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10/30/01
Karaoke Lunch!
(Traci) Today at AHRC, it was the birthday of Kai Singh,
the man who runs the China program. For birthdays the tradition
is to go out for a karoake lunch! So off we went to the "Echo
Club" and went into one of the many soundproof rooms with a
big screen, booth seating along the outside of the room and a table
in the middle. The karoake machine had remote control to select
songs in Cantonese, English, Italian, Korean, and many languages.
The large screen showed videos and the words to the songs, which
was nice. People watched the T.V. and the singers feel a little
less pressure. We started out singing "Sounds of Silence,"
by Simon and Garfunkel. Than some Chinese songs, then some others.
This went on for a few hours. Everyone sang and I was very impressed
at the singing talent in our group. Then I was handed the microphone
and felt like I should sing, so I did. In Hong Kong, they have the
latest technology for everything. The microphone did miracles for
my voice and all I could think of was how sad that my father and
mother could not be there to sing their hearts out. We ate lunch
in the room and everyone took turns singing. It was great fun.
10/31/01
Tea, Tea, Tea
Today we went to the Moon Garden Teahouse for some tea sampling
and some demonstrations about tea etiquette, tea types, etc. The
teahouse was located just minutes from a subway stop, but it took
us awhile to find because it was off a side street. Once we found
the address, we couldn't tell we were at the place because the outside
was non-descript. The only indicator that we were at the right place
was a small sign with the name "Moon Garden Teahouse"
on a glass door. There were plenty of windows, but they were rather
dark. When we entered, we found it to be an elegant room with dark
grained wood cabinets, collections of teapots, antique Buddhas,
etc. Each table had a big ceramic tub with a flame next to the table
to keep a pot of water hot. If you were to come to this fancy tea
house and order tea it would cost you anywhere from $7.00 - $40.00
for tea. We thought that was for one cup, but as we were to find
out, that is not how Chinese tea is served formally.
We sat at a table next to an older English couple visiting their
son in Hong Kong. They were delightful. We learned they were from
Yorkshire, England. I was going to ask them if they knew James Herriot
from the book "All Creatures Great and Small," who wrote
all about Yorkshire but decided that would be inappropriate for
the topics of conversation. First, the hostess came out and apologized
that the owner was out that day and would not be able to give us
detailed information and demonstrations about Chinese tea making.
She needn't have apologized because we all felt that she did a wonderful
job and taught us a great deal. She went around to everyone (there
were about 20 tourists) and poured hot water in cups that contained
green tea leaves. Each cup had a cover so that you could pour your
tea into another cup without the leaves. It was kind of like when
you pour the water out of a pot with cooked vegetables. The green
tea was very good; pungent, but fresh tasting. She went on to explain
the different types of Chinese tea, such as green, white, yellow,
red, oolong, Pu Erh (black) and florals. All non-green teas are
just aged and fermented green tea, the exception being floral tea.
Each of the teas from green through Pu Erh are respectively in order
of fermentation. Conversely, green tea has the most caffeine and
black has the least. One of the most famous kinds of tea in China
is Chinese Oolong. Specifically, monkey pick types are the most
popular. This means that either a monkey or a small child picked
the tea leaves high on a mountaintop. Only monkeys and small children
can climb to the places this tea grows. The lady told us that some
people would be offended when they heard that children were being
used in such a manner (or PETA members for the monkeys of course),
but that families in these regions are so poor that it is an acceptable
way to make money. Of all the teas, we found that Pu Erh has the
most value potential. Like wine, Pu Erh improves when it is aged.
It is bought in cake form and is easily stored. Most of these teas
are best in the 15-20 year range, however "Red Label"
Pu Erh is best after 60-100 years. That must be some damn good tea.
Floral teas are flower buds and crappy tea. She explained that the
tea they could not process otherwise because it was of low quality
is mixed with flowers to make the floral teas such as Jasmine and
Chrysanthemum. These are usually summer teas because leaf quality
is lower at that harvest time. This is changing however, because
the worldwide demand is increasing, so tea manufacturers are making
high quality floral teas now. Lower quality floral teas can still
be found, but most are pretty decent.
So we tried the green tea and then the hostess showed us how to
serve a formal Chinese tea. For the demonstration, she used the
most popular oolong tea in China, Shui Hsien. The equipment involved
is a small teapot, a number of small cups, a stand/drain to catch
extra water, and a pot of boiling water. The boiling water is poured
in the small teapot and all over the teapot with the cover on. This
is done to make sure the heat is consistent throughout. The water
is also poured into the cups. This is done rather liberally, which
is why there is a drain bin to catch all the extra water. Then all
the water in the pot and cups is poured into the drain bin. The
small sized teapot is filled about ¾ of the way full with
tealeaves and then water is again poured in the pot. Within a few
seconds, the tea is poured into all the cups. After the water is
gone from the pot, it is again filled. The lady told us you could
get about eight pots of tea out of one pot of leaves. The intensity
of the tea peaks at about the third or fourth pot.
