Phone. Foreigner. Frick.

7:43 - Frick I missed the minibus.

7:45 - Frick I left my phone at home. I'm going home to get it. Halfway up the street, I'm thinking do I really need it that much? I go get it anyway cos it's too late to turn back now.

7:50 - Frick I missed another bus.

7:52 - I get on a bus, all is left are window seats, but this foreigner won't budge from his isle seat and I have to awkwardly shuffle past his shoulders as he turns to let me through to the seat next to him. He better get off soon cos I'd be pissed if you got off at the same stop which is the last stop.

8:00 - The foreigner doesn't get off til the last stop. UGHHHHH. Talk about lack of public transport courtesy.

Frick this is not a good start is it. At least I didn't forget to bring my lunch this time.

Season change

Today I'm thankful for hoodies, colourful scarves and warm socks.

(It hit 15'C in HK today! Finally!)

Schoolbus of death

" 美國總統說過，我們不知道哪輛校車里的孩子將來會是美國的總統。所以校車安全性是中國的40倍。 中國領導人知道，不論哪輛校車里的孩子都不會是中國的主席。因為領導的孩子不會坐校車 . 幾萬元的校車，裝60多個學生。幾十萬元的公車，裝一個領導干部。他們對醫療不重視，因為他們有高干病房； 他們對教育不重視，因為他們的孩子留洋； 他們對食品安全不重視，因為他們有特供食品；他們對堵車不重視，因為他們出行警車開道； 他們對國家未來不重視，因為他們妻兒已經移民美國！ 他們對維穩很重視，因為他們怕失去這些!這就是我們的領導！能買光全世界的飛機，卻買不起一輛校車；能把衛星送入太空， 卻造不起一座小橋；能給別國花數億，卻不肯多蓋幾所小學；一年能吃掉幾十艘航母，卻逼著孩子捐出午飯錢.

An American president once said, we don't know which one of those school-buses is carrying the future President of the USA. Which explains how school buses in the US are 40 times safer than those in China. Whereas on the other hand, Chinese leaders know that those children in school buses won't be the future Chairman of China, 'cause future leaders don't ride on school buses.

A school bus that costs a couple thousand dollars will carry 60 children. But future leaders ride in million-dollar limos. Medical policies are not important to them, because they have private hospitals. Education is not important to them, because they send their children to study abroad. Food-safety issues are not important to them, because they have their meals provided for them. Traffic jams are no issue, because they ride around with police escorts. What the future holds for their country is not important to them, because their wife and children have immigrated to the USA! They do, however, care about stability, because they're scared they would lose all their special meals and police escorts. These are our leaders. They can buy all the airplanes in the world, yet wouldn't spare any change for a schoolbus. They can send satellites into space, yet wouldn't build a simple bridge. They'd spend billions in other countries, yet wouldn't build a few more schools. They'd build aircraft carriers just like that, while robbing the children of their lunch money."

Today, I'm thankful my country/city has its own laws, government, and civilised and colonial-influenced public policies.

15 places you should travel while you're young

http://www.buzzfeed.com/capitalone/15-places-you-should-travel-to-while-you-are-young

1. New York, USA (2001)

2. Barcelona, Spain (2003)

3. Sydney, Australia (1997?)

4. Bangkok, Thailand (1990)

5. San Francisco, USA (2001)

6. San Jose, Costa Rica

7. Cancun, Mexico

8. London, England (2003)

9. Hanoi, Vietnam (2000?)

10. Paris, France (2006)

11. Tokyo, Japan (2005)

12. Delhi, India

13. Amsterdam, Holland (2010)

14. Cape Town, South Africa

15. Berlin, Germany

....so, 5 more to go and then I can grow old.

Just go: Bangkok, N-th time round

If you're an average upper/middle-class Hong Konger, I think it is safe to say that you've probably definitely been to Bangkok more than twice in your lifetime. There's something about Bangkok that keeps drawing you back. Perhaps it's because it's so close and so cheap. It's somewhere you just...GO. But on the other hand, you've done all the touristy stuff, the big night markets where they rip tourists off, the floating market aka tourist trap, the grand palace, the museum...what else is there to do?!

Well, who says you need to be a tourist to be on holiday? Indeed, lazing around on your precious annual leave days is a waste of time. But lazing around in a foreign country on your precious AL days is therapeutic. Here's how I spent my 10th-time-round Bangkok holiday.

