A Wedding Amongst the Stars

Being the warden of an HKU residence hall expands your social calendar in ways you might not have expected. Case-in-point: Katherine and I were invited, by the father of the groom (who happens to be a senior alumnus of our hall), to attend a wedding reception and banquet of unimaginable proportions. It took place yesterday evening in one of Victoria Harbour's most recognizable landmarks, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre...

Here Katherine and I were admiring the harbour view on our way up to the Grand Hall (on the top floor, where all the festivities were held).

The reception area was adorned with massive photographic panels showcasing the happy couple in some of their favorite spots around Beijing (where they began their courtship)...


The reception area itself seemed quite large, but it was nothing compared to the banquet hall...

This was taken from the reception area just before we were ushered into the banquet hall. The large wooden panels you see were actually a solid wall when we arrived, but they rotated (like massive, vertical venitian blinds) into this open position to let us know that it was time for the banquet to start. Very much an "ooh" moment.

On the inside we met up with a few hall alumni...


...and thoroughly enjoyed their company. In the background of the second picture above, you'll notice two large (10+ feet tall) video walls. The hall is so massive that there are areas which really can't see the stage clearly, so the video walls were necessary to keep everyone involved.

There were at least 160 tables, each seating 12 people, which means about 2000 guests were invited (of which it was estimated that over 1300 actually came). It was a night that was artfully crafted for the Hong Kong elite, with a line of paparazzi greeting everyone as they walked in (and, yes, that means all the Hong Kong tabloids took pictures of Katherine and I as we strolled together - though we didn't make any of the articles in this morning's news ;>). Entertainment stars, business tycoons, both Hong Kong and mainland Chinese high-ranking government officials...and the two of us. ;> It felt much how I imagine something like the Oscars ceremony feels - larger than life - and we were honored to take part in it.

Midway through the proceedings, the groom put on his own concert (complete with glow sticks and lighters waving in the air), serenading his bride with a famous Cantonese pop ballad...

That's just the kind of night it was. Of course, it also had all the hallmarks of any standard Chinese wedding banquet, like a first course of roast pig...


The smile garnish is a reference to the Cantonese pronunciation of the word "roast", which sounds almost exactly the same as "smile" (but uses a different character). Very cute.

We were there from about 7:30PM until after midnight, and it was an experience we won't soon forget.

A belated Merry Christmas to all of you!

No stopping at the border!

As mentioned in my last post, about a week ago Katherine and I went to drop off my Chinese visa application. Today it was ready to pick up, so we went to Wan Chai and grabbed it...

Snazzy! To personalize this experience for you, though, I will no longer refer to this object as "visa" - instead, he will be known as "Karl". Let's see what we did together tonight...

Karl and I reminiscing outside the place where we first met.

Karl and I sharing some some coconutty, waffle-like "gai daan zaai" from an extremely popular street vendor.

Oh! Karl notices a Filipino restaurant - something neither of us has ever tried!

Karl and I share a bounty of Filipino dishes.

Goodnight, Karl.

A full week...

This week has been nearly non-stop for both Katherine and I, so I thought I'd round up all the action into a single digest. Let's walk through it day-by-day...

Monday: During a conference at the Chinese University of Hong Kong the previous weekend, Katherine met Jennifer Heung and her sister Angela. Jennifer is an assistant professor of Anthropology at Saint Mary's College who independantly discovered our film, purchased it, and now uses it in her curriculum. Katherine uncovered this when she overheard Jennifer tell other conference attendees about a "great Hong Kong code-mixing documentary". When Katherine inquired further, thinking that she was going to get a lead on some new material for her own classes, she found out that Jennifer was referencing our own work. Amazing! On Monday, we took Jennifer and Angela out to dinner and then to a nearby dessert shop that we hadn't tried yet...

Angela is on the left, Jennifer the right

I decided that this would be a great opportunity to show you a Hong Kong dessert shop menu, so here are both sides from this shop...

