Just like the title says, this is barely a taste of Hong Kong from what I've eaten and seen in the past two days. I won't count how many things I've eaten because the number would sound ridiculous...but there will be evidence at the end of the week on a facebook album when I post everything. Here are some highlights, just a fraction of things going on: First night, right off the 15 hour plane ride:
7/11 individually packaged nigiri sushi
Day 1: (first full day)
Portuguese Egg Tart
Jackfruit, delicious. the smell is a little strong though.
Chow fun with dried scallop
unbelievable Hong Kong skyline, then the "Symphony of Lights" show
Day 2, second food stop on the way to church:
Lotus bean pastry
baked sweet potatoes and egg, cart on the side of the road
BEST CHOW FUN. no, these sticky fly traps covered in flies right by me did not ruin my appetite.
Street food number...? How about we don't count how many: Ox tongue, pork knuckle, octopus with mustard and sweet sauce.
Octopus with sweet sauce, my favorite so far.
I can honestly say, I have never disliked something so much until now: The pig intestine filled with fat couldn't be masked by mustard and sauce... stinky tofu in comparison was 10x better. I have no idea what that smell was. It's one of Sander's favorite things but I couldn't eat more than one.
Needless to say, I've been experiencing and seeing lots of Hong Kong so far and starting to get an input overload already! I'm learning Cantonese words from Sander and recognizing a lot of Chinese characters to understand menu, ingredients, locations, etc for things that aren't in English. Who knew Japanese school would come in handy in Hong Kong?
There will be more thorough updating at the end of the week!
It brought so much joy to me to see a woman sing a worship song in Mandarin at church this morning. There were subtitles on the screen so I knew we were thinking and worshipping the same thing. Praise God for His hope and love that transcends any cultural differences and language. It was an exciting reminder of how the church should look, and what heaven will be like with people from every nation.
The crowds are everywhere in this city but compared to crowds in Tokyo, not much different. It's been a while though so I'm remembering what it feels like to get pushed and have to push other people to walk. Sander has been a great tour guide. Saturday we went to 14 different places, today I didn't count, but TONS! There are so many malls in Hong Kong. The market bargaining was funny, from $360 (HK dollars) down to $100 (still too much so we said no) for a bracelet. Tomorrow is a more traditional Hong Kong day, less modern sites. Maybe less crowds?? We'll see!