I chose the road to...Victoria Peak

How I’ve been spending my days so far… I wake up around 6:45-7:00am. For some crazy reason I can’t seem to sleep any later than that which is unfortunate because people around here don’t get going that early. I suppose that’s not entirely true everywhere in Hong Kong, but the shops in Jordan don’t start buzzing til 9:30 or 10:00am and that’s about the same time that the people I work with at the MFMW (Mission for Migrant Workers) get going as well. This is probably due to the fact that the Street Markets in Jordan are open til late into the night and the Mission workers also work late. So I wake up, usually freezing from my wonderful window air-conditioning unit, and I wash my face, brush my teeth, and head to my tiny kitchen for some form of instant coffee.

Either the kind you add hot water to, or cold coffee in a can (my personal favorite). People in Hong Kong generally eat EVERY meal out. I try to at least eat breakfast at home. In fact, whenever possible I try to eat at home, but it doesn’t happen much. I usually have fruit for breakfast. I managed to find a jar of peanut butter in the market yesterday, so this morning for breakfast I had an apple and peanut butter…yummy! After showering and getting ready for the day I pack my backpack and head into the busy streets of Kowloon. A few fun facts: Hong Kong has a population of approximately 7 million people that occupy an area of about 116 sq miles. That is about 6,000 people per square mile. Not much elbow room if you catch my drift. Definitely not a place for you if you’re shy. You WILL become a people person here :) So anyway, I leave my flat and head to the Mission which houses numerous things, but of most importance is the Bethune House, APMM(Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants), & MFMW (Mission for Migrant Workers). This is where I will work part of the time and it is conveniently in walking distance from where I live. It is where I have been going everyday to use their internet while I patiently await an internet card that I can use at home. This building is full of some of the most beautiful people I’ve ever met in my life and they are mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia.

I know that I am living in Hong Kong, but so far I have not met any Chinese people. (I will, I just haven’t yet) All of my friends are Filipino and I love them dearly. They are hilarious and they have adopted me as one of their own. They like to feed me all too often. I try not to eat much when I’m away from them so that I am hungry when we are together. This way when they are shoving food at me I am able to eat and not turn it away. I don’t want to hurt their feelings. I have to be honest and admit that at first I was afraid to eat it. It looks different and of course it made me a little nervous, but by Day 2 I said a little prayer and dug in. I try to only eat a little at time, but so far I’m doing okay. My stomach rebels at times, but no major trauma as of yet. And their food is truly delicious! My favorite so far is pork & rice and fish soup! Pictured here is Pork & Rice and Eggplant and Eggs..it was very good :)

Note- EVERY meal comes with rice. ALWAYS.

On Sunday I took the MTR (the Mass Transit Railway?!) to Central, also known as the other side of HK, or Hong Kong Island. It is where the main Mission headquarters is located inside of St. John’s Cathedral. It is one of the other locations where I will be working. After spending some time with my co-workers I was told that I MUST go to Victoria Peak.

So I took a Peak Tram (a box car thing on cables) that pulls you UP UP UP into the sky up above the huge tall buildings. It is a popular tourist attraction and has an indoor and outdoor shopping mall attached to it.

It was really amazing. I took pictures and oooh’d and aaaah’d. I’ll have to go back again because I hear it is really spectacular to see it at night. After hanging out at the Peak most of the afternoon I was getting weary and realized I should start heading home. In an attempt to keep myself hydrated I had been chugging bottled water all day and desperately searched for a bathroom before hopping back on the Tram. Here I was in this fancy tourist trap filled with over-priced EVERYTHING and what I found when I reached the bathroom nearly made me lose my lunch. A hole in the ground at the very bottom of the Peak Shopping Mall marked Women's Washroom. Longing for my little blue toilet in my tiny flat on Temple St.... needless to stay, I held it. I can imagine the women who use those toilets have amazing calves.