Adventures around Hong Kong

Ah yes, it’s time for another story! Thanks for the messages and for asking when the next blog is coming up. The past weeks have been crazy, with long – productive - days at the office, some sporting and coming home around 11pm, but that also means that there is a lot to tell you about. Today I’ll try to fit something in about my Macau trip and about my experiment.

Since it’s only one hour away from Hong Kong, and a paradise for the gamble-loving Asians, Macau has quite a reputation. All tourists who stay more than just a few days also go to see what the Special Administration Region west from Hong Kong is about. You get a stamp in your passport and dive into the magical world that once was Portugal. Next to the tall buildings from HK, it’s hard not to find the Potai village houses cutely touchingly small and authentic. It’s as if you were abducted and somehow warped to a Mediterranean land. The pavements, the architecture, the traffic bollards, they have it. And food, too. Since I joined up with my housemates, and they’ve already seen the touristy parts, the focus was more too much on the mainstream sights, but a on the food instead. We split up after a lunch at Tasca do Luis – apparently the owner once was a Portuguese football talent – so they could go to an exposition in the Venetian (biggest casino in the world) and I could see the old city centre.
The old centre was outright adorable. The buildings were so small, so colourful and weathered from the sea humidity. There were many churches, in what now is a very crowded shopping street, and a big cemetery was a wonderful place to enjoy the view in peace. Supposedly the city wasn’t more crowded than usually, but more people might’ve come out to the bigger squares. After all, it was the day before the Chinese New Year, so that had to be celebrated. Traditional Chinese music, plays and of course – one of the things I looked forward to most – dragon dances were staged for the crowds to see. After buying some famous almond cookies, I figured out what bus to take – quite a challenge without English street names on the maps and bus drivers who can’t help you – and went to the complete opposite side of the completely opposite island. There I finally touched the South China Sea and had a delicious Portuguese dinner with the housemates. Going home to our own beds again after this mini-vacation felt like great, not in the least because no alarm would go off in the morning.

What was supposed to be a day of slumbering turned into a day with Yum Cha (high tea Asian style - met dim sum), groceries, rushing through the crowds and watching the New Year’s Parade. Having missed the dragon dance in Macau, and still not knowing what the difference between the lion dance and dragon dance was, this was the highlight of the evening for me. After that was dinner and going to bed for another day at the office.

Since more than 90% uses the public holidays to visit family in the mainland or another Asian country, my way to work felt a lot different than other days. The whole route to the bus stop is flanked by little shops, but today they were closed. Much less people walked the streets, and barely any vehicles were on the road, besides the taxis, busses and mini-busses. With the streets deserted, it felt like a ghost town. The same city that normally is swarming with activities turned into an abandoned fortress, and I was trespassing.
The office was empty too, except for my way too hard working supervisor, so focusing on work was easy. This would be the week with the first participants and still some decisions had to be made. Feedback on the design arrived from the Netherlands, as well as from the HK supervisor, so there was enough to think about. The data from the pilot still needed to be looked at and everything was to be put into place for the first measuring day. Priorities were very much needed, and I’m happy to announce that I’m getting better and better at knowing when to pick them and how to pick them. I believe years of experience do that to you, and a study trip like this works as a catalyser.
So, some of you might be interested in the actual design of my study. I would love to give a few main points and let you in on what great ideas have formed, but now I think of it, it is probably better at this point in the study to keep possible participants in the dark. I can proudly proclaim though that the first participant has been tested and that the data was collected successfully. Many more will follow next week and the week after. With people back in the office again by then, it should be easier to solve little problems that come up and it would be nice to have lunch together or do some sporting again. Perhaps more will follow on that, sporting, some other time.

Karin