Foot Massages - 98% ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Foot Massages:
95%    ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ......
 3%     OOOO! Hey, that is a bit sore. Must be doing something good though.
 2 %    Holy cr#p, that hurts!!!!!!!!!!! Stop! STOP! The pain!! Oh, the pain!!
           Mustn't move. Mustn't move.

In a recent census (By me. Of my Friends and Relations), it seems we are divided into Foot SqueezyPhiles and Foot SqueezyPhobes.

Me, I love 'em.

But (and there is a 'but'), for the Unitiated, there is something you need to know.

Those ladies (& men, actually) with their penetrating fingers and relentless knuckles of reinforced steel are capable of seeking out the teeniest tiniest point of Ouchy, wherever it might try and hide itself.

The bit at the base of your big toe nail? Gotcha.
The tendony bit under the arch of your foot. FOUND you.
Those bits, under your toes, where the balls of your feet start to become your toes. There's nowhere to hide, Ouchy.

Come out with your hands up, Ouchy bit.
You might as well give up, because she is going to keep at you till you melt away into smooth non-ouchy grooviness.

Just so long as I can stop flinching, and refrain from crying.

It was busy in there today. 6 out of the 7 seats were occupied with people at various stages in their massage.

A real mix of people today.
Gweilos and Chinese.
Young(ish) people in flipflops (it is a Public Holiday, Easter Sunday, in fact).
Men.
Women.

Late middle-aged Chinese Business Man hung his suit jacket up and measuredly removed his work socks and shoes before settling in for the Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.(unfortunately it seems he blotted his copy book by, at some point before I arrived, conducting a number of very loud 'business' phone conversation. 
The Food Squeezing Team did not approve. 
And, on his departure, They talked about it.  A lot)

We were all there. Together, next to each other.

I can only imagine that 10 years in the Middle East has played havoc with my Factory Settings as, I was shocked to notice that I had even noticed the fact that Men & Women were seated (& being Squeezed) side-by-side.
AND that the Squeezers doing the Squeezing were Men & Women.

No reason why they shouldn't be.
I just noticed that I had noticed. 11 years ago, I wouldn't have.

So tranquil, in the Palace of Foot Squeezing.  There are no shortage of such places, all over HongKong. Crammed into the tiniest of spaces, so practical and yet, a haven.

A decadent luxury with an air of practicality, which helps One feel a bit less frivolous indulging in this bliss.

Outside, double-deckers & mini-buses whoosh and grind their way passed the front window. the sheerest of bamboo blinds separate the Outside World from us in here.

The Inter-Foot-Squeezers banter is cheerful & slightly ribald (handy thing, this not looking like they expect you to understand the lingo).

Birds tweet, hypnotically (CD volume at exactly the right level).




The Rose Bud Tea (or water) feels cleansing and refreshing.





The large bamboo tub, full of warm, scented frothy water kicks us off and is my green light to surrender to the next blissful 50 minutes of ...... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (only a little bit of: Ouch!)

The hot scented towels wrapped round my feet, enough to induce a coma. 
Any. 
Second. 

Now ........  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............................................. *YEEEEOWWWWWW! ..............

Being Home

Where to begin.

Last Summer I wrote of how refreshing it was to be back in the UK ( see Hug A What Now?) & oh my, it was.  

But, to get my feet back on to, or into, the place, where I truly belong, well, there ain't nothing like it.

Whilst I am at home in the UK, HK IS Home. Not home (with a small 'h') right now, but Home.  

It is a cruel twist that in order to know where you belong, you have to leave it.

Also, after more than 20 years of living as one kind of Expat or another, I realise that you also don't have to live in a place to be part of it, or it you.   Like Family.  

This place speaks to me.
The sounds of the pneumatic drills, the unique roar of taxis, the double-deckers & mini-buses, the smells of food on the air, markets, the inside of IFC (never has a Mall smelt so good! If anyone can tell me what that is, I want my house to smell like that!).  

