Living here in this beautiful apartment in the middle of a tropical paradise sitting on cliff overlooking the wide expanse of the South China Sea is what can I say, pretty nice. The house was built in 2001. It's got a solid brick construction, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, hardwood floors, nice furniture, all this situated 45 minutes from one of the biggest metropolises in the world if not Asia for not a whole lotta money.
I don't have a whole lot to complain about but, let me tell you, there are downsides to living out in the jungle. For the past few weeks, while the mercury slowly rose to summer like temperatures, so did the number of insects flying, buzzing, fluttering, creeping, crawling, ughhh yuck.
It rained on Monday. An hour after it stopped I left for my guitar lesson. What I saw on the trail down the mountain was one of the most disgusting things I had ever seen, though, not as disgusting as giant snails slithering all over the ATMs in Taipei but that's a different story. Anyway, I started walking and I saw these fluttering bugs that weren't mosquitoes, moths, nor dragonflies - I don't know what they were but there were millions of them. They were everywhere in the air and on the ground so when I stepped I couldn't avoid crushing them, they were in my hair, on my clothes in my face. What could I do? I had to go to my guitar lesson so there ended up being a lot of bug guts on the bottom of my sneakers by the time I got there. When I headed back after the lesson, they were gone, just a bunch of fat frogs left hopping about.
Yesterday, I found a centipede in my bedroom. It was dead, caught in my mosquito net. I was so distraught I couldn't even muster up enough courage to clean it up. I kept thinking about the idea of a centipede crawling all over me while I slept.
Then there are the mosquitoes. I'm one of those people who if in a crowd of a hundred people, a mosquito will zero in and aim for. It started with one or two mosquito bites a day. Then, that turned into four or five. Pretty soon all of my extremities were covered in little ichy pink bumps that kept me awake at night. I put my mosquito net up above my bed but somehow those clever little buggers found their way in. I got a mosquito racket but I hardly ever saw the bugs, they're so damn elusive. (For those of you who don't live in Asia, it's a small plastic tennis racket with metal mesh in the middle. When you push a button on the handle, electricity passes through the wire zapping anything that gets caught. It's quite satisfying to electrocute a mosquito.) Sometimes, I even thought I was spontaneously erupting red welts on my body since I never saw them. I even wore long clothes and sweat myself to death in this tropical climate of 90 degree weather. It was time for something stronger. I marched my way to Watsons and got me some of that OFF insect repellent. I was holding off because we all know that OFF contains DEET, ya know, that dangerous chemical that can cause serious damage to your nervous system. It's been know to produce muscle spasms, seizures and even blamed as the root cause of Gulf War Syndrome. I was desperate! I bought two small spray bottles of OFF for Kids. This company wouldn't be marketing something dangerous to kids, would they?
The first time I used it, the tiny liquid particles left in the air entered my nasal passages and stung hard. I started to sneeze compulsively. The good thing was I didn't get any bites after that. I continued to use it but the smell was just awful and I kept sneezing every time I used it. I had to find something else. I went to Mannings and picked up some citronella patches and some OFF lotion.
The patches worked but not very long and if a strong breeze came I was outta luck. The OFF lotion was surprisingly effective. I went to inspect the percentage of DEET in the product to compare it with the OFF spray which had 7%. (The FDA doesn't allow any product to be sold with over 30% DEET.) I couldn't find it listed. Then I looked closer and discovered that it doesn't have any at all. In fact it's made of "plant based essential oil." That's amazing!
I had to find out what it was so I turned to the internet. It's eucalyptus. Mosquitoes are naturally repelled by the scent of the tree. Not only is it a good insect repellent, it's been know to have a myriad of health benefits, like fever reducer, relief of congestion, and anxiety plus more. The synthetic chemical menthol is supposed to imitate the properties of the natural chemicals found in the eucalyptus oils. The eucalyptus tree has suddenly become my favorite plant in the world.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Friday, April 21, 2006
Conversation spoken through our smiles.
