In the eye of the beholder

Closets

2010-04-30T12:03:00.002-04:00

Times Square Rush

2008-06-15T17:37:00.001-04:00

Manhattanhenge - Looking across 42nd Street from Tudor City

2008-06-02T22:40:00.001-04:00

Mural at 191st Station on the No. 1 Train

2008-06-02T22:34:00.000-04:00

Tom Otterness in the East River

2008-06-02T22:30:00.001-04:00

Atrium in Haupt Conservatory

2008-06-02T22:26:00.000-04:00

Darwin's Garden

2008-06-02T22:18:00.001-04:00

Central Park Egret

2008-06-02T22:13:00.000-04:00

Henry Moore on Exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden

2008-06-02T22:10:00.000-04:00

Artist at Work - Roosevelt Island Light House

2008-06-02T22:04:00.002-04:00

Best Friends

2007-11-27T20:13:00.000-05:00

I used to see these two guys in the mornings at the bus stop going to work. They would walk over, sit down on the bench, occasionally say hello to me, chat in Spanish for a little while, then get up and walk away. Every morning, without need to catch a bus.

Village Street Fair

2007-11-27T20:09:00.000-05:00

Fallen

2007-11-27T20:07:00.000-05:00

Revolutionary War Tavern, Tappan, NY

2007-11-27T20:05:00.000-05:00

Murdered?

2007-11-27T20:02:00.001-05:00

Volunteer with the Peace Corps

2007-10-31T21:24:00.000-04:00

How awesome would it be to do this?

Autumn Leaves

2007-10-28T14:27:00.000-04:00

Just went for a 40 minute run along the Oradell Reservoir. It's the perfect day for a leisurely run - clear skies, cool but not cold enough to freeze your lungs. There aren't many days like this left in the season. The leaves are changing colors now. It's wonderful looking up through the canopy of green, yellow, orange, red and seeing the suns rays break though. I looked for the friendly deer I saw a month ago staring at me from inside the gated area of the reservoir but didn't see her this time. I keep saying that I should do this more often. What's keeping me?

Powerful Images

2007-09-16T20:20:00.000-04:00

We should all think twice when we start complain about our lives.

http://nineghost.ohlavender.com/unforgettable-photographs/

Linda's Hong Kong Adventure

2007-09-02T08:59:00.001-04:00

I made this movie last year (2006) before I left HK. I only recently figured out how to compress it for uploading.

Sicko

2007-07-30T21:37:00.000-04:00

Laughed, cried, loved it. Every American should see this movie.

A really bad day

2007-07-29T14:44:00.003-04:00

I had the worst day on Friday.

It was lunchtime so I decided to get something at the food court at the Garden State Plaza. Everything was going fine, I got a great spot next to the entrance, I bought my food in a snap and was out in a jiffy. I saw a Honda CRV behind my car and then it stopped as I got into my car. Naturally I thought that it was waiting for my spot so I pulled out. Then, it started backing up. I thought it was going to slip into the spot that I had just left but instead it was backing up towards me. I'm asking myself, "What is she doing?" so I start beeping my horn. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! But it just didn't stop. CRASH! into the front right panel of my Dad's Toyota Corolla. We both jump out of the car and look at the damage.

The thing that infuriated me was that all she could say was, "Oh, I couldn't have done that." She didn't even apologize. What a B%$#H! I mean the least she could do was say she was sorry. What did she think that the dent was there before?

Anyway, the police came and filed a report stating that she was at fault and I have to pick it up at the Paramus Police Station on Tuesday.

I was literally shaking after the incident but I had to go back to work.

As if it couldn't get any worse, I had an eye exam later that day after work on Route 17. I hate driving on Rt. 17 especially at rush hour. It's crazy busy and the highway is already so disorganized. But I had to go so I'm driving northbound and I know that it's right after the Paramus Park exit. As soon as I see the Paramus park exit I turn onto the shoulder because I'm thinking that it's coming up but I don't see it. Before I know it, a cop is behind me. I get a ticket for improper passing. F%#@! $85! Bastards! I can't believe this. The officer was such a jerk. I told him I was driving slowly on the shoulder because I was lost but he didn't want to hear it. I even have to show up to court and am probably going to get points on my license. I felt like crying.

I was really upset Friday but I'm fine now because I realized I don't even have a car or insurance for that matter. It doesn't effect me at all really; It's just a big waste of my time.

Water World

2007-07-24T19:51:00.000-04:00

Got a handle on it

2007-07-24T18:42:00.000-04:00

Cop Cars

2007-07-24T18:38:00.000-04:00

B&H superstore

2007-07-24T18:37:00.000-04:00

Go Puerto Rico

2007-07-24T18:30:00.000-04:00

Columbus' Circle

2007-07-24T18:28:00.000-04:00

NYC Pedicabs

2007-07-24T18:26:00.000-04:00

Jazz Echo

2007-07-24T18:21:00.000-04:00

Daily Commute

2007-07-24T18:20:00.000-04:00

Hanging out in Central Park

2007-07-24T18:19:00.000-04:00

I have what you need

2007-07-24T18:18:00.001-04:00

Parkour in the park

2007-07-24T18:18:00.000-04:00

Tourist Confusion

2007-07-24T18:15:00.001-04:00

Moon shot

2007-07-24T18:14:00.000-04:00

Rock Climbing

2007-07-24T18:13:00.001-04:00

On your mind

2007-07-24T18:12:00.000-04:00

Hard at Work

2007-07-12T21:20:00.000-04:00

I hate lying but I do it for a living. As I mentioned before, I'm in market research or competitive intelligence or business intelligence or whatever fancy name you want to give to the field of lying to people to gather as much information about them as possible and using it against them.

I've been working on this telecom project for the past few weeks and basically it involves calling these telecom companies up and asking how much it costs to link up two sites in Europe with a specific kind of broadband line. I've had to talk to sales people from all over and tell them that our "sister company" is trying to open up a business in the UK and that they are interested in implementing this service. I actually got someone to finally take the bait, a really nice guy from California (I know from where because it shows up on the caller ID). We had a conference call with at least 3 other engineers from Ireland all so nice and willing to help me. It almost makes me feel worse when they are willing to cooperate and be helpful than when they are jerks and don't want to give out any information because now I feel terrible about what I've done. I've just got a whole team of people working for a cause that will never happen. And believe me, this is not the first time.

I try my best not to lie. I always give out my real name - what difference does it make anyway? But there's only so much of not lying that you can get away with. I would never get anything done if I said that I was a researcher at a marketing company and that I need to get information from you to give to my client who is your competitor.

So this has the moral dilemma that I've been dealing with recently.

To balance things off, I've made a commitment to consuming less and leaving as little a mark on the environment as possible. Here is a list of this that I've committed to:

Taking the bus as much as possible
Walking or riding my bike to nearby places
Refusing plastic bags at stores
Walking up 4 flights of stairs at work everyday instead of taking the elevator
Using fewer bottles of water and opting for tap
Using compact florescent light bulbs
Consuming less and only buying things that I need or really want
Not using anything that is disposable

Perhaps I'll add some things in the future but I think that this should be enough to work on.

What's that for?

2007-06-06T20:51:00.000-04:00

This is great - My Boss went to the UAE for business last week and brought back presents for my coworkers and me, a kind gesture, may I add. Each of us got a small tin of scented Arabic herbs and a clay stand to put them in to burn like incense. I wasn't the only one who thought it a strange shape as it is narrow at the bottom and wide at the top; one of my coworkers consulted another who speaks Arabic and she said that the little stand is not a stand for nice smelling potpourri at all but in fact is used to smoke hookahs!

No Swearing in the Workplace

2007-04-29T18:29:00.000-04:00

My job mainly consists of calling many different money transfer companies all over the world in order to put together a report about product offerings for the client. Well, the other day I'm calling an agent of a company in the UK that deals with sending money to East Africa to confirm their location; I ask what the name of the store is and he replies, "Al Karat". After I hang up, I ask my Moroccan co-worker what Al Karat means in Arabic and she laughs, "It's a bad word. It's the plural of shit." This guy cursed me off and I didn't even know it!