(OK so it might be a bit different for me as I had family aka my dad living in Bangkok...but still)
Day one:After checking into dad's little boutique hotel, my dad, my gal pal and I jumped on a taxi to Jatujak Market. Before you scream "been there done that cliche tourist blah blah..!", let me remind you that this was a Monday, where the main part of Jatujak is closed, all except for the food market - cooked and fresh produce. We strolled along a massive covered, well-ventilated & well-sanitised complex, meandering through stalls with mountains of mangos and gigantic durians, as well as big pots of curries and grilled meat on sticks. We put our stuff down on a table at a foodcourt x "dai pai dong" type area, and went around ordering sticky rice, noodles, nutty dumplings and colourful fruit juices. We sat down and food shortly poured onto our table, whilst only very little money trickled out of our pockets. We could've carried on eating here for hours and hours, but the heat and the lack of sleep stifled our appetites.

The rest of the afternoon was your typical girly 'vacay' - shopping, bargaining, manicures, eating, tasting, getting lost...(all in the area of Siam Square/MBK/National Stadium etc) before heading back to Sukhumvit Road and gorging on hummus, chicken shawarma and moussaka at the Beirut Restaurant in Sukhumvit Plaza, opposite Sukhumvit Soi 1 (even the local Arabs go there - gotta be good). On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a random Thai massage place for some cheap foot massage.

Back at the hotel we polished off a good kilo of delicious mangosteens that we got from Jatujak earlier. DELISHAS.

Day two:

Slept in, had a healthy English breakfast (it's not an oxymoron when there's lots of fruit and vegetarian bacon), sat by the pool, swam, sunbathed, read books & emails... We then headed out down the street for some street-side fried rice & ice-milo, more fruit from the cart-pushing vendors, before jumping on a taxi to Bangkok International Dental Clinic (BIDC) to get our teeth cleaned. Half an hour later, with squeeky clean teeth and only 1000baht poorer (my dentist in HK can forget about seeing me ever again), we went for a bit more shopping and pedicures.

Day three:
Even though our flight was booked for tomorrow, my friend decided to leave BKK today because her family was worried about the floods in Thailand. After another chill morning by the pool, we headed back out to the streets, sat next to some friendly English-speaking locals who helped us order our last minute street-pad-thai and ice milk tea.

The rest of my holiday was spent mostly with "family" - helping them with camera shopping, having pizza with the kiddies, watching a movie that was out 4 weeks before coming out in HK cinemas, more big breakfasts and reading by the pool and massages. It was good mix of family- & relax-to-the-max time.

Bangkok is just...easy. And being a cosmopolitan Asian city, it's yummy, it's convenient, it's a little less rules-bound, but it's bound to be full of quirky cultural happenings around the city.

The new to come

Rather than thinking "did I make the right decision", I'm going to pray that

God will use me there
God will bless that place through me
God will challenge me with new things
God will challenge others through me
God will transform me by renewing my mind through the Holy Spirit
I will look to Him for fulfillment and satisfaction
I will trust Him to shape me and mould me into who I'm supposed to be


Amen

Tea ladies & Goliath

Giants are populating this tiny island, and we're pushing our own tiny tea ladies aside to make room for more giants.

After 25 years of teas and canapes, dimsum and scones, swinging salon doors and old Chinese waiters, the iconic China Tee Club is closing down to make room for a 4-storey Abercrombie & Fitch store in the old Pedder Building. It pains me to think about how A&F will strip out the charming tiled floors, slowly rotating ceiling fans, rustic brass taps and the rest of its colonial 19th-century Hong Kong ambiance. They're also kicking out another Hong Kong icon Shanghai Tang as well as On Pedder to make room for its fat (American) arse. One can just hope that rather than gutting out the place they'd work sympathetically around the old woodwork and classic interiors.

But, A&F are not the ones to blame. It is the real fuel behind giants like these, LV Gucci Coach etc (just throw in any brand name) - China money. It's a love-hate relationship, this one, between us here in former British-colonised Hong Kong, and those in the big country up north aka Mainland China. The number of cash-rich millionaires that flock to Hong Kong with their stacks of notes and eagerness to blindly sweep up branded goods like Chinese people at a buffet will only go up and up and up. Businesses in Hong Kong love their money. We NEED their money. But this rocket fuel for big international chains and oligopolies are wiping out what little remains of a colourful and interesting sino-colonial history that made this territory stand out from so many other big cities.

But then again perhaps mine is the last generation that will reminisce over something so 'old school'. When the we-don't-use-textbooks-anymore-we-use-ipads-generation takes over they won't even know what they're missing.