I have not been writing as much as I wanted to. I think that I'm basically just going to write whenever I find a song I like, even if it means just a short post. And I've found a few songs to share, and now forgot what many of them are. And I also put it off because I actually have something to write today. I should update you (Wendy) on my time in Hong Kong over New Year's, which was wonderful.
I went down to visit my friend Shuk-Wah, who moved there about 6 months ago from Australia. She's an old friend from Beijing, and she is wonderful. I was actually thinking on the way to HK about some of the times we've spent together, and we've really had some great ones. She's just a lot of fun. And she's super smart and insightful and interested in my life (as I am in hers). It's really nice to spend time with someone who you really feel cares about what you're saying, and who is genuinely interested and is willing and able to have open, honest and insightful conversation. And when it goes both ways. So it was really, really nice to spend time with her and catch up on each others' lives. In fact, despite spending like 3 days constantly together, I don't think we even covered everything.
We started out when I arrived by just grabbing a drink and doing the quick catch up. And by that I just mean the largest, most recent issues in our lives. On the 30th we started with dim sum at a place called Lin Heung Teahouse, which was maybe my favorite meal in HK. It's a place my friend Robynne recommended, and it's an old school HK dim sum place where you have to fight for a seat, then fight for your food as it's being pushed around on carts. It was awesome. And the char siew bao was maybe the best I'd ever had. So awesome. This was followed by a walking tour of Central HK, and then going home to get all cleaned up and head out for our New Year's Eve celebrations. We met my friend Christina and her boyfriend and went to a restaurant on the waterfront on the Kowloon side, where they had a buffet dinner and free flow booze. This went on and on and on until about 3:30, at which point we were drunk, done dancing, had stolen one of the large, bejewelled numbers hanging on the wall for 2016 (well, not really stolen, everyone was taking them and I just managed to get away with the zero), which I then used to propose to Shuk-Wah, before catching an Uber home and passing out. And the best part was no hangovers on the first!
The first we got up late (obviously) and were going to go for a big, Western breakfast, but I decided that the first thing I eat in 2016 should rather be a char siew bao. So we got that and then went to have our big breakfast. Unfortunately it was already 3pm by then, so breakfast was no longer being served. But we had a nice lunch, then Christina and her boyfriend left (they live in Shenzhen and just came across for the evening), and Shuk-Wah and I went out to Cheung Chao, one of the many islands in Hong Kong, to go for a hike. It's really nice that HK is such a huge city but also has so much nature and is so easy to escape. Not that most people go there to escape, they go for the city, but we did a bit of escaping. And our escaping ended with a great seafood dinner on the waterfront, which was super cheap and fresh and delicious. Then back to HK to grab a couple drinks and go home. Really a great first day for 2016.
Day 2 of the year was more hiking. This one much more difficult, though. The 1st was really more like a walk, if anything. But on day 2 we had lunch then started walking up to The Peak. We stopped at the botanical and zoological gardens on the way, which is an awesome, free zoo right in the middle of downtown. They have some excellent monkeys, who were very playful and active, and one of whom even started masturbating for us. That was weird. Hilarious, but weird. And they have birds that are super boring when compared to monkeys. Then we just kept going up and up and up. And once we got to The Peak, we kept going up and up and up to High West, the higher peak which is right next to The Peak. And we had to go up an overgrown, mostly unmarked trail to get to it. Which was great, except for the fact that I was definitely not properly dressed for hiking. My jeans did not make it easy or comfortable. But they do make my butt look good, so there's that. But it was a great hike, and would have been fantastic views if not for the pollution. It's actually quite bad there, on par with Shanghai, which I was not expecting at all. So 2 days of good hikes. Then we had to get home to clean up and head to my last dinner, which was a bit of a Beijing reunion. Through Shuk-Wah I met my friend Iris, who was in HK visiting family and having her HK wedding. And through Iris I met my friend Wendy, who was in HK starting out her Fullbright. So we all met up for dinner, along with Iris's husband (who I'd never met before) and two of his friends, and had a great time catching up. I've seen Wendy recently as she's been in and out of Beijing, but Iris I hadn't seen in 3 years. And we had a 3 year pact, which we've now updated for the next 3 years and included Shuk-Wah in. It was fantastic to see them and catch up. And luckily Shuk-Wah is close so I'll see her more, and Wendy is going to be in HK and Beijing for the next 7 months working on her Fullbright, so I'll see her more, too. Good stuff. After that, it was one last sleep and then home. It was a really fantastic trip, and I really want to take more weekends down in HK to visit. We'll see if I can work it out, though, as I've got quite the crazy schedule already for the year.
