Before I get to my dad's funny stories of his time visiting me in Hong Kong, I thought I'd share what I've been up to the last couple of weeks before he got here.
      This last month has been a roller coaster ride for me, with final exams, saying goodbyes, my dad visiting me, and taking off for Thailand and China.  After my mom, brother, and sister left, I had to hunker down to prepare for finals, which here is taken place over a three week period, instead of one week back home.  Nothing was too out of the ordinary for the exams, except that we took them in the gymnasium instead of a lecture hall.  Exams went well and I'll find out the results in a month or so, but all I can say is that I'm ecstatic to be done with school, but sad to be almost done with Hong Kong.  While studying for those few weeks, I was able to spend some last few days with the awesome people I met by going to beaches, playing ping pong, going to museums, and having people show me new areas that I hadn't seen before.  These were a fun couple of weeks, but nothing entirely new until my dad was able to come.
        My dad was able to come at the end of tax season, which luckily happened to be right after my exams.  Without further ado, here is my dad's account of Hong Kong:
       

     

     Guest blogger for this post  – Reid’s father, Kurt.  I’m happy that tax season is over and I could squeeze in a visit prior to Reid setting off to explore more of Southeast Asia before his return at the end of the month.

     I arrived in Hong Kong Wednesday April 29^th evening and it was so nice to see each other after four months.  We bussed to downtown area to take in the Symphony of Lights and find our hotel.  I was prepared for vast cultural differences, but stepping off the bus for the first time, I commented to Reid about how the smell of downtown was just not pleasant.  We had a good laugh when we realized a garbage truck and pile of garbage were right behind the bus.  Hong Kong has a different smell, with hot/humid weather and fish/meat markets out in open, but not like that first whiff. 

     Thursday was Reid’s final day of exams, so while he finished up his semester, I explored the city and took in the street markets, parks, buildings, housing, people density, and culture in general – quite an experience.  Glad that I could easily get around since most signs in are in English and many people speak it.  Except for about 50 street vendors who either couldn’t read or understand their prospects for a sale with “CPA” embedded on my forehead.  They are a persistent bunch, all part of the experience and throughout the week, Reid and I found ever creative and humorous ways to say “no”.

     The day after Reid’s exams, we set off for a hiking trip with his friend Eden from Israel, and Eden’s friend Shai who recently got out of the Israeli army.  It was interesting to hear their first-hand accounts of Israel’s struggles and current battle with Hamas.  We struggled to get a taxi to take us to the vicinity of the trail because it was a holiday and tons of locals were out - our heartiest group laugh of the week was over his Pavlovian response to my whistle to quickly come to a hailed taxi – ask him sometime.  The hike had gorgeous views, ended with a swim in the ocean and the realization it would be good if the U.S. did not adopt the customs of Hong Kong public showers and changing areas.  A night trip to “The Peak” for a view from above of the skyline closed the day.

     On Saturday, Reid and I went to the island of Cheung Chau, which has been written about previously and didn’t disappoint.   A great day filled with some unusual things - gate-ball, shelling shrimp with chopsticks, a new definition of how fresh a fish/frog meal can be – to the normal - beach, swimming, hiking.  The restaurant menus in English were an adventure, none more than one on Cheung Chau that had “Stir-Fried Crap” on the menu.  Pretty sure they meant “Crab,” but we were taking no chances. 

     Sunday consisted of learning at Hong Kong’s History Museum, more walking around the city, ping pong with locals and a visit to Reid’s dorm.  I confirmed that Reid is conscious about his spending since even though the weather has been 80 degrees+ and dorm room A/C is limited, he did not indulge in such luxuries like laundry detergent, cleaning supplies and air freshener.  After night markets and falling asleep to the movie classic Dumb and Dumber, Monday consisted of a trip to the Chinese consulate for Reid’s visa, a harried taxi cab ride to airport and final goodbyes before he left for Thailand. 

     It was a great trip and a special experience for me.  Even more, it was wonderful to have Reid show me his environment, knowing he had success with his professors/classes, a new appreciation for different cultures and by extension an appreciation for how fortunate we are in America.  Lastly, when I witnessed his final goodbyes to Eden and his roommate Simon, it was clear that true friends were made, lifetime relationships formed and they were all better off for their shared experiences.  Thanks for the decision and the great time Reid.  Love, Dad.

I am currently posting this blog from a city in northern Thailand called Chiang Mai, as I have been in Thailand this whole week, but I will leave my Thailand adventures to be posted next week when I leave for China!