Me, I find the sounds of HongKong life comforting. Soothing.  

I can hear Hong Kong. HK speaks to me. Maybe because I am listening.
It isn't always pleasant, but I don't have to love everything about it, to love It. I understand it. The understandable bits. The bits I don't understand, I doubt any one else does either.  

 

And, it understands me.  I am a genuine Made In HongKong.

You either love Hong Kong, or you hate it.
Marmite Town.

AND, in a typically 1 Country 2 Systems, East Meets West, Yin Yang (yes, all the cliches) way, that thing that people love about it, others hate.  

Those that love it, call It Energy, Drive, Can (& DO), those that hate it use words like 'frenetic, rat race, materialistic, superficial'.  

Yes. It cannot be denied there is that, alot of that.

But also, I see the Colour, Life, Attitude (sometimes THAT could be dialled down) & richness (cultural, not $$).  

Some lament a lack of culture in this town. I am not sure to what they refer. Swanky art galleries? Chamber orchestras? Theatre? Seems no shortage to me.  

The culture I see all around is real living, joss stick burning, social media savvy, pop culture evolving, stuff.
The Old Ones observing the old ways, The Young Ones looking like they aren't but are, if you really look.  

Many superstitions and folk traditions are so entrenched, I fail to see HOW anyone can really think this town is devoid of culture.

The rules, the structure, the efficiency, whether it be bureaucratic interactions, public transport, eating out or the bill-paying etiquette. All frustrating and comforting, in equal measure.  

Everywhere has its contrasts but here, I seem particularly aware.  You can boggle at a HK$395, 000 watch in Central and, within a 20 min MTR journey, settle down to a DaiPaiDong dinner (street side restaurant) amongst a night market of knock-off 'back' massagers and handbags.

Coming Home for these visits are a lifeline. An anchor for the soul.

It knocks the scab that forms over our united homesickness but it is worth it.

I am blessed to have found someone who holds MarmiteTown as dear to his heart as I. He understands and loves the slightly off-the-wall childishness combined with the cynicism and confidence that eons of history both gifts and curses the collective psyche.  

We return to a room that has been mine since I was 7, and now, my nearly-7 year old sleeps next door.  We pilgrimage to roads where Trousers and I have individual & shared personal histories dating back to Miami Vice & Madonna hairstyles days. And beyond.  

But, we are not as unique as we once thought, for Hong Kong appears to have spawned a unique tribe. One that only fairly recently I have been aware.

The Tribe is made up of people who never really leave. They, physically, might but they never really let go completely.
They are the ones for whom HK has burrowed deep under their skin, set up home and refuses to ever leave.
A squatter. That demands to be heard.
A squatter, with rights. That will not be ignored

I stand to be corrected but I wonder if other countries have FaceBook groups titled 'I lived in xxxxxxxxxxxxx in the 70's' or 'xxxxxxxxxxxxx Was / Is/ Will Always Be My Home' etc.  

There are many of us. And the Tribe grows.

For now though, Me & He live somewhere else. Life is good there. We are glad of all the blessings it brings. For now.

One day though, we will run home.
And we will finally Belong again.

"We all share the same Moon" - the Chinese Moon Festival

I do love a festival.

And my 2nd favourite Chinese Festival approaches:

The Moon Festival 

See, this is what I mean about digging the Eurasian thing - I get to do alllllll the festivals.

* Halloween

* Christmas

* Chinese New Year (my #1 Chinese festival), 

* even Tihar (Nepalese festival, that on one of the days celebrates the Dog - what's NOT to love about THAT one???!!! for crying out loud, just look at these Nepali police dogs)

.......I am all over ALL of them.

The Legend

There are a few variations on the legends surrounding the Moon Fairy.  You should know that there is also a rabbit, on the moon but I don't know really how the rabbit fits with it all.

