233 - People who think foreign food is disgusting

As I was growing up, I was always encouraged to try new foods. With having travelled quite a bit too, at this point, I very rarely refuse to try any cuisine, even if it is a bit out of the ordinary.

Being brought up in Hong Kong in both Chinese and international contexts, I learned very early on that consuming things like duck's liver, bird's nest, shark's fin, and turtle shell jelly (pictured above), was pretty weird to some people - specifically those that weren't local Chinese. But to me, my beloved grandmother, and the rest of my Chinese-side family, it was perfectly normal. (And yes, I've tried and love all of those things.)

Recently, I've been listening to a lot of people give China crap about eating things like dog, because they're a creature that the Western world has domesticated. Or things like scorpion or tarantula, because they sting and they're poisonous and they look too different from us humans. Give China a break, man, it's a big country, with the largest population in the world. I'd be surprised if all 1.3 billion of us were only eating cow, chicken and pig, animals we're 'supposed to eat'.

What, like the French don't eat steak tartare, escargot, or frog legs? The Spanish eat bull testicles. And the Texans deep-fry rattlesnake. Australians eat kangaroo, crocodile eggs and ostrich. The Americans use cod liver oil as a vitamin A supplement. And the English feast on pig's blood every morning in the form of black pudding.

The Americans invented chewing gum - I mean, if you really think about it, that's a pretty weird idea for someone to come up with.

Foreign food should not be looked at in disgust. I respect whatever your personal preferences are, or what you feel about certain animals - I really do. I mean, some things I find weird, too. For example, I find it weird that Ukrainians eat bear, Filipinos eat chicken fetus, Alaskans eat raw fat from whales, and Icelandic people eat puffin. I'm weirded out by it, but I would never feel disgusted by any of these things because it's just what different people in different parts of the world have become adapted to eating. If you're an animal rights activist, well, good for you for trying to conserve different species. If you hate spiders, that's fine as well.

But I'm not pressuring you to like these things. Just accept that others eat these things, just respect that others may even love eating these things. Nobody's trying to force-feed any of these 'disgusting' foods down your throat, so we shouldn't have to swallow our feelings of embarassment when you say that they're disgusting.

212 - People staring at me carrying a big suitcase

(I'm a little drunk right now, so bear with me.)

Over the course of my life, I've been traveling very, very frequently. Every country is different, every country brings its own unique personality, its own people, its own language, its own food, everything is special. However, there is one thing common to all my tourist destinations, one thing that pervades all communities, all nationalities, all people from different countries - and that common theme is the act of staring at a foreigner when they're dragging a large suitcase around town.

Yesterday, I came back to university. I had to lug around a suitcase, filled with books and clothes and other things, heavier than I was. It took me around three hours, and the whole way back, people in the train, in town, at the bus stop, and at the university, were staring at this weird Asian guy trying to push around a suitcase 6kg heavier than he is. (An incredible feat for a human being and something I'm quite proud of, I must say.)

While they were staring at me, all that was going through my mind was, "Why are all the English people staring at me?"

You know, when I have such a big suitcase with me, being Asian, being a new immigrant to this country, with nobody in Canterbury I knew from before to go through this with, there's nothing that makes me more humiliated and self-conscious then having fifty people observing every little thing I'm doing.

Anyway, before I go off on an outrageous tangent in my drunken state of torpor, I'm going to stop here and just wish you all a good time. Hahaha.

160 - When people don't take advantage of the opportunities to do stuff when they're on vacation

I went to Bintan, Indonesia with my class for a week on our graduation trip. The Nirwana Gardens Resort was so nice. To be honest, it was a lot of fun, and there wasn't a whole lot to hate. There was one point on the trip where I was reading my biological-anthropological book, by the pool, near the beach, tanning in the sun, with a citrusy alcoholic beverage by my side, next to a plate of spaghetti, and half a dozen sticks of chicken satay. Life could not get any better, all my needs were satisfied.

I know my classmates may be reading this, waiting to see what Michael hates now, what Michael just didn't feel right about, like the many times he didn't think see any good in something or someone.

So I will give it to them.

Half of us tried to go out as much as possible. We went kayaking, swimming in the pool and at the beach, played beach volleyball, ate local food (e.g., pineapple fried rice, calamari, seafood, nasi goreng), saw the sunset, drank, sang karaoke, played poker and blackjack, did some archery, and rifle-shooting, and dancing at the resort's club. Right now, my skin is peeling like crazy from going out in the sun so much, but the finished product should turn out to be awesomely tan in a couple of days.

I was so surprised by the fact that the other half of us stayed inside the resort villas as much as they did. They even brought their laptops, and their Playstation 3, and all the technology they would fill their time up with back here in Hong Kong. At night, they would watch movies, and in the early daytime, they would sleep. They did go to the pool, but only for the poolside bar, and they did go to the beach, but only for a few hours altogether.

I don't get it. Why not just do that in Hong Kong, on an island in Hong Kong? What a waste of money it is to go to some foreign place only to sleep in and stay indoors. Why is everyone just going to sleep when they feel tired? Sure, everyone is tired, but now that we're back, you have the rest of the summer to sleep and rest, don't you? Wasn't this supposed to be a graduation trip, filled with late-night chats, and late-night dips in the ocean, and late-night card-playing, and drinking, and bonding?

Sigh, but to each their own, I suppose. Some people like to take advantage of the locally available facilities, while others would rather use the time to relax. There are people that actually like to travel the world, and 'test out' different hotels' services, to compare their customary quality. I could never be one of those people... I must try out the food, learn a bit of the language, explore the place...

What do you guys think?
And did you miss me? (I promise noooooow I'll be a more active blogger.)