Halloween

Halloween is huge here. HUGE. All of the clubs and bars in central had elaborate costume parties last night, and we've been spotting people in costume all over the city for a few days now (most disturbing was a man in a business suit and an alien mask, standing very still on a pedestrian bridge overlooking the traffic. Just standing. And watching. Alwaaays watching...)

Some scenes from the epicenter of costume shopping, Pottinger Street:

We missed most of the madness, however, because we took the ferry to Lantau Island to a "dress as the title of a book" party given by our Cantonese teacher. Kelly as "Blonde Lotus" (the sex-, beer-, and Cantonese-filled novel written by our instructor):

And me as "Pride and Prejudice":

Our host cooked an elaborate Norwegian meal, which included potato-dill salad, crab salad, fish stew, pate, sauteed mushrooms, and other goodies. I hadn't expected much out of Norwegian food, but it was outstanding. I couldn't take many photos because we were on the rooftop garden and it was a bit dark, but here's one of the post-dinner literary-themed trivia contest:

And one of me consulting with a teammate (I threw this one in just because my hair looks good):

Naturally our team demolished the others, due in large part to my brilliant guessing of a teammate's pantomime of "How Green Was My Valley" during the charades portion.

Lastly, a photo of the 23:30 ferry home, complete with passed out guy: