Out of Good-Luck-Oatmeal

So, as most of you probably know, I'm currently in the middle of my long-awaited "summer vacation."  Things (sort of) kicked off Friday after class, but everyone was so relieved and tired after the test that we didn't really do much of anything.  Saturday and Sunday were also good days to just sit back and relax.

I did, however, have a plan for Monday.  I had to do some shopping in Shatin so I figured, while I was there, why not just walk a block or so and see the famous "10,000 Buddhas Monastery?"  I apologize that the website isn't in English but, if you feel so inclined, have a shot at Google's "translate this page" feature:  http://www.10kbuddhas.org/index.do.  For those of you who don't feel so inclined, it's still worth a look because of the beautiful pictures that are available.  I'll give you the short version of this place.  Back in the '30s, this guy called Yuet Kai came to Hong Kong to teach about Buddhism.  He got the idea to build the 10,000 Buddhas Monastery (Cantonese name:  Man Fat Tsz) and started work around 1950.  Even though he was already really old, he (with his followers) actually carried all the building materials from the foot of a mountain up to the top where the building site was.  It took him years and years to finish, but finally the monastery was completed with around 12,000 statues of Buddha--all absolutely unique!  To honor the man who started it all, the monastery now has Yuet Kai's preserved body on display in a glass case in the main pagoda.  Apparently, it's the biggest attraction at the location.  Ironically, "10,000 Buddhas Monastery" isn't really a monastery at all because there are no resident monks.  Even more ironically, I didn't get to go!

That's right, I'm still bemoaning the fact that, after making it all the way to Shatin (grand total of 7 minutes on the MTR), I didn't get to see one of the attractions I've been looking forward to the most.  The reason?  Fickle Hong Kong weather.  Yes, it is typhoon season, but for the last few weeks the weather's been fairly reasonable.  On many days, it's been just as fair and cloudless as you can imagine.  Monday's weather, though, wasn't nearly so conducive to outdoors sight-seeing.  When I woke up that morning and looked out the window, all I saw was an enormous black storm-cloud out over Tolo Harbour.  Yikes!  I went ahead to Shatin because I had some other business there I had to take care of, but I hoped the entire time that things would clear up.  10,000 Buddhas Monastery isn't the kind of tourist attraction you see in the rain, especially considering it's got over 400 outdoors stairs you have to climb just to reach the place...and then around 70 more to reach the main pagoda.  In the middle of a Hong Kong summer thunderstorm?  No ma'am, not me.

I was in Shatin from 9:30am to 4:00pm and the weather didn't change for a moment.  I did, however, do some much-needed shopping.  I realize that I probably go shopping here more often than I do back home, and there are 2 main reasons for this:  (1)  At home I have all my stuff, but here I don't...and sometimes I find that I need certain stuff (case in point:  bug spray), and (2)  At home I have a car, which has a trunk, which is very handy for transporting large amounts of said stuff.  Here I have a backpack...not quite so handy.  So I spent my day shopping, which mostly means me wandering around the mall and the street markets for almost 7 hours buying almost nothing.  Those of you who have ever gone shopping with me know that it's like pulling teeth.  Not only am I extremely selective, but I'm also an avid bargain hunter.  I take my time.

While in Shatin, though, I did make a happy discovery.  Somehow, believe it or not, I just wasn't feeling up to more Chinese food for lunch, and I'm not too big on American fast food--even when I'm home.  I decided to be brave and eat at "Euro Go-Go," a Hong Kong chain that serves spaghetti, pizzas, and more kinds of mashed potatoes than I have ever seen.  I played it relatively safe with Spaghetti Bolognoise, which surprisingly tasted similar to real spaghetti.  The pizzas also looked normal, as in they had normal flavors (pepperoni, cheese, supreme), and the average price for each dish was under HK$40.  If I'm ever dying for pizza, I'll stop by Euro Go-Go first before going to Pizza Hut.  If it's any good, I'll have saved myself about HK$50.

So Monday was a disappointment in some ways, but a success in others.  That 7 hours or so of walking everywhere had taken a bit of a toll on me though so, tired as I was, I decided to take Tuesday off to just relax.  According to the Hong Kong Observatory, it was supposed to rain all week so why not?  As expected, on Tuesday the rain came and it didn't stop.  I managed to get myself down to Lady Ho Tung Hall, but there was no mail.  It's OK, though, because I had to do some other stuff there as well, but it's just some logistical work.  I spent Tuesday doing a lot of reading and I watched some more Taiwanese drama.  I've started a new one recently and it's way better than I expected from the description.  To anyone looking for a dramatic and somewhat dark TV show with lots of unexpected plot twists and phenomenal character development, I highly recommend "Mars," starring Vic Zhou and Barbie Hsu.  I'm just a tad bit addicted right now.  However, I would still rather be sightseeing.

According to the weather forecast, today (Wednesday) was supposed to be even worse!  Blech.  Once again, it seemed my options for the day were read or watch TV.  I did both--even took a nap--and all day the sky looked a little dark and cloudy, but it never rained.  By now things actually look like they're starting to clear up.  Even the Hong Kong Observatory has taken back it's previous forecast about tomorrow.  That's right, as of right now, Thursday is expected to be overcast with light showers in the morning but partially sunny in the afternoon.  So, guess what I'm planning?

That's right, it's Buddha Time.  I have a bunch of errands to run anyway (again in Shatin).  I know I go to Shatin a lot, but hear me out.  For those of you who don't know, Hong Kong isn't actually one enormous city.  It's made up of lots of districts, cities, villages, etc.  Shatin is one of the major districts (considered "rural" Hong Kong by anyone who hasn't been to Ngong Ping), and it happens to be the one where CUHK is located.  Therefore, if I have to do anything with a government office, I do it in Shatin.  It's just clearer for me to say "going to Shatin" instead of "going into town" even though the second statement is a lot more accurate considering that, technically, I'm already living in Shatin.  I have to go see if my bill from PCCW is ready.  As of Monday, I still owe $0, but hopefully by tomorrow my bill will be ready.  I want to pay it before going to Mainland China.  Also, I'm hoping to get more packages in the mail.  While I'm at the post office, I'll see if somehow the package I'm expecting is there.  It always comes to the Shatin Post Office before being delivered to CUHK.  Lastly, I need to buy more breakfast supplies--at least for 3-4 more days because, after tomorrow morning, I run out of good-luck-oatmeal.