June 16, June 17, June 18

Okay. I'm really sorry. This falling-asleep-at-the-computer-and-therefore-not-posting-'til-later thing is unacceptable, borderline unforgivable.I'm really sorry, and I promise to keep trying to fix this problem!

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On June 16, I went to the bone-setter (bone-setting is a branch within the Chinese medical practice of Tik Dah) to see if we could help my left hand's ring and pinky fingers.** (I had come back to Hong Kong last winter, and Auntie Regina had asked if I wanted to try it because her own daughter, Agnes, had tried bone-setting and seen great results. However, I didn't have enough time to do it in the winter since I was only back for about two weeks. So she gave me some eucalypthol balm on the day I left, and I had tried it when I was in the States. I felt that it really did help, so my aunt took this as a good sign. And it is because of this reason -- and this reason alone -- that I am here in Hong Kong.)
So I went with my mom and got there at about 10:30. My aunt wasn't there yet because she had gotten into a car accident on the way there, so we had to wait. And we just waited, waited, waited. And they finally called us after a terribly long time (there are a lot of people who go to see them because they're honest, knowledgeable, and effective).
So I sat and waited for a diagnosis first. And he said that there's really no hope to fix my problem because my connective tissue has hardened over these years, so my finger can't really get better at this point. But my mom and aunt pushed because we had seen a little progress with the balm. He eventually relented and agreed to try some treatment even though he warned us that it might not work in my situation (this is not something that he feels he can really fix because it's not in his area of expertise).
So I soaked my hand in some off-the-stove medicine (liquid with herbs), which really (REALLY) hurt. So it kinda happened like this: dunking; lift and wince; dunk; lift and wince. This happened for a long time before I finally acclimated my hand to the severely hot stuff and could let my hand soak. Then the doctor wrapped my hand in a paste made of herbs and told me to take it off after 9 PM, at which time I would allow my hand to dry for at least 10 minutes after unbandaging. Then he told me to come back the following day.
After all of this, it was rather late in the afternoon. Since we hadn't eaten lunch yet, we went to lunch at a tofu-specialty restaurant.
Me: shitake mushroom and fish ball with flat noodles; (Dessert was) grass jelly (涼粉) and red bean with evaporated milk.
Auntie Regina: sweet tofu
Little Brother: [---] forgot
Mom: [---] forgot
Shared: "Lo Sui Tofu" ("Old Water Tofu", 老水豆腐) (Cec, spot-check?); fried tofu with fish paste
I enjoyed the "Lo Sui Tofu" a lot, and I'm glad I tried it. After lunch, we went clothes shopping because my brother (still) needed shorts. So we ended up finding some good pairs for him (and one for me).
Then it was already 3:45, so my mom had to go to my dad's office because they were going to see the apartment (the one mentioned in the post of June 9th. I'll call it "Siu Fei Toi" from now on). So my aunt walked with my brother and me to the apartment and stopped by the open-air market to buy some fruit. We ended up buying a fruit with thick (but soft) red coverings. You push the bottom of the fruit into the core so that the shell breaks, and then you peel the skin off. And then you eat the flesh of the fruit, which is very tender and milky-sweet. But you don't eat the seed. It was a fun and sweet experience.
But she left as soon as we got to the door of our apartment because she had to prepare dinner. So my brother and I just stayed at home. I fell asleep because I haven't slept (like, at all) these past few days. But I got up when my parents came back late, and then we ate a late dinner at about 8. Eeep. Then I passed out on the couch but woke at 10 to take my bandage off. The skin and fingernails of my hand turned yellow because of the herbs, but it was fine.