About Nothing in Particular

2007-04-15T14:04:00.000-04:00

Wow, it's been a while since I've written. Every time I tried to remind myself to write in my blog, I was always pushed back by the thought of not knowing where to start. So here it goes.

Shortly after I got back to the States I began my job search though websites like Career Builder and Monster.com. I soon discovered that many if not most of the applicable jobs that were listed were scams operating on pyramid schemes where the more people you recruit to work for you the more money you made. So, I decided to try my luck with some temp agencies. I worked as a pharmacy technician (fancy name for the person who puts pills in blister packs), as an assistant to a loan officer at JP Morgan, and also as a fact checker at a market research company. I ended up getting a full time job at the latter as a project manager.

The job has pretty much taken up most of my time since I started late January. There are ups and downs but I'm fairly content with where I am as of now. I can't say I love the work I'm doing but I do enjoy working with my co-workers which I've heard is probably more important that anything. I will post more work update in the future since it is what comprises most of my life.

I've lived at home for about 4 months now which is longer than I had previously though capable of doing. Two weeks was my record in the past. Initially I wanted to stay for a couple of years to help my family out with financial matters. After moving in, I changed that figure to a year and after these 4 months I'm not sure I can make it to even half a year. So my search goes on to find decent housing in NYC. I searched on Craigslist and found a few apartments that I went to check out one Sunday afternoon. The first appointment was a no show. The next one was a 100 sq. ft. studio in Midtown to share with this gay dude for $650; The room was semi divided with space for a small bed and a dresser. I basically got a corner of a room. The next was another studio on the west side to share with a "non-matriculated" student. It was a bit bigger and had a nice view of the Hudson but I still didn't think that it warranted the $800 rent. Then, I went to see a place to share with a room of my own in the Upper East Side. That was $1,200 for a tiny room with space to put a little desk. So this is what you get for that amount of money in NYC. I almost considered the $650 because it was the cheapest but I didn't go for it. All of them were nicely furnished. Living in NYC for at least a little while is just something I've always wanted to do so the search continues. If you know of anyone looking for a roommate, please contact me.

A new year, a new resolution: 2007

2006-12-26T16:59:00.000-05:00

"There are few things humans are more dedicated to than unhappiness. Had we been placed on earth by a malign creator for the exclusive purpose of suffering, we would have good reason to congratulate ourselves on our enthusiastic response to the task. Reasons to be inconsolable abound: the frailty of our bodies, the fickleness of love, the insincerities of social life, the compromises of friendship, the deadening effects of habit. In the face of such persistent ills, we might naturally expect that no event would be awaited with greater anticipation than the moment of our own extinction."
--Alain de Botton How Proust Can Change Your Life

I have been back home in America for nearly a month now and I must say it was one of the hardest months I've ever had the displeasure to endure. I had to leave Cheung Chau where I lived in a beautiful apartment located on a cliff overlooking the South China Sea, next to lush subtropical greenery, a beach a ten minute walk away, on a island with no cars, a short ferry ride to one of the most cosmopolitan, most advanced cities in the world, the lovely jewel of Asia called Hong Kong. I left the jet setting life style of traveling to several different countries a year. I was having afternoon tea at the Peninsula. I was scuba diving in the south of Thailand. I was seeing live music on the weekends or going out onto the mountains in Sai Kung for a Sunday afternoon hike. This was normal for me. Up until two weeks before my departure, I was completely fine with leaving all this behind and starting up yet another life back in New Jersey, the place I had never, even after four years living in Ohio for college and after another four years in China, stopped considering my home. But then the fear struck. Number one, I was leaving someone that I loved very dearly for the past four years behind in order to start a professional life in America, a life that I'd been planning since the day I stepped onto the plane to go to Asia. Was I doing the right thing? The week before my plane was to leave was so harrowing, I was so grief-stricken, I wept at least five times a day and was in constant emotional agony. The decision to leave was tormenting me inside and out. I showed classic signs of depression - feeling lethargic, not wanting to leave the apartment and having a lack of appetite, being hungry but not really having the desire to put something in my mouth, chew then swallow.

Once I got back home, the pressure on me was compounded by my family situation. My mother has for as long as I've known her has been mentally ill, my brother after he was terminated from his job more than a year ago started showing signs of the same mental illness, my grandmother was put in a nursing home after a stroke eight months ago, my father's finances are terrible with the possibility of losing the house (which is in complete disarray), my aunt was hit by a car and is now being harangued by the hospital for bills topping thousands of dollars, all this while I unsuccessfully looked for a job without any practical education or relevant experience. I didn't know many people in the area anymore either except some old high school friends who had their own lives now so I felt really completely isolated. It was then I looked to getting in touch with my spiritual side and picked up a book by the Dalai Lama called the Art of Happiness. After I finished it, I went to the library and got another book similar in content, and then another until I had almost read all the books on Buddhism in the local library. Since then, and I know this sounds so cliche, I can truly attest that I've become much more in tune with what is important in life.

I feel like this has been some forced spiritual retreat created to test how I would deal with a difficult situation but somehow I think it's worked. I feel like I've had an epiphany of sorts. I now know what my purpose in life is - to be compassionate towards all living things, to serve others and to experience happiness through this.

A few days ago, I went downtown to do some errands and to pick some things up one of which was for my grandmother in the nursing home - a bouquet of flowers which I thought had been missing from her bedside table. Now, I have no money except for a few hundred dollars in the bank and eighty in cash and I'm unemployed. But I was sure I wanted to spend the seven dollars on the flowers. After I cut the stems, placed the bouquet in a vase and set them down, she smiled and told me they looked really pretty. When I left, I caught a glimpse of her looking back at the flowers. Who could have thought that giving something could feel better than receiving?

Every decision I make, every thought I come up with, I try to do with the idea of being compassionate. I don't claim that I always succeed or that I'm always happy. That would mean that I've reached enlightenment which normally takes many lifetimes of rigorous meditation and prayer not a month of reading spirituality books. But I can say I feel more grounded whereas when I was away, I was swept away with the jet setting lifestyle of there always being something to do, somewhere to go or be, pleasurable experiences to take part in and in a way I used to think that this was living. It was fun but it's not necessarily the formula for happiness. I now know what my purpose is in life- to serve others. And if that means that I get trampled on, abused, insulted, embarrassed, pushed, I will not hit back but try to retain my compassion to those whose wish is to harm me. This is my vow for not only the the new year to come but for as long as I remain in this world.

"This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward people... re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss what insults your very soul, and your very flesh shall become a great poem." ---Walt Whitman

2006-12-08T21:56:00.000-05:00

House of sticks. Does someone
actually live in here?

2006-12-08T21:50:00.000-05:00

Near Kam Kong Primary School, Cheung Chau.

2006-12-08T21:43:00.000-05:00

Times Square, Causeway Bay. I like how
everyone is doing something different.

2006-12-08T21:25:00.000-05:00

Topsy Turvy

2006-12-08T21:11:00.000-05:00

My fascination with Chinese cemetaries.

Koh Lanta

2006-12-08T20:57:00.000-05:00

On the boat, heading for a dive.

PADI Certification

2006-11-20T02:29:00.000-05:00

Descending into the depths of Koh Haa Lagoon in south of Thailand

On the Road

2006-11-16T22:51:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted for quite some time. I kept telling myself I would do it soon. Now that I've got absolutely nothing of any importance to do - no work, no school, no traveling, nor anyone to be a host to - here it is. What have I been up to lately you ask; well, I'd be happy to tell you.

