Hair and Cameras Everywhere and Cough Syrup to Drink

Friday:

My friends and I paid a visit to the Hong Kong Museum of Art in Tsim Sha Tsui. There were supposed to be four exhibits, but one was temporarily closed. However, we sure got out money's (HK$5) worth!

The first exhibit we entered was the Xubaizhai Collection of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy. There were many beautiful paintings of flowers and landscapes that I wish I could have taken home with me.

The Chinese Antiquities Gallery was temporarily closed, so we continued to the Contemporary Hong Kong Art Gallery for "Hair Dialogue - Installation Art Exhibition." When we got there, we were welcomed by little cards of (what looked like) children's art using real human hair. We looked down at the provided materials and saw some hair, along with a pair of children's scissors, and wondered whose hair it was.
When we walked into the next room we were both awed and repulsed by what we saw.


Some of us were a bit wary to enter the room made of hair. Every now and then I would imagine the unappetizing feeling of hair in my mouth. But we finally entered and took a bunch of pictures.

The next room wasn't any better.

"What is that?" you say. "Hairballs?"

No. CHILDREN'S SLIPPERS made of...(what else?) human hair. The poster outside the exhibit said the artist had collected human hair and other human body particles for his art. One of my friends kept trying to figure out what the other human body particles he collected were.

We left the exhibit officially weirded out and went on to the next exhibit, Likeness And Unlikeness. I honestly wasn't dazzled by the "unlikeness" part of his art, but maybe that's because I like to do realistic illustrations. I really liked the way he painted shrimp and crab though.

We went to Chungking Mansion in search for a restaurant that my friend Cat had suggested. When we walking on the sidewalk toward Chungking Mansion, an Indian man shoved a flyer at me but I avoided eye contact, shook my head and kept walking. Unfortunately, my friend Jiesi made the mistake of taking a flyer, and a sudden swarm of Indian men surrounded her shoving flyers of various restaurants in her face.

It was then that I remembered what my friend Caren had warned me about (Sorry Jiesi!).

We finally got to Chungking Mansion and my friends started making comments about how seedy the place looked. I avoided eye contact with people and kept looking for shop numbers to try to find the restaurant. When we couldn't find the place, my friend Laura asked a man where the restaurant was and he said it was upstairs.

Another man heard where we were looking for and started guiding us upstairs when I got a phone call. My friends were all very concerned about where this man was taking us and looking at me for answers, all the while I was trying to talk to my friend on the phone.

We followed him up a set of stairs and arrived at our destination, Sher-E Punjab. My friends were expecting to go to a restaurant, not an area with a few tables with menus on the wall and no sign of a kitchen. I guess I should be more specific the next time I take them somewhere.

In the end, everyone was very happy with their food. I had some yummy chicken biryani, garlic naan, and a mango lassi for less than US$7!

Saturday we made a trip to Causeway Bay, which was a mistake since everyone else in Hong Kong seems to go to Causeway Bay on weekends.

I had already felt pretty tired and unwell in the morning, but I decided to go anyway. Walking through the crowds of people made me feel drained and I felt like I had a fever, but I didn't say anything to my friends until later on in the day. I had hoped I was still recovering from clubbing Thursday night, but I was wrong (I'll get to that later).

We hit up places I had already been to, but my other friends hadn't been to yet. I finally saw a pair of earrings I liked and bought them.

Then we went to eat at another restaurant Cat recommened, Macau Restaurant, nearby the World Trade Center. Most of my friends and I ordered the items that she had recommended, which ended up being very similar to Western food.

Earlier that day we had gone to Coffee Corner on campus for the first time and had Western food and discussed how much we missed Western food (gourmet salads with mixed greens, gourmet burgers, paninis, Mexican food, etc.). I haven't even gone to McDonald's once here, while others have gone a few (or several) times. But I just can't eat Chinese canteen food every day! I didn't even eat American food every day when I was in LA!

After dinner, we walked along the streets in that area and found a few stores with very cheap, pretty clothing for girls. We should have been walking along these streets the whole time! Then we went into this store called 2% and saw the strangest shoes!

Why would anyone make such a thing? Why would any store think this item would sell? And has anyone actually bought a pair of these?

We ended the night with a trip to Hui Lau Shan (that makes my third trip). I really really love this dessert place. I LOVE MANGO! And nearly all the desserts on the menu have mango, mango juice, and/or mango pudding!


The last time I went I had glutinous rice balls in mango juice with extra mangoes (and a scoop of mango sorbet), and it was heavenly.

This time I had mango pudding with mixed fruits.
The mango pudding was delicious, but the strawberries and kiwis were sour (my friend ordered the same thing and said her strawberries and kiwis were great).

We all had digital cameras and were snapping away.

When I got home Saturday night, I realized I was officially sick and slept most of the day away on Sunday. I woke up a few times to study for my Cantonese quiz, to fiddle around online, and make a doctor's appointment online for the next day.

Monday morning I went to the University Health Center and found out I had a small fever. The nurse made me put on a mask as I waited to see the doctor. The doctor checked my breathing and said my lungs were clear (even though my throat feels quite phlegmy). He said I had a bad cold and prescribed me three things for my symptoms (fever, phlegm and cough). Fortunately the visit and the medications were free.

To add to my misery, he told me I had to wear the mask in public, so I went to the grocery store and two classes wearing the mask. Then I realized several other people in class were coughing and weren't wearing masks. It sort of grossed me out thinking about the germs they were emiting while coughing. But I don't think I'll be wearing my mask in class since the medicine I have virtually subdues all my symptoms while in class (but also makes me very very drowsy).

Plus it's not very attractive, no?

I should get some rest now. Hopefully I can make it through my classes without falling asleep, which I was very tempted to do in my Cantonese class and actually did do in my International Communications class today.