48 states

Yesterday it rained. I know it rained because it transformed me into a dripping mess. Yes, I saw the storm clouds. Yes, I saw the drizzle. I thought I would win the race to the supermarket, but the rain just laughed--ha ha ha--and dumped water on me.

At the lovely, air-conditioned Park 'N' Shop I bought the following:

• Red bean dumplings
• Fried fish balls
• Scallops Noodle
• And some ordinary stuff like bread and jam

And at the bakery I bought a pork bun that was tasty, if mostly filled with air.

After classes (the professor let us out early because of a dysfunctional projector) I went to dinner, during which I and the other American were asked if we could name all fifty states. "Sure, if we could write them down." "Woah..." And they believed us! And we believed ourselves!

Later that night we decided to test ourselves. Regretfully, Louisiana and Utah no longer belong to the United States. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you.

Update: The United States no longer exists either! I just went to http://xn13.com/countries/, where you try to name as many of the 195 sovereign countries as you can in 15 minutes. It's true, I forgot the United States (along with 124 other countries).

You forgot:Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda,
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh,
Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin,
Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei,
Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon,
Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Comoros,
Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Djibouti, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea,
Eritrea, Estonia, Fiji, Gabon, Georgia,
Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea,
Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Indonesia, Ivory Coast,
Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon,
Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar,
Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands,
Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco,
Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia,
Nauru, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria,
Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea,
Romania, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,
Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal,
Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands,
Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Switzerland, Syria,
Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia,
Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, United States, Uruguay,
Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City, Yemen, Zambia,

And actually, I shouldn't have gotten credit for Dominica, because I'd been typing in "Dominican Republic."

Anyway, after dinner we needed an adventure. Initially, we'd hoped to bump into one (clearly labled "ADVENTURE" and maybe with flashing lights and sound effects) on our way back to the hostel. We met a cat.

So we decided to search for an adventure instead, by heading off for the Tun Mun Town Centre.

On the way we met another cat, this time with at least three teeny tiny kittens! And in the same area there were loads of toads (hah! it rhymes...) that kept leaping out from nowhere.

We went by bus, since it seemed like the adventurous thing to do. And it was more fun than the MTR, but if ADVENTURE was sitting on the bus, it was cleverly disguised and chose never to approach us. We arrived at one of the bajillion shopping centers and wandered around aimlessly. If I'd brought my camera I could show you a picture of the ridiculously large gold pig necklace I saw. Hang on, maybe Google will help. Yup! Click here! It's exactly like the one I saw (although based on recent performances of my memory it wouldn't surprise me if the necklace I remember seeing was actually small, silver, and in the shape of a rooster.

In our wanderings we'd caught a wiff of something truly delicious, so we decided to track down the source...

Fresh waffle cones!

But I already knew what waffle cones taste like, so I went with--oh no!--I just checked the receipt, hoping to share the name of ultimate chocolate bliss...but alas...it's in Chinese. I'll describe it:

1 scoop of vanilla gelato
surrounded by chocolate gelato
covered with cocoa powder
topped with a strawberry
and sitting next to
more strawberries
and
two tube-shaped chocolate and strawberry wafer cookies
stuck in a dab of whipped cream

Yum...

We did not eat any of the following. If I'd had unlimited cash and stomach-space I gladly would have.


Then we returned, failed at U.S. geography, and went to sleep.

Oh! But not before visiting the E-store! The hostel has a room filled with snacks for sale, so I bought these dried fish things that were surprisingly munchable. I've displayed a portion of the wrapper below.