regina). And I also saw my cousins Martha and Charles (I remember that I used to want to be as tall as he is, but I'm not sure anymore. I'm quite happy at my average height).
We had Mass, and then we all kinda talked. Afterwards, my grandmother and my aunt (and her husband, who joined us after Mass) had lunch with us at the Happy Valley-place with the thick toast (my cousin Charles is learning to drive, so he drove us under the direction of my dad's older brother. Unfortunately, Charles, Martha, my uncle, and my aunt couldn't join us). Halfway into the meal, my cousin (mom's side) and her fiancé(!) came to join because they were close by.*
I ordered a pickle-omelette (I call it an omelette, but it's not really an omelette). Except that it also had Asian BBQ-style pork ("char siu", 叉燒) and ham in it, which they didn't tell us on the menu. This kinda saddened me, as I don't really like 叉燒 or ham. Also, the there were too was too much pickle in the egg, so it was extremely salty (there are many different kinds/flavors of Chinese pickle, but most of them are cut into either strips or small pieces. So it's not really like Western pickles, which are usually eaten whole or in dish-like slices). But the curry sauce that I had on the side was really good. My mom got a dish but asked for the black pepper sauce, which was also delicious (I tried some). I'll describe the dishes later when I post pictures.
But then we decided to walk to the Happy Valley apartment (AGAIN) to show my aunt and my cousin. But as soon as we walked out, it began pouring. (See, it was drizzling before we left. But as soon as we got to the curb, the the sound of raining got louder. So I looked behind me, and it was coming in sheets. And the next thing I knew was that I was soaked because the downpour had reached my location within the time it took to turn around.) So we all huddled in pairs (because we didn't have a sufficient amount of umbrellas), walking (but still getting wet). It was so bad that my grandmother and aunt (and her husband, obviously) decided to just get in their car and leave. So we said our farewells, and we just walked to the apartment with my cousin and future cousin-in-law.
So we got to the place, and they're just looking around, admiring and suggesting ideas for renovation (because it def. needs some things done). Then, we got a call from Auntie Regina and her husband saying that they'll come up as well since the rain finally died (this was half an hour later). So they also looked around and stuff. (Note: I never realized how funny this uncle is. Probs. because I don't really see much of my dad's side of the family. But he is quite funny, and it was refreshing to find out something new.) And then I got a call from Aunt K (this is the younger of my mom's two older sisters, remember?) asking if I wanted to eat dinner at her place in Tsing Yi (青衣). I agreed without hesitation (because I love her SO much) and told her that I'd go after hanging out with my aunt on my dad's side.
So my cousin eventually left for home (and her soon-to-be husband left with her). So the six of us (Auntie Regina and her husband, my dad, my mom, my brother, and me) went to my aunt's (via their fancy car). I'm not quite sure where they live, but it's really close to the Tai Koo (太古) station (for the MTR, or the Mass Transit Railway). And the house is very pretty. And they have two cats -- Baby (not shy) and Ginger (shy). I played with Baby a lot and eventually made her really annoyed by/bored of me. So she kept running away from me after the first fifteen minutes. And when I went to find Ginger, (s)he was in under my aunt's pillow in her bed. So I couldn't really see her/didn't want to find out (because I feared that a lightning-fast paw would wound me). And I also saw my cousins Agnes and Brian(?) (Cec, help me out here). But I only saw a glimpse of each one because they both left really soon after we arrived. But it was nice to just hang with my aunt and uncle because they're both really chill people.
At about 4:30, I left for Tsing Yi by taking the MTR. It was really funny because everyone was worried that I'd get lost. But you'd have to be blind/stupid/etc. to get lost on the MTR. Mainly because it's really straightforward (and in each station and the MTR itself, there are signs in both Chinese and English that direct you where you need to go). So I was like, "Puh-leeze. I've got this -- don' gimme that ish about getting lost." (But not really -- I generally don't talk like that.) So I went from Tai Koo to Tsing Yi. And all was lovely. After getting off at the Tsing Yi station, I walked towards the flower shop in Maritime Square (青衣城) (see, the station is on the third floor of Maritime Square, a shopping centre in Tsing Yi. So it's really cool to step off of the MTR and walk right into a mall. Plus, Maritime Square is a little over a mile from where my aunt lives). I bought some roses and some small bud-like things to go with them. And so I got them wrapped up in a small pink paper thing, and all was lovely. Then I walked to Serene Garden (海悅花園), and I got to my aunt's floor. Her door was open, but the gate was closed. I could see her (she was putting something away in the "attic" (it's actually just a long, narrow space above the hallway with about two feet of height. It's used for storage of miniature items like toilet paper and stuff), so I called out to her. But she didn't hear, so I let myself in. But I didn't want to scare her and have her fall off of the ladder on which she stood, so I just waited. I ended up scaring her anyways because she looked down to get off of the ladder and saw me in front of her. (Thankfully, she didn't take a tumble.) But I gave her the roses (because she loves roses. And also because I wasn't yet in Hong Kong when she had her birthday/retirement party in the winter of last year), and then we just sat around for a while. She told me she was surprised that I got to her apartment without help, but I've been to her home so many times that it'd be hard to forget. (Barring the winter of last year and this summer, I've lived at her apartment each time I've visited Hong Kong. It was always better than living for a month in a hotel because I love my aunt and her daughter Joey; they made coming home to Hong Kong even more wonderful.)
Then she went into the kitchen to cook dinner (she had already prepared everything), and her son (my sister and I dubbed this cousin "Zalulululu" for his English name) came home with his girlfriend to have dinner with us; my uncle, however, was working and couldn't make it.
Anyways, I watched as my aunt cooked and learned some new cooking, YAY! And then we ate. We had steamed fish: steamed vegetables; sweet and sour pork; steamed clams; tofu, mushrooms, and beef; and corn soup. There was a lot of food, so I packed some of the leftovers home (my aunt would never be able to eat all of the leftovers in one day).
After dinner and after cleaning up (though my aunt wouldn't let me wash the dishes because she believes that guests must always sit and relax. I disagree, but she still never lets me help out with anything), my aunt and I took the harbor-side route towards Maritime Square (to get to the Tsing Yi station). It was breezy, and the smell of the harbr was nice.
I got to the station and said my farewell to Aunt K, and then I headed home. All was good until I got to Causeway Bay. It had been good when I arrived at the station (I could see outside, and it was okay), but it was pouring by the time I finished ascending the stairwell to get outside. So I walked for about ten minutes in the pouring rain (and amidst lightning and thunder) before I got home. I called Aunt K to tell her I got back safely (because she was afraid I'd ge lost). And then I sat down on the couch (my bed) to type two days' worth of updates. But I fell asleep within a minute.
Albeit being wet and tired, I was happy for the lovely day I had.

*On a note of interest, did you know that "fiancé" refers to the future groom while "fiancée" refers to the future bride?
This kind of "-e" pattern also occurs in "brunet/brunette" and "blond/blonde".

Okay. I'll see you all later! (And I promise to post pictures?)

4:39 PM
June 15 (Happy Birthday, Denis!)