Traffic Casualties

At the entrance to the Aberdeen Tunnel there is a digital sign that displays the number of traffic casualties last year and the number of casualties to date this year.  I have often wondered about this sign.  It currently says that there were over 20,000 in 2013 and there are over 2,000 so far this year.  To me a traffic casualty implies that someone was killed in a traffic accident.  Could there really have been over 20,000 deaths due to traffic accidents in Hong Kong last year?  This didn't seem possible.  I do spend the majority of my time on the south side of the island which definitely doesn't have as much traffic, but I'm downtown a fair amount.  I've also been over in Kowloon a number of times.  In all of my travels I have only seen a handful of accidents, none of which looked too serious.  Then last week I was riding the school bus home from one of PJ's basketball games when the driver stopped before going over the dam.  At first I thought he saw another big truck or bus coming from the opposite direction (the bridge doesn't accommodate two large vehicles driving in opposite directions).  Then cars behind us began passing us.  Then I saw the reason he stopped.  An ambulance was coming from behind.  Now I was appalled.  We stopped for the ambulance, but all of the cars that passed us just ignored it.  Could this be the reason for the large number of casualties?  I decided it was time to research.

Apparently a traffic casualty is any accident.  In 2013 there were only just over 100 fatalities in all of Hong Kong.  There were about 2,500 serious accidents and the rest were minor.  So, no need for me to be concerned about the sign.  Thank goodness!

Red Envelopes

As a part of the Chinese New Year celebration, red envelopes are handed out.  The red envelopes contain "new" money.  It is very important that the money is new.  All of the local banks make sure that they have plenty of new bills on hand in all denominations for their customers.  These envelopes are given to any employees, service personal that you encounter frequently, neighbors, kids, etc.  They are to be handed out during a two week period encompassing Chinese New Year.  They are given as a wish for a "healthy and prosperous" new year.

The girls and I were out of town over the Chinese New Year break, so PJ and Dave were in charge of handing out the envelopes.  We gave them to everyone working here at our complex.  Dave said they were all extremely grateful.  He and PJ said that the maintenance people were especially thankful.  Being new to this I'm not sure how many people give out the envelopes to everyone like that.  Dave took some envelopes to hand out to the employees he encountered at the American Club.  He brought 6 envelopes with him thinking that he would hand them to the 3 people working in the parking garage and the 3 people working at the front desk.  As he pulled out the envelopes to hand to the parking attendants the head guy was so excited he called all of the other attendants up.  Thankfully there were only 6!

As CFO, Dave was also responsible for handing out all of the envelopes at work.  His assistant had to keep a list for him and she would check off people as he handed out the envelopes.  At the end of the two week celebration Dave's office had a big celebration.  As a part of the celebration there were drummers and a dragon making the rounds of the office.  Lettuce was hung from the doors of the executives and the dragon would come and take the lettuce and then dance in the executive's office.  Dave had to put a red envelope in the dragon's mouth for good luck.

There were many Chinese New Year celebrations around town.  Because I was not here, I do not have pictures from any of the celebrations to share with you.  I do have a few pictures leading up to the New Year.  Places all around town were decorated with signs, flowers and small "orange" (I believe kumquat) trees.

Front of our complex 

Times Square

Happy New Year sign in Stanley with Robbie's Flat Stanley

Decorations at Stanley Market with Ellie's Gingerbread Man

Dave with the dragon

Red envelope

API-Air Pollution Index

When we first moved here the view from our front porch to Stanley was beautiful and clear.  The kids would tell me about the API (air pollution index), but I neither "saw" it nor "felt" it.  If the API is over 100 the school is supposed to cancel outdoor activities, but sometimes it is at coach's/players discretion.  Grace's soccer practice was canceled a time or two in the fall.  PJ still had to run the mile before Christmas despite the API being over 100.  Over the past weekend our API was in the high 178.  Today it is hovering around 100.  To give you some comparison, today in LA the API is right around 60.  Beijing's API is about the same as LA today, however we have seen it get up over 200 and close to 300.

The cause for our poor air quality is mainland China.  The pollution blows in from manufacturing cities on the border.  One of those cities is Shenzhen.  Today the API in Shenzhen is 178.

You can definitely tell when it is a poor air quality day.  Everything is very hazy and the air feels a little thicker.  The pictures below are not of the same view, but they show you what it looks like on a good air quality day versus a bad air quality day.

 


Moving here I was a little concerned that the air quality would cause PJ to have breathing troubles considering his past history of asthma.  It does not seem to have affected him much at all.  Grace is the one who seems to be affected the most.  She complains of a sore throat a fair amount.  I can tell on the days when it is particularly bad that my throat has a definite scratch to it.  I haven't felt any difficulty with breathing, but if I hike on a day when it is bad I do seem to breathe a little heavier.