In October, I went camping along the MacLehose Trail in the New Territories. We hiked up Pat Sing Leng, one of the highest peaks in Hong Kong. Though, it wasn't what I'd expected. I wanted to see lush forest and clear running streams of mountain water but there wasn't much of that at all. What we did see was a lot of grass and lots of steps, lots and lots of stone steps. My legs were shaking uncontrollably by the end of it. The highlight of the trip was that I got to see a wild boar while hiking and some mischievous macaque monkeys who stole some food from other people at our campsite. Heh, Heh.
A week after that, Malcolm treated me to afternoon tea at the most famous hotel in Hong Kong, that's right - The Peninsula. I withheld from eating that morning because I thought it would be an all you could eat buffet of finger foods and a choco fountain like at the Hyatt in Taipei. But it wasn't. I was most disappointed when our server placed an elaborately decorated silver three-tier tray in front of us with four finger sandwiches and about six pastries and didn't refill it after we inhaled them within seconds. Still ravenous afterwards we went to Chungking Mansions to fill up on some cheap Indian samosas and snacks.
The next weekend, we did some snorkeling at Hoi Ha Wan near Plover Clove in the New Territories. The water up north is much cleaner and the visibility is good because the waters don't get muddied by the Pearl River Delta like in the south. I never knew that I could find such rich coral life in Hong Kong. I recommend this area to anyone who wants to have some inexpensive fun outside the city.
I also took a day trip out to Tai O with Jenn. Who would have thought, we'd leave our fishing village on Cheung Chau to tour another fishing village two hours away. I would describe it as Cheung Chau's less developed sister. The water surrounding the village isn't too clean, the sewage system isn't up to date and there wasn't very much to see, a few temples, some old streets, nothing I haven't seen before.

2006-09-09T03:38:00.000-04:00

Here's lookin' at you, kid. Over-exposed by Malcolm.

Moving On

2006-09-04T07:42:00.000-04:00

The hectic summer schedule has finally ended and with the end of the summer came the end of my contract; I put in my letter of resignation more than two months earlier which means I am no longer a teacher of English to non-native speakers which means no more obnoxious little brats I've got to discipline, no more tedious lesson plans I have to prepare, and the best part of all no more prick of a boss I have to deal with. Hooray!

In celebration of this momentous event I went out for a scrumptious buffet lunch on Saturday and on Sunday I did what I'd always thought about doing but was to scared to attempt, I shaved my head. And it feels great, let me tell ya! It's so much cooler in the hot and humid climate of Hong Kong. I don't have to shampoo and condition my hair in the shower, I can use soap, don't have to comb it nor blow dry it or wait for it to air dry it before I go to sleep, it only takes one wipe of a towel. It's so effortless that I now can't believe how much time we women spend on our hair in a lifetime compared to our short-haired male counterparts.

One reason I chose this particular time to experiment with an altogether different hairdo (lack of hairdo?) was that I am temporarily leaving the workforce to study Cantonese five days a week for the next two months and then traveling to Southeast Asia the following month before heading back home to Jersey for good. By then, hopefully my hair will have grown to a reasonably acceptable length to land a decent job. The main reason I was reluctant to cut my hair short before was because I thought it would influence my job prospects which I now know after working for some of the most discriminatory people I've ever had the misfortune to meet to be true.

The things that I heard coming out of my co-workers' mouths about the job applicants that were to replace me were disgusting enough to make me want to vomit. And they weren't just racist comments but ageist, sexist, discriminatory against people who were over-weight, pretty much anyone who didn't fit the young, thin, Anglo-looking woman was ridiculed. That they shared their opinions with me I thought was really curious since I of course do not fit their ideal appearance of a teacher. They had known that my last day would be August 31st and by the time I left, they had still not found a teacher because they had rejected so many resumes on account of the applicant's heritage or sometimes even because the person had a foreign sounding name even though their nationality may have been from English speaking nation.

They had considered a former hairdresser with no experience teaching over a Mexican-American male named Sal with a BA in child development. It was baffling. Stephen, the center's self proclaimed "principal", interrupted my class to ask whether the name Sal was a man or a women's name. (They believed that men would not be able to teach kindergarten.) When I asked Candy, the assistant what she thought of Sal after his interview, her face contorted into an ugly expression when she commented, "He look... no good." "Oh, you mean he's ugly?" "No, look Pakistani or something..." "Ah, huh... I see..." And that was the end of that conversation.

But, now it's all over and I don't have to worry about any of that anymore. I'll be getting up tomorrow at 6:30 (I hope) bright and shine for my 9:00 Cantonese class in Wan Chai. Hope all goes well.

I walk alone

2006-08-05T01:27:00.000-04:00

I remember a while back when I was living in Taiwan, a friend asked me if I would ever go to a restaurant by myself. I replied with a question, "Why would I do that? Maybe a take out joint or a cafeteria but a nice restaurant, no." That was some time ago. I've traveled much more. I lived in more places. I've eaten in many more restaurants. Somehow, somewhere in the time period between that moment and now, the fear of being alone for long stretches of time has diminished. I'm not saying that it is not present at times, just that my tolerance for being alone has grown.

When I first got here on this island and didn't know anyone, the loneliness was nearly unbearable. I had two coworkers, my manager from HK and an English fellow who grew up on the island, one grumpy family friend who I didn't get along with, and a village people who didn't speak a lick of English. What was I to do?

One day, I reached my breaking point. I had found out where the local expat pub was located and was determined to speak English to whoever foreign person I could find. Sure enough there was a group of them sitting outside, Mick an older Brit who had been on the island for 25 years, Nick an unemployed writer, Will an American in his 30's and his Asian girlfriend. Now, I wouldn't have normally associated myself with some strangers in a bar, but I was desperate. The pool of people in Asia that you can carry a conversation with is much smaller so one can't be too picky when choosing who to talk to. Anyway, we talked about various subjects in HK like job seeking and housing, the normal things people talk about when first arriving in a new city. Will and I started on the topic of Taiwan where we had both once lived. Then I think his girlfriend started to become jealous so the two of them start making out right at the table in front of everyone. It was the strangest thing and no one else seemed to blink an eye. That was about eight months ago. I haven't been back since nor have I had the desire to.

I had learned to occupy my time with a lot of hiking around the island and always I wanted to share this time up in the mountains or near the ocean with someone else because it was simply so beautiful that it would be impossible to explain it in words or capture it in a photo. Then last week I was on one of these walks exploring more of the village wishing someone was there so we could talk about these new places and then it struck me. Wait a minute, if I were with someone else, I wouldn't be able to go where I wanted. Every time I'm with someone else, we've got to ask each other where to go next, to go straight ahead or make the next left, when to head back or to keep going. There is always a slight concern for the other person and it's always a compromise when being with someone else. Being with another would take the freedom, the joy out of wandering around and discovering new niches in an unknown territory. That freedom is what I love about traveling. It is my passion.

Not to say that I like being by myself all the time but now if that friend asked me the same question of whether or not I would eat in a nice restaurant alone, I would think nothing of it. Would I go on vacation by myself? Sure, if safety or money wasn't an issue. I might even prefer it.

I'll end this entry with a haiku for today.

Alone I am now
Tranquil silence surrounds me
Yet I am at peace

The road to financial freedom

2006-07-14T09:41:00.000-04:00

I wish I could frame this and put it on my wall. I AM FINALLY DONE PAYING OFF MY STUDENT LOAN! WOOHOOOOOO! It's been a long four years but I can safely say that I am now debt free. Life is good.

Racism in Asia (cont...)

2006-07-05T22:38:00.000-04:00

Check out this article I found from the South China Morning Post.

http://www.bigenglish.com/imgs/14jan.news.jpg

2006-06-29T21:37:00.000-04:00

Snake Love. Two snakes in the heat of passion on the trail near my apartment.

Racism in Asia - An Anti-Asian American Sentiment in Hong Kong

2006-05-28T23:53:00.000-04:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I've never been subjected to such racism as I have been here in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Back home I would occasionally get the "You speak English good. Where're you from?" comment every now and then but I don't believe that I'd ever failed to accomplish what I set out to do on account of my Asian face.

The common word for foreigner here is gwai lo which literally means something like devil man. My manager referred to me as one when I ordered some sweet and sour pork. First of all, last time I checked, I'm not a man, nor am I a devil. Please don't tell me I am.