Doesn't matter.  I'm happy to accept the rabbit. And am not one to get hung up on semantics.  Just as well considering  what we are talking about here.

So, here is the Moon Fairy:

Moon Fairy, Chang'e

 Her name is Chang'e.

And here's the story that my Mum told me.

A long time ago, in China, a strange thing happened one morning.

Instead of one sun coming up, suddenly......
... there were ten.

As you can imagine, this was exceedingly problematic.  

It was too hot, the crops wouldn't grow, they were all being burnt up.  The ground was scorched and there was not enough water.  

The people and the animals started to die.

Hou'Yi was a very skillful archer.  The best in all the land and he had an idea to save China.

He would shoot down nine of the 10 suns.

Which he did.

And everyone was greatly relieved and relievedly grateful - which, I guess, not being scorched up by 10 suns will do.

As a reward for his great service, the Heavenly Queen gave Hou'Yi a magic pill (some people say that it was an elixir but my Mum told me a pill so I am going with pill).

This pill was a Pill of Immortality.

Thing is Hou'Yi had his head turned by all the fame and gratitude and, as it happens, was not such a nice guy.

I don't have the details 'Not Very Nice Person' is enough I feel.

So much so that his Wife felt that it would NOT be a good idea that this guy lived forever.  So she went to find where he had hidden the Pill.

She found it but, almost instantly Hou'Yi discovered her.  She quickly hid it in her mouth but was so frightened by him shouting and questioning her, that she accidentally swallowed it!

Hou'Yi was furious & started to chase her.  Chang'e was terrified and ran away as fast as she could.  She ran and ran and ran ............................................ and ran and ran.  

She was so terrified that, when she got trapped, she jumped out the window ....................................................................................

..................................................................................................

...........................................................................................but instead of falling to the ground, she started to float. 

Up, Up Up Up Up she floated, with Hou'Yi still on the ground trying to shoot her down with arrows.

She floated all the way to the Moon & that is where she lives now, still.  With a rabbit.

How we celebrate Moon Festival

Well, if we were at home in Hong Kong, we'd go out with our Moon Festival Lanterns and look at the moon, with our family and friends.

Last night, my Dad messaged me that he and Mum were going to my PorPor's (maternal grandmother) for Moon Festival dinner, because Moon Festival is about gathering with family & those that we love.

There are some traditional things that get eaten at this time & the most well known would be the 

Moon Cake.

The egg yolk inside is
supposed to represent the Moon

Between you & me .... YUCK!

I am not into Moon Cake but, both The Trousers and The Boy love them!!

My favorite thing, hands down are the LANTERNS

Some of last year's lanterns

Our garden, last Moon Festival

Moon Festival is a time for gathering, as I say, with family & loved ones.  For those that cannot be with family, we can all look at the beautiful moon and think of them.

Short video about Mid-Autumn Festival (makes me cry a little but, look out for the rabbit!!!)

We are all under the same moon.

Ancient Chinese Poem: 

"The Moon was rising from the sea & 

all the people were sharing this moment"

This year, we will be meet with good friends & take the kids down to a beach here in Dubai in the evening.

We will have a picnic, enjoy a few homemade lanterns & looking at the Moon at her most beautiful.

As expats, there seems to be an extra-poignant aspect to it, being away from those we love, we will look at the Moon and think of those far away, that we miss at these times.

Happy Moon Festival, everyone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

HA!!
You didn't believe me about the Rabbit, did you!?

He is the Jade Rabbit & HE is the one that makes the Immortality Potion/Pills.  On the Moon.

Waving a flag for the Asian/European Tribe

Book I am reading at the moment frequently mentions Eurasian & Anglo-Indians during the time of the British Raj.

Apparently, Eurasian originally referred to Anglo-Indians whereas I think in the last, say 40-50 years it refers to those of mixed Far-East Asian & European ancestry.

Made me contemplate my own racial status. 
********************************************************************************

Contemplation done.  Conclusion reached. 

