Back in the land of smooth milk tea

A fabulous video montage of our family time in Hong Kong. 

Thank you to my sister for creating this unforgettable memory.

We took off from Japan late on Dec. 24th and arrived in Hong Kong during the early hours of the 25th.

We looked out the plane window to try and catch a glimpse of the jolly man in red with his reindeers.

Couldn't say I saw them but what did greet us when we touched down in Hong Kong was an overwhelming sense of nostalgia.

Matt and I lived here after we got married between 2005-2007. It is different being a tourist here this time but the biggest changes I have noticed are:

1. More mask wearing.

2. Smart phones!

3. Much more Mandarin spoken.

I blend in and at the same time I stand out.

My broken Cantonese is coming in handy and I can eavesdrop on conversations.

It is a loud language, an expressive one and to the foreign ear it may sound like people are in a state of perpetual anger. In reality, it's just the tones and pitch and the necessity to (almost) shout to be heard over the constant city sounds.

The city. This relentless energetic city that seems to only have one setting: FAST.

It's more than being overstimulated. It's every sense ramped up to hyper mode, and then wired to go at warp speed.

During my morning coffee runs, I put on my headphones, wear my sunglasses and skip out the door. My senses are a little dulled but the exhaust fumes and constant motion of people and automobiles is never-ending. Crossing the road is like a video game I played as a child. Frogger, I think it was?

So then I thought YOGA! I haven't been on a mat since we left Sweden and my body ached for a good stretch. I found a nearby yoga studio that offered a 5-day free trial and signed up.

I arrived early, laid on my mat and mentally prepared myself for a relaxing class, patting myself on the back for taking the time for some 'self care.' Little did I know this was not going to be the relaxing, reinvigorating yoga stretch I was hoping for.

Instead, the class was in a bright room on the 48th floor overlooking a forest of skyscrapers. And the next sixty minutes was like yoga crossed with boot camp lead by a small Chinese lady with a bossy voice.

Normally I'm used to yoga instructors guiding you through the poses in a hypnotic type of voice: gentle, supportive and soft. This lady barked instructions at us, gave no words of encouragement whatsoever and when she saw some of us struggling with a super complicated inverted pose, just shouted "Just do it, ok?!" At this moment I burst out laughing, it was too much!!

We've been in Hong Kong for 6 days now (and 6 more to go!) and so far we've had incredible moments of reconnecting with old friends and relatives. My sister and father have flown from Canada to join us here, so there have been lots of trips down memory lane but also lots of new memories being created.

My mom would've loved this trip, but I know she's with us in spirit. In fact I hear her voice around every street corner. The language she spoke to us with and the expressions she would use, I hear it everywhere and that feels rather good.