July 14

As of right now (12 AM), July 14 counts as "yesterday". Therefore I will address it as such.

Yesterday, I woke up at about 9:30, which was not very good if you consider the fact that I was supposed to meet Hei Hei and Fong at the Causeway Bay station at 10:30. (Eep.) But somehow, I managed to get everything together and was only about one to three minutes late. (This was a certified miracle.)
But I digress. I got them and brought them to our apartment building, where we met Mom and LilBro. (LilBro was playing video games instead of getting ready, so he wasn't ready to leave yet. This resulted in a rather unhappy Mom who yelled at him after commissioning me to retrieve my cousins.) And then we took a bus to Aberdeen (香港仔) and took a small ferry to Jumbo, which is a floating restaurant -- legit, it's a restaurant that floats on the water. This makes it a very touristy attraction and an expensive place for you to go.

After dim sum at Jumbo (which was not especially delicious -- the expense of eating at Jumbo comes from "eating the view rather than from eating the food", as a Hong Kong idiom goes), we went and walked around in a shopping plaza. LilBro saw a Jumpin' Gym U.S.A. (which is similar to an arcade place -- the kind where you get tickets for your skill, success, and luck at impossible and absolutely unfair games) and asked Mom if he could play there, and she (surprisingly) agreed. So he played for a bit while Fong, Hei Hei, and I walked around. And when we finished looking around, we came back to Jumpin' Gym. (And I helped LilBro play the train game, where you drop coins in hopes of pushing all of the piles down into the bin.) When there were no tokens left, we went and traded in our tickets and left. We did some more browsing of stores, and then we left for Causeway Bay.
(In the end, I purchased a bag of candy and two shirts. Hei Hei bought a pair of shorts. Fong bought a shirt. It seems like I spend a lot of money, but I'm only using money here because the stuff here is cheaper than the stuff in America. So it's kind of like stocking up on bargain goods.)

We got to Causeway Bay and had some steamed milk/steamed milk custard (燉奶, "dun lai"). Well, actually... Mom and Hei Hei got some. David had black sesame soup (芝麻糊, "gee ma wu"), and Fong had some soymilk. And I was going to get some steamed milk custard, but my mom told me to try Jaja (喳咋) instead. So I did, and I recognized it from my chilldhood. It's a mixture of many different beans, which are stewed together and sweetened. It tastes similar to mung bean dessert soup, probably because many ingredients are shared in both recipes. (When my mom tried some of my Jaja, she said that hers has more ingredients than the one at the restaurant. But I countered with my own teasing comment of how her dessert soups usually ended up getting burnt and therefore probably didn't taste as good.)
After this small excursion, we went to Aji Ichiban to buy some little snack items: dried mango and dried pork. I make it sound like we spent just a little while in there, but the truth is that we were debating between this and that and this and that (because of the sales that were going on). But I decided to wait until later to return -- that way, I can bring some with me and share with Cec.
When our trip to Aji Ichiban finished, we headed back to our apartment building with a short stop at the bakery that is famous for its fried-pork bun. (This is just one of the few eateries below our apartment -- literally below -- that are famous.) And so we bought some of the buns and brought them up to our place (Hei Hei and Fong were like, "Hey -- cool. Never been here before."), where they were soon shared between Mom, LilBro, Hei Hei, and Fong. (First of all, I dislike pork. Second of all, I generally don't eat fried food, but I made an exception for Hong Kong food during this vacation. Third of all, I had no interest in comsuming that unhealthy-looking object. Fourth of all, I wanted ice cream instead because it was so hot outside.)

And so we did some hanging out for a while. Hei Hei, Fong, and LilBro took turns playing PS2 games. Meanwhile, I learned how to do some new internet stuff from Hei Hei and afterwards fell asleep on the couch in front of them (due to being tired).
And then we left for Tsuen Wan for dinner with Uncle 4. (This is the youngest of Mom's four brothers. His rank is #6 out of the seven in terms of age, but he's technically either #7 or #8 out of nine -- I've forgotten which it is. He has two daughters: Yanny and Kitty.)
We got off at the Tsuen Wan station, which took 12 stations to reach from Causeway Bay (unless you want to take the red line to Tsuen Wan, which makes it 16 stations -- this requires much less walking but involves far more waiting, so I'd rather walk for five minutes rather than stop four more times than necessary). We then walked for about fifteen minutes to the restaurant where I had dim sum with Uncle 4 in the winter. (I remember that the dim sum egg tarts here were supposedly famous for being delicious. But when I tried them, I found them too liquid and bland; I thought that I was eating some raw, unsetted jelly-like substance rathen than an egg tart. Therefore, I'm in no hurry to eat those again... or ever.)
Aunt K, Uncle Kau, Kitty, and my dad also made it, so the list was Aunt K, Uncle Kau, Fong, Hei Hei, Uncle 4 (Aunt 4 usually gets home at about 11:30 on weekdays, so she couldn't make it), Kitty, Dad, Mom, LilBro, and moi. We had yummy food, and the distinctive dishes are listed below.
@ Self-cook clams (can't remember the Chinese name). It's like having a hotpot because the pot is right on the table, and the raw food is placed right in front of the party. One takes the piece he or she wants (the siphon, the side, or the main meat -- the siphon is considered a delicacy) and does on the of the following: spears the meat with the skewer, places the meat on the holed ladle, or grabs the meat with chopsticks. Whatever the chosen action is, the next step is always the same -- place the utensils (with the meat) into the pot to cook the meat of the clam.
@ Roast goose (燒鵝). The goose should be roasted with the skin being crispy and the meat still tender.
@ Tofu with fish paste. Tofu is sandwiched between two slices of fish paste and then covered in gravy.
@ Champagne pork with citrus peel (forgot to ask the Chinese name). Sweet and sour pork is made with champagne, and bits of dried zest is sprinkled on top.
@ (Dessert) Green mung bean dessert soup. Green mung bean in boiled in a dessert soup with other beans.
@ (Dessert) Black sesame dessert soup. Sesame seeds and rice are ground into fine powder before being cooked in water.
@ (Dessert) Coconut milk with water chestnut dessert soup. I'm not sure, but it looked like thickened coconut milk with small, chopped water-chestnut pieces.

