musings and reflections of hollyholz

Hello from Toronto!

I'm hooooome :) So much for an update in Tokyo, huh? I did have access to the 'net, but somehow, I was too exhausted every night (after a long day) to update...

SOOOO here's a brief summary of the Tokyo trip:
Day 21 - Arrive at Narita, waited 4 hours at the airport for my uncle, went home and rested (while my cousin went partying in roppongi... so jealous!); aunt took me out for sushi at night :) yummmy. at that moment, I was hooked on Ikura sushi (salmon roe)
Day 22 - Spent the day shopping in Shibuya and enjoyed a Starbucks that overlooked the famous Shibuya crossing (yeah, that crossing in "Lost in Translation")
Day 23 - Went to cousin's grad luncheon, and spent the latter part of the day waiting for the parental units to arrive from Hong Kong
Day 24 - Visited the temple in Asakusa, and headed to Ueno Park for some shopping and strolling around the Ueno Park (where sakuras - cherry blossoms - bloom prettily in april). Went to Akihabara (electronics street) and had my try at stand up sushi (eating while standing...) before heading home.
Day 25 - Shinjuku in the morning at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government buildings to get a good view of Tokyo (and it's FREE!), and spent some time in Akasaka. Got to see the Canadian Embassy, and returned to Shinjuku for some quick shopping... let's just say Blue Label :)
Day 26 - Imperial Palace in the morning, Harajuku in the afternoon. Had a wonderful experience with conveyor belt sushi and shopping in Harajuku. Also visited a temple there... one that is less flooded with tourists.
Day 27 - Joined the Mount Fuji and Hakone tour with Japan Gray Lines. Saw Mount Fuji for all of five minutes from a distance. It was a great day for scenery and a break away from my mom's crazy shopping trips.
Day 28 - Shopping again in Daiba. DAIBA IS THE BOMB DIGGITY! It's rather sad that I find out all these shopping places exist in both HK and Tokyo during the last days of my trip. I only spent 2 hours there... and explored ONE shop. :P Cousin's high school grad at night.
Day 29 - Ginza to see the famous Ginza crossing and then was rushed to Mitsokushi (a Japanese department store; it's a shopper's haven there) straight to the Shiseido counter. No questions please. Went to the airport shortly after lunch.

And now I'm back home... I do miss Tokyo a lot, mostly cos I miss my aunt and uncle (my cousin thinks I'm boring... so I'm feeling a bit of angst right now to say I miss him, hehe). Trip summary coming right up!

posted by Holz @ 4:36 PM |

Hello from Narita!

I'm currently sipping my chai latte away at the Narita Airport in Japan. Yes, I'm in Japan! However, things are ridiculously expensive here... I don't know if it's the airport or Japan in general... I've used 300 Yen for half an hour of precious internet time (I'm killing time while waiting for my uncle to arrive from Vancouver); that's approximately 3.75 Cdn Dollars... I have to learn how to divide by 80 quickly here... hahaha

It's hard to believe that I've left Hong Kong, and that I'm entering the last part of my month long trip. In fact, as I'm typing away, I'm in disbelief that I'm far away from my grandma, parents, relatives, and Vicky. (I'm still sad that we never had a chance to do high tea together!)

So... what do I miss in HK?
- the MTR, tram, and the ferry... transportation is SO convenient there
- Harbour City and the myriads of shopping centres in this little place... I was disappointed that I found out all these extremely cool places to shop at (for music, stationery, and some clothes...) during the last two days of my stay in Hong Kong
- Ocean Park
- the Ocean
- relatives - I think this was the highlight of my entire trip so far. In Vancouver, I spent a lot of time with my cousin and other relatives... I still miss her very much. I miss my grandma, granduncle... (haha notice my parents aren't on the list, since they'll be arriving in Narita in a matter of days)
- Starbucks by Metropolis (near my aunts' place)
- Harbour Crossing

What do I not miss?
- Smoking EVERYWHERE... not sure why, but I think the Toronto bylaw of prohibiting smoking in restaurants made me very intolerant of smoking in general... people smoke EVERYWHERE
- Pollution
- HEAT... albeit the last few days were relatively cool (notice the onus on relatively... hahaha); I wasn't able to enjoy it fully cos I was (and still am) sick
- Salespeople. It's a nightmare there. Vicky and I found two ways to avoid having these pesky salespeople talk to us: 1) Talk in English and 2) Cough and hack, pretending you're sick.
- the high cost of living. I blew 1000 HKD (approx $200 CDN) within four days. Last week was relatively good for me cos I was able to leech off my parents ;)

Anyhoo, I only have 7 more minutes left with this internet kiosk, so I must quickly finish this off. I'll have access to the 'net at my aunt's place in Tokyo, so I'll be able to update. In the meantime, take care and I'm signing off.

posted by Holz @ 1:17 AM |

Still Alive!

I've moved from my aunts' place to my granduncle's vacant apartment with my parents... so I haven't been able to go online cos there's no computer in the apartment.

Right now, I stink like crap cos I haven't been able to wash my clothes properly... :P Since mom arrived, I've been able to buy lotsa clothes... however, I've purchased more CDs that clothes... haha.

Anyhoo, check more pics! :) Have fun.

posted by Holz @ 6:34 AM |

Ahhhhh!

My freedom will end in less than 8 hours. My parents are scheduled to arrive in HK in approximately 4 hours. My oh my.

So far, I've learned quite a bit from trip, from exposing myself to cultural things at the HK Museum of History to learning bits and pieces on life thru the interactions with relatives. God works in interesting ways.

In any case... I'll be moving from my aunts' place tomorrow to join my parents in Mong Kok. Hopefully, I'll be able to post and go online as much as I can in the next week or so before heading Tokyo bound. In the meantime, CHECK the PICTURES OUT!

posted by Holz @ 1:02 PM |

Short Blog...