We also learned about the different kinds of Chinese teapots. There
are basically two types of clay used. Most clay is native to southern
China and is either very light or very dark. The quality of the
pot can be determined by the sound made when clinking the pot with
the lid. The lower the tone, the better.
After that, Traci want back to AHRC and later in the evening we
went to the Temple Street Market where vendors sell a variety of
items. Everything from tea sets to oil paintings, CD's to prayer
bowls. We knew we wanted to get our own tea set, and it turned out
that the first one we came across was the one we ended up buying.
Of course it took us ten tea sets and two nights to figure that
out.
11/2/01
Traci's Last Day of Work
(Traci) Today Tony got all of our stuff packed and we shipped our
tea set home along with clothing we no longer needed and some other
items we bought. My last day at AHRC was today. Amazing how fast
the six weeks have gone. We went out for Dim Sum again today and
Tony came with also. I love dim sum! I love getting to try all types
of foods and sharing. After work we went out again with some co-workers
and others. We met Tim and a few of his friends who are from Ireland
traveling to Australia. We had a few drinks as we sat and visited
at the promenade with the beautiful night views of Hong Kong Island.
We ate dinner at "The Sri Lankan" and had great curries,
roti and other breads. We had a great conversation about Europe,
the U.S., Tony Blair, etc. Our new Irish friends bought dinner and
we met 3 others at Lan Kwai Fong (a bar area), walked around the
area and had a few more drinks. It was strange because we just hung
out in the streets and drank. We can't do that in Minneapolis! In
fact, they have local stands on the street corner selling cold beer
and drinks. I talked to Fanny, an AHRC staff, about weddings. She
and her boyfriend Ryan will be probably be married next year sometime.
She told me they are waiting for her parents and his parents to
pick a suitable date by checking with number experts, etc. It was
interesting to hear about the various customs, many of which are
not followed anymore, but some are. A few other differences - the
wedding party gets decked out and poses for wedding photos a month
early, the bride wears about 4 different outfits during the wedding
ceremonies - symbolic of different things, red is a very traditional
color of one of the outfits, if a wedding invitation is received,
the recipient is expected to pay about $50-100 if they cannot come
and more if they can, and many other different things.
11/4/01
Last full day in Hong Kong!
Our last full day in Hong Kong! We were able to get an earlier flight
to Thailand that leaves Monday. We got up and went to the history
museum for a few hours. It was a great museum that followed the
history of Hong Kong from pre-historic times to present. It was
neat to see items and read about the original tribes of Hong Kong,
learn about the boat people who lived on and some still live on
the sampans, the opium wars, the Japanese occupation, the turnover
of Hong Kong back to China, etc.
We also went to the Kowloon walled City Park that had ponds, gardens,
and pagodas. It was a nice park that we spent a little time at before
going back to Victoria Peak as we had done our first day in Hong
Kong. We ate at "Shooters" and had an American meal of
a hamburger. We then walked on quiet trail that overlooked the city
from high above. It was so nice and quiet and he views at night
were beautiful.
We finished packing our stuff that night and got up early on Monday
morning, went to Kowloon Park for our last views of Tai Chi and
boarded the bus for the airport.
HIGHLIGHTS AND LOWLIGHTS
As we were reflecting on our trip, we thought we would list our
highlights and lowlights. See below.
HIGHLIGHTS
· Victoria Peak views of Hong Kong during the day and night
· Markets
· Food (all types of Asian foods)
· Going out with AHRC co-workers and others
· Tony's hike to Jardine's lookout
· Karoake lunch
· "Dim Sum" at Luk Yu Tea House
· Choi Sum with Oyster sauce (which we ate at least 2-3 times
per week)
· Star Ferry rides across harbor
· Fireworks over Harbor on National Day
· Tea demonstration and samples
· Tai Chi lessons and Tai Chi in Kowloon Park
· Hong Kong History Museum
· Kowloon walled city park
· CURRIES!!
· Tai Tam Reservoir
· Chinese buns (which we ate a few times a week)
· Eating with chopsticks
· Street musicians playing Chinese instruments
· Glimpses of traditional life - hats, fishermen, boat dwellers,
etc.
LOWLIGHTS
· Floating Jumbo restaurant - overpriced and bad food
· Crowds, exhaust from vehicles, noise
· The "crab festival"
· Wishing everyone was here to enjoy it with us
Off to Thailand!!!!
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