Lackadaisical Me

So after the hard-hitting Friday to Tuesday party schedule, I needed a break. 4 out 5 days is too much for almost anyone (who isn't a business major). Wednesday was high table dinner, which we chose to skip. Tracy said they will only give us a warning. Instead, Alli, Hannah, Beth and I went to see Transamerica.


Transamerica was not as life-altering as I expected it to be. The main character, Bree (formerly Stanley), was not a very likable person. She's very dishonest and self-involved. She sort of improves towards the end, but then the end is so abrupt. There are at least 3 major plot points being developed (Bree's relationship with her son, Bree's romance, Toby's problems) and they only resolve her relationship with Toby. Which is obviously the most important, but you sort of want to know if she goes back to the nice man in New Mexico and if Toby quits using drugs or becomes a zoologist. I guess I expected it to be a bit more heart-warming in the "changing people's minds about transexuals" sort of way. It was eye-opening, but mostly just the excess shots of penises. They were not shying away from the nudity at all.
Abby gives it 3 stars and recommends you rent it or wait for the edited tv version.


After the movie I did that classy thing I like to do that involves calling Boy, trekking to campus and staying up all night. Well nearly all night. I went home at 4. He is right when he says I'm trouble. I'm always keeping him out all night. Oh well. It takes two to keep a conversation going for 5 hours.

Today I went to class. And that didn't turn out that well because I had to do MATLAB. If you don't know what that is you are lucky. After that I still had to sit through Cantonese.

In retaliation for all my wild ways I slept most of the afternoon. I also am not going out tonight. At all. Even though Kelly invited me to Hei Hei at midnight. I'm watching a movie and going to bed. Like a good girl. So there.

pictures are random for your entertainment today.
-Abby the Lazy Girl

Coffee and Party

I think someone is stealing my instant coffee. It is most distressing. Speaking of kitchens, the kitchen on my floor has gotten extremely militant as of late. Everything was cleaned out and rearranged, then labeled and covered in perky-looking threatening signs. Its all very communist. We have three refrigerators and they now have guides on the fronts to tell you what type of food is to be put on which shelf. The milk is being kept in the fridge with a broken seal that stays only 4 degrees below room temperature. Its rather disgusting.

Monday we made new friends from Berkeley. They are a handsome crowd of frat boys. Then I hung out with these fools till much too late.

Still made it to my morning class on Tuesday though. Go me. Celebrated with Free Vodka, and Punchbowls. Possibly a mistake. No worries though, it was all in good fun.

Went to class this afternoon as well. Thrilling. Now its off to the movies for me and the other troublemaking ladies. We're skipping High Table Dinner!

-Abby

Bad Blogger Recaps

Apologies world. I'm a slacker.

Life has been pretty good since I returned from China. Mom and a.Linda went home on Wednesday morning. Tuesday night was a big night out, everyone was trashed and having a great time. Being spring break time we had a lot of visitors around, Kelly, Virginia and Michael all had friends in town and we showed them a good time.

Friday night was good too. Pics showing the fun:

I was out late enough to take a bus home, which is saying something. I hung out with Boy all night and we embarassed ourselves repeatedly. Or rather if either of us had any shame we would've been embarassed. Spending half the night talking was good for us, we're both getting honest. So I'm pleased. Haven't seen him since though, being much too busy and important for my own good.

Saturday Hannah, Anshel and I attended a charity event raising money to help children in China. It was at a crazy mansion house near the peak (Anshel took all the pics- coming soon). It was a Arabian theme and all the rich white folks in HK took that very seriously. It was a bit terrifying. Afterwards we joined the international crowd in LKF and I got tvMike to bring his crew to hang out with us at Sofa for a while. I've missed that punk, I haven't seen him since Virginia's bday.

It turned into a girls night and Kelly, Alli, Jessie and I wound up at this bar called Al's Diner where they serve Miller Lite and play killer 80's music. We picked up 4 US Marines there, two HKU boys, and 1 middle-aged guy still in Arabian garb. It was amazing.