                                                  Eden, Shai and I atop the Dragon's back

      My dad and I spent some time watching this guy fish with about a 30 foot pole and no reel-he surprisingly caught quite a few

     We now have firsthand knowledge on how frog legs and other seafood are made, thanks to these locals at the wet market on Cheung Chau island

                    My dad had some fun playing with this little girl on a road on Cheung Chau island

                                             Climbing on rocks along the South China Sea

Taking the MTR on the way to the Dragon's back

This is Reid’s mom, Christy. He is letting me add my two cents from our visit to him in Hong Kong! It ended up being a bit of my own memory diary of the week we spent experiencing life on the other side of the world. A chance of a life time!

Saturday 3/28

Reid’s brother and sister, Grant and Paige, and I flew out of GB for about 1 hour to Chicago and then 16 hours from O’Hare to Hong Kong. We watched more movies than I have seen in the last two years and slept as much as we could sitting up. I wouldn’t recommend United Airlines for their ground staff, food or comfort. We weren’t planning on checking in our luggage because I knew Reid didn’t get his until 3 days after he arrived, and we were only staying for 6 so I didn’t want to risk it. Because our “carry-ons” were so stuffed they acted like we were crazy. (We’ve carried these same bags on other flights but I understood, it was fine we checked them in). I said to the guy, “Will our bags be on the same plane?” And he said, “Well, where else would they be? Do you think another plane is going to take your luggage?” I said I wouldn’t know, somehow my son’s luggage didn’t arrive with him. Gheeze. Who talks like that to a customer? Rrrrrrr. Oh well, he has to go home with himself.  The flight staff was very nice. We were happy and looking forward to our vacation! It was exciting to finally land and see Reid for the first time in 3 months!

Sunday 3/29 

Technically we arrived in the evening Hong Kong time, but it was morning U.S. time! I guess because of the lack of sleep and long travel we welcomed the night’s sleep no problem. Once we got in. When we checked in the credit card I called in before I left was flagged fraudulent and would not pay for the hotel I booked with it months prior. The only way they wanted to un-flag it verifying it was me was by calling my cell phone, which doesn’t get service in China. They even admitted I called to notify them the dates I would be out of the country and where, but she said something like that was just the customer service center or something. What? I had to give the hotel the cash I was planning on using for getting around. They finally took the hold off the next day but I needed to find a U.S. cash machine. The best way to learn the ropes, desperation. 

When we walked into our room the first night it was very small and there was only one bed and a small window which is not what I paid for. The desk clerk did not want to let us change rooms and there was a difficult language barrier. Reid put my computer in front of him and said “…this is the picture on her reservation, that is not the room she got”. It took some doing but we moved to a new room, and then to another one the next day because of a better option. Finally settled! We went for our first walk in the city and experienced our first “fast food” restaurant. In this neighborhood time was money and there isn’t a lot of room so sit close and make it quick! They will even help you pick your order :). Apparently watching your neighbors eat and listening to their conversation is socially acceptable as well. I’m sure we were quite the spectacle to them ourselves. We wondered what things we do that are considered rude to their culture. After all, I had to apologize for Grant’s manners several times before we even left America. What must they think?

Moday 3/30

We did a lot of walking around the Harbor and checking out the skyscrapers. The city is very busy and most people walk or take public transportation. It seemed like the only people driving were in Audis, Lexus, Ferraris or even Lamborghinis. We went to PolyU and attended part of Reid’s business class, met his favorite professor and ate at his usual cafe. Nice to see what he has been doing on a “typical” school day. After checking out his dorm, taste testing unusual Hong Kong fruits, and a ping-pong match, we regrouped for an adventurous dinner with his local roommate, Simon. Upon Grant and Paige’s request he found us a place that served the unmentionable. OK, I will mention it, but it is not for the weak. Each of them sampled a medley of pig ear, pig tongue, pig intestine, pig blood and ox stomach. Well, they did. There is no other way to explain it without just putting it out there. Eww! 

It was great to finally meet Simon in person. He is a really nice guy originally from Hong Kong. We have face-timed with him from home and like to ask him how we should do things here. We have probably taught him that Americans can be a little crazy. 

We ended our first full day with a few hours at a night street market. Addicting! We talked about buying an extra suit case just to bring things home.

Tuesday 3/31

Diamond Hill is a beautiful park on a hill we visited in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city. It had unique structures, trees, and large pond with fish. Then we walked around Hong Kong Island while Reid was at class, which was all a busy city atmosphere. We took a ride on the big Ferris wheel to get a good view. When we stop back in our room we tend to doze off so at 8pm we took a nice fast paced jog to catch the festival of lights show shooting out from all of the skyscrapers at the Harbor. After that the boys joined a local basketball game and Paige and I went back to the street market!

Wednesday 4/1

Today while Reid went to school we did some more fancier shopping in another part of the city. When he got back we rode up to the Peak (a mountain top look-out) on a train track for the highest view of the city. Gorgeous. Then a hop, skip and a jump to get to some horse races across town. We didn’t stay long since we weren’t betting and it was getting late but it was cool to see. Back to the hotel for much needed rest.

