Descending into the depths of Koh Haa Lagoon in south of Thailand
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Thursday, November 16, 2006
On the Road
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.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Monday, September 04, 2006
Moving On
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.
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.
Friday, August 04, 2006
I walk alone
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
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
Friday, July 14, 2006
The road to financial freedom
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.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Racism in Asia (cont...)
Check out this article I found from the South China Morning Post.
http://www.bigenglish.com/imgs/14jan.news.jpg
http://www.bigenglish.com/imgs/14jan.news.jpg
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Racism in Asia - An Anti-Asian American Sentiment in Hong Kong
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.
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.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Bug Off
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
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