Months before I arrived in Hong Kong, I sent my resume to dozens of schools looking for a teaching position. Almost none replied. I figured they didn't want to hire someone out of the country. Fair enough. Then, I got one phone call, an interested party, no doubt. We talked several times and just as I was sure I'd clinched the job, she asked if I was Chinese. I said, "What? No, I'm American." "Yes but do you have black hair? Your name is Chinese." "My parents are from Hong Kong but I was born and raised in the States." "I'm afraid we can't hire you because the immigration department may not issue a visa to you because you have a Chinese last name and they would rather give the visa to a foreigner." I just about blew my top. It was a good thing I was at the gym because I really wanted to hit somebody.

When I first got here, I interviewed with this company called New Horizons, which incidentally Malcolm is now working for. The man who I interviewed with, an Aussie, was really nice. He showed me around, answered any questions I had about living in Hong Kong. Then, he started going into who applies for this job. They get tons of resumes from abroad, which they don't even look at because those applicants simply can't be trusted. They get people from different fields like business, CIS, English, and so on. Asian people who were born and bred from an English speaking country. They may be considered. And a lot of people of Indian descent who come in with perhaps perfect English but don't hire because the market doesn't want Indian people to teach English. Hm, I see. So this company hires only white people. Needless to say, I didn't get the job.

The latest insult to indirectly affect me was when my co-worker designed the current newsletter for our English school. On the cover were two pictures. One of him and his class (he is caucasian) and another white teacher and her class in my classroom. There are only two teachers at our school - him and me. Who the f#@k this other white chick? It is so blatantly offensive that when I saw it, I laughed. It turns out that she was a former teacher though she had not worked there for almost a year. If this had happened back home, I could sue the asses off of this school.

I like it here, Hong Kong. It's a beautiful city. But the longer I stay here, the stronger the pull grows to go back home.

2006-05-02T10:38:00.000-04:00

Roofing.

2006-05-02T10:29:00.000-04:00

Home of a fish merchant.

2006-05-02T10:26:00.000-04:00

Wood strewn on the side of a trail in Mui Wo.

Bug Off

2006-04-25T23:36:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-04-21T07:45:00.000-04:00

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.

7 pm JW Marriott

2006-04-20T23:12:00.000-04:00

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).

2006-04-12T00:18:00.000-04:00

Do you know this guy? Ian Wright, travel host of Globe Trekker, is coming to Hong Kong. Photo courtesy of Globe Trekker website.

Dinner with Ian Wright

2006-04-11T23:27:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-02-13T00:39:00.000-05:00

Theatre Street in Central, Hong Kong. I absolutely love this picture. I used a new film, Kodak black and white CN 400 which accepts chemicals normally used to develop color film. I think it's a great film and will probably use it more often than my usual standard TMAX.

2006-02-13T00:31:00.000-05:00

Eating at Macau's famous Fernando's restaurant was definately the highlight of the trip. The prawns cooked Portuguese style were simply divine.

2006-02-13T00:25:00.000-05:00

It was really interesting walking through the narrow alleys of Macau. No English at all; it's either, Chinese or Portuguese.

2006-02-13T00:22:00.000-05:00

Old Chinese woman, probably a mainlander visiting Macau.

2006-02-13T00:19:00.000-05:00

Ruins of Saint Paul's Cathedral, Macau. I don't know what the distortion is at the bottom. The photo shop swears it's not them. Uh huh...

2006-02-13T00:16:00.000-05:00

Now, a splash of color for you. Yellow wall in streets of Macau during the Chinese New Year holiday.

2006-02-13T00:08:00.000-05:00

Information booth in the Main Square, Macau.

The Last Letter

2006-02-12T23:48:00.000-05:00

After demanding why he felt he needed to go into my music school to ask for my schedule he wrote back saying this.

Linda,

The owner of the music school used to be one of my students¡¦ parents. But
a few months ago, somebody took over it. Since then, I have not been there
until today. I have got back some old feeling standing inside.

Can we have lunch or dinner some day in this week?
Can I make contact with you by phone?
KK

I then wrote saying that I had no interest in going out to eat with him. This was his reply.

Linda,

Ok! Thanks for your positive reply. I know what to do. Bye!

KK

Now this could mean one of three things. He's either decided to leave me alone for good or he's going to come after me with a knife or he's going to kill himself out of rejection. Let's hope it's the first of the three.

Cornered

2006-02-07T00:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I had about a two hour internet session cleaning up my mailbox and sending e-mails that I've been putting off, including the one that was to tell off this weirdo who contacted me and refused to identify himself. I told him things like he had no right to use my personal information and that I was cutting off all correspondence with him since he refused to tell me how he got my info. I also mentioned that he was lucky that I didn't inform authorities about him harrassing me. Let's just say it was not a very nice message. After finishing up, I went out to get some dinner and groceries at Wellcome.

As soon as I walk out of the store a man approaches me and asks "Are you Linda?" The blood in my face drains and a low yes seems to make its way out of my mouth. "I'm KK." I'm thinking, "Oh my God! It's him!" But it's not the KK I previously thought he was. I was picturing this gross, dirty old man but he's not. He's really young - 20's maybe - and a complete dork not that I have anything against dorks since well, I'm pretty geeky myself. But he's got the complete stereotypical nerdy appearance - tall, skinny, glasses, messed up hair and a bad complexion. He asks if he can walk me home. I ponder the question. "That means that he'll know where I live. What do I say?" I start by asking him how he got my contact info and he says that he'll tell me on the way home. -I don't think so. You tell me now. He goes on saying that we met last year in October. Mmm. I still don't remember. Where? At Scott Island Learning Center. An alarm goes off in my head. I knew it. He must have gotten it from my resume with all my information on it. Scott Island is the one other cram school on the island. I remember walking in, handing a guy my resume and walking out in less than a few minutes.

We get to talking and he doesn't seem like such a bad person anymore so I let him walk me partway home. He tells me he plays the er-hu (a two stringed Chinese instrument, what a dork!) and asks if I play any instruments. I tell him that I'm taking guitar lessons on the island and then we part ways at my block. I enter the wrong apartment building unconvinced that he hasn't followed me and wait there in the dark stairwell for the next five minutes. Then I sneak out to go around the complex, down to the beach and up the stairs to my own apartment where I dart into the entrance way. I take a peak out the window. No one. I whip out my keys, open the door, slam it, and put the chain on. Sigh of relief.

That night I barely slept. This may be one of the strangest things to have ever happened to me. The next day I get another e-mail from Mr. KK.

Linda,

Hi, what are you going? Are you prastising the guitar? Now, the time is
17:30pm. I know you are going to Rejoice Music to learn guitar at about
19:00pm. Right! Why I know that is I have just talked to your guitar
tutor,
Raymond Cheung. He's very nice. So are you.

Can I call you through the phone?
Bye!
KK

My God! What a nutbar! This guy actually went into my music school, met my teacher before I even had a chance to and inquired about my schedule. There's about a snowman's chance in hell that he's going to get my number.

Congratulations Linda, you've got a stalker!

2006-01-26T22:22:00.000-05:00

Remember when I first got here in Hong Kong? I was so lonely because I didn't know anyone. I missed my friends from Taiwan and back home in the States and wished constantly to make more friends here. Well, I must have wished too hard because just the other day I received and e-mail from someone I don't know.

Linda Hung,

How are you getting along? My name is, hm¡K, KK. I am a resident of Cheung
Chau. I work in there as well. I know you have been looking for a job.
Have you got one yet?

Hm¡K! Do you remember me? I think we have seen each other twice at least.
The last time we met was at a restaurant that is near the ferry pier. At
that time, I was having rice with steak and you were having Japanese
noodles, perhaps Wu Tung, for dinner. Have you evoked something special so
far? That¡¦s¡K.  I think you may know who I am at present. Right?

Actually, I like meeting friends from around the world. This makes me
understand more people whose background and culture are completely
different. Do you have the same interest like me? If so, please pick up a
pen to start building up our friendship.

I am looking forward to receiving your message. Byebye!

Truly

KK

Now, the intention seems genuine enough however, we must remember, I have no idea who this person is. How does he know my surname? How does he know my e-mail address? Had we formally met before because I had no recollection of it? I e-mailed him back asking exactly these exact questions. This was his reply.