Ian Wright: Hi, well, you're looking very nice tonight.
Me: Oh, why thank you. So are you.
Ian: Who's that guy over there? (looking at the man holding the camera.)
Me: Oh, he's my boyfriend.
Ian: Has he got any hair under there? (referring to the porkpie hat Malcolm got two days previously)
Me: Yea, he's got plenty of hair under there.
Ian: You sure about that because anyone wearing a hat like that can't have any hair. ... Oh hey, big guy.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
7 pm JW Marriott
Yesterday I walked out of the house wearing my new Betsy Johnson dress and Zara sandals that I purchased specifically for this occasion and was off to the salon in Central where I was to get my hair and makeup done. (I'm such a dork!) I've never gotten my makeup done nor even really done it myself; I don't even really know how to put makeup on for that matter. But if I was going to potentially be on TV, I wanted to look good.
The people in the salon were polite, but perhaps overly polite, like the kind of polite one would be if this were their first time doing it. Oh no! I just kept hoping that I wouldn't come out looking like some hooker hanging around the streets of Monkok. But no, the ladies were good. Fiona, the woman treating me, was like an alchemist in her laboratory, mixing and concocting different colors in order to make me BEAUTIFUL. And that's exactly how I demanded it too. For over an hour, she brushed, smeared, dabbed, drew, plucked and retouched. It was really something. I couldn't imagine doing this every day especially since through most of it she had me close my eyes. When she finished, I looked in the mirror and saw subtle changes, enough to notice there was a difference but I wasn't a completely different person. I was content.
So it was off to Pacific Plaza where the hotel was located. We had an hour to stroll around in the mall which was fun because we went into those ultra chic top end stores which I normally would have never entered but because we were dressed well, it felt like we were in our native habitat. 7:00 came and went, we actually ended up getting lost in the mall. We eventually found the Marriott, then the correct conference hall, where I presented my award letter in exchange for some Discovery Channel travel bags. The room was nearly filled; most people were eating food acquired at the marvelous buffet set up in the back of the room. There were slightly fewer than 150 chairs set up for the audience. There was a small stage with two screens on either side promoting Ian's new show VIP Weekends.
The next hour was spent chowing down on The most delicious food including Mongolian spiced rack of lamb. Mmmm. Then before I knew it he was walking down the aisle, everybody cheering him on. He got on stage where he introduced himself and then delivered some hysterical travel stories. Afterwards, he answered some questions one of which I found rather interesting. "Do you actually stay in the places (hostels) they film on TV?" "Uh, no not always, and there's always a bit of guilt involved in that." Lastly, there was the picture taking session. We could use our own camera or have a Polaroid taken. I got to exchange a few words with him, had my picture taken with Ian Wright, shook hands with him and said good-bye. All in all, I went home feeling like I had a pretty good night of free entertainment (disregarding the cost of that new dress, new pair of shoes and the afternoon at the salon).
The people in the salon were polite, but perhaps overly polite, like the kind of polite one would be if this were their first time doing it. Oh no! I just kept hoping that I wouldn't come out looking like some hooker hanging around the streets of Monkok. But no, the ladies were good. Fiona, the woman treating me, was like an alchemist in her laboratory, mixing and concocting different colors in order to make me BEAUTIFUL. And that's exactly how I demanded it too. For over an hour, she brushed, smeared, dabbed, drew, plucked and retouched. It was really something. I couldn't imagine doing this every day especially since through most of it she had me close my eyes. When she finished, I looked in the mirror and saw subtle changes, enough to notice there was a difference but I wasn't a completely different person. I was content.
So it was off to Pacific Plaza where the hotel was located. We had an hour to stroll around in the mall which was fun because we went into those ultra chic top end stores which I normally would have never entered but because we were dressed well, it felt like we were in our native habitat. 7:00 came and went, we actually ended up getting lost in the mall. We eventually found the Marriott, then the correct conference hall, where I presented my award letter in exchange for some Discovery Channel travel bags. The room was nearly filled; most people were eating food acquired at the marvelous buffet set up in the back of the room. There were slightly fewer than 150 chairs set up for the audience. There was a small stage with two screens on either side promoting Ian's new show VIP Weekends.