I have chosen to write about air quality today because I didn't realize the effect it has until we were in Kauai over Christmas.  We were all amazed by how much better we felt after 24 hours there.  Of course that could just be because we were in Hawaii:)

Christmas Decorations in Hong Kong

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above are a few pictures from Causeway Bay and Kowloon before Christmas.  There were quite a few decorations around town.  They were all very nice.  Most were whimsical, although there were a few that were religious in nature.  There were a few special areas set-up in stores for the sale of Christmas gifts/decorations, but for the most part Christmas didn't seem to be quite as commercialized here.  Just as in the U.S., there was Christmas music being played many places.

Markets

While my dad was visiting we went to many of the markets in Hong Kong.  I have already described Stanley Market, so I will leave that one out, but tell you about the others.

Ladies Market

The Ladies Market is in Mong Kok which is a section of Kowloon.  It is several blocks of stalls on both sides of the street.  While the name makes it sound like it is all for women, it is not.  There are purses, electronics, jewellery, clothes for men, women and kids and knick knacks.  As with all of the markets, it is hit and miss on what you find.  You have to be very cautious about buying any electronics.  Always ask to test the electronics first and always ask for "best quality".  Many times, what they have sitting out will not be a very good quality.  Never pay the initial asking price.

Jade Market

I wanted to go to the Jade Market because I have read several books that mention it as well as hearing about it over the years.  The Jade Market is located in Jordan.  Another section of Kowloon, not far from Mong Kok.  The Jade Market is an indoor market unlike most of the other markets.  It was a bit of a disappointment to me.  I was expecting a large market with many different things made from jade.  It was not that large, a medium sized warehouse.  There were many different necklaces and earrings as well as some jade sculptures.  However, most of what I saw I have seen before.

Night Market

The Night Market is in Yau Ma Tei, yet another section of Kowloon which falls between Mong Kok and Jordan.  The Night Market has many of the same things found in the Ladies Market.  What makes it special is that it is at night and therefore lit up.  There were quite a few people walking through the Night Market and it seemed much more lively than some of the others.

Besides these major markets there are sections of the city where you can walk down streets that are lined with stalls.  Many of these stalls contain food items as well.

The markets are always fun to walk through.  It is a little like walking through some of the streets in different cities in Mexico.  I have come to enjoy bargaining now that I have been here awhile.  Part of it is that I have become more acquainted with the prices of items.  I love listening to the people say, "For you my friend" or "You are a very nice person, so I give you a deal".  I enjoy the smile on their faces when they feel they have accomplished something in the bargaining (I like to negotiate back and forth so that we both feel we win).

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is our first real holiday spent here in Hong Kong.  Obviously, Thanksgiving is not a Chinese holiday, so it is not widely celebrated here.  Back in the States, this is one of my favorite holidays.  We usually host Thanksgiving at our house so there is a lot of preparation that goes into the planning.  It also puts me into the holiday spirit and is a big step in getting ready for Christmas.

This was our first year that we didn't really celebrate Thanksgiving.  PJ had a basketball tournament with two games on Thanksgiving day.  We were hosting two boys from Singapore for the tournament.  Grace and Meg still had school on Thanksgiving day.  My father arrived on Thanksgiving day.

With all of the games and the lack of a good oven we decided not to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  We grilled steaks instead.  It was nice to have company, but it really didn't feel like Thanksgiving.  Next year we will definitely celebrate with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  Perhaps I will order a turkey from a local restaurant to avoid having to cook one in my little, unreliable oven.  I find it necessary to continue to celebrate all of our traditional holidays while learning about some new ones.

The Little Things

There are many exciting aspects to living abroad.  Seeing new places.  Learning about new cultures.  Trying new foods.  Those are just a few.  However, some days it’s the little things that excite you.  Like finding the one store out of five that carries dill pickles.  Finding the store with El Pato and Dunkin Donuts coffee. Locating a pizza place that is as good as Philly (very difficult to do).   Managing to drive the mile to the school fields.   Driving the five miles down to Stanley. 

Today, it was the little things that excited me.  I drove to Stanley by myself and parked in the “car park” (parking garage for you Americans).  I needed a couple of bulky items and Dave is out of town, so I figured I would give it a shot.  There’s an “American” store in Stanley that I don’t usually venture into for two reasons:  it is very expensive and I typically don’t mind buying whatever is available locally.  There are a couple of food items about which we are very particular though, one of them being peanut butter.  We only like “natural” peanut butter, no sugar added.  The Costco brand is our favorite.  My day was made when I found just that in the “American” store!  As Dave says, “There are certain things that are worth the extra cost.”  In this house, peanut butter is one of those things!  It was probably double the cost it is in the U.S., but it was less than the small jars of reduced sugar peanut butter that we don’t really like.

So here’s to the “little things” today.  They brought a smile to my face on a rainy, windy, dreary dayJ