Hong Kong Day 2: Chinese Superpowers

Besides kung fu, all Chinese people are known to have one superpower: our superior ability to do math.  However, all superpowers have a kryptonite, and Chinese math is no different.  One word: jetlag.  The exchange rate is approximately 7.8:1, but I was having a hell of a time dividing prices by 8 in my head after waking up at 5 AM.

My day started with applying for various ID cards, visas, express visas, and possibly a mail order bride for all I know.  I filled out so many forms (and by "I filled out", I mean I watched my dad fill them out since a bunch of them were in Chinese) that I lost track what the hell I was applying for.  All I know is that my thumbprint is in the Hong Kong government database, and with that comes a premature end to my secret spy life.

Today was also a day trip with a few family members on my dad's side, and it was during this trip that I remembered a second superpower.  Our trip involved taking a ferry to an island, where we literally picked the live seafood we wanted to eat for dinner from a market, then carried the seafood to a restaurant where they cooked it for us.  The result is dishes like this:

The second superpower I recalled/rediscovered on the ferry there: the ability for Chinese people to fall asleep anywhere in public.  My dad and three of his siblings went on this trip (along with their significant others and a couple of more distant relatives).  My dad and three of his siblings all fell asleep at some point during the trip.

The plan for day 3: being at my first ever horse racing event in Hong Kong (which is like religion here), followed by my dad's 65th birthday dinner with all of his siblings and all their accompanying family members (or as Betty likes to call it, a "re family union") which somehow works out to 23 total attendees.

Actual hugs 2, Non-hug greetings 10 (the closest I got was a pat on the shoulder)