Meet Maggie

For those of you who have been wondering who my roommate is, her name is Maggie aka Makiko. She's from Osaka, Japan and has been living in Hong Kong for about two years. She lived in Guangzhou before Hong Kong for a few months. She's a consultant for a staffing agency in Central. She likes watching V, the international music channel, and NHK, the Japansese news network, but then again, we only have like 6 channels to watch. She also likes listening to Norah Jones. She's really nice. She made dinner tonight, Shanghai crabs with some vegetables...super yummy! She can speak Mandarin, Japanese and English, and she's the nicest roommate I could have asked for. Pretty amazing to me.

North Point Wet Market

Black Ink Squid Ball Spaghetti

Roast Chicken with the Head

Stew

Dysemevas

Technology Freaks Me Out!

Cuttle Fish on Avenue of the Stars

Paddy's Here!!

It was nice to have someone from New York in Hong Kong!

Double, Double Toil and Trouble,

...fire burn, and cauldron bubble!

Mong Kok Night Shot

Welcome to the Trendy Zone

Today Paddy and I went to this shopping center I had circled in the Lonely Planet called the Trendy Zone.

As the name implies, the Trendy Zone carries "trendy" items, like plaid shirts and trucker hats.

And cool earbuds with rhinestones.

There's a pink store where you can buy stuff to bedazzle your possessions.

And some kind of novelty store.

Hip clothing stores.

This one carries Supreme and fake Marc by Marc Jacobs.

Sneakers galore...

Trucker hats, which are oh so New York hipster circa 2003, but so hip Hong Kong 2008

And tons of watches!

Friday Night Hot Pot

I had my first Hong Kong hot pot on Friday, and they had SPAM! I haven't had SPAM since I was a teenager! Notice that SPAM in the foreground of the photo. And get this—I had hot pot again on Sunday!!

They're Bringing Milk Powder Back

People have been frightened off by milk powder due to the whole tainted milk scandal in China. When I got off the MTR at Admiralty on Friday afternoon, I noticed a whole platform was dedicated to some brand of powdered milk. I thought it was pretty creative; they painted over large columns in the middle of the subway platform so that they would look like giant cans of powdered milk. I'm wondering if they would have chosen to advertise in such a manner had the tainted milk scandal not happened. It's so large and in your face!

Waffle Balls

Waffle balls are a popular street food in Hong Kong. I spotted these things being sold from a sidewalk stand when I first got here, and I was always curious about what the were and how they tasted. Finally, last Sunday when I was out for an evening stroll, I picked up a bag of these waffle balls and—surprise surprise, they taste like waffles!

Corporate America Blows

They just asked people to voluntarily leave their jobs today. If everybody is getting laid off, and nobody is hiring, what the hell should people do to support themselves? Unemployment, if you can even get it, pays jack shit. What do we do?

It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas!

So the other night when I got home from work, I noticed a Christmas tree and decorations at the bottom floor of my apartment building. It's only the beginning of November! It feels weird, out of place and a bit early. Especially because I haven't had Thanksgiving dinner yet and the weather is so warm still! It has cooled down a lot since I moved here, but I definitely don't need a jacket.

Chillin on the Steps on a Friday Night

Uh, Yellow Face?!

Don, Emily and I were partying in Central last night and we found these statues to pose with. When we saw the photos, we noticed their faces were painted yellow! I don't know what to think. Is this racist, some kind of artistic statement or straight-up vandalism?!

A Man from Malta

I think this is the first person from Malta I've ever met

Free Japanese Food Samples!

Went to Apita, a Japanese grocery store, to get lunch on Friday. They had all these samples of things I've never eaten before:

SCMP Does Obama

Look What Arrived on November 6

This absentee ballot was supposed to be postmarked November 4 for it to count. It arrived on November 6. Go figure. Luckily I took things into my own hands and sent out a Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot via FedEx, who was kind enough to send ballots to the US for free on October 28. Get your act together Manhattan Borough Board of Elections!

SIGN THIS!!!

Proposition 8 is unfair. Equality should be for everbody! Click on the link below and sign this petition against Prop 8!

Re-open Proposition 8 for California Petition

Change Is on the Way

The Irishman with Fake Irish Potatoes

Halloween: The Aftermath

I didn't go out on Halloween night because I was exhausted and I had a test the next morning, but yes, they do celebrate it here. I'm not sure about the trick or treating, but I know a lot of expats dress up and get drunk in Lan Kwai Fong. I walked through there the next morning after I finished my test. Notice the bats in the air and the spiderweb in the distance

Two Days Until the Election!

Voting from abroad sucks. So I wrote about it. Check it out here.