national day update #2
Okay, i did leave the house. And now i am glad that i did.
I left for the least Chinese reason possible - i realized that i did not have enough coffee to brew a pot for breakfast tomorrow, so i went on the hunt for an open Starbucks.
Guess what? It seems that to celebrate National Day they finally opened the new mall next to my village. And what is a mall without a Starbucks? (And a Domino's, and a KFC...) So now i can get coffee 5 minutes walk from my house.
The new Starbucks was packed. They also did not have any coffee beans aside from Colombian, so i got on a share bike to the Starbucks at the mall near the polytech.
That's when i saw that they have also finally opened up the river walk! Assuming the river walk is fully open, that means i can bike all the way along the river from my house to the bay, which would make my work commute much faster and less perilous. I will do an investigation later this week.
The other Starbucks was packed too. The only difference between that suburban end of my neighborhood and this village end is that there were a few more Chinese flags hanging along the main road over there. If it wasn't for the revolutionary songs in the supermarket you wouldn't even know it was National Day. Very different to the neighborhood near my work, where all the buildings are festooned with flags and massive banners evangelizing the party and socialism with Chinese characteristics.
I got my coffee, enjoyed the complimentary americano under an umbrella and looked at the sad pictures of polluted-ass Beijing. Life down here in the Pearl River is so much better, man. It's blue skies, sunny and very warm.
Warmer, since i was wearing head-to-toe black in solidarity with the kids over the bay.
But the reason it was good to get out was to see how many people were just doing their usual weekend thing without the slightest nod to politics or nationalism. I counted two people in red patriotic garb, but that was it. I didn't stick out at all in my all black outfit, not that it's really making much a statement up here on the north side. I suspect most people don't ever think about Hong Kong. Or Beijing, for that matter.
I got a bowl of coconut milk, pearl sago and sea coconut before heading home.
Back to watching the news feeds.
I left for the least Chinese reason possible - i realized that i did not have enough coffee to brew a pot for breakfast tomorrow, so i went on the hunt for an open Starbucks.
Guess what? It seems that to celebrate National Day they finally opened the new mall next to my village. And what is a mall without a Starbucks? (And a Domino's, and a KFC...) So now i can get coffee 5 minutes walk from my house.
The new Starbucks was packed. They also did not have any coffee beans aside from Colombian, so i got on a share bike to the Starbucks at the mall near the polytech.
That's when i saw that they have also finally opened up the river walk! Assuming the river walk is fully open, that means i can bike all the way along the river from my house to the bay, which would make my work commute much faster and less perilous. I will do an investigation later this week.
The other Starbucks was packed too. The only difference between that suburban end of my neighborhood and this village end is that there were a few more Chinese flags hanging along the main road over there. If it wasn't for the revolutionary songs in the supermarket you wouldn't even know it was National Day. Very different to the neighborhood near my work, where all the buildings are festooned with flags and massive banners evangelizing the party and socialism with Chinese characteristics.
I got my coffee, enjoyed the complimentary americano under an umbrella and looked at the sad pictures of polluted-ass Beijing. Life down here in the Pearl River is so much better, man. It's blue skies, sunny and very warm.
Warmer, since i was wearing head-to-toe black in solidarity with the kids over the bay.
But the reason it was good to get out was to see how many people were just doing their usual weekend thing without the slightest nod to politics or nationalism. I counted two people in red patriotic garb, but that was it. I didn't stick out at all in my all black outfit, not that it's really making much a statement up here on the north side. I suspect most people don't ever think about Hong Kong. Or Beijing, for that matter.
I got a bowl of coconut milk, pearl sago and sea coconut before heading home.
Back to watching the news feeds.