Cheung Chau Bun Festival

Good day, all!

So, I had the sudden urge to pick up guitar again, but I couldn't find my bloody pick, so as I vented to my friend, Kent Tachibana, a model/singer in Japan, he gave me the idea of using an old credit card as a pick. Thanks for the idea, Kent! The birth of my new pick:

Neattttt, I liikkeeeeee

I decided to check out the Cheung Chau Bun Festival this year. Even though I was really tired and the festival is held at such a late time, I still wanted to go because I have a fear of one day returning to the US and people ask "How was Hong Kong?" and I won't have a good answer because I never did anything. That's why I always try and get out there and do things, plus. you never know when you will get inspired!

On to my adventure to Cheung Chau (Long Island), Hong Kong for the Annual Bun Festival. What is the Cheung Chau Bun Festival, you may ask? Well, it's a good thing I've wikipediaed that shit to share with you:

Cheung Chau is an island off of Hong Kong, it is a fisherman's village. This festival is the biggest attraction of the village aside from its fresh seafood, and many store owners prepare steamed buns and snacks all day before the festival starts to make enough for all the people who come out.

The Bun Festival is held every year on the 8th day of the 4th month on the lunar calendar. This also happens to be the birthday of Buddha. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDHA!

Anyways, so this was a special day for Cheung Chau in history as well, because in the 18th century, pirates had control over the village, but once the villagers whipped out statues of Pak Tai, the Northern God, the pirates, for some reason or another, pussied out and left.

So Cheung Chau villagers believe that wearing costumes of gods or holding statues/figurines of gods around will drive the evil spirits away from the village.

It takes about an hour by ferry to travel to Cheung Chau, outport from Pier 6 in Central.

This is just a random picture of a man who fell asleep on the ferry

Now that you've been entertained with that, these are my friends who traveled to this festival with me. Natalie, Stephanie, and Cavi. We left Central at 10PM. The festival actually has a lot of festivities during the day, but we were all busy that day, and just wanted to make it on time for the bun tower climb, that starts at midnight.

Even at 11PM, Cheung Chau is filled with people. Everyone started gathering towards the stadium where the bun tower climb was going to take place. Also around this time, there is a fire built where they burn paper effigies of the King of the Ghosts and burn large incense to bring in luck and protection from evil spirits. We could see the fire in the distance. At that time, we were naive in thinking a fire at started. But now. I know.

Natalie and I sharing a bun. Inside each bun is sweet lotus paste. Quite tasty! When I first go to Hong Kong, desserts like this were not very appetizing to me, because in the US we are so used to VERY sweet things, but now I love Chinese desserts. I guess my taste buds have adapted..

A lot of street vendors sell Steamed bun souvenirs including stuffed animal buns, buns that open up and reveal a little fan that doesn't really work, and LED light up buns.

The buns are stamped with a merged character of the two words standing in celebration for "Northern Society" 北社

Food Vendor. They seemed so burnt out and tired by the time we go to the festival. They've been working hard for the past two days to feed the hungry people. Notice the stick with the circular disc on the right....

that represents the deep-fried potato chips on a stick!! I don't understand what was so special about this snack, but it was good regardless of how non special it was. Food is food, food is in tummy 3 seconds after photo :)

People crowd around to watch the chosen competitors climb the bun tower. A LOT of people were there so we were lucky to find an alley way where we get a decent view of the tower

The competitors were fierce! Buns at the top are higher in points than the bottom, so the competitors usually race to the top. There were both female and male competitors, and almost everyone had full bags by the end of the race. It is said that the more buns you collect, the more luck you and your family will have in the upcoming year. In the past, the bun tower climbers used to climb without safety harnesses until 1978, the bun tower toppled over, injuring a 100 people. This caused the gov't to be a party pooper and stopping the climb contest until 2005, when safety harnesses were introduced and the competition continued.

They moved so fast, I couldn't get a non-blurry pic

Another cool thing about Cheung Chau during the festival is that people on the island are not allowed to eat meat (since it is a Taoist/Buddhist holiday) for the last few days of the festival. McDonald's, being the clever corporate tyrant it is, also follows the festival and makes a special McVeggie burger to serve during the vegetarian holiday. Sadly, this was one of the reasons why I wanted to come to the Bun Festival... and sadly, the burger was very gross...

Look at beady eyes looking at me from the side. She obviously doesn't get why McVeggie burgers are so cool...