Dear Linda,

Sorry! In that restaurant, there is a table for two only. The rests are
for four or more than that. In the evening 21/1, were you the one who sat at
that table enjoying dinner alone? If so, you are Linda and the last
message I sent was to the right place. Actually, can we be friends here?

KK

Notice he completely disregards my questions about how he obtained my personal info. The night before I received the first message from him, I did eat Japanese noodles by the ferry pier and ate at a table for two. However, he and I both acknowledge I was eating by myself! It creeps me out when I think that I was eating there while someone was eying me from across the room. I reply to this message asking the same questions from above. This is what he says next.

Linda,

I will tell you why I have got your name and e-mail. But I want you to
give me an answer if we can be friends first. Sorry! I am so straightforward.
It is my personality both merit and shortcoming.

The Chinese Year Festival is coming, what are you going to do?

KK

Now he's being really manipulative. I told him I would be his friend to satisfy him and demanded how he got my info yet again. I'm waiting for a reply. Perhaps, he is reading this as I wait.

2006-01-25T10:12:00.000-05:00

Check out this website. You can share secrets by sending a postcard to this address.

My New Year's Resolution

2006-01-25T09:30:00.000-05:00

It's a little late but here it is, my resolution for the year 2006.

To be as honest and true to myself and others as can be.

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
   --William Shakespeare

The Nuances of this Dialect

2006-01-23T08:52:00.000-05:00

After almost three months here I've just now begun to understand how to properly thank someone in Cantonese. Unlike in English where "thank you" means thank you or in the case of Mandarin "xie xie" means thank you, Cantonese isn't quite as straight forward. For months I've observed that some people here say "duo jie" for thank you and others say "m-goi." In the beginning, I would say "duo jie" when buying something in the market but after I realized people would look at me strangely I changed over to "m-goi." Then, due to my often paranoid personality, I thought people were still eyeing me in an odd way so I resorted to saying both consecutively and then switching order hoping at least one of them would be correct. It got to the point where I simply couldn't stand it anymore so I had to repeatedly ask my coworkers how to say how to say this previously believed simple and basic phrase.

According to them, use "m-goi" when someone does something for you and "duo jie" when getting something from someone else. So, at the market when buying something, after the merchant gives you the change say "m-goi" because they provided a service, while they say "duo jie" because you've given them business. At least that's how I understand it. Then add "sai" to either one of them to emphasize what you've just said - "Duo jie sai" or "m-goi sai." Now that we've got all this cleared up, maybe I can get on with the more difficult stuff like saying excuse me.

The Way of the Cantonese

2006-01-17T23:02:00.000-05:00

Hong Kongers are notorious for bad manners and seem to have a world wide reputation for being some of the greediest, rudest people on earth. This I may have to agree with on a certain level but we must understand that this is coming from a western perspective. When I go to the market and ask for something but the merchant doesn't understand what I'm saying, generally, the latter is the one who gets upset and starts to yell, "Heh?! heh?! What're you sayin'?!" Originally, I was, to say the least, a bit put off by this, but after a while, I just started to get used to it because whether I am a foreigner or a native Cantonese person, which many upon first site of me wouldn't be able to tell, the locals would treat me with the same "rude" manner because in their eyes it's not actually being rude. It's the way of the people.

The Cantonese are rough with each other on a day to day basis. It's normality. For instance just today my coworker Stephen and I were talking about something and Candy who helps out with the office work just kept interrupting our conversation, not once, not twice, but several times and in the end, we just gave up and the string of thoughts frayed. Stephen seemed completely oblivious to her interruptions but then again he actually grew up in Hong Kong and is used to it. It didn't really bother me either because after all she wasn't being rude on purpose. Now, I don't necessarily agree with the way the Cantonese conduct their day to day business but I accept it nonetheless. Life goes on normally as it has been doing for a very long time. This society functions perfectly well with all its six million "rude" people.

2006-01-11T10:22:00.000-05:00

I am so lovin this album You Could Have It So Much Better. Get it now.

Leaving Beijing

2006-01-02T00:03:00.000-05:00

An e-mail account of my disastrous departure of China's capital city...

You will not believe what I am going to tell you. Well, remember that we parted at the bus station a little after 3 pm. The bus did not start moving until 3:25 and when it did, it was barely at a snail's pace the entire trip. It arrived at its final destination around 4:30. That final destination was supposed to be the airport, right? It dropped us off at the far side, behind that tarmac. I saw airplanes so I figured that it couldn't be far away. I decided to walk but had no idea where I was going. There was this greasy motorcycle dude hawking his services to drive me to the airport and I would have used him had he not been so unbelievably obnoxious. He just wouldn't leave me alone even after I started cursing in Chinese. I backtracked to ask a guard. He said that it was just over the bridge so that's where I headed.

What was over the bridge? More highways that went in the opposite direction of the airport. The only way for me to get to the other side was to jump down one level going the other way. I then, threw my bag down and jumped over this barbed wire wall onto a tuff of grass. There was a guard standing a little way off watching the whole thing without a wink. I asked him where the airport was and he pointed down the highway. There is no sidewalk. I proceed to run through on coming traffic down the middle of the highway, for there was more room to run down the middle than the side since there was also an underpass. I run for ten minutes down the highway along the traffic ramps that lead to the arrival and departure building. No taxi would stop. I'm sweating like crazy and finally find my check in counter around 4:50. Check in has already closed for my flight at 5:15.

I can't believe this. When I bought the ticket in Beijing, the agent specifically told me that this ticket could not be changed because of its cheap price. At the time, I thought nothing of it. I'd never missed a flight and didn't plan on it this time. But it happened. The good thing was that they had another one leaving at 8:05. I waited on one line only to be directed to another line to change my ticket. One woman looked at my canceled Taiwanese visa and was about to ask someone else when I told her it was the wrong visa she was looking at. That is how competent these ladies were at Air China. After being shipped around to different counters, the last one told me that the ticket could not be changed. My heart sank. Then she said that she would do me a favor this time but that it would be the last. I succeeded in getting a boarding pass without any additional charges. Boarding time was at 7:35. 7:35 came and went. I knew I was at the right gate because everybody was speaking Cantonese. I went up to the attendant around 5:50 to ask and she said boarding was in another 20 minutes. I thought, "But the plane should have already taken off by then." It didn't take off until 8:35 and didn't arrive at Hong Kong until around 11:30. I looked at my ferry schedule and the next ferry was supposed to leave at 2:20 am. I decided to take the bus as opposed to the high speed train and save 80HKD since time really wasn't an issue. I took my time walking to the ferry and when I got there around 1:20 I lay down on a bench next to the pier. It was 2:10 when I went in to get my ticket but I read a sign that said the next boat was to leave at three and the one after that was 4:15. I looked at the schedule and I realized I misread it. The ferry from Cheung Chau to HK left at 2:20 and the one I was supposed to take from HK to Cheung Chau left at 1:30. I didn't see the boat come because I was on the other side of the pier. Shit! I waited for the one at three got on and went to sleep. A half hour later, we arrive somewhere but it is not Cheung Chau. It's Peng Chau. It took the wrong boat! This never happens. All the boats that leave from this particular pier are supposed to go to Cheung Chau but because it's after midnight, all the boats use one pier. Ten minutes later we're at Lantau. I just back tracked to the island where the airport is located. Now I'm really freaking out because I think it's going to dock here until sunrise. A sailor reconciles my worries and says were heading back to Central (HK). Now I'm thinking that I won't make it back in time for the 4:15 boat. It turns out that the same boat goes to Cheung Chau after stopping in Central. I don't get back home until around 5am, 12 hours after I was to have left Beijing.

2005-12-20T22:59:00.000-05:00

In one of Beijing's hutongs, neighborhoods formed by old courtyard homes.

2005-12-20T22:48:00.000-05:00

Inside a hall at the Lama Temple in the northeast part of Beijing.

2005-12-19T22:38:00.000-05:00

It was a lot harder to get up there than I had previously thought it'd be. How they managed to built it is mindblowing.