********************************************************************************
Being mixed-race is a blessing.

Proud as hell of my Mum & Dad
(granted The Scowl might be misleading)

(A few years later - Scowl Absentia)

Although, to be fair, being any race is a blessing.  So, no great revelation there.

But, for a while there, if you are of mixed-race, there are moments when you aren't really sure where you are 'meant' to fit in.

As a child, way back when, there were moments when it was a little difficult, being different.

Of course, NOW Big Girl Roo realises that EVERYBODY is different & everybody had 'difficult moments'.

In fact, it is the very thing that makes us the same.

Pfft.  Big deal. nothing special about you, kiddo....

.... 'cos guess what? at the exact same time you think you are being all different & better put The Smiths on, other kids were feeling different too.  Their parents may have been splitting up, perhaps they had weight issues (up or down), skin issues, learning difficulties, didn't have a Walkman (I'm dating myself, aren't I?), had Betamax while everyone else had the other thing (Stop it. You are working out how old I am right now, aren't you?!?!), blah blah blah.

The early part of Secondary School had crappy times, the name-calling "hey chinky", "oi, fish-lips" and the, what I think is a unique HK school word (at the time anyway) "hey, choge" was upsetting but it passed.  Other kids were teased for stutters or acne so again, it was no different to that.

I don't recall how or why it suddenly stopped but it did & school was a very happy time for me.  Socially.  Academically, that's a different story &, not one we are telling now. 

On reflection,
*  attending family Hungry Ghost dinners (when it seemed no-one else you knew had to. They were, btw.  I just didn't know) at PorPor's flat,
A bit about Hungry Ghosts

*  being an already self-conscious 13 yr old & enduring inquisitive looks at the Aberdeen cemetery every Grave-Sweeping (Ching Ming) holiday,
A bit about Ching Ming (Grave Sweeping)

*  the Red Egg parties (they were quite fun!),
a bit about Red Egg parties

*  Chinese New Year Kung Hei Fat Choy'ing
A bit about celebrating Chinese New Year

*  wandering around the MidLevels with my lantern (as a little kid) & into the teenage years, candles & lanterns in Victoria Park or on Repulse Bay beach
Photos of Mid-Autumn Festival
(as an aside, this a real favourite festival of mine)

(I had that exact rabbit lantern, the one she's holding, one year. AND I distinctly remember several of those fish)

all of it centred around being part of a family & jeez, I realise now, how cool that was.

The Brit side is there too. I also got to feel part of Royal Weddings (Charles & Diana's, I think was the first I really recall & set a precedent. I love an occasion, me.), Wimbledon, Christmases, BlackBerrying walks on the Downs in Sussex & freezing family swims (not me though. Noooooooo.  Roo don't do cold water swimming.  Thin tropical blood, see? but I DID watch The Cousins swimming) on shingle beaches, fish & chips & yearly family gatherings at my other grandparents' house.

How the mix manifests itself depends on the races involved &, a kind of genetic lucky dip. 

No one knows what feature from which side will step up & make an appearance. 

Tribe members will all have experienced comments like: "wow, really? but now you say I CAN see something" to the other end of the spectrum "how could anyone NOT see it?". 

Articles like this The Eurasian Nation & books like The Eurasian Face fascinate me.  I am really nosy to see how "the genetic legacy is etched" on others.  I like to think I can spot 'another one like me' with ease!

The only thing I don't enjoy are the people (utter strangers) who stare & stare, literally scratch their heads, can bear it no longer & ask me outright "Where ARE you from?".

This seems to be unique to this part of the world, with that undeniable tone "WHAT the hell are you? I need to know how I should treat you & I shall make that decision based on your race.  Damn you for confusing me".

It happens a lot at work. And infuriatingly, often in shops.  I have no interest in discussing my racial background in either of those situations.

