it was a nice one, all in all. started off going to check out lupa, which has opened in hong kong but they dont open until 6 and would not serve my colleague and i a glass of wine, despite our desperation (yes, we left work at 515 to find an adult beverage) and my pleading. "just a glass of wine at the bar? we wont make a fuss." "no, we open at 6pm." so off to zuma as it was the closest waterhole on what was a very rainy night. my colleague's husband and le hagis met us there and we had another one. nothing like a good b*tch and moan session with friends over reassuringly expensive cocktails.
then we went off to domani next to pacific place to celebrate my 'special day'. for those of you who dont know, in my family we celebrate the day we came home to the us - it is much like a birthday. i was excited as i have not been to domani. being italian style (i.e. small dishes, multiple courses), i ordered the gnocchi and a pan fried seabass. hagis ordered a tomato jelly and the pork fillet. my gnocchi was so great - light and tasty but the fist was just dry and bland. overall the meal was average but my favourite part was when we asked for the sommelier to give us suggestions. he was like a glorified bus boy with a little grape pin on his lapel and suggested the most expensive bottle he could find within our taste description. needless to say, we ended up ordering two glasses...
saturday brought a tough dragon boat practice, some drinks down by the water in stanley and home asleep around 10. and sunday was a lovely brunch at bloom with a full three courses of a buffet, egg main and a great apple and blueberry crumble! we went and took our fat @$$es to the movies later and saw 'avengers' which was good and perfect for a sunday evening.
so all in all, a good weekend and tomorrow is a bank holiday!!!! hiking and more food are on the agenda and lady gaga concert on wednesday!
xoxo
Monday, April 30, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Gone Native Update
so i wrote a little while back about trying out one of these machines all the girls use around here. besides not eating much, the local hk chinese gals also subscribe to the idea of crazy "slimming" treatments. a really cheap deal came through twangoo (groupon sorta thing) so i thought i would give it a whirl. there is a place in central but it caters to expats and is therefore more than double the cost (and i found a place in manhattan that offers it for usd100/session where i paid usd12/session).
so i skip off during lunch to causeway bay for a 1/2 treatment about once a week (maybe twice if i have time). this spa is definitely local but the woman who owns it is very nice. they are not uptight about cancelations, she calls me dear when she emails me back and they seem to have a penchant for bette midler. ive heard "the rose" more times over these past 8 sessions than i ever thought i would in my entire life.
now, i am not sure if it is working or not. it is hard to tell the results because dragon boat season has started so i am exercising 3 more times a week than before. regardless, she gave me a whopping discount on another package and i will go back for a few more sessions. at the very least, i get to nap for 1/2 hour ;)
so i skip off during lunch to causeway bay for a 1/2 treatment about once a week (maybe twice if i have time). this spa is definitely local but the woman who owns it is very nice. they are not uptight about cancelations, she calls me dear when she emails me back and they seem to have a penchant for bette midler. ive heard "the rose" more times over these past 8 sessions than i ever thought i would in my entire life.
now, i am not sure if it is working or not. it is hard to tell the results because dragon boat season has started so i am exercising 3 more times a week than before. regardless, she gave me a whopping discount on another package and i will go back for a few more sessions. at the very least, i get to nap for 1/2 hour ;)
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Consumed...
ive become consumed by the neil heywood case. for those of you who have not read, neil heywood was a british man living in china since the 1990s. towards the end of last year he turned up dead in a hotel room. i suggest you read more in the BBC if interested. the WSJ and FT have a bit of coverage as well but i found the WSJ coverage to be too sensationalist.
in other china news, there is a good article from the FT here about their image issue (down to #56). i have to say, this quote made me chuckle:
in other china news, there is a good article from the FT here about their image issue (down to #56). i have to say, this quote made me chuckle:
Debbie
Cohn, of Long Island, was more sceptical. “They don’t look friendly,
they look very stern to me,” she said.
they dont look friendly - i feel the same about long islanders and B&T'ers in general - haha, LOVE IT.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Pictures/Video of Travels to Nepal
so it is a wee bit long...but here is a video:
and if that is too much then you can quickly scroll through pictures here!
and if that is too much then you can quickly scroll through pictures here!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Coming Soon: NEPAL
until i can get myself organised, no pictures or updates but watch the space for some soon.
however, i am back in hong kong and it is almost like it never happened. my life, it seems, is all about planning my next trip. when i moved to hong kong, people said to me, "hong kong is great - you can travel so easily." and i thought, 'how odd that a good thing about hong kong is that you can leave it easily and cheaply. however, i fully understand the meaning of that statement now. hong kong is like a weird bubble and in order to keep sane, leaving it is the only option.
