Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Shoes
I found a very nice shoe shop just next to where I live in Sheung Wan. Finally bought a pair of boots for thiw winter. While I was browsing other shoes, I found a small sticker in the sole of a pair of nice lady shoes - "Made of real leather, colour black - please do not wear light colour socks". It is rather considerate since I have seen many light colour (or skin tone) stockings, ankle length, with black heels in China.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Arrived in Hong Kong
In mid November, The temperature is 28C and humidity is 80%. The air doesn't flow and my throat felt funny after 1 hour run along the harbor. The humidity is really the killer, you feel like swimming in hotwater most of the time when jogging.
I ran uphill yesterday just to try a route suggested by other runner, the air miraculously got much lighter and cooler as I passed the mid level. Pretty good workout, though running is not possible (I am still not strong enough to run all the way), just walking uphill in fast pace is enough to make me out of breath. Pretty nice.
I ran uphill yesterday just to try a route suggested by other runner, the air miraculously got much lighter and cooler as I passed the mid level. Pretty good workout, though running is not possible (I am still not strong enough to run all the way), just walking uphill in fast pace is enough to make me out of breath. Pretty nice.
Chinese Women
Coming back from Bejing for a final presentation to company's pitch to the biggest bank in China, I had some conversation with my colleague about Chinese women (the topic came about because of his first encounter with Chinese women in Beijing - he was very puzzled). I remember I had written something about it before but perhaps it is worth another go after a few years.
How do you describe Chinese women? I think you cannot categorize them as a women in a normal sense. Chinese Women (I am refering to those born and raised in Mainland China) do not considered female as a gender that are inferior to male, it is just a second gender. Being a female just means you are physically weaker than man yet at the same time possessing the power as a female. Of course this might be different in the country side but, in the city, the well-educated women are totally in control. You see them as government officials, successful business women, energetic real estate agents or shop owners.
You might be wondering how this is different from western women who are well respected and go about doing their career (I think glass ceiling is still there, that's another topic). I think the difference is that Chinese women can really forgo the fact that they are female and let go of the sense of being a woman or mothering duties very easily. Remorse and guilt do not bother them too much - or they are forced to ignore them. Living example is my aunt from my father's side - She was going thru a very rough time during great culture revolution. She had to marry a guy much older just to survive (for food). But when opportunity presented itself for her to flee to Hong Kong, she abandoned her 2 young children without hesitation.
My aunt's case might be caused by the distored environment but somehow I think the mentality somehow is rooted in modern Chinese women. Definitely no offense but I think they have to arm themselves with such level of brutality in order to survive. I suppose it is not common in women from other culture/region. Nevertheless, I think Mao Tse Tung had really achieved the gender eqaulity miles ahead of anywhere else in the world 50 years ago.
How do you describe Chinese women? I think you cannot categorize them as a women in a normal sense. Chinese Women (I am refering to those born and raised in Mainland China) do not considered female as a gender that are inferior to male, it is just a second gender. Being a female just means you are physically weaker than man yet at the same time possessing the power as a female. Of course this might be different in the country side but, in the city, the well-educated women are totally in control. You see them as government officials, successful business women, energetic real estate agents or shop owners.
You might be wondering how this is different from western women who are well respected and go about doing their career (I think glass ceiling is still there, that's another topic). I think the difference is that Chinese women can really forgo the fact that they are female and let go of the sense of being a woman or mothering duties very easily. Remorse and guilt do not bother them too much - or they are forced to ignore them. Living example is my aunt from my father's side - She was going thru a very rough time during great culture revolution. She had to marry a guy much older just to survive (for food). But when opportunity presented itself for her to flee to Hong Kong, she abandoned her 2 young children without hesitation.
My aunt's case might be caused by the distored environment but somehow I think the mentality somehow is rooted in modern Chinese women. Definitely no offense but I think they have to arm themselves with such level of brutality in order to survive. I suppose it is not common in women from other culture/region. Nevertheless, I think Mao Tse Tung had really achieved the gender eqaulity miles ahead of anywhere else in the world 50 years ago.
Friday, November 18, 2011
What is on your Dinner Table
Chatting with Cathy, who was really surprised with the dinner arrangement with Micheal's family who are originally from Taiwan and live in US for decades. Mother would order take-out or pizza as dinner. When they return to Micheal's parent's house, the parents were sitting in front of the TV and said "Dinner is on the table, help yourself". What she found is the cold frozen pizza!!!! Hong Kong origin, this scene chilled her spine and was really confused if the parents were making a joke or something.
My family had a dinner ritual that there must be a least 3 or 4 dishes and a hot soup for dinner. Kids were instructed to set up the table, chopsticks and soup spoons would be laid for each member's usual location on the dinner table. Of course, guests would join our dinner (don't ask me why, but there were always some sort of uncles living with us whether they were just visiting or even stayed for months for work). I needed to help my mom to cook, clean and serve fruits while everyone sat down in front of TV. After moving to Taiwan for ages, my mom didn't have the time or habit to cook the Cantonese soup which requires hours of cooking. But that's very common in average Cantonese families. Everyone would sit on the table, sharing the food together is the official end-of-day. My family has simplified the dinner - comparing to family in Hong Kong. Rice has to be freshly cooked, all ingredients would be purchased from the market on the day (frozen food? Out of question!). That's the reason many Hong Kong housewives busy themselves in the market every morning, thinking what to make for dinner. They can even tell whether the fish is male or female.
Food is so heavily related to Hong Kong/Cantonese culture. The typical way of a Cantonese girl to signal her love and caringness is to say to her boy friend "Would you like to taste the soup I made?". God knows how many hours she spent on the soup. When I explained this to Grace, she was totoally lost.
Taiwanese families are not so pain-stakingly aggressive about dinner - part of the reasons is that most moms work during the day and, I think, the main reason is that Taiwan has not yet developed into the state to appreciate food - think about it, Taiwan was still a agriculture society in the 70s. Hong Kong has long been the hub of business since British government cultivated the humid fish village in mid 19th century.
My family had a dinner ritual that there must be a least 3 or 4 dishes and a hot soup for dinner. Kids were instructed to set up the table, chopsticks and soup spoons would be laid for each member's usual location on the dinner table. Of course, guests would join our dinner (don't ask me why, but there were always some sort of uncles living with us whether they were just visiting or even stayed for months for work). I needed to help my mom to cook, clean and serve fruits while everyone sat down in front of TV. After moving to Taiwan for ages, my mom didn't have the time or habit to cook the Cantonese soup which requires hours of cooking. But that's very common in average Cantonese families. Everyone would sit on the table, sharing the food together is the official end-of-day. My family has simplified the dinner - comparing to family in Hong Kong. Rice has to be freshly cooked, all ingredients would be purchased from the market on the day (frozen food? Out of question!). That's the reason many Hong Kong housewives busy themselves in the market every morning, thinking what to make for dinner. They can even tell whether the fish is male or female.
Food is so heavily related to Hong Kong/Cantonese culture. The typical way of a Cantonese girl to signal her love and caringness is to say to her boy friend "Would you like to taste the soup I made?". God knows how many hours she spent on the soup. When I explained this to Grace, she was totoally lost.
Taiwanese families are not so pain-stakingly aggressive about dinner - part of the reasons is that most moms work during the day and, I think, the main reason is that Taiwan has not yet developed into the state to appreciate food - think about it, Taiwan was still a agriculture society in the 70s. Hong Kong has long been the hub of business since British government cultivated the humid fish village in mid 19th century.
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