The next hour was spent chowing down on The most delicious food including Mongolian spiced rack of lamb. Mmmm. Then before I knew it he was walking down the aisle, everybody cheering him on. He got on stage where he introduced himself and then delivered some hysterical travel stories. Afterwards, he answered some questions one of which I found rather interesting. "Do you actually stay in the places (hostels) they film on TV?" "Uh, no not always, and there's always a bit of guilt involved in that." Lastly, there was the picture taking session. We could use our own camera or have a Polaroid taken. I got to exchange a few words with him, had my picture taken with Ian Wright, shook hands with him and said good-bye. All in all, I went home feeling like I had a pretty good night of free entertainment (disregarding the cost of that new dress, new pair of shoes and the afternoon at the salon).
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Dinner with Ian Wright
Okay, so it's true that I spend quite a bit of time in front of the computer watching TV. (I got this great TV card for my PC. It's fan-fu@$in-tastic. I don't have to spend money on another ugly box, yay!) But coming from Taiwan where I didn't even have a TV for 3 years and moving here to Hong Kong where Broadband Internet and Broadband TV come together like a married couple has changed the way I spend my evenings. I'm so hooked on these silly travel shows on the Discovery Channel. I don't know if you've ever heard of the show Globe Trekker but it's one of my favorites. Unfortunately, I'm not able to catch it very often because I get home from work too late. But anyway, I'm a big fan of one the travel hosts, Ian Wright. A few weeks ago, Discovery began advertising Ian Wright coming to Hong Kong to do a show here as well as a contest to have dinner with this guy. I thought, "That might be pretty cool, not that I have much of a chance of winning since this city has a population 6.8 million people and this contest is being broadcast on Hong Kong television but I'll give it a try." I went to the website several times, couldn't find the application, had to watch the 10 second commercial a few more times to get the exact website, found it, wrote a 30 word speil about why I liked Ian Write and clicked send. That was about a month ago and shortly after I forgot about it.
Last Friday evening, a woman left a message on my voicemail while I was in class. It was in Chinese so I quickly took it to be telemarketing. I was about to delete it but at the last second I heard something about Discovery Channel and decided to save it and have a friend translate it for me. Saturday passed without notice. Then on Sunday when I was sitting in a cafe I saw someone at the table next to me check their message on his Blackberry. I thought, "Oh yeah, I've got a message. I'm gonna listen to it again." That's when I thought I understood I won the contest. I must have listened to it twenty times before I asked the server at the counter to help me translate it. My assumptions were correct. I did win and the woman who called me requested that I call her back on Monday.
I've been invited to the JW Marriott in Hong Kong to have dinner with Mr. Ian Wright on Thursday evening at 7:00. Oh my God! You see, messages in my mailbox are only kept for three days and had I waited much longer, the message would have been deleted and I might not have ever known I won. I'll keep you updated on what happens next Thursday.
Last Friday evening, a woman left a message on my voicemail while I was in class. It was in Chinese so I quickly took it to be telemarketing. I was about to delete it but at the last second I heard something about Discovery Channel and decided to save it and have a friend translate it for me. Saturday passed without notice. Then on Sunday when I was sitting in a cafe I saw someone at the table next to me check their message on his Blackberry. I thought, "Oh yeah, I've got a message. I'm gonna listen to it again." That's when I thought I understood I won the contest. I must have listened to it twenty times before I asked the server at the counter to help me translate it. My assumptions were correct. I did win and the woman who called me requested that I call her back on Monday.
I've been invited to the JW Marriott in Hong Kong to have dinner with Mr. Ian Wright on Thursday evening at 7:00. Oh my God! You see, messages in my mailbox are only kept for three days and had I waited much longer, the message would have been deleted and I might not have ever known I won. I'll keep you updated on what happens next Thursday.
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