Sunday Beth and I spent most of the day in Soho studying (yep I'm doing that now) and in the evening the 4th floor girls watched 'I heart Huckabees'. I'm pretty much in love with that movie. You should all watch it.

So now its Monday morning, I'm listening to Sheryl Crow, thinking about going to Cantonese. Did I mention that I got an A on my first Cantonese exam? I'm shocked. My girls all pulled out with respectable grades. Quite impressive.

Oh, Anna finally came back from Vietnam! We've missed her soooo much. She managed to shake her boy there and still have a good time. Because she's amazing.

Promising to be more attentive-
Abby

Triumphant Return

We've returned from the mainland in almost nearly as good a shape as we left. And with much more luggage.

More news and stories after all my homework is done. Shockingly not much was finished on vacation. Probably because I'm not Canadian.

Happy to be back in the tropics-
Abby

Disembodied Heads Make a Nice Gift

My mom and aunt Linda are here! A bit 'o fun has been had already, but mostly its good that a.linda's visa has been taken care of which is great. The inconvenience of that venture didn't allow us to go to Stanley Market today as planned, but I showed the girls around campus and we had a lovely lunch at Cafe Panash in Westwood (I highly recommend it HK folks). Big excitement in store for tonight.

The title? Miranda and I are quality sometimes. An AIM convo we had today for no reason at all:
Miranda: so how are you?
Abby: good. my mom is here
Miranda: is she doing crazy mom things like... i don't know. telling you to wash behind your ears?
Abby: er no. but she did ask if i had been inside the library.
Abby: foolish woman
Miranda: they have libraries in hong kong? i was under the impression that it was all bars and dorm rooms. and the occasional classroom and ocean.
Abby: yeah i was shocked, but when i looked where she was pointing, there was this big sign that said 'mail library building'. right there above the starbucks!
Abby: who knew?
Miranda: i had no idea. every time i've been to hong kong i've just spent my time drinking coffee. i don't really need a library. then again, my trips to hong kong are typically to further my business enterprises.
Miranda: and by business enterprises i mean Slave Trade.
Abby: yeah, i remember you tried to get into the prostitution biz here, but the phillipinos have a monopoly
Miranda: yeah man. but slave trade is more profitable. unfortunately, since i was unable to break in to the hong kong prostitution biz, i can not claim that the oscar-winning "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" was actually based on my life.
Abby: i think everyone recognizes your financial backing for the bribery of the academy though.
Miranda: Well... yeah. I'm a very powerful woman in the underground culture, and don't you forget it.
Abby: I never forget it. mostly because you routinely have disembodied heads left on my doorstep.
Miranda: Hey, that was just that one time! And my delivery guy screwed it up! Someone else ended up with your fruit basket. Am I never going to hear the end of this?
Abby: it was traumatic. no one likes to recieve bloody baskets full of heads on Easter.
Miranda: You could have just given it to your sister. I hear she enjoys unnecessary unpleasantness.
Abby: i thought about it, but our parents gave her a bucket of ears and noses for christmas, so it seemed unoriginal.
Miranda: hmm I see I see. I couldn't really give it to my sister. She only likes the heads she's chopped off herself. She has a display in her room. Somedays I think it may have been a mistake to buy her a machete instead of anger management classes.
Abby: perhaps, but think of the fun she's had with that machete. I wouldn't trade her happiness in that toy for anything.
Miranda: You're right. Above all, I really just want my sister to be happy. And if her happiness requires a few heads to roll, then so be it.
Abby: i have no respect for you. that was the worst joke ever.
Miranda: it's 2 am here honey. and i didn't nap today, so i'm going on like 4 hours of sleep. i got up today at 7:20 and i've taken two tests. I'm sorry my comedy isn't as flawless as it usually is.
Abby: fine forgiven. once.

More news and excitement later folks!
Abby

Midweek Review

Lauren: I heart that you are obsessed with me. And that you have too much free time. Someday you too will go off to college and realize that 12hrs just aren't quite enough to separate you from your family. Then you can come to Hong Kong (or Australia, or Belgium) and write a blog for me to read. Cuz by then I'll be old and boring with nothing else to do. Also, can't wait to lay in the sun on a boat with you and bake this summer.

