Junk Boat and Random Stuff

This past weekend Jill and I went out on a party boat, or as they are more commonly referred to in Hong Kong, a Junk boat. A brief history of the name can be found here, although the boat we were on had no sail, and most of the other "Junks" I saw had no sail either.  You bring booze, food is catered, and you party on the boat all day. Awesome time...pretty nice little Saturday.

We only knew one other person on the boat, but we were able to meet some other cool people-many of whom were also expats.  I was introduced to a guy who started his own craft beer importing business here in Hong Kong, and I actually ended up subscribing to their "beers of the month club" (btw I am doing pretty kick-ass when it comes to Asia in my 1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die book - there are still a lot of Japanese beers to check off the list, but most of the other Asian countries are done).

Most everyone on the boat was a journalist of some kind - there were people from the Wall Street Journal, the South China Morning Post and a couple other publications.  One guy had just been involved with a team that interviewed Jean Claude Van Damme, and I found out he calls Hong Kong home.  So that's cool...I'll be on the lookout for him.  There were people from a wide range of countries represented as well.  People from England, Scotland, Japan, America.  Good mix. Everyone was super-friendly and just looking to have a good time except for this one guy wearing a "Quito or Bust" t-shirt. I think his name was Ed or Ted or something like that, but he was real jumpy the whole day which was a bit annoying.

Some of us American expats got to talking about some of the differences in language between home and here.  And not the differences in English and Cantonese.  It was a British colony for a long time, so most of the differences stem from a British influence.  I'm sure you're probably already aware of these, but some of them we talked about were:

Notes = Bills (money)
"I have so many notes my wallet can't hold them."

Elevator = Lift
"Take the lift to the 12th floor."

Apartment = Flat
"You can come over and help me clean my flat."

Line = Queue
"There was a queue a mile long at the blood drive today."

Right Away = Straight Away
"Get me those blood test results straight away."

We didn't talk about those specific examples...and they probably weren't necessary, but just wanted to give you an idea.  So if Jill and I come back and we're using these terms don't be surprised.  Something else I have learned is that no one here seems to know what a cooler is.  I was looking for a cooler for our Junk trip, and in 3 different stores they had no idea what a cooler was.  I eventually asked a couple of Australian gals in the grocery store if they knew where I could find a cooler.  They didn't know what I was talking about either, so after I explained what I was looking for, they're like, "Oh! You're looking for an Eski!"  Sure, whatever you say. I asked if that's what they called them here, and they said it was just an Australian thing, so it still did me no good.  I eventually found what I was looking for, but if you're ever in Hong Kong looking for a cooler don't call them that.  If I found out what they're called here I will let you know. 

You also have to pay extra for bags at the grocery store.  They're not expensive, but still...gotta pay for the plastic bags at the grocery store.  And tipping is much easier here.  Most all places include a 10% service charge in your total bill, and tips are not expected.  

I'm also still not used to the metric system, or using military time.  I still have no idea what 30 degrees Celsius is in Fahrenheit.  Military time isn't everywhere, but you see it on some digital clocks.  They also write dates different here. So instead of Month/Day/Year, they do Day/Month/Year.  Doesn't sound too different, but don't underestimate it...it's difficult to get used to.

In other news, we bought a couch with a pullout bed for our "guest room".  So now no one has an excuse not to come visit.

Til Next Time,
Luke & Jill