we landed early early on monday morning and i was immediately welcomed back to the land of the (quiet possibly) most rude humans. the nepalese were so nice, friendly and i admired their jovial dispositions and making do with what they had despite from my standards would be considered meager (i.e. no electricity for most of the day and night).
however, while reading the ft during my lunch break as i so often do, i was reading about the escalating issues in asia pacific especially in the waters and/or when it has anything military in nature. it seems china is fighting with everyone - japan, the us for helping the taiwanese and now the filipinos. here is a quote that i thought exemplified the culture here: "China should take “smart and devious revenge”, advised Major General Luo Yuan, deputy secretary-general of the academy of military sciences. He went on to demand “a tooth for a tooth from those who violate China’s interests”, suggesting his country learn from Russia and deploy missiles against America."
typical.
when i am not getting on with my family, friends, boyfriend, colleagues, etc. - i stop and ask, 'is it ALL of these people or me? i am the only control factor in these situations so it has got to be me.' i think its time for china to ask themselves that question. however, sadly, i dont think they give a flying fig what the answer is.
i post this as this is the culture i live in. it is a struggle and gives birth to all sorts of dislikes, peeves and even racial judgements. speaking with another expat recently, living here has a tendency to make one more racist versus open-minded. it is very much an 'us versus them' kind of mentality regardless of what side of the 'us' you land on. it does not make it ok but there is no attempt to integrate or respect each other. people can judge america but the america i know (i.e. manhattan) people are at the very bare minimum tolerated. there is no tolerance here between the two tribes. nor do i see any effort in trying to change.
dont get me wrong, there are personal friends who are of chinese background whom i care about and get on with quite well. however, they seem to be the small exceptions to the rule. there are billions who just seem fine with sptting at you, walking into you, shouting as loud as possible, not washing their hands after using the toilet, stabbing you in the back at work, trying to steal your mate without a blink of conscience, etc.
i think ive posted it before, but its still a winner. one partner said to me "the chinese have a saying. 'we'd rather stab you in the back than punch you in the face.'"
glorious.
however, i am back in hong kong and it is almost like it never happened. my life, it seems, is all about planning my next trip. when i moved to hong kong, people said to me, "hong kong is great - you can travel so easily." and i thought, 'how odd that a good thing about hong kong is that you can leave it easily and cheaply. however, i fully understand the meaning of that statement now. hong kong is like a weird bubble and in order to keep sane, leaving it is the only option.
we landed early early on monday morning and i was immediately welcomed back to the land of the (quiet possibly) most rude humans. the nepalese were so nice, friendly and i admired their jovial dispositions and making do with what they had despite from my standards would be considered meager (i.e. no electricity for most of the day and night).
however, while reading the ft during my lunch break as i so often do, i was reading about the escalating issues in asia pacific especially in the waters and/or when it has anything military in nature. it seems china is fighting with everyone - japan, the us for helping the taiwanese and now the filipinos. here is a quote that i thought exemplified the culture here: "China should take “smart and devious revenge”, advised Major General Luo Yuan, deputy secretary-general of the academy of military sciences. He went on to demand “a tooth for a tooth from those who violate China’s interests”, suggesting his country learn from Russia and deploy missiles against America."
typical.
when i am not getting on with my family, friends, boyfriend, colleagues, etc. - i stop and ask, 'is it ALL of these people or me? i am the only control factor in these situations so it has got to be me.' i think its time for china to ask themselves that question. however, sadly, i dont think they give a flying fig what the answer is.
i post this as this is the culture i live in. it is a struggle and gives birth to all sorts of dislikes, peeves and even racial judgements. speaking with another expat recently, living here has a tendency to make one more racist versus open-minded. it is very much an 'us versus them' kind of mentality regardless of what side of the 'us' you land on. it does not make it ok but there is no attempt to integrate or respect each other. people can judge america but the america i know (i.e. manhattan) people are at the very bare minimum tolerated. there is no tolerance here between the two tribes. nor do i see any effort in trying to change.
dont get me wrong, there are personal friends who are of chinese background whom i care about and get on with quite well. however, they seem to be the small exceptions to the rule. there are billions who just seem fine with sptting at you, walking into you, shouting as loud as possible, not washing their hands after using the toilet, stabbing you in the back at work, trying to steal your mate without a blink of conscience, etc.
i think ive posted it before, but its still a winner. one partner said to me "the chinese have a saying. 'we'd rather stab you in the back than punch you in the face.'"
glorious.
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