Aaron: Thanks! My fabulousness apparently knows no bounds.

So, Oscars? Big shock about Crash. Not undeserved though, its somewhat non-traditional style probably gave it the edge over its esteemed rivals. PSH? Excellent decision, Heath has got years of brilliance ahead of him still. Reese? Love her. Surprised they dissed Charlize though. Clooney? Aside from the fact that he obviously bribed a network exec to put him on the screen every 6.8 minutes... poor choice for best supporting actor. Hello? Paging Jake "unfairly passed over" Gyllenhaal! Clooney should've gotten best director. NOT! Ang Lee obviously earned it. Because Brokeback Mountain rocks. And if you don't think that Lee's hometown of HK was beyond excited then you didn't see the front page of every newspaper printed in Hong Kong. Didja. And that is all I have to say about that.

Slow Tuesday- Instead of the normal 'free vodka' shenanigans, we girls cracked open some wine and had pasta in, went out for cappuccinos and then split up. Hannah and I planned to go to C-Club for Salsa Tuesday, but by the time we got there (an absurdly early 12:05) our friends had left. So we got ambitious, bought a couple of beers and some Sour Cream and Onion Pringles and walked back to campus from LKF. And this time we didn't get lost. A-mazing.
We did stop on Haking Wong Podium for a cigarette and took some stunning pics of HK by night with Hannah's new camera (which she already has not lost) We're not crazy though, we caught a cab from campus to the dorm. I was home by 2, so some unnamed persons who refused to come out because they were 'sick' and 'had class' were totally in the wrong.

Visa- I got my visa to go to mainland China today. You weren't all on the edge of your seats about that but now you know anyway.

And for those of you not following the saga through the internet and the grapevine, we are now T-minus 26hrs until my mom and aunt Linda Bessman arrive in HK. Excitement!

We're also T-minus 19hrs until my first Cantonese test. Terror. Horror. Failure. All in upcoming episodes of the HK Adventure.

To Be Continued...
abby

Oscar's Eve

In effort to recover from Saturday night (and as a means to gossip about the whole affair) the girls still on their feet hit lattes in the afternoon and then Alli, Beth and I did some therapudic shopping. But to be fair, Beth is the spendaholic and Alli and I kept our wallets intact.

After shopping Kennedytown, the IFC, Anna came and met us and we all went to see Capote.

How much do I love Philip Seymour Hoffman?

The movie was pretty disturbing actually, but in that "this is an extremely well-made picture because its shaken me to my soul" sort of way. I highly recommend it. (Mom- this recommendation does not apply to you. The movie is about brutal murders and deception and creepiness. Its not for you.)

So now most of us have seen most of the major Oscar nominees and will be up at 8am watching the show. Over strong coffee. I bought sausages too. I might make breakfast. It'll be thrilling. I'll wear my new gold shoes. Or not. I wore them all day shopping and blistered between my toes pretty admirably. But I'll have fancy feet in other shoes. The Oscars are all about fancy feet.

Count the hours.
Abby

Dreadfully Bad Saturday Night

After leaving Kowloon last night we split up, Chris, Hannah and I headed to LKF where we met all sorts of international students and expats and locals that we know.

Last night was basically the worst night I've had in HK, actually the worst night in recent memory. I'll try not to be too horribly specific, as it will only anger and upset me.

I'll just sum up the night. Hannah wound up very, very, drunk after meeting a cute bartender who gave her uncounted free shots. This led to me being quite embarrassed in front of three people I have the utmost respect for, Shahar, Anshel and Chris. When trying to send her home, H and I got in a fight and my feelings were really hurt. H ended up running off by herself and worrying me half-to-death about her safety, and I was so upset that I scared Zaira, Chris, and Shahar, who in turn called Beth so she too, could worry. Eventually we got H home, but in the process Chris lost his wallet, which is pretty much a the worst thing that can happen to you short of losing your passport.