2005-12-19T22:31:00.000-05:00

Jenn and I took a 100 Yuan taxi ride to this unreconstructed section of the Great Wall, Huang Hua or Yellow Flower.

2005-12-18T09:09:00.000-05:00

Manual laborer in the village.

2005-12-18T09:03:00.000-05:00

In front of the internet cafe, downtown Chongping

2005-12-18T08:50:00.000-05:00

Shoe repair. Small village in Chongping outside Beijing.

The train to Beijing West Station

2005-11-24T01:01:00.001-05:00

The train ride here was amazingly comfortable. The following is an entry from my Moleskin travel log last Friday.

Yesterday, spent the first two or so hours starring out the window in front of my cabin. When I first stepped on the train, I had trouble opening the door. I thought I may have been doing something wrong. I struggled for more than five minutes until I jerked it opened. I sat down and made myself comfortable with the pillows. Soon afterwards, an old Chinese man entered. He must have been in his 60's. Damn, there goes the idea that I'd have a room all to myself, though, he turned out to be very gentlemanly. We waited until the train departed before we proceded to ask if we could change our rooms for the rest of the coach was empty.

I went out to ask one of the train attendants, "Duibuqi, women ke bu keyi huan fangzi."
She looked at me coldly and in Chinese she said, "You can't just jump around to where ever you please!" and walked off.
I went back to my room disappointed. My cabin mate got up and said, "Wait here, I'll talk to her."
He came back a few minutes later. "Go ahead, you wanna change your room?"
This, I came to realize later, is how most things are accomplished in China. It really depends on who does the talking.

So anyway, I got my stuff together and headed for the room next door. The first few hours of the trip was spent looking out the window in front of my room. I was so completely fixated to the scenery change from urban highrise apartments to undeveloped country side. I finally retreated to my room and lay down. We pulled into a train station and suddenly everything went dark. I tried the lights, all four of them. None worked. I thought I should see what was up so I went for the door. It wouldn't budge. "What the hell! How do you open this thing?!" I could hear people passing by. Chinese announcements were going on outside. I pulled on that lever with everything I had but to no avail. I clinked with every part of the door, even resorted to pulling a credit card out to try to break my way out of my own room, all the while getting more and more terrified by the minute. It was dark, cold, quiet, and the f$%#n door wouldn't open. There was no way to open the window. I was trapped. Thoughts started running through my head. "What if we have to change trains? They won't find me because I've changed rooms. I can't call for help because my cell phone doesn't work in this country. What am I going to do? I'm going to end up in Inner Mongolia before someone gets to me." I started furiously racking on the door and the wall that I shared with my former roommate. I was just about to lose it when an attendant came by and opened the door in a quick click. I must have looked like a mad woman when he found me. I explained that couldn't get out so he showed me. I simply had to push this nail like button while pulling on the handle. Oooooh. Why do they not have directions on these things? A few minutes later, the lights went on and the train started to move.

The food was edible but really expensive and salty as ocean water. All I ate were lunch boxes and bananas the whole trip.

The train attendants smoked. I realized this as I was reading on my bed and noticed that my sinuses were beginning to get congested. I thought I detected a faint scent of smoke so I went out to check if it was the old guy next door. I headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and as I walk by the attendant's cabin I saw a woman and a man taking a drag. I went back to my cabin, picked up the "No Smoking" sign from my table and showed it to them. They were very apologetic but as I also later found out, China, especially Beijing, is one big ashtray.

Just coasting

2005-11-13T21:37:00.000-05:00

I signed a contract with a school last week but there's still no guarantee that I'll be working any time soon because I still have to wait for my working visa to be processed which takes at least a month. In addition to all the stuff that I have to submit there is triple the amount of paperwork that the sponsoring company has to supply. The immigration office needs records of audited financial records and proof that the school tried to hire local residents by providing copies of ads in the newspaper and information about the different people who applied for the job. They need to know whether a new position is opening or if I'm to replace someone else and then if so where this person I'm replacing will go. The list just goes on and on.

I shouldn't really be complaining though. I had only been looking for a job for a week and then I got several offers.

I was telling this to Brenda, Uncle Nai's servant, and she replied, "So, it's not so difficult for you." "Really, but I had to cross the island to do interviews every day."
"Yes, but Filipinos can only stay in Hong Kong for 14 days and then you go to the agency every day and wait for some work."
"And what happens if no one chooses you?"
"Then, you go back home."
"Oh."

Right now I'm just sitting back and waiting for everything to be cleared. Besides, I've already prepared myself in the case that I have to head back to the States. I won't be too disappointed for I've been terribly homesick since the day that I arrived in Asia.

Lately, I've been hiking around the island looking for a place to rent. Living with Uncle Nai isn't as bad as it used to be. When I told him how much I would be making, he was instantly nicer to me. Hmmm... I found this amazing apartment on a small peak with every window overlooking the wide open sea. The rent isn't completely out of my price range and I'd love to live there, but I think I should save a bit more in the beginning.

I should be meeting Shelley anytime now. She's coming to Cheung Chau with her sister. Tomorrow, I'm going to pick up my Chinese visa and by the end of the week I should be heading to Beijing on a 28 hour train ride to visit Jenn. She said she'll give me food and shelter while I'm there so I hope I don't spend too much money.

The job search

2005-11-03T21:28:00.000-05:00

#1 misconception - many people think that it's really difficult to find a teaching job in Hong Kong because most people in Hong Kong already know English.

It's true that many people especially those under 40 can speak English in a semi-fluent manner but it is because most people go through special language training in their formal school or attend a private language institute to learn English. However, the main reason why it is difficult to find a job here, for I've been struggling for the past week, is because there are already so many expats here whose native tongue is English. Hong Kong is such a cosmopolitan city as well as one of the major financial cities of the world, many foreigners living here already have residency or a Hong Kong identification card. This card is the key to doing just about anything in Hong Kong from opening up a bank account to setting up a telephone line with internet to signing a lease with a landlord. The major problem is that it's really hard to get that little card.

First you need to find a company to sponsor you for a working visa. Well, all companies or schools would rather hire someone who would save them the time to file all the paperwork and this is what I heard, it's a lot of paper work. It's just a lot less hassle to get a native English speaker who already lives here because again, there are so many. Not to mention, the company has to wait four to six weeks for the working visa to get processed before the applicant can even start working.

The ins and outs of getting a work visa

The requirements for getting a work visa here in Hong Kong are quite different from those in Taiwan. I think in Taiwan the only things that need to be submitted to the government are the company contract, a physical exam report, a photocopy of the applicant's passport and one of his or her degree. From what I heard, the following are the things that need to be submitted to the Hong Kong Immigration Department.

- copy of passport
- copy of degree which should match the subject you are going to teach (if in a public school)
- copy of any teaching certificates like TEFLs, TEASLs, CELTAs, etc. (required to teach in many schools)
- resume with dates of previous working experience
- cover letter
- signed reference letters from former employers that have the dates in which you worked matching the dates you put on your resume. If you are missing a signed reference letter with working dates from a company listed on your resume, they ask you to take it off.
- a copy of your birth certificate
- a transcript from your university (helps)

I may be missing some other vital piece of personal information and even if you've got all these things, there's still no guarantee that you'll get that permit. I've heard of some people having trouble because they are Chinese American. Those guys at the immigration department look at your Chinese last name and they think that you're Chinese so they'd rather give the job to a Hong Kong citizen instead. I'm I little worried but there is a chance I can get residency through relation if I can prove that my parents stayed in Hong Kong for at least seven consecutive years. If I can get a resident Hong Kong ID. My work related troubles will be over. It's easy to find teaching work if you're a citizen here. Meanwhile, I'm waiting for some schools to get back to me.

Stepping on egg shells

2005-10-31T03:11:00.000-05:00

I've been here for just about a week and so far I've had mixed feelings about the whole affair.