Tuesday: Katherine's parents asked us if we would like to join them on a trip to Shenzhen to visit some extended family. We hadn't been to mainland China since moving to Hong Kong, and I have never been, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity! In order for me to go, though, I needed to secure a Chinese visa. For that, we went to the Wan Chai branch of "China Travel Service" and submitted my application with a few required documents (passport, Hong Kong ID, and picture). In return, they gave me a receipt, which I'll use to claim both my passport and new visa once the processing is complete...
Afterwards we decided to head to Ebeneezer's Kebab, a local Indian + Middle Eastern fast food chain (with a branch in Wan Chai) that came highly recommended to us by one of our Hall residents...

I was famished, and couldn't wait to pose for a picture, so I just ripped into my chicken kebab pita wrap with cougar-like ferocity...

Wednesday: Wednesday night was the School of English end-of-semester party (and a farewell party to some faculty who are moving elsewhere for the next phase of their careers), so Katherine and I got gussied up and spent a few hours there. After it was over, a subset of the attendees went out for a little dessert, but we didn't bring our camera. :(

Thursday: A day of rest! Or, at least, a day we didn't go out. I was on a work-related conference call until midnight, so I suppose it wasn't exactly "restful". ;>

Friday: Dinner (Shanghainese) and a movie ("The Day the Earth Stood Still") at Cyberport with Katherine's brother. Also a day we didn't bring the camera out. :(

Saturday: We started Saturday by having our residental tutors (somewhat like RAs - they are graduate students or HKU staff that live among the residents and provide hands-on guideance) over for brunch. Two of the tutors couldn't make it, but we had a great time with those who did...

After brunch, Katherine and I took three of our residents (one from Xi'an, one from the Phillipenes, and one from Macau) to an eye-opening and heart-wrenching exhibition in Sham Shui Po which focused on the unimaginable lives of "cage-dwellers". First, we toured the museum-like exhibits...
...and then we joined a walking tour of Sham Shui Po to learn more about its facinating history...

Sunday: The winter solstice and Dongzhi (a Chinese holiday) meant a day focused on food, friends, and family! First we had one of Katherine's best friends, along with her family, over for lunch...
...and then we went to Katherine's parents' apartment (the old one - they haven't yet moved into their new one) for a feast...

(and this didn't even include the two fish Katherine's mother was still steaming!)

With a very satisfying week in the books, there was nothing else to do but collapse...

Unpacking...

...at least, photographically. :> Katherine and I safely returned to Hong Kong about a week ago and I'm just now going through all our pictures, so I thought I'd throw a few up here to briefly chronicle our time in the States (and a few events that have occurred since our return).

Let's start with this little video - taken by Katherine - which will give you an idea of what it is like to fly out of Hong Kong. You'll be able to see parts of Lantau Island, Kowloon (including the old airport landing strip), and some outlying islands.

Here's a mid-flight shot Katherine took of a secret world between the clouds. :>

Katherine, now in San Fransisco, catches up with two of our old Ann Arbor buddies: Tony and Hermann!

Katherine catches up with another Ann-Arborite-turned-San-Franciscan: Mei!

Sunset on Fisherman's Wharf (while having dinner with Mei).

Now it's time to leave San Fransisco and head to Virginia, where you'll find me...

Having a lovely lunch, prepared by my mother, with my aunt and uncle.

Filling my Thanksgiving plate alongside my sister.

Snatching delicious vittles from my second cousins.

Observing Thanksgiving participants while they enjoy some filmed entertainment.

Telling secrets!

Ready to cheer on the now-ACC-Champion Hokies (before their dismantling of UVA)!

The day after the VT vs UVA game, Katherine and I hitched a plane back to Hong Kong...

...where we saw the sunrise on the icy rivers of Alaska.

A day after we returned, Katherine attended the International Assiciation for World Englishes conference at CityU, where we met up with our good buddy Daniel Davis (who is a professor at the University of Michigan) for lunch in Kowloon Tong.

A few days following that, we met up with Michael Meyler, a conference attendee from Sri Lanka who is a good friend of Dushy's, for a hot pot dinner in Tsim Sha Tsui.

And to close out the week, before watching the ACC Championship game, we went to get the keys to Katherine's parents' new apartment!