Thursday 4/2

Reid had an early class but when he got back we discovered the Easter bunny came to our hotel in Hong Kong! We couldn’t believe he knew we were there. Reid got USA snacks, and Grant and Paige got China treats. Everyone got some items from the street market. They each found eggs with Hong Kong money it, too. So fun to still have the holiday together! We decided to try a nearby pizza place to give our guts a break from foreign food. I don’t know if it was really the best pizza I’ve ever had in my life or just good timing, but it was delicious. Again, now we were in a hurry to fit in our plans. We hustled to get to two different ferries to Cheung Chau Island, one of the most story book places I have ever been. An old traditional Hong Kong city/island of rustic homes and outside markets, locals of all ages riding old fashioned bikes with baskets and carts, and a walk along the water to beautiful huge rock formations and caves. Amazing.

When we got back we dressed up for a fancy Chinese dinner at a nice restaurant. Still embracing the whole experience, once again Grant and Paige ordered items like squid with tentacles/suction cups, fungus, and century eggs (aged and black). Nothing they cared to take a second bite of. A few other plates and appetizers we ordered went over much better. 

Friday 4/3

Paige said, “Just when I thought yesterday I saw the most beautiful place there was, this is even more beautiful.” If that was even possible. We went hiking to a beach looking out at the South China Sea with mountains in and around it. We hiked through the woodsy hills to a natural pond surrounded by giant boulders. The “kids” climbed to the rock known for people jumping 25+ feet into the water and jumped in! They swam until the last possible minute so we had to RUN to catch a ride back on a boat. We were dragging a bit from the hike and the rest of the week, so running through sand was not pretty. At the boat rental was another language barrier. All we could really make out was “Four can go,” pointing at us. So we went. Walking out on to the beach looking for a boat. Well, there were a few boats. And no dock. Just a large boat floating about 50 yards out into the water, a tiny fishing boat about 10 yards in, and two more small boats 20 yards in with open sides and a China man standing behind each one holding it down. We looked back at the boat renter and all he would say was “four can go”. We begged, worried our boat would leave, “Which one??” and still heard, “Four can go.” Ahhh!! Finally as the renter walked down to the beach he pointed to one of the boats being held on to. We ran through the water to climb into the back of a 30 foot boat with benches of people in it. Reid and I were the last ones in sitting on either side of the driver thinking we got the bum deal, until he stood up by the big steering wheel, cranked up the music, and turned up the motor. Water spraying from both sides and speeding over the waves passing beautiful scenery through mountains and past caves. It was a half-hour thrill ride to end our final day in this beautiful, amazing country. 

As for my two youngest travelers, they sought out one last adventure Mom wasn’t too thrilled about. They were determined to get a massage from one of the many local businesses we saw on the street. Once they found a place they were comfortable with they got their massage and, as I understand it, will share their own story. It was a nice way to cap off the night as we couldn’t stay awake for another minute. 

Saturday 4/4

Time to go. Expecting another long walk and connecting MTR (train) rides to the airport with our even more packed luggage, I opted for the door-to-door cab ride. Another happy family decision and experience. A very friendly cab driver loaded us up, took our picture, and gave me a discount (although the poor guy had to tell me about 10 times for me to understand). Couldn’t have ended better. Hugs and good-byes for now at the airport. Until May Reid, enjoy the rest of your travels! Thank you for bringing this touch of the world to us. I love you!

                                           My mom and I walking along the harbor with the skyline in the back

                                                  The Gresens kids at PolyU!

                                                Us four had a little ping-pong tournament in my dorm

                                                Paige clearly is not a fan of the pig's blood...

                           They got to ride the Ferris wheel and explore Hong Kong Island while I was at class

                                                 The Symphony of Lights never fails to impress!

                             Would you like either a pig's snout, chicken feet, or cow's tongue?

                                           Grant and I decided to go on a rock climbing excursion

                                              Our long hike on the way to Tai Long Wan

                                              Climbing the sketchy bridge to get to the beach

                                         The beach we were at, Ham Tin, in the background

                                              Taking a very unique boat ride back to town

                            Showing my siblings one of my favorite activities in Hong Kong-cliff jumping

                                            Fulfilled the girls' wish of eating at a fancy restaurant

 Stuffed the taxi full on the way to the airport. And no, Grant is not driving the taxi, the driver's seat is on the right!

         Sometimes the best times are the most unexpected.  After a normal day of classes and working out, I bumped into a friend on the elevator who invited me to join the tug of war team that was competing in the hall event.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into. 