I quite like this little island. Walking though the little alley ways past the merchants selling dried salty fish and hearing the clacking of mahjong tiles in the apartments above is like walking into the past. This is where my father grew up; he played and swam at the same beach that I frequent almost everyday. This is where my grandfather, whom I never knew, made Chinese poker cards to support his family of nine. Though I feel this strong connection to this island, I also feel I simply don't belong.

I'm living with Uncle Nai (He is not my uncle. It is in Chinese culture to call older family friends "Uncle" or "Auntie") and his wife. As I mentioned before, the first night was an absolute disaster. I remember Uncle Nai saying that night right before I went to bed, "I want you to be happy here, OK! (He often shouts "Okay" like the way you would say "Boo!") I was anything but. The next day, I didn't see him at all. Actually, he didn't come home for two days. So I simply wandered about the island not really knowing what to do next. The next time I saw him was at the dinner table on Tuesday night. He didn't say a word to me about where he was so I didn't say much to him, not really knowing if I should say anything. The next day was pretty much the same thing. In the morning we all went out to have dim sum at the Warwick Hotel. Brenda had poured me tea several times and I said, "Thank you" but there was one time I failed to say it. Perhaps I wasn't paying attention. What did I hear next?

"Linda, when somebody does something for you, you have to say 'Thank you.'"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you, Brenda." Why do I feel like I'm 6 years old?

After dim sum, everybody goes their separate ways and he tells me to be back for lunch before 12:30. I repeat the time 12:30 and say good-bye. I go to the library to use the internet and head back at 12:10. I get there at 12:25 and everybody is at the table.
"Linda, I told you to be back at 12 o'clock!"
"No, you said 12:30."
"Yes, it's 12:30 now. I said 12:00" Everyone else agrees with him that he said 12:00. With that last word, he finishes his rice and leaves the table to retreat upstairs."
Again, he never lets me have a say.

That night I mention to him that I walked past a school on the island and had an interview.
He says, "Linda, you should not work for that school. They cannot provide you with a working visa."
"But, the manager said that they do provide working visas."
"You really don't understand, do you? You can't trust everybody."
"But then why -"
"This manager is taking you for a fool."
I'm wondering why she would even take the time to explain that I can't start working for the school until the working visa is processed, about 4 weeks. I tell him that I'm going to do a practice teaching the next day.
"Ha! That means she doesn't trust you."
"I thought that was standard practice in this business."
"Linda, I've worked in administration for many years. I know when someone is a good teacher by seeing them." He goes on about how he knows everything about people because he used to be headmaster of a school.

It was either that night or the next, I can't remember, when he went off on me about how I had a bad attitude. I wished I had a tape recorder with me at the time because I had never been faced with such blatant insults in my life. These are some of the things he said to me and it wasn't just what he said, it was how he talked to me. It was in such a threatening manner all the while I couldn't get a word in because he likes to be the one talking not listening.

"There's something wrong with you."
"You are so rude."
"You don't know how to get along with people."
"I don't know why your father taught you like this."
"Even Uncle Leung said there was something wrong with you."
"I don't know why, even you're a university graduate and you act like this."
"You don't have good manners."
"You should say 'Good Morning Uncle' with a smile."
"You are weird."
"You are so immature."
"You have so many things to learn."
"You are too proud."
"Are you offended? Maybe you are but I'm telling you this for your own good I want you to be happy and successful."

I cried that night. Partly because of what he said was hurtful but mostly it was because before this I wondered why my father had not become rich and successful like Uncle Nai and Uncle Leung. I now know that my father is a hundred times a better man that the two of them put together. They've let their money gone to their heads and think that because they have a lot of money, they are never wrong.

This island is called Cheung Chau

2005-10-25T22:56:00.000-04:00

I'm finally here, after the headaches with the Taipei Tax Office, the anxiety of getting all the money I was owed from my previous employer (details later), the endless packing - you never know how much crap you have until you've got to move it all, the farewell lunches and dinners, the good luck hugs, the exhaustion of hauling one huge 32 kg suitcase, my PC, a guitar, and my important documents, 5 pieces of luggage in all through the airport to the MTR to the ferry to the pink house on the hill with two dogs containing one servant from the Philippines named Brenda, a woman in her 60's, I call her Auntie Nai, and last but not least her husband (also her cousin once removed) who also happens to be my Dad's long time friend from when they were schoolmates in elementary school and hence the reason why I am here.

The first night, Sunday, was to put it lightly, not so good. There was a bit of a misunderstanding. I thought I was to give them a call from the ferry pier on Cheung Chau which I did once I got there so Brenda could help me with my luggage. When he answered the phone, a man picked up with a stern voice.

"Wei."
"Hi, this is Linda."
"Where are you?"
"I'm at the ferry."
"Which side?In Hong Kong or on Cheung Chau?"
"On Cheung Chau."
"Why didn't you call us from the airport? We have been waiting so long for you!"
"Oh, I thought I had to call from the ferry so the servant could help me carry my luggage."
"No! I told you to call from the airport with free phones there."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I don't remember you telling me that."
"Your father has told me you have traveled to many places and you don't know this?!"
"I'm sorry, I thought -"
"Anyway, do you still remember the way to our house?"
"Uh, yea I think so. I thought someone could help me with my bags because I have a lot."
"Well, our servant has gone to sleep already."
"Oh, I see..."
"... Well, maybe I can wake her up. She goes to sleep early because she gets up early."
"... Okay, thanks. So I'll just wait here?"
"You know Sunday is her day off."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Okay you wait there."

Not that I'm complaining because he is offering room and board for no cost whatsoever but is it just me or do you also think it was strange that he did not offer to help with my bags as well? Brenda and I were both drenched in sweat after hauling the bags up to the house. And it's not like they were waiting at the airport for me with nothing to do; they were in the comfort of their own home. They could have simply watched a movie while they were waiting for me. So when I got there, he called up my father and yet again berated me scoldings.
"You made everybody so upset. You should know these things." Yada Yada Yada

So I took a shower and went to bed but didn't sleep a wink that night.

The next morning I got up with, perhaps, the worst migraine headache I'd ever had. The migraine lasted two days but subsided the second. I suspect the major reason is that I was getting over a stomach bug but the above could have had something to do with it.

I got up around 9 am and no one was around. I searched the fridge for something to eat but only found raw meat, Chinese vegetables, lots of processed sliced cheese, some cake, ice cream and well nothing suitable for breakfast, not even any milk. I found a cold fried egg and a piece of ham in a dish near the stove so I scarfed that down thinking nobody was around. Then Auntie Nai appeared.
"You get up early!"
"Oh, sorry. I didn't think anyone was -"
"Where is Brenda?! She has been gone for over an hour."
"Um, I don't know..."
"Do you want some (white) bread?"
"Oh, no thank you."
...
"You should have some bread."
"Oh, that's okay, I'm fine."
"Why not!?"
"I'm full already."

I didn't see Uncle Nai at all that first day on the island so I spend most of the day taking short cat naps and walking around the bustling little fishing village.

Heading to Hong Kong

2005-09-25T08:18:00.000-04:00

It's exactly one month until my alien residency card in Taiwan expires. What does this mean? It means I either have to leave the country or renew my contract with Kojen. I opted to leave. I've spent three memorable years here, one more than I had planned to originally. Living in Taipei has had its ups and downs. Let's see... What have I loved about Taiwan...
10. 7-11s everywhere - "It's so convenient here!"
9. People are generally quite friendly.
8. The MRT is awsome. Public transportation rocks.
7. Living expenses are quite low, able to save money.
6. I blend in. Yay!
5. Great Chinese food and the best tea in the world.
4. Hot springs.
3. The mountains are a half hour away.
2. The beach is an hour away.
1. Traveling in Asia and meeting people from around the world.