I am no stranger to Discrimination. *pauses for dramatic effect*

People, I was beaten into 2nd place in  the Cussons Baby Powder Most Photogenic Baby competition (1970-something) by a Chinese boy baby.

I was robbed.
My Mummy & Daddy said so.* So it could only have been a race thing.  Right?

(I mean it couldn't POSSIBLY mean that I simply Wasn't, could it?)


It is a short hop from baby powder advertising to segregation on the backseat of a bus.

 * granted Mummies & Daddies are not always good judges of these things





I'll move on.
Globally, I don't think we are a minority anymore.  Not now.

There are loads of us Hapa brothers & sisters.  Some are my age but also, as our friends' families grow, new tribe members are swelling the ranks.
Hands up if you are a Hapa!!!!

May 2013 was the month when ...

* We, as a family, got charged at by a rhino, twice.  EXCITING :)






* The Kid went up a level in swimming ability AND reading levels.
* Also, He turned 6, had his first birthday party AND lost his 1st tooth.  Yup, same day.

* The Tooth Fairy visited us for the first time. See above.
  Turns out Chick possess underwater-diving apparatus & can, with ease, retrieve teeth lost 'in action'.  What a gal. Think Lara Croft with wings, & a snorkel.


* Myself & Horse tried our 1st half pass. Yeah, well .... this goes into the Work in Progress column ...)

* A sleepover happened (Never seen 'Tired But Happy' quite like it)

* I agreed to a mid-week Girls' Night (Unheard of. Certainly not this Century. Maybe earlier this Century but not recently. Anyway, you get the picture)





* The Great Dane peed on the carpet 6 times.

* The same Dane & Cat reached a new level in their relationship.






* Read & finished Gone Girl (10 days)


* I learnt some Hindi (please forgive phonetic spelling!)
     "Ram, ram. Kesa heh" Hi there, how are you?
     "Ram, ram. Kesa heh, mera dost" Hi there. How are you, my friend?
     "Mera choti betti" My beautiful daughter
     "Boudha cha" Very good
     "Shukria" thank you
The grooms (many from Rajasthan) at the yard dissolve at my attempts but I'm really enjoying learning.  I told them they must try to teach me to sound like a proper Hindi Lady.






* Trousers ALMOST went to HK to watch the 1st Lions game.  But, Duty called & instead, we will watch at home together :)

COME ON, LIONS!!!!!!!


http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/22333575

* oh. Yeah, and I decided to give the blogging thing another go.  Can't say I am particularly pleased with anything I have done so far but, I AM enjoying the process.
Might stick it out a bit longer.

"Wherever I am there's always Pooh. There's always Pooh and Me ..." A.A.Milne

 Focus on the dog, people.

The dog on the sofa. Not the weirdo kid.*

That is Pooh.  (oh DO try not to snigger) You know, Pooh? As in Winnie The ....?

Well, that dog, (name inspired by the books about a toy bear, written in the late 1920's, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie-the-Pooh ) was a very special dog.

He was there, from Day 1 of Me.  Yep, from Day 1 of Me he never left my side (& vice versa ).

He, along with ALLLLLLLL the other dogs that entered my life as a child, (at one point we lived with, I think it was, 13 dogs - all rescues from HongKong SPCA, incidentally) started & then, signed, sealed & delivered the Love of The Dog (especially the Rescue Dog) into the very soul of Me.

I truly believe Childhood pets can be really pivotal.

He was mine.  It all started with him.



“So wherever I am, there's always Pooh,
There's always Pooh and Me.
"What would I do?" I said to Pooh,
"If it wasn't for you," and Pooh said to me: "True,
It isn't much fun for One, but Two
Can stick together," says Pooh, says he.
"That's how it is," says Pooh.”

― A.A. Milne, Now We Are Six

 

* Think that I should count myself lucky, having escaped any kind of lasting mental scarring from that outfit. It MAY have been the 70s but, come on!?