A Rainy Day

July 2008 set the record as the wettest month in HK, ever! ...And it hasn't stopped raining yet. I hope that such constant onsets of deluge will prove beneficial to the fruits in the region, since for us, the effects have been dilatory. Today we were planning on cycling through the new territories; but moments before we were set to take off, dark clouds quickly covered the sun and in an instant, the storm curtailed our plans. We stared out the windows with discountenance; but instead of spending the whole day in desuetude, we decided, that although we are officially denizens of Hong Kong, it wouldn't hurt to partake in the #1 HK tourist activity: SHOPPING! So we (Claire, Kirstin, and I) went off to the Jade Market. Prior to coming to Hong Kong, I was not at all easily lured by jewelry and other such glittering goods, but I found that at the Jade Market, I suffer from financial diffidence, which off course, only makes the experience more enjoyable!

Browsing through rows and rows of pearl, jade, coral, turquoise, onyx, and other prized gems made the perfect rainy day activity! One of my highlights however, was indulging in a mango dessert shop, right outside of the market: Hui Lau Shan.

This shop offers all types of delicious fruit-filled desserts ranging from mango ice cream to pudding to soup! I tried something delicious with a long elaborate name--something like "Mango and Pomelo Saga in ____ (word I don't know) with _______ (another Chinese word) and Bird's Nest." I don't know what it was, but to the best of my knowledge it was meat-less (whew, safe for me!), and beyond simply comestible, but both wholesome and very tasty.


....are you wondering why there are so many big words, sometimes awkwardly amalgamated with the rest? ...We are studying for the GRE and we just got through the list of "C" and "D" words!