Pictures (most of them) are up... so check imagestation out!

http://www.imagestation.com/members/hollyholz01

if needed, username: friendsofholz; password: hollay

:)

blog later... (not that it's been eventful, cos it's pouring rain here in HK)

posted by Holz @ 11:34 PM |

So Sticky...

Yep, that's me and Vicky! We went to Macau today with my great uncle & aunt, and spent the entire day in the sun... not only are we sticky, but we're several shades darker than when we first arrived in HK. Macau is so pretty, with many historic buildings and what not, as it's pretty much a Portuguese influenced area (after all, it was under the Portuguese rule for many many years). The heat, however, deterred us from fully exploring the place, as every air conditioned shop and building tempted us to go in and simply stay there. I was pretty much a popsicle; I sweated buckets without even walking!

This trip (in general) is quite an experience - we haven't gotten sick of each other! However, we've both agreed that HK is definitely too shallow for us. Ads such as "The Religion of Beauty" and other dieting ads have sickened us to the max. However, Vicky is ditching me for the better tomorrow. While she's museum hopping, I'll be catching up with family and friends... we're meeting later at night to wine and dine at the peak. :)

Now that you've heard lots about me, why don't you tell me what's going on in your lives? I miss ppl!

posted by Holz @ 11:52 AM |

Day 7: Hong Kong

Yes, it's my 7th day away from home; it's been a week since I bid a tearful yet joyous farewell to my parents. Time passes by really quickly!

I've seen Vicky a few times already, and we've exhausted ourselves each time... probably cos I'm still recovering from the jet lag, and we're both just anxious to be out... on Thursday, we went all over Causeway Bay (Times Square and Sogo) in search of a bag for my cousin. On Friday, we met up after I saw my piano students and took the MTR to meet Ian in Tsim Sha Tsui... we acted like tourists (well, I acted like one!) and took pictures of the HK harbour from the Kowloon side. We then took the ferry across to HK Island, where we took a few pics and bid Ian farewell before heading to Soho (in Central) for some good food... It's surprising, cos we just chose a restaurant (without knowing if it was good or not), and apparently, it's pretty popular! :) I haven't seen Vicks since Friday... but will meet up with her on Friday to go to Macau with my other relatives.

Saturday was nice - if you ever go to HK... hit Tsim Sha Tsui, cos the malls and plazas there are spectacular (for me to say that means that the place is really good!). More importantly, there's a great view of the HK Island harbour from a certain plaza (I think it's Harbour Square). You know me... the picture fanatic.

The church I went to today was awesome; originally, I was intending on going to church with Vicky at North Point Alliance for the English service, but my cousin suggested that I try my aunt's church at least once. I'm glad I took her advice, as I was in awe with the church itself... it's actually an office building. The church was able to purchase the entire office building (19 floors) for a very affordable price when the developer was in dire need of money and decided to abandon the project. The service itself was simple enough, and it wasn't a typical traditional Chinese service... with a band and worship leaders that convey the lyrics of the worship songs, it was pretty uplifting. The sermon was also effective, as it was my first time seeing a pastor preach with a skit (and he himself was in it!).

As for thoughts and feelings... Personally, the shallowness of this place is really bugging me... especially the obsession with dieting (the easy way out, that is, with no excerce and simply machines that beat you up) and having the "in" look. I'm really disgusted after seeing how 30 minutes of a show was devoted to people crying about how fat they are, and how they're willing to do anything to enroll into a dieting program. It's really sickening.

It's also kinda weird that I feel rather left out during family gatherings (ones from my father's side). Perhaps I rarely see them, so it's rather awkward cos I don't have much to talk to them about. At times like these, I wish my parents we around. I'm actually pretty quiet during these gatherings. Most of my relatives think it's cos of the jet lag though.

What else have I been up to? STARBUCKS. Yes, the plaza close to my aunts' place is awesome! It has Starbucks, HaggenDaaz, and lots of stores. However, the Starbucks is enough... today, instead of shopping, I headed to Starbucks and enjoyed a double shot of espresso while reading the South China Morning Post - something I rarely do back home (that is, reading the paper). I intend on doing so again soon... perhaps Wednesday?

Anyhoo, must sign out... I'm going to be a kid again tomorrow, as my aunt is taking me to Ocean Park. Yay! :)

posted by Holz @ 11:51 AM |

Arrived Alive!

I'm signing in from Hong Kong. Currently, it's 10:45pm, but my mental clock tells me it's only 8 a.m. in the morning. However, I only slept for 40 minutes out of the 14 hours I was in the air, so I'm feeling rather light headed and tired right now.

Vancouver was a rather interesting experience. All in all, it was pleasant except for Sunday afternoon at Stanley Park. To make a long story short, my cousin's purse was stolen right out of her car... my aunt was in the car, but some stranger managed to lure her out of the car and someone else grabbed the purse while she was out of the car. Regardless, Monday was spent with my cousin recovering all her documents and cards; although it sucked that I couldn't go anywhere, I really enjoyed chatting with her while accompanying her to the various banks and government places. I guess God really answered my prayer when I asked for some quality time w/ my cousin! ;) Interesting how God works, eh? I still feel awful though, to be honest w/ you... however, I still wanna go back to Vancouver! :)

Anyhoo, my mind is going haywire right now (I just msged Nev, letting him know that I'm in Toronto... heh...) I talked w/ Vicky already too... oh my. Anyhoo, I have access now to the 'net, so I will update as much as I can. Until then, take care and be good (especially YOU myles cos my mother's watching!).

posted by Holz @ 10:58 AM |