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June 17 was another busy day. I went to the Tik Dah doctor again. This time, we got there at about 10. And we waited for our turn until 12:30.
And so the doctor came to look at my hand. Nothing extraordinary happened, but I felt that the connective tissue had loosened a bit. So I had the hot-medicine dunk again, and then he bandaged my hand again. But this time, he used a more potent type of medicine (I think it was oil). It burned a bit, but it was fine.
Then lunch-time! We called my dad (who works very close to the clinic), and we had Viatnamese food at the Little Paris restaurant. We ordered tomato beef brisket (brisket (牛腩) refers to a cut of meat from the chest area) in moan (a type of Vietnamese noodles), curry beef brisket with rice, fried pork with rice (this is so uncreative that it's 100 percent apparent that my brother wanted this dish), and Vietnamese rice-paper rolls.
I love beef brisket, so I was happy with that. But I found that the tomato sauce was not at all delicious, and there was way too much of it (the sauce); it made the whole dish seems greasy, heavy, and wet (all at once). Then the curry was nothing special. And I didn't even try the prok rice because it made me sad just seeing it (why not try something else, little bro? Don't be boring). The rice-paper rolls were good, though (maybe I'm just partial because I love them).
Also, my dad ordered black sticky-rice in coconut milk (which I did not sample because people who do Chiense medicine are supposed to avoid sticky rice) while my mom and I got drinks (I got a mint jelly cooler, which was neither as interesting-tasting nor as WOW as I was expecting. And my mom had a mung-bean jelly in coconut milk, which was also a bit disappointing because it wasn't that good).
Overall, I was just not very impressed with the place. (And the service was rather meh. I understand that you have to be very quick when the lunch-time rush-hour arrives, but there was not reason to be so terse and borderline-rude.)After lunch, my dad went back to the office. And my brother, mom, and I went to Mei Foo. (Aunt K had called us earlier with news saying that she had come back from her trip from Mainland China with spoils for us -- a whole chicken and lychee bunches. She said that she's visit us on Thursday and bring the stuff, but my mom was like, "Nononono. Don't be silly. You go to Mei Foo on Wednesdays (to help my cousin clean the apartment. She does this at her place on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays), so we'll just meet you there. We'll hang out with you guys in the afternoon, and we'll bring dumplings for dinner. Then we'll take the spoils with us when we leave.")
And it was lovely to see Sara and her kids again. :) It's exhausting to play with them, but it's very much worthwhile.
It doesn't sound like I did a lot, but it really was a busy day. By the time I got back, I was way too tired to function. So after drifting in and out of sleep for two hours, I took a shower and fell asleep.

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Yesterday, I went to the doctor again for the medical treatment. This time, we were smart; we took a chip and then called my dad (his office is very closeby). So we headed out for lunch at a noodle restaurant and ate. We had five bowls between the four of us.
The octopus balls (again, not testicles), fish-meat slices ("Yuu Pien", 魚片(Cec?)), veggie wontons, and fish-skin dumplings came in flat noodles and a different type of noodles (which resemble spaghetti in shape but are transluscent/white and chewier). Then we ordered a special: beef balls and cuttlefish balls (not testicles, again) with ground pork and pickled vegetables. It came in a noodle with sweet and spicy soup, which tasted good. But overall, the food was just okay. I enjoy eating these kinds of things, but they were honestly not that impressive.
But I got back to the doctor's at about 1:30, and there were still some of the people who were scheduled in front of us. So we waited for about half an hour before getting called. We did some more hand-dunking (I'm beginning to see a trend). Then he massaged my hand a bit before bandaging it in some herbs (I'm not allowed to unwrap it until tomorrow morning). And then he dismissed me and told me to come back on Saturday.
So my mom, my brother, and I went to the market after the appointment and bought some food for dinner.
And then I went home and started typing in this blog... But then I fell asleep after dinner, so I still didn't finish this entry until now. And now I'm going to hit "Publish Post". And hopefully, I'll be able to start daily-blogging again... (Please?)

P.S. On an excellent note for me, Lady Gaga's Paparazzi is the feature video for Dailymotion US; I noticed thist as I was going to the Dailymotion page in order to play some music as I typed. I can't watch it here because of copyright legality, which prevents it from being played anywhere outside of the States. But I had already watched it before I came here, so all's well. It was very exciting to see it being featured, even though the video is somewhat (very) (extremely) (unnecessarily) skanky. I admire her lots -- she's so drama and glam.

**For all who don't know, I jammed my left pinky and ring fingers in the long escalator at Hong Kong's Ocean Park when I was two. What happened was that my mom ran to push the emergency stop button, but it was a bit too late. They found me with my two fingers dangling from my hand, a tiny thread of flesh from the back of the hand keeping each finger attached to my hand. Incidentally, this is exactly why Hong Kong now uses "Please hold the handrail" signs on their escalators. But anyways, I was rushed to the hospital. And it was very lucky that they could save my two fingers (though I now have a scar on the back of my hand and at the base of my thumb from where they stole connective tissue to use on my fingers). (STORY: My cousin told me that my mom stayed by my side in the hospital for a few days before I told her that I was okay and that she should go home to rest. And my cousin also said that they were crying when they came to visit me, so I said to them in Chinese, "I'm okay. Look, look! I'm okay. Please don't cry." This is kinda cute for me to imagine because I was only two.)
My mom always tells me that I was really lucky to have my fingers back. But I had lots of therapy when I was young, and I remember always having to sit at home with this really hard (and smelly), green material that was reminiscent of Play-Doh. And my mom would always try to help me massage the ligaments (I think they're ligaments) in order to help extend them as much as I can. But when my brother was born, she became really busy and couldn't focus on my hand as much. (I think she feels a bit of regret whenever she talks about this, and I feel bad because I really should have remembered and not been a lazy child.)
Regardless, I have little strength in my fingers -- I can't straighten them, and I can't bend them (to make a fist). Which is why my friend called my finger "the retarded pinky". I've never minded people knowing or talking about it; I've gotten so used to it that I don't really notice it.

I love you all, and I'm sorry for being a butt-face about posting. :(

1:49 PM
June 19