Seniors with stickers

I saw her from a distance. Disheveled grey loosely permed hair. Sunken eyes. Missing teeth. Stumbling forward with a 4-legged cane. Politely, I moved out of her way so she could have more space on the sidewalk, but she directed her crippled walk towards me again, coming closer and closer. When she came close enough for me to hear her frail voice, she asked me to please give her some money in support of something or other, in exchange for a little square sticker I could wear to show off how generous I was.I said no nicely but for the next 2 blocks towards the office, I zig-zagged around old lady after old lady with a sheet of stickers in her...

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Xmas Eve Parties in Hong Kong

With such a "great nightlife", you'd think it'd be easier to find out what's happening on any given night here in HK, especially Christmas Eve and Day.Nuh-uh. But after digging around, I managed to find a few confirmed party details for those who are interested:VolarXmas Eve Rockin' PartyDJ Thomas C & Leman on Club sideDJ Gruv & Yeodie on Lounge side$500 for arrival between 10pm-12am$300 for arrival after 12amOpen bar between 10pm-1amOn guestlist $300 (incl. 2 drinks)M1NTMinistry of Sound...

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I won!! Not really...

It seems that I've had pretty good luck since arriving in Hong Kong, at least when it comes to random lucky draws. At a Canadian Chamber networking event, my name card was drawn for (no, not the Manic Street Preachers concert tix) but a 6 month subscription to Quamnet, some kind of stock price analysis company (yippity doo dah.)At another networking event by HK mag, I won a bottle of Baileys Creme Caramel (now, we're talking!) and just recently, I got an SMS from my yoga centre saying that I won some sort of prize worth HKD 800!The next time I'm there, I happily go up to the counter and ask for my prize, thinking it might be HKD 800 of Sogo gift...

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Bad blogger

Sorry all, I've been missing for a while cuz I was computer-less! But now, I'm back on a shiny new Mac, and I plan to post a lot more from now on. Stay tuned!!...

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TMV: Too Much Visual

This morning as I was drying my hair after yoga, I saw a woman behind me making some rough motions between her legs. I couldn't help but notice her, because she was wrapped in a bath towel, squatting low with her legs spread, one hand holding up her towel at the chest and the other wiping her nether regions back-and forth, back-and-forth at least 10x in a very rough manner. Staring at her with wide eyes, I was even more shocked to see her finish off by taking a stack of wet paper towels out from her crotch and chucking it into the garbage bin.I know with hot yoga comes a lot of gross things (people burping, farting, pointing my finger right into...

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It's raining...acid??

It's not uncommon to feel a few sprinkles drop from the sky when you're walking around in Hong Kong. Normally, it's just condensation from the millions of air conditioning units hanging from buildings above, but today, a bottle of corrosive liquid dropped from the sky onto the busiest street in Mong Kok : Sai Yeung Choi Street!!!Considering that we hang out there 80% of the time we're out, I feel SO lucky to not have been there today. I mean, about 20 people got burned by the unidentified liquid, and who knows if their wounds will leave them scarred for life?! :( and what kind of person would throw acid out the window?? Hopefully it was all...

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Big Eyes = Beautiful

I was talking to one of my colleagues the other day when I noticed there was something strange about her.Was it her haircut...? No. New mascara...? Nah. Upon closer examination, I noticed that her eyes were eerily dark and extra large. It wasn't until I noticed it on a few other girls in HK when I connected the dots (or pupils, haha).Turns out that there are contact lenses here that actually make your eyes look bigger! Similar to colour contacts, these ones feature an extra wide diameter to expand...

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The Dreaded Toilet

It's never good to hold it in, but you would too if you had to go all the way out of the office into a deserted, dingy stairwell, with a big-a** toilet key in hand, into a freezing cold, air-conditioned double-stalled toilet where none of the flushes work.Yes, that's right. One of the toilets DO flush but if you're unlucky enough to be using it immediately after someone else, you're just as doomed to have to fill up (using a slow tap) a very used 4L Watsons plastic water jug and slosh your doings...

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Going Veg

Last night, I was shooting chicken invaders out of the sky in a symphony of 'ba-caws!' Could it have been a sign?? Looks like the bird flu is back again in Hong Kong. Just 18 minutes ago, news broke that three dead chickens tested positive for the H5N1 virus, prompting the immediate slaughter of 80,000 birds (poor things). Poultry imports are also halted for 21 days.I've always thought of trying to become vegetarian, but never got very far, thanks to beautiful pieces of BBQ pork dripping honey and...

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A Weekend with Work

When I first saw the email, I must say I was shocked. Office teambuilding, over an entire weekend?!?! O_o The whole thing was very mysterious at first, and none of us were told where we were going or what the activities would be until the very day. No wonder. The first night, we were told to walk on fire.To be honest, I was somewhat curious but I definitely didn't feel that it was ever something that I had always wanted to do... I had heard that it was a magical experience, "mind over matter" and everything, but that didn't stop me from feeling the fiery hot pieces of blazing wood sear right through my foot soles. I actually ended up with four...

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Oops, I cut it again...