NOM NOM NOM

Thank god we decided to share one, cuz that shit was nasty

I see corn, peas, and unidentifiable substances. That's McDonald's for you!

Should have seen the pic afterwards when they all actually took a bite of the burger haha

Suckling pig! Pigs are often used as a sacrificial food for the gods. We use them to pray to the Buddhist gods, and then eat it afterwards to consume and intake the luck.

Yummmy food being served at Street Vendors. There was desserts, White Turnip cakes, and other fatty goodness

Random LED Fish

Fresh Seafood! I couldn't take a picture of the boats because it was so dark, but the island is surrounded by fishing boats

The ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars are all super-tiny and miniature so that they can maneuver around the small streets of the village. Almost makes me want to commit a crime just so I can see the mini-police car chase me and laugh as I get arrested at how ridiculous it looks.

MMmmmMMMm!!!!!

Parade going through, marking the end of the festival

The gross milk tea we bought from the Triad-like drink owner. Natalie's Strawberry drink definitely tasted like cheap vodka....

We decided to take the 2:20AM ferry back to Central so we could explore the village after the big crowds had left. We got to see them taking down the buns. The buns used to be real, but now they are plastic to conserve food and not be wasteful

Three bun mountains face the temples of Pak Tai. At midnight, these three towers also have people snatch buns, but as a teamwork event to signify togetherness rather than the competition on the singular bun mountain.

A shrine where people can buy incense and pray to the gods asking for safety, prosperity, and luck for the year

God of Pak Tai temple. The God of Pak Tai is very important to Cheung Chau because he is believed to offer smooth sailing and good catches for the fisherman of the village

Natalie, prepping incense to pray to the gods.

You put three incense sticks into each bowl for each of the different gods.

On the ceiling are coils of incense being hung up. Each one is purchased by different families who write all the names of their family members and attach it to the coils. The longer the coil, the more luck will be brought to the written names. Standing under these coils was not a good idea cuz ash kept falling on us.

Praying for good luck!

HAPPY BUN FESTIVAL!

In Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, they currently have an art gallery of artists designs for Volkswagens. These are some of my personal favorite

This cow looked sooooo stupid and sasssy that I just had to like it. Look at how high that front leg is! haha

I thought this one was quite cool. All patches sewn on with a random person sewn on as well. Driving around with that would be quite weird.

This one was my favorite. The artists claimed she loved the Catbus in Totoro so she made her design based on it. I really like the style

Kiran is leaving Hong Kong :( I've talked about her in previous posts, but she's going back to DC (my side of the world) to start an internship with Fort Knox Five.

So before her departure, she's always wanted to try this ridiculous restaurant known as Modern Toilet.

It's.....ridiculous....really

Shower heads on the wall

Toilet seat...seats

The tables are held up by sink bowls.

The milk tea comes in toilet shaped cups. Kiran is saying here "this doesn't look very appetizing"

Unfortunately the food also tastes like the theme of the restaurant, but of course it's worth a visit for the experience, but don't expect much from the food. The service was also quite bad, as all the waitresses got so nervous and didn't know how to answer us back in English and even when I spoke Cantonese, they couldn't seem to not look like they were having a heart attack as they answered the simple questions like "Can I have a napkin" and "what flavors of ice cream do you have" (her answer " Green tea....and..............*looks nervous*....um.......*silence as Kiran and I stare at her*....*she walks around the counter and stares in silence longer*

hahaha

Anyways, I saw Iron Man 2 this weekend. Very good movie, although only cuz I think Robert Downey Jr. is at his sarcastically sassy best with great pace in dialogue. But the movie overall had too much talking and not enough action for people who aren't expecting a story-packed movie and more of an action one. Scarlett Jo Hansen did a great job as Black Widow (the fight scene was HOT) but her not having a Russian accent (as the comic character does) was a bit weird in my opinion. Gwenth is still gorgeous and I love the Captain America, Thor, and Avengers hints. Can't wait for the Avengers movie to come out!

Check out Janelle Monae (The ArchAndroid) and Amerie's (In Love & War) new CDs. They are quite good. Janelle is a bit too weird this time around, but her music is still enjoyable although most songs i listen to, I have NO idea what she's singing about. Amerie's songs are quite simple, so I don't see any hits coming along, but still a good CD.

Alright, that's it for now! See ya next blog