By the time we'd handed H over to Alli, done a telephone hunt for Chris' wallet, I was at one of those emotional peaks that couldn't really be dealt with, so at 5 in the morning I woke Beth up to talk about the whole thing and we didn't go to bed till nearly 7am.

On a more personal note that I will not elaborate on: in the mix of everything going on, some rather inappropriate things were said to a guy I've been interested in here. Not only did it put us both in an extremely awkward situation, it happened right as we were having the whole 'what's going on with us' talk. So that sucked, and I'm at a bit of a loss at how to undo the damage, or similarly, how to look the poor man in the eye. He certainly did not deserve to be subjected to that, and he handled it with quite a bit of grace.

Anyway the icing on the cake is that today my trouble-making lush friend Hannah doesn't remember a damn thing.

Ok, in the Darhma fashion of putting things in a bubble, I'd like to confess a great deal of gratitude to my friends here, who showed their love for me so selflessly- Shahar, Anshel, Alli, Chris and Beth. Its amazing how people I only met a few weeks ago are like family to me now. While I was worried about H, they took the trouble to worry about me and I am so so so so so thankful to be blessed with good friends.

abby.

Between Tuesday and Saturday Evening

Hello readers. Have I neglected you of late? Yes, I believe I have. Was this a wise move, a kind one? No. 'Twas a poor decision on my part. Apologies.

What can be said about life since Tuesday? Wednesday and Thursday were slow, academic days filled with class and homework. Friday was fairly silly. The girls and I went early to Carnegies, met up with some boys and headed to LKF. Upon exiting the cab, Chris befriends a middle-aged Chinese woman out with her own posse who used to live in Michigan. Midwest power. Anyway she loved Chris and bought us all free drinks at The Cavern, pretty much the most obnoxiously touristy looking place in LKF, and thats really saying something. He's been invited back next Friday to meet their daughters.

On more exciting topics, I bought gold shoes on Friday. Little sandals with tiny wedge heels and rhinestones. They are soooo lovely. Yay for shoes.

Saturday day was lovely. We went to see Walk the Line on the Kowloon side (Alli, Beth, Hannah, Tim, Chris and I). Is Johnny Cash as good the second time round? Maybe better. So brilliant.

Afterwards we went in search of food and accidently wandered into the night market, which is quite an HK attraction. There was no such thing as self control here, I bought a new purse. Its navy blue with gold embroidery and its a sling bag that is really big and useful for carrying literature and umbrellas. Eventually we extricated ourselves from the market and headed for food.

We ended up going to the Dehli Club for Indian food. Dehli Club sounds like a ritzy place for ritzy vegitarian curry lovers, but no. Its in the sketchiest place in the entirety of HK, this building filled with drug-dealer-esque characters and really overzealous restauranteers trying to recruit you to their places. We were misguided and walked up creepy unsafe stairwells and offered free drinks and deals and money and all for the sake of a few plates of rice and veggies. Good times, Noodle salad.

The rest of my weekend will be summed up in another entry, in order to preserve the mood.
-Abby

How a Tuesday Goes Horribly Right

Tuesday- one of those days.

We decided Tuesday would be the day to go see Brokeback Mountain. (This is a correction from the Freudian slip: breakfasts Mountain). Everyone is tired of Carnegie's and their free drinks, and we were still a bit shaky from the big weekend. So a big group of us went to cyberport and watched BBM (even more brilliant the second time. Go see it right now if you haven't already. Seriously. NOW!)

Afterwards 9 of the group decided we needed cappuccinos and food so we went to Soho (to the Peak Cafe) and got an assortment of cocktails, lattes and vegetarian pizzas, all very good. After food, another 5 abandoned us and Dannen led Anna, Zach and I to this little bar in Soho called 'The Feather Boa'. This place is sooooo adorable (mom- we are totally going to the feather boa when you get here). And to top off the over the top decorating with paintings of nudes on couches and chandeliers, they make strawberry daqueris with cocoa powder around the rim. Its like a giant chocolate covered frozen strawberry with alcohol. A-mazing.