It was a pretty good dinner, but it was really heavy. The tofu excited me at first becuse it looked good (though the vegetables on the side looked really oily). But then the waiter poured gravy all over the tofu and on the sides, and I was horrified. I'm not really a big fan of goose; I feel that it's too dry, that the meat's too dark (I dislike dark meat), and that it's too fatty (Chinese people love to eat the fat and skin of cooked meat, but I hate both of those things. So people always think I'm wasting the tastiest parts of the meal). (Personally, I'm happy with a bit of chicken breast, which typical Chinese people dislike -- they prefer the thigh, whose texure is silkier and softer.) Besides, there was too much meat on the table -- the ten of us had to stuff ourselves in order to finish the goose (I prefer vegetables, fruits, and carbs. Basically, I enjoy simple and clean foods in small to medium sizes -- I generally avoid greasy or huge-sized foods). And then I avoided the pork entirely because sweet and sour pork is always deep-fried and because I don't like pork. And then the fish (which I didn't mention) was oily, which killed my excitement (Chinese people put quite a bit of oil on fish after steaming it). So the only food that I truly enjoyed was the clam, which surprised me (I'm not one for mollusk-type shellfish. I always like shrimp, am favorable of lobster, and sometimes enjoy crab... As for clams, mussels, and oysters, it depends on my mood, the flavor/marinade/sauce, and the cooking method).
And for dessert (which my uncle got for free because he's tight with the restaurant after being a long-time patron), I ordered the coconut milk with water chestnut. But they got my order wrong, so I had to have the sesame soup instead (which I had this afternoon because LilBro claimed to be full, which was definitely a lie -- he just wanted to play on the Nintendo DS that he has borrowed from Sara for more than a month). This dissapointed me a bit, but that's okay.

Anyways, I had a good time overall.
I mean, LilBro was pushing my buttons all night with his annoying antics.
Then the food was really gross (but also pretty good) at the same time. (This is not to be confused with "It was gross, but it tasted oh-so-good." which is known as a guilty pleasure. This was more of a guilty: "It was gross. But it was also pretty tasty. But they were more or less equal in magnitude (the gross side probably wins, actually), so I guess it all balances out... I guess?")
And there was also the fact that I had to (as usual) stuff myself to the point of unhappiness because I hate to see food go to waste. (People know this about me and shamelessly use me as a pseudo-trash-bin.)
And then Kitty (who is still a preteen) was a bit bratty because she's kinda spoiled. But she can't really help it, so I didn't really say anything even though she was sitting next to me.
And then Uncle 4 repeatedly told me that I should eat more and then I was thinner than I was in December even though I kept telling him not only that I had eating more (I've been letting myself go for this vacation) but also that I am heavier than I was in December (due to this letting-go). But he had ordered beer, so I guess I can't really blame him -- Asians generally have lower tolerance than Westerners, I've noticed (this isn't scientific truth, though -- I'm just stating what I have personally observed. For instance, my dad's face turns red with just half a bottle of beer, but he's safe because he has good self-control). But it was kinda annoying because it's a sore area for unkind criticism. And I'm happy as I am now, so I get even more sensitive when people tell me what to do.**
And Dad made the mistake of commenting further on how I'm too thin (even though I've been eating so much yuckiness here and now have an inflated tummy), which made me lose my temper as we were in the middle of the crosswalk.
But the night was generally good. I got to see Uncle 4 for the first time during this vacation, after all. And the food was good (but also gross). And I spent time with my relatives, which is always good. (It sounds like I'm trying to lie to myself, but I swear it's not like that -- I did enjoy my evening.)

After dinner, we all separated into our different ways, and Dad, Mom, LilBro, and I took fast public light bus (I'd call it an express bus) home. I sat next to Dad, who kept asking if I was carsick. But I was merely thinking and told him so, but I don't think he believed me. (Otherwise, he'd have stopped asking, right?)
And then we got home at 10:30. And now here I am, typing away. (I didn't dare type earlier because my parents are trying to enforce a no-laptop-after-11 rule. So I shower at 11:15 or so, and they're usually asleep by the time I get out of the bathroom (because I brush my teeth, wash my face, blow-dry my hair, etc. after the shower).

Okay. I'm pooped. G'night.

**Note: I don't mind criticism. But when I feel that people are criticizing without trying to help or give me any direction (akin to "just biznitching about me", which makes me wonder if they have nothing better to do with their life) OR when they're merely trying to provoke me OR when they don't really understand the situation (although I don't necessarily want to explain the truth), I get become irked. And this usually results in some silent brooding (which has a lifespan from as short as half a minute to as long as a whole day). And it just generally puts me out of the mood, which I find unfair. (See, I try not to make other people unhappy; so I pretend that nothing's wrong even when people ask me if I'm okay. This makes me feel like it's unfair because I will be grumpy all by myself while everyone else is assumably happy.) Anyways, enough of this! I'm not here for a rant.

July 15
2:00 AM