More pork

Went back to Delicious Barbeque Restaurant for breakfast this morning. Char sui pork with noodle soup:

Dinner and drinks

Last night I took the metro out to Tuen Mun to meet Kelly and some friends for dinner at the Thai BBQ place.

We had squid with chili:

tofu with fried Thai basil:

and som tum (green papaya salad):

We also drank so much Singha that we got several small gifts, which included the greatest pen ever. Not, "Don't drink and drive." Not, "If you drink, don't drive." But this:

Every time you even consider driving, Singha just wants you to drink instead. This is a company I can really get behind. I'm waiting for the "Drink, don't ever even think about doing anything else" pen, and then I'll buy stock.

After dinner we were wandering around Tuen Mun looking for the bus station, when we spotted this place and had to go in:

Inside were about six people, all of whom seemed to work there, chain smoking (even though it's illegal to smoke inside in Hong Kong) and playing dice. We had a bucket of beer and caramel corn and listened to some Michael Jackson on the jukebox, until I got tired of this thing on the wall staring over my shoulder and we had to get the hell out.

In other news, I had a job interview this morning and now have TWO part-time jobs, earning 12% of what Kelly does. According to my calculations, I only need 13 more jobs and then we'll be equal earners. I will start looking this week.

Breakfast of champions

Breakfast this morning was char sui pork with rice and cabbage from Delicious Barbeque Restaurant right down the street.

With a drink, it came to 26 HKD. That's about $3.30 US. Now I am ready to take on the day.

Cold. And anger.

It's about 71 degrees outside and I'm freezing. I guess this means I'm acclimatized now.

In other news, here are some restroom signs I really like. I can't decide which is my favorite - the pipe-smoking professor or the big-chinned bobby-soxer.

And why do they both seem so angry? Is it the arbitrary apostrophe usage?

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:

Total proficiency

Kelly and I just had a complete conversation in Cantonese. Our vocabulary has progressed to this point:

Me: Do you want beer?

Kelly: No.

Me: I want beer. Do you have money?

Kelly: I don't have.

Me: Dammit!

(but I got beer anyway.)

Pantyhose tea

I'd read about Lan Fong Yuen so much that we had to try it - this is the dai pai dong that's rumored to have the best milk tea in Hong Kong - they strain the tea several times through something that resembles a silk stocking. Maybe it is a silk stocking. I don't know.

We went yesterday for the milk tea and fabled pork chop bun:

We also had the peanut butter toast with condensed milk:

And there was a film crew documenting the famous tea:

A very good tea snack. Afterwards we trolled the market nearby, but only bought some peppers.

Halloween decorations: