Don't rain on my parade...what, there's a parade?!?!

It rained today. As if you couldn't tell from the title of my blog that that was what was on my mind...
But it was a good rain. I mean, it made all the people head toward the overhang and the market I was at was a little crowded, but fortunately I'm a bit taller than the average crowdperson and did not feel too stuffed in there as I could see out and beyond.

The first half of the day we went to English Centers again and the Hong Kong Museum of History. It was an amazingly long museum. We had an English tour guide who talked about 10% of what was in there, and it took close to 2 hours. At first, I was wondering why she didn't go more in depth. By the end, I was grateful she didn't. So maybe I zoned out in history class and was thinking about the cartoon Strawberry Shortcake when I was younger (quite possible), but I had forgotten that after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, they invaded Hong Kong. I bet those guys were tired. Anyway, the Japanese took over HK for like 5 years in the 1940s and it wasn't until America dropped those two gifts in Japan that HK got Japan to leave. Crazy, huh? First time I've ever had someone outside the U.S. vocally admit thanks for the U.S. showing its muscles. I was quite proud, especially knowing that my grandfather would have probably been sent to Japan had it not been for that. I got a huge sense of pride for and appreciation of my home again today.

While we were at one of the English centers today, the guide was showing us a variety of books, one of which had something to do with pursuing a PhD. He said, 'you know what that means, right?...'Permanent Head Damage." haha. Love it. That explains Dr. Gregg's condition. lol. I'm kidding, but I feel like this is a test to see whether he even knows my blog exists...guess I'll be getting feedback now.

We were free after the museum today, so we went to a Japanese restaurant--I'm looking less novice with chopsticks again. Then Athena, Nancy, and I broke away from the group and went to hang out with Athena's aunt and uncle who live in HK. We met them at this Cricket Country Club--nice stuff. Then it rained and they drove us to this shopping area that has like 1.7 million population density in 4 blocks because that's where the best local shopping is. I didn't buy anything. The rain made the humidity go away though, which was nice and breezy. It's very humid here. After that, they took us to the school where Athena's dad had gone as a kid. I thought this was very neat since it was not a typical tourist thing and we got to see how the locals live.

Both Athena's aunt and uncle are very knowledgeable and have seen the world it seems. Her aunt is a distributor of unique, non-licensed, more educational type of toys. I got to pick her brain about starting and owning your own business. Fabulous. When they dropped us off, she told me about these tiny shops which are hidden inside and up a level, each owned by young aspiring business owners. These shops are only open on nights and weekends because the owners work during the week and days. I went up there after dinner and was amazed. It's the cutest little assortment of eclectic shops, each speaking about their owner. I could just picture myself pouring into something like that...it's like a work hobby. Absolutely splendid. They reminded my of my friend Jessica McDougal--and there were owls everywhere (which she's a fan of).

Oh...and before we went to meet the aunt and uncle, the three of us girls went to Kowloon Park, a big public park here in HK. We walked through a labyrinth, looked at a bird lake and aviary, and then saw the public pool. The public pool is nice and large, but I quickly caught on that the trend here is speedos....small speedos. Needless to say, we got the FULL tour. lol. This is where the song 'Blinded by the light' pops in my head... Anyway.

Tonight for dinner I had this cousin-of-waffle as I'm calling it. It was waffle/pancake batter in this beehive/bubbly shape. It. Was. Marvelous. I'm a girl after sweet things. Yum. And I ordered it without language. Btw, the first sentence I learned in Cantonese was "I do not understand Cantonese." Thank you Pimsleur language CDs! It goes something like "ng m sik tang guang dong hua," but I'm totally making up that spelling of pronunciation, so who knows what we're all really saying as we read that inside our heads.

Tomorrow is a free day! Adventure awaits! I hope your weekends are just fab! Thanks to Vicki and Debbie for the comments :)