We were home just a touch after midnight, and you would think that I'd call it a night. But no. I got online and chatted with Chris and the next thing you know I'm in a cab on my way to meet him in Kennedytown at 2am. Because I didn't have class until 3pm on Wednesday and it seemed like a waste not to stay up all night.

Literally all night. I got home this morning at 9am and caught a few hours of sleep before going to class. It was genious. We did have a nice night though. We hit club 7 and then meandered around until we found the Belcher Bay Park, eventually headed back to campus for bathrooms, wandered through empty academic buildings and found an awesome spot on the 9th floor of one with floor to ceiling windows through which one could have a lovely view of HK by night. After the sun rose we went to Westwood and got me some breakfast and called it a night. But a lovely evening it were. And I got to be crazy tired for class. Yay! Just like a real college student.

Ok thats all my brain can handle-
Abby

Last Sunday. Finally

I'd like to start this post by mentioning I've only slept 4.5 hrs in the last 32, so I'm less than on top of my game right now. But more about that in a post not about Sunday.

Sunday was the best day in HK thusfar. Best days often involve good food. It was Anna and Mary's Birthdays (officially) and we decided to go all out.

We Wei Lun-ers slept in until about 12:30 and then got up and made Anna Birthday Breakfast. Dannen (formerly known as 'Alli', but now going by Dannen to lower confusion on the Adi, Ali, Alli, Abby, Anna, Hannah front) made vegan pancakes. Hannah made crepes and chocolate sauce. Beth made fruit salad (to pile on the crepes and choco). I made coffee. Because I'm not only useless to vegitarians, I know what is important to Anna in the 'morning'.

Basically we ate until our eyes popped out. It was ***so*** good. I ate no less than 6 crepes, two pancakes and two left over vegan cookies from teh night before. When we ran out of fruit and choco sauce, I smothered my stuff in Nutella. We finally finished breakfast around 2.

We were supposed to meet the rest of the international crowd at 3, but we're girls and that wasn't happening. Beth and I had to go to the store first anyway. To skip the unpleasantly long journey, we eventually arrived at a BBQ near the peak (highest pt on the island, which we walked to carrying groceries.)

Beth and I totally won the bbq. That is, if the bbq had been a contest, we would have dominated. We made: salmon covered in lemon juice and garlic, avacados, pineapples in brown sugar, and had lime nachos with peach salsa. We brought up some corn too, but after all that, we really couldnt be bothered to make it. It was soooooooooo good. so good. MMMMMM salmon.

While up there with approx 25 Internationals, we did manage to finish off a few bottles of wine and some other beverages too. This made the journey down the mountain significantly harder in the dark, while it started to rain. But we basically made it down unscathed. This must have been about 8 pm.

We all headed back to the dorms, regrouped, and headed out for karaoke and drinks. Unfortunately the staff at the karaoke place were horribly unaccomodating (especially since we were literally the only people there on a sunday night) so we walked to the revolving restaurant instead. An excellent choice. RR is in cantral on the 62nd floor of a building and it rotates reeeeally slowly and they have all-you-can-drink Carlesburg for only $88HK. You really can't beat that.

I sat with Dannen, Hannah, Oliver (a german) and Zach (a west-coaster with the heart of a midwesterner). Great fun had by all. So great that when the restaurant closed it was determined we should run over to LKF for another drink and dancing. Look out Insomnia.

Too much fun was had, Mary was a dancing queen (as was I) and Chris (my new bestest friend) was buying shots and we were all having a gay old time. Eventually people left in waves and I was left with Chris, Mary, and Dannen- both girls in pretty falling-over shape. With some difficulty we all managed to get into a cab and get home, but not before getting birthday wishes from the cabbie, forcing him to break traffic laws, losing my long-sleeved shirt, and getting the cabbie's number. Oh taxis.

We were home and in bed before 5, and that was officially the 3rd big night in a row for us. Trust me, Cantonese with Dannen, Kelly and Anna the next day was a non-stop laugh-fest. We really needed a break at that point. So I took Monday off.

-Abby

P.S. Pics!