            I missed the few weeks of practice that they went through (yes, tug of war practice that included a coach, an introductory video to the techniques, and a speech from the head of Hong Kong’s tug of war team), but I still was able to participate.  When I walked into the common area of our floor, people freaked out and asked if I was going to participate, since I was bigger than everybody except this huge Scottish guy, and I said of course I was!  They instantly gave me LiZhi apparel (the name of our hall, pronounced “Lee Jih”) and threw some war paint on my face, although I ended up looking more like a clown, but it was still cool nonetheless. 

            We went downstairs and into the back room filled with like-minded crazy people.  There was a live feed of the matches on big screen projectors, and everybody was going over strategy.  When it was our turn, we walked out to the cafeteria that was closed down for the event and all of the security guards were working the event and the hall directors were there screaming, cheering, and promoting the event.  There was an MC, official referee, and TV cameras. There had to be about 200 fans watching, and when we walked in the place went crazy, and we ran down the aisle giving high fives to them like celebrities.  The LiZhi fans were repeatedly screaming our chant, which is in Cantonese, and the opponents were screaming their chants, and everybody else was just screaming.  Right before the start it got silent, but then when we started it went crazy again, and it was so so so tiring.  After we were done (and won our first match) we cheered some more, but then I realized how exhausted I was and my legs were numb. 

            We ended up taking 4^th place, and everybody was super friendly and nice, which made the whole experience super cool.  We got Chinese desserts after (potato drink, green bean drink, and a rice drink), and just hung out for a while.

         

         For the second time in a week, I went to Tai Long Wan, this time with three friends.  We started at a different place this time, a dam along the ocean in a place called Long Ke.  What was cool about this dam was that in front of the dam were hundreds of I-shaped concrete structures, each about the size of a house.  We climbed on these a lot, which was a lot of fun since they were all angled and there were gaps in between as deep as 50 or so feet. There was also a cave behind the dam, which we went in, but it was filled with water so we could only walk a little bit on the walls of the cave.  

            This route was so much harder, going straight up, and then straight down.  It was tiring, but it had great views and hiking with the guys made it bearable.  We eventually got to Tai Long Wan, and I took them to the natural swimming pool that I found last week, and we went swimming.  At first they were hesitant because it was very cold, but eventually we got to jump off the rocks into the water, which was a blast.  We were about to leave when a Scottish guy came and we talked ourselves into jumping off the highest rock, over 20 feet high.  We jumped a few times, and I now have bruises on my arms from hitting the water so hard, but it was definitely worth it.

            We finally walked back to Pak Tam Au and barely made it before complete darkness, and I was as tired as all could be, walking for over eight hours. 

Yesterday I went to a BBQ with a local and his friends near Lai King to celebrate a couple of their birthdays.  They made the fatal flaw of eating the cake before the meal, but I wasn’t going to say anything.  I don’t usually eat cake, but they had a mango cake with fruit on top, so I gave it a try, and it wasn’t bad! We had some vegetables, tea, chicken, and Chinese sausage (whatever that is).  I’ve noticed that here in Hong Kong, bare hands are not used to eat whatsoever, because if you do, you’ll probably get a weird look (I have learned from experience).

My friend also brought his 2 year-old cousin, and we played with him for a long time.  He was super energetic and I learned some Cantonese in order to play some sort of cops and robbers, and he would tell us all to freeze and give us instructions (all in Cantonese).

We also played some Chinese form of hacky-sac, except they played with some dart shaped thing, and it was hard, but I eventually got the hang of it.

At night I met with the “Let us talk” group again (the language learning group), this time playing cards. First I taught them Skipbo, which they liked a lot, then we played a Chinese card game (I forgot what it was called) that was very fun and I learned a lot of words related to card playing.  In China they don't usually play cards just for fun, but instead they always have money or some sort of punishment on the line, so we played that the loser had to pay the penalty by doing something silly. One of my punishments was to sing the American national anthem while standing on a table, but I turned my punishment into a punishment for them, though, as I embarrassed them be standing on the table and singing in a crazy voice.  I also have picked up on what it means by “face” being very important to the Chinese.  No matter who it is, I haven’t met a graceful loser in the slightest, and they get very angry if you mention it at all. They either ignore you or try to justify it in order to make themselves not look bad.  I know people everywhere can be sore losers, but this is a different type of losing, which isn’t necessarily bad, just interesting.

Starting at the dam in Long Ke

                                                             

Back to the waterfall of Tai Long Wan

                                                             

      

                                                              Cliff jumping!!!

            

Cave exploring!

                                                               Playing hacky-sack

                                              The little 2 year old cousin!

                       Our team lined up to go (I'm second in line, behind the guy in the blue shirt)

                                     Got my war paint on! (although I look more like a clown)

                               Live feed displaying the event (that's the referee there on the stage)