Music by FKJ - Better Give You Up
My parents are Karaoke Enthusiasts. It's actually out of control. They have a whatsapp karaoke group back at home and they would go to each others houses to sing karaoke. Karaoke has been prominent in my family ever since I was a child. Dad use to compete in Karaoke competitions back in the day, and we have trophies of his wins proudly sitting in our living room. Every weekend we would have family friends over for Chinese Karaoke, all throughout the night. I hated it. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing people happy and having a good time but, it just gets to the point where it's like shut up.
You're probably thinking, what does this Karaoke group have to do with anything? Well, Dad's karaoke friend, Joe, Uncle Joe (asian respect), is a local Hong Konger. He was born and bred here, then migrated to New Zealand about 28 years ago with his wife, and had kids. He regularly comes back to see his family every year and is coincidentally here at the same time. He invited me to come to his village festival on Saturday afternoon so, I invited Georgia to come with. He lives in Ho Sheung Heung, out in New Territories, pretty much at the border of China. It's about 1 hour and 15 minute train ride to Sheung Shui, so Georgia and I decided to make a day out of it.
In the morning we went to Choi Hong Estate, which is a stop on the way, to see the infamous rainbow buildings. We were a bit lost once we left the station, and a local Chinese grandma saw us, and helped us get to where we wanted to go without asking us any questions. It seemed like she lived there, so she must've known a lot of tourists wanted to go see the basketball court surrounded by the rainbow buildings. A lot of local people were there taking pictures. It was insane. They all had suitcases and professional cameras. I wanted to join in and play basketball with some of the locals, but everyone was just on the court trying to get a picture, it was impractical to play. We then went on to explore the rest of the area and wandered to the Nan Lian Garden. The Chinese garden architecture was amazing. There were a lot of tour groups there, with a groups of people wearing different coloured hats. Connected to the Garden was the Chi Lin Nunnery a beautiful, beautiful temple.
We then made our way to Sheung Shui. Once there, Uncle Joe and his wife, Aunty Gina, picked us up from the train station and we went to their house in Tai Po, to drop stuff off for their relatives. We had an insiders look on how the living situation was like for local Hong Konger's living outside of the city. It was tight, and apparently their living space was one of the biggest in the building because of how many people were in their family. It made me realise, how lucky we were to be living in the place we are living. The size of my whole studio apartment, is double, possibly even triple the size of their own little room. They then took us to a Cha Chaan Teng (A classic Hong Kong Cafe / Tea Restaurant) called Tsui Wah. Georgia and I got Wonton Noodle Soup, Aunty Gina had the classic Bolo Bao (Pineapple bun) with a slab of butter and Uncle Joe got a beef noodle soup. We then went to his village which was literally on the border of China which only had a river separating them from each other. As we drove into his village, we saw all the red decorations for the festivals, all made out of bamboo. We then met his family who were all very welcoming and spoke some level of English. We had a look at their house, around the village, and their ancestral hall. We then had a little bbq for dinner and then went to see the Chinese Opera. I couldn't understand anything, but I enjoyed their costumes and the way they conveyed the story through repetitive movements and high pitched singing. I was in awe of the whole theatre being built from bamboo, in the middle of their town centre, just for temporary use.
On Sunday, we got our laundry done. Walked up Victoria Peak. It was an incline. I was a sweaty mess. But it was worth the climb. So far of all the places I've been back to after four years, have just seemed gloomy and sad. We then made our way back home and met someone in our building who left their keys inside their apartment. We tried to help her get back in. Unfortunately, nothing on YouTube worked so I just hung out with her for the rest of the night and she ended up finding a place to stay. So yay to new friends!