My First Belly Ache in Hong Kong

A few days ago I began to feel a bit lonely and disconnected.  Every time we leave the house there is some sort of a challenge.  Everyday monotony doesn't always come easy.  These challenges are nothing overwhelming; they could be something as simple as trouble ordering a meal, or street directions only having Chinese characters.  However, when these difficulties add up it can weigh on you.  This is not culture shock, culture shock is different.  Culture shock is more of the initial "what am I doing here, what am I going to do with myself, what is that weird meet hanging in the market" kinda thing.  This is more of a weight you carry, mostly related to language.

So I did what any blue blooded american would do (while feeling lonely and disconnected)... I ate at McDonalds.

To satisfy curiosity: Micky D's here is about the same as it is in the states.  

Only a few differences: some of the burgers can be ordered with a teriyaki soy sauce (winning), and the fries are not as salty (losing).  An unavoidable difference about HK McD's, like much of this town, is the crowd.  McDonalds is so crowded. When I was there for lunch I counted 78 people and those were just the onces could see in plain sight. We can have a boring discussion about my feelings on the Chinese meteoric rise to power and its allowance for their people to spend money and embrace western culture and food, blah, blah,blah... but we will save that for another post.

After eating McDonalds, I got my first stomach ache since my arrival in HK.  I have eaten in all kinds of weird places and tried some pretty non-traditional foods with no stomach issues.  One meal at McDonalds and I am out of commission for 12 hours.

People here are thin. There is no way to state this so that you could understand without seeing it.  Everyone is thin... literally 95% of people.  It is a "pictures don't do it justice moment", like seeing the grand canyon for the first time.  I am sure I could lose a few, but in this society I would be considered well overweight.  Even more confusing, I can't figure out WHY everyone is thin: is it the tea? Lack of preservatives in their food? genes?

Lets see how long they stay thin with McDonalds serving 300,000 HK a day.

Peace and Feng Shui