There’s about 1000 spaces on each side of this hall – can you smell the money? – probably not the smell of incense is quite potent

My Grandmother and Grandfather – the picture was recently updated to include both of them.

Some people gathered outside waiting for their turn to bow and make offerings to their ancestors

My Grandmother’s sister on another floor in the same temple.

There were monkeys outside the tomb on these trees last time – no luck this time.

I believe this is my father’s father’s brother’s brother but not not actually – need to ask about this one again.

This was the last tomb I went to – monk inside reciting scripture and ringing a large bell gave it a nicer feeling than the commercial or government stops

And now some words I captured that day

Up the stairs to find the remains of my Grandfather. A familial obligation I did my best to perform humbly. On stainless steel tables inside the halls the older women of the family hurriedly prepare. Fruit – oranges mostly, bananas, rice, roasted meats – pork, chicken, duck – steamed buns, sweet sesame buns, veggies, paper money, and other niceties to be better appreciated by those enjoying their afterlife. I took 3 sticks of burning incense and, in line, payed my respects to my ancestor with three bows endured through eye-searing, lung clogging smoke. I finished quickly as the line demanded so. It was an exercise in efficiency as much as one of respect. I moved to a second room to repeat the gesture to my father’s cousins daughter’s mother – then to a lower level to once again bow with incense to my grandmother’s sister. I got 4 sticks of incense for the second bowing and 6 for the last from my uncle. It seems the significance of three was lost a little in this transaction. I softly inquired with my father about the significance of the entire act. “I think i need to invent another way for my children to pay their respects to me when I’m gone.” I supposed. I thought a nice dinner over meaningful discussions about family matters and biz would suffice. My father told me some people already were utilizing alternatives. There are sites where you can go and purchase virtual incense and the like and pay your respects virtually. Much more cost effective than purchasing a spot at this shrine to display your ashes – anywhere from 30000-100000+HK. That would ring a wall of 100 w x 13 h units (at an avg of 50k/box) in at 65,000,000HKD. There is well over a billion HK decorating the walls of this shrine. My father and I speculated there was almost certainly a business behind this operation. Real estate for the dead is a fine business indeed.

$ $ $ $

I’ve been stuck in Hong Kong since Wednesday last week and I’ve come to realize just how relatively expensive everything is! Now that I’m accustomed to Chinese pricing I can no longer look at everything relative to the dollar. A pork bun for $6HKD – that’s 5.6RMB – bloody expensive! I could get that for half the price in Shenzhen! WTF! Then I think back to when I first came to Hong Kong so long ago. My mind was incapable of thinking in any currency but US dollars. Everything became priced against what I would pay for the same product or service in the US. Fake goods were dirt cheap – now I see them as expensive dirt. If I want real dirt cheap prices I need to hit the marketplaces around China.

I guess at the end of the day I consider it a good thing – I’ve learned more about the true cost of a product and/or service as I’ve learned more about business. I’ve learned about the influences of price and the driving factors contributing to consumer assessment of value in the marketplace. It allows me to keep my head from popping off when I’m asked to pay $18HKD for a bottle of water at Starbucks that I could easily obtain one store front over for a fraction of the price. Then again 7-11 is more expensive here too – nearly twice as expensive on some items as in China…. Bloody Italian Sparkling water…

Anyway at the end of the day I’ve spend somewhere in the neighborhood of three times my daily/rate of expenditure in China whilst in Hong Kong. That’s ok though – it’s not like I was saving my savings to buy anything special like birthday gifts for my family or anything *shrug & sigh*

Every day I feel a little less motivated to do this

China is crazy. That just about sums it up. I’ve been running several events in the Nanshan area this past month including Volleyball, a Chinese language corner, and a weekly social event. This past Sunday I learned one of my participants was late because his bus broke down. Nothing unusual about that right? Wrong! One need only ask what do you mean by ‘broke down’? Turns out the buses audio system had some wires crossed and was blaring a high pitched sound regardless of what volume the driver set it to. He was actually covering his ear with one hand while driving the bus. Everyone on the bus was holding their ears. Every red light the driver turned the bus off to ease the suffering momentarily but he eventually dumped everyone on the bus off in the middle of the street to fend for themselves.

Today, another glorious Monday was more of the same, it’s funny now there doesn’t seem anything wrong with carelessly bumping into people, spitting, getting scraped in the head by an umbrella arm end, watching a little girl drop a deuce onto a crushed plastic bottle, or seeing children cheerfully run around with no bottoms on. I remember last week when I finally managed to get a bank account set up in HK I managed to receive several disapproving gauks and scoffs when I bumped into people or accidently did something “uncivilized.” I thought it was hillarious – I guess I’m turning Chinese.

Then again I do get angry because some people can’t figure out how to use my toilet… and worse yet not having the common sense to clean it up afterwards. The shower is right there, you just need to turn it on and rinse the mess away – is it so difficult? Then again I must admit I’ve never seen some of the “accidental” spillage I’ve seen here before… how do they do it?? Perhaps I should post a sign on my door, “if you use it, leave it cleaner than you found it” Probably wouldn’t change anything but I’d feel a little better.

Gotta run for now but I’ll be sure to post Mondays and Thursdays moving forward – sorry for the 3 weeks of silence!!

A. 1x Chinese Immigration Departure & Arrival Card (slightly less convenient)
B. 1x Hong Kong Immigration Arrival & Departure Card (small & convenient)
C. 2x Shenzhen – Hong Kong Entry/Exit (aggrevatingly inconvenient and useless)

I usually fill these forms out beforehand as it can be quite a pain to do it while standing in line or running from bus to boarder to bus. I usually go through Huang Gang boarder (there are several ways to travel from SZ to HK you can see a thorough list of them here) The process is pretty straight forward, if not a little cumbersome, you first pass through the immigration at the Chinese boarder (leave china) – hop on the bus that takes you about 1/2 a mile to the entry station into HK (enter HK) – after your through there you get back on the bus which takes you to your final destination in HK. Rinse, Reverse, and Repeat for the return trip. You buy your bus ticket after passing through the Chinese border (you can buy 2 way tickets at a discount – tickets range in price from 35-55HKD one way & 50-85HKD two way)

Anyway, now that the logistics have been handled lets examine what I’m actually interested in sharing. Though I’ve gotten used to it more or less there is one phenomenon that seems to pervade no matter how meticulously I try to avoid it… the loud Cantonese cell phone user. You see once you get through the boarder hubbub you get to enjoy a nice 40min+ bus ride into HK wherein you would think you could take a quick nap or at least relax quietly by yourself. This is what happens – no matter where you sit he who knows not how to control the volume of his voice sits behind you. He then proceeds to receive or initiate a phone conversation a few minutes after departure that does not end until just before you arrive if not afterwards. Perhaps you think I’m being to sensitive or complaining unnecessarily… consider this – I covered my ears with my earlobs and shoved my fingers down my ear canal and I could still clearly make out every phenome these guys say. My pulse and his conversation as clear as a bell. I guess thats one vote for me against the Cantonese .