Things I hate here...
10. Every other store is a 7-11.
9. I hate scooters. They're loud and stinky and everywhere.
8. Traffic rules or shall I say lack there of.
7. Rude people on buses who don't get up to let you into the inside seat.
6. Rude people on buses who shove you out of the way to get to the front.
5. Crazy drivers who don't yield to pedestrians or bicyclists.
4. Cars who don't pull over when there's an ambulance behind them.
3. Prejudice against Asian Americans who don't speak Chinese fluently. I've encountered more prejudice here from Taiwanese and foreigners alike than I had ever experienced in America.
2. Women who carry umbrellas in the sun and look down on those with dark skin.
1. Air pollution. I feel like I've been smoking for twenty years. The pollution is suffocating in Taipei.
1. Lack of individuality and independance amonst people in a monoculture.
1. Girly Taiwanese women and the foreign men who prey on them.
1. Taiwanese men who want their women to be weak, subdued, and without a mind of their own.

There are more but I'll leave it at that.

Actually, many people who come here say they'll only stay here for a year but end up getting swallowed by the comforable life one can have in Taiwan and stay for 5 - 10 years without ever learning to speak Chinese (I also find this rather dispicable.) I promised myself that would never happen to me. I've decided to go on with my original plan to move to Hong Kong and learn Cantonese. Things have already been set into motion. I've given my notice of resignation to my academic director, made arrangements for a place to stay on a little island a half hour ferry ride from Hong Kong proper called Cheung Chau with a beach and no cars, inquired about a Hong Kong visa (it turns out that I don't need a visa. I can stay there for three months on my US passport), and found a replacement to take my room in Tianmu. Now all I need to do is find a job which is giving me a bit of anxiety and has been for the past couple of months. I've applied to several schools with no luck. My Asian appearance and last name seems to be my main hinderance. Employers in Hong Kong apparantly don't think a Chinese American can do as good a job teaching English as a white person can. I thought that perhaps a hundred years being colonized by the British my have taught them something but I guess I was wrong. What makes me feel a little better is telling myself that if it doesn't work out, I can always go home. It's not the end of the world. There are worse predicaments, are there not? Besides, I also promised myself that I would be back in the States by the time I was 30 and start settling down and building a stable life. Well, that's only 5 years away; time's running out!

I haven't posted on this site for quite sometime and probably won't post as often as I used to for several reasons. The main one being my psychotic old hag of a roommate Helen has cancelled my ADSL because she "doesn't want to be responsible for such a large amout of money," about 24USD a month. I've never hated a person as passionately as I do this creature. Thank God I will be rid of her. But that's story to be told another time. When I move to Hong Kong next month it will probably take some time to get the Internet set up and running. I don't think Uncle Ngai uses the Internet or even has a computer.

I'm sitting in an Internet cafe near the Shilin night market. The screen is displayed in Chinese only and there is no spell check so my post is probably littered with mistakes. My apologies.

2005-09-11T22:42:00.000-04:00

The Japanese teachers give it a go. ISO 3200

2005-09-11T22:40:00.000-04:00

Mr. Hou, the evil one appears to be having a good time.

2005-09-11T22:37:00.000-04:00

Kojen teachers at their best at the annual Kojen Summer appreciation party. School six always has the best act. The one on the right is my boss.

I'm back and better than ever

2005-09-05T11:33:00.000-04:00

Now that the hectic summer schedule at Kojen is over, I'll have more time to write in my blog. But not today. More stories and photos to come, though. So stay tuned.

Love's lost but not forgotten

2005-07-24T10:40:00.000-04:00

Ok, listen, this is my sappy spiel about love but if you don't want to hear what's been said a million times over, then don't read on.

Love hides in strange places. Sometimes when you've got it, you don't want it and when you haven't got it anymore, you want it more than anything. It's not cut and dry like the movies portray it to be - you love someone or you don't love someone. For me, at least, love happens in percentages. You love the person a lot of the time but there are times when I actually felt pure loathing toward this person. It was when the scales started tipping to the wrong side, I decided to question my purpose in the relationship. You can start to think that the person you share your life with doesn't really deserve to have the amount of affection you've been giving him and hence, begin to give less and less.

It can never be like that first month or in my case six months of a relationship. It's euphoric. Colors are more vivid. Your shoes fit better. Everything seems right.

If you spend years with the same person that person truly becomes part of you. This person shares the same memories with you and as time passes, eventually the number of memories including this person outnumbers the memories without this person. But then, what will happen when this person is ousted from your life by extreme forces? Who are you? Where is that part of you where that person once happily resided?

Panic takes over. Where am I? What do I do? Where is he, damnit? I want that piece back. What extremes can I go to find that missing part of me and how dare you take it away, whoever, whatever you are? Anger. Hatred. Clouded irrational thinking. Anguish. Heartache.

"What was the reason why I broke up with him again? I can't seem to remember. All I can remember are the good ones with him. I think I want him back but it's just too late. But is it? Maybe not. I'm going to try to get him back. But why do I want to do this? How will I do this? Wasn't I so unhappy when we were together? It doesn't matter because it's got to be better than the misery I'm feeling now. Anything to just make the pain go away." This is what I thought every minute of the day.

You need some kind of force to bring you back down to earth from this constant delirious brooding. For me, it was my friends. They reminded me why I broke up with him in the first place and it was like an extraordinary epiphany. I was instantly happy. The weight was lifted off of me and suddenly I was on cloud nine. This guy was not the right for me; they spelled it out in every way possible. I could do better. Yes, of course, I could. There are so many guys in this world and I know that I'm special. I'm different from most girls.

I now know that man who is going to truly love me and make me happy (not that I'm not perfectly content being by myself) is out there. I can't wait to meet him.

To Malcolm

2005-07-20T12:06:00.000-04:00

Where do I start?

Hearing that you went out with someone else was as if some heinous beast had reached into my chest and tore out a piece of my heart. It's strange, that expression, "a broken heart" because the pain really felt like it stemmed from somewhere within my chest cavity. It's a real physical pain; it's not up there where you think and make logical decisions.

I know I was the one who did the breaking up. I put you through a lot of pain and anguish. I know. It's mostly my pride and selfishness that is causing my own misery. You have a right to see other women.

I ponder the reasons why you did it the way you did it. Some think you just wanted to make me jealous or piss me off and if that's true, you succeeded. You won. I cried. A lot. I spent many a night wide-eyed starring at the window. Let me out of this nightmare. Or that this was some last attempt at getting me back. Others think, you just needed a quick fuck. That actually doesn't bother me as much as disappoint me for I thought you were a different kind of man, the kind that doesn't think with that small piece of flesh hanging between his legs. Actually, what I think is that you simply needed to move on and there's nothing wrong with that. The reasons don't matter.

The days and nights have been hard. I shed a lot of tears that first night. The second I shed fewer. The third even fewer and now though I still do feel a strange pit in my chest, I think I'm okay. It gets easier as the days go by and to be honest my friends have really come through for me. They are there to comfort me, to tell me to be strong, to criticize you (which makes me feel a lot better), to eat, to laugh about our silly lives. They are great. It would be so much harder had I not had good friends to lean on.

I constantly replay all those amazing times we had together. There were so many. Everywhere I look I see something that reminds me of some experience we had. I search for some sign that you are trying to make contact with me. When the telephone rings, I hope it's you. When I turn over in my bed at night I see an imaginary outline of you body next to mine. Then it disappears. During the day, I wonder what you are up to. I wonder if you wonder what I'm up to. I do miss you much.

We were the best of friends throughout our relationship as well as after it ended. Our conversations even became more intimate afterwards too. I think perhaps the main reason why I am so upset is because I lost my best friend that night and that my best treated me with such contempt.

I was reading this book in Eslite the other day called Blink. The author talked about how some people make it in life, not only do they have wealth but they also have true happiness while others suffer bad fortune throughout their lives. He attributed it to the ability to make good decisions. Basically, there are those who have a sense about how to make the right decision most of the time leading to fulfilling successful lives. Anyway, I think I'm one of those people. Things always seem to work out for me. I know that I made the right decision to break up with you because you are certainly not the right mate for me. There are simply too many incompatible traits the main one being our differences in values. Therefore, I stand firm with the decision that we cannot be friends anymore. We both have to move on.

However, I do have some of your possessions like your tent and a good book of yours. I think you may want them back. You have the travel guide that I have to give to my coworker. I would somehow like to set up a time where we can exchange items. You can send me an e-mail or leave me a message.