Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Day Three in Hong Kong


Oh what a great day!
We woke up late and kind of took our time getting out of the house. Mason made me a tasty breakfast, and we headed into town. We met up with Sunny and Jonathan again and had lunch together, at this place called Rice Paper, where I enjoyed duck yet again. It was so tasty, but not quite as tasty as their desserts! The banana thing was amazing! And that tiny scoop of ice cream in the back was served on a little leaf. So quaint!
(I stole this picture from Jonathan's FB page)
Mason and I said farewell, headed the MTR station and left for China!
It was about an hour on the train before we arrived at the border. We got me a visa, and tried to make sure I wasn't looking too sick (I had caught a cold by this point, and there's this guy at the border who stands there with this thermometer gun thing. He points it at your forehead to make sure you're healthy enough to come into China. Kind of funny.) I passed the temperature test, and we went into Shenzhen! Our first stop was a little shop where we tried to find a new squash racket for Mason. He was trying to exchange his recent purchase cause it wasn't quite good enough... too heavy. We couldn't find any that were good, so Mason exchanged it for a tennis racket instead. A funny little conversation followed:

Me: You play tennis?
Mason: Not really. Do you?
Me: Not really.
Mason: Do you want to?
Me: Yeah, I think I do.
Mason: Me too. Let's make it our sport!
Me: Okay!
So Mason bought a second racket for me. I can't wait for us to be able to try them out!
Our second stop was Mason's mom's tailor, Rosie. Such a funny lady, and such a sweetheart.
(Me and Rosie)
She measured me and told me how much fabric I would need for certain pieces of clothing that I liked from an Anthropology catalogue, and then Mason and I went fabric shopping! I wish I could have has a week and a half there or more. It was so overwhelming! Fabrics like you would not believe. Endless rows of silks, satins and wools. It was beautiful. Mason is so patient. I finally decided on some things and we brought them back to Rosie so she could copy the designs that I liked, and then we went back out and found some more fabric!
(Me and Mason in Rosie's shop. *Side note: Mason is so awesome. It was so fun to get his opinion on fabrics and stuff. He actually cares about these things, and has such good taste! I loved it.)
After all the shopping, we were hungry and tired. So we decided to have dinner and get massages. Such a great idea...
So, I really dislike McDonald's. I haven't eaten there since I saw the documentary, Super Size Me. That was maybe 7 years ago? I don't know. It's been a long time. Anyway, our options were McDonald's and this amazing Kung Fu fast food place. So funny. See below.

(Once again, these pics are from somewhere online. I don't know I just googled it)
Yes, that is Jackie Chan all over their stuff, and yes, they will likely be sued one day. I thought it was so funny, and I really wanted to eat there, until I looked at the menu... Instead of pictures of burgers and fries they had pictures of chicken feet and mysterious-looking soups. I think Mason sensed my queasiness, and he suggested we go to McDonald's instead. Good call Mase!
(For the record, China has chicken nuggets that are obviously actually chicken. They are very tasty).

(very happy to be eating fries and chicken meat, instead of chicken feet. The peace sign is in honor of being in China)
Next up was the massage... we walked into the building for our massages (after wandering through all these cool tea shops) and I seriously couldn't stop laughing. We walked in and all the ladies in the lobby said something to us in Chinese in unison. They were all wearing very professional-looking matching red outfits and looked so excited to see us. Mason talked to them for a long time in Chinese, while I just had this stupid look on my face, trying to act as though I understood what was going on. Kind of a half smile with big eyes and raised eyebrows. (You just tried to make the face huh? Haha, admit it...) Finally this lady walked us over to this room, where she handed us keys and asked a question. Mason looked at me and asked if we'd like to take showers before our massages. I just laughed so hard. All I could think of was me getting lost in the girls shower area, loosing my clothes and not being able to understand anything. I said that I was good, and we could go straight to the massage, at which they handed Mason and I matching white shirts and shorts and showed us to our room. Haha, oh man. This was my favorite part of the trip I think.
Mason and I went in the room, which just had two little massage beds and a little table. They told us to change and that they'd be back shortly. We just looked at each other and laughed. We took turns changing and just laughed so hard at our little outfits.

The two ladies that would give us our massages finally came in and kindly took a picture for us.

We were massaged for about an hour and a half (which was heaven... especially the head massage...) For the first hour or so we were on our tummies with our faces in the little hole in the bed. I was a little bit sick, and my nose was so runny. I kept sniffling, and it was rather uncomfortable. Mason was just chatting away with the ladies and every now and then he would translate what they were saying. It was so funny. They thought I was really young, and one of the girls was so intrigued by "the foreigner's" light complexion. That would be me. So funny.
After a while Mason asked if I needed a new paper towel for my face. I was a little confused... not really a question I get all the time. He said the my masseuse had asked if I needed one because, as she said, "your girlfriend's face is leaking." Haha, oh man, the laughter, just overwhelming, especially cause I was trying to hold it in. I sat up and she got me a kleenex. It was so funny to me. After a while they left and came back with watermelon and this delicious lemon, ginger tea. It was so amazing. It was super sweet and had the thinnest little slivers of ginger floating around in it. They said it would help me get better. So sweet of them.
We got home late and I finished some homework that had to be emailed in that night (I love technology by the way) and went to bed very content.

3 comments:

  1. Ha Ha. Yes I did try to make that face, and that massage story is so funny. I was laughing so hard. I'm glad your face stopped leaking.

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  2. Love these updates. Let's have day 4!

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  3. bethy this looks so incredibly fun! and seriously, i am more than a little jealous. how on earth are you affording all these amazing trips?! share your secrets... please!?!

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