The other night I was in Mong Kok after work when I realised I had a couple hours to spare. I had just confirmed my plane ticket to Koh Samui for Xmas (yippy!!) and was feeling rather happy, free and didn't feel like going home yet. So, I shuffled into the crowd towards Sai Yeung Choi street, thinking that I'd maybe have a look at some electronics or something. While walking down the street, I came across this hair salon that I had visited the year before when visiting HK and thought, "Hm, why not...

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Who’s the prettiest one of all?

While doing my regular check of what’s happening this weekend, I happened to come across the Miss Babe Yi event for this Saturday night. It looked pretty standard at first, ladies free, men pay HKD150, everyone gets a free drink. Reading on, it said:“All men will be given 3 stickers, they can post them on any girls that they think are the most pretty and gorgeous ones. Around 1a.m., Yilou [the club] will ask the top 3 girls to come out and let them to have a self introduction/talent show. Then the girl who received the most support will be titled as “Miss Baby Yi”. She will receive a gift from Tiffany & Co. and 1 X 1.5L Astoria Lounge.”Hmm…...

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The Horror of Wearing Flip Flops

Flip flops. Generally regarded as one of the most comfortable footwear styles ever known to (wo)man. Does not restrict blood flow. Won’t mould your foot into a triangular shape. Keeps your toes free to wiggle. And hey, they match with almost anything. Who would ever suspect the flip flop to have any negative sides??But let me tell you, wearing flip flops in HK is a very. bad. idea… Why? Just imagine this. You’re in the middle of a massive, and I mean massive crowd of people who are rushing to their next destination, who don’t know or care about the concept of personal space, don’t give a rat's ass about you, everyone’s moving in different directions...

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Cheap!!

Today, I was officially scorned by the office cleaning lady. Despite my daily 'good mornings' to her and rigorous attempts to make her feel like a just-as-worthy human being, I'm pretty sure she hates me right now.Why, you ask?The thing is, each of us have a little rubbish bin under our desk, which is essentially a rectangular plastic bin with a grey plastic bag lining it. I assumed, wrongfully(?) that we could throw garbage in it. Today, my lunch was particularly saucy, so when she came around in the afternoon to empty our garbage bins, she noticed that mine was particularly wet.Her face was hidden by her tri-fold SARS mask, but the disdain...

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Cantonese 101

Wow, time flies!! Especially in HK. Even though there seem to be more waking hours in the day, including hours where you can eat, shop or just hang out away from home, the time just slips away quicker than ever.We've been in HK for a month now, and Halloween is tomorrow (gasp!). We don't have any plans yet (double gasp!!) which is astonishing, since it's actually my favourite day of the year, usually. This year might be a lil different, since I a) don't have any of my halloween gear here, and b) don't have a party to hit up :(Of course there are a ton of expat things going on in Lan Kwai Fong and various clubs (with a hefty price tag attached,...

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Boot-boot

The other day, me and C were out on the streets trying to find the minibus to Mong Kok from our neighborhood, when a man walked by and let a loud one rip."Did he just...???" I asked with a shocked expression."Yep," said C, matter-of-factly.I see... and that wasn't the only time it's happened. It seems that in HK, it's perfectly alright to let your natural gases escape when and where they appear, perhaps since the air quality is so bad anyway (?). I mean, who would notice right? Clouded with exhaust...

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What's in a name?

Lately, I’ve been looking thru the Nike address book in China/HK a little bit and couldn’t help noticing the interesting choice of names. Note I said ‘choice’, because I’m pretty sure these names were not the doings of parents, I mean, they are too downright egoistical and/or cute to have been, right?? So, how exactly does one name him/herself here? It seems that some people picked names that would easily start up conversations, since they were all weather-related:(Note: all names are real, unchanged, and followed by a Chinese last name, e.g. Chan)Snow Summer RainSunnyPossible conversation:S: Hi! My name is Sunny! Today is also sunny!R: Cool!...

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Dust, smog and soot

As most people know, HK isn’t known to have the best air quality. Most of the time, the view of the skyline is covered in a thick layer of fog/smog, and the air is thick and heavy. Luckily it’s lightened up a bit these days due to heavy rain, but it sure is dusty, especially inside our place!Just a few hours after wiping up, a layer of dust forms again. My aunt says it’s cuz we live on the 3rd floor, so all the pollution flies right in. =( We’ve gotta figure out a solution to this, so if anyone knows anything, tell us!! So far we’ve just been closing the windows more often…Funny too – they don’t have SWIFFER here (where it’s MOST needed)! They’ve...

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Update

Hi everyone!!First, thanks to everyone for a killer party last weekend!! I had a wicked time but I’ll never drink that much ever again!! Sunday was a total write-off :pAnyway, the trip to HK went surprisingly smooth. First, after we handed over our apartment keys to the housing agent, we needed to call a taxi but the line was busy. Luckily though, our agent offered to drive us to Central Station in his minivan (so nice!)!! Next, we arrived at Schiphol with way too much luggage (expecting to pay another 150 euros or so for an extra suitcase of stuff) but at the check-in counter, we were told that we could both check-in 2 bags each!! (Usually it’s...

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