I told you it was long. But music will be quick. Here's a new song called Child. It's by an Israeli artist named Ninet Tayeb. This is the first single off of her debut, as-yet-untitled American album, which will be out later this year, and which she's releasing using only her first name. It's a great first listen, and I'm definitely interested to hear more from this lady.
I went down to visit my friend Shuk-Wah, who moved there about 6 months ago from Australia. She's an old friend from Beijing, and she is wonderful. I was actually thinking on the way to HK about some of the times we've spent together, and we've really had some great ones. She's just a lot of fun. And she's super smart and insightful and interested in my life (as I am in hers). It's really nice to spend time with someone who you really feel cares about what you're saying, and who is genuinely interested and is willing and able to have open, honest and insightful conversation. And when it goes both ways. So it was really, really nice to spend time with her and catch up on each others' lives. In fact, despite spending like 3 days constantly together, I don't think we even covered everything.
We started out when I arrived by just grabbing a drink and doing the quick catch up. And by that I just mean the largest, most recent issues in our lives. On the 30th we started with dim sum at a place called Lin Heung Teahouse, which was maybe my favorite meal in HK. It's a place my friend Robynne recommended, and it's an old school HK dim sum place where you have to fight for a seat, then fight for your food as it's being pushed around on carts. It was awesome. And the char siew bao was maybe the best I'd ever had. So awesome. This was followed by a walking tour of Central HK, and then going home to get all cleaned up and head out for our New Year's Eve celebrations. We met my friend Christina and her boyfriend and went to a restaurant on the waterfront on the Kowloon side, where they had a buffet dinner and free flow booze. This went on and on and on until about 3:30, at which point we were drunk, done dancing, had stolen one of the large, bejewelled numbers hanging on the wall for 2016 (well, not really stolen, everyone was taking them and I just managed to get away with the zero), which I then used to propose to Shuk-Wah, before catching an Uber home and passing out. And the best part was no hangovers on the first!
The first we got up late (obviously) and were going to go for a big, Western breakfast, but I decided that the first thing I eat in 2016 should rather be a char siew bao. So we got that and then went to have our big breakfast. Unfortunately it was already 3pm by then, so breakfast was no longer being served. But we had a nice lunch, then Christina and her boyfriend left (they live in Shenzhen and just came across for the evening), and Shuk-Wah and I went out to Cheung Chao, one of the many islands in Hong Kong, to go for a hike. It's really nice that HK is such a huge city but also has so much nature and is so easy to escape. Not that most people go there to escape, they go for the city, but we did a bit of escaping. And our escaping ended with a great seafood dinner on the waterfront, which was super cheap and fresh and delicious. Then back to HK to grab a couple drinks and go home. Really a great first day for 2016.
Day 2 of the year was more hiking. This one much more difficult, though. The 1st was really more like a walk, if anything. But on day 2 we had lunch then started walking up to The Peak. We stopped at the botanical and zoological gardens on the way, which is an awesome, free zoo right in the middle of downtown. They have some excellent monkeys, who were very playful and active, and one of whom even started masturbating for us. That was weird. Hilarious, but weird. And they have birds that are super boring when compared to monkeys. Then we just kept going up and up and up. And once we got to The Peak, we kept going up and up and up to High West, the higher peak which is right next to The Peak. And we had to go up an overgrown, mostly unmarked trail to get to it. Which was great, except for the fact that I was definitely not properly dressed for hiking. My jeans did not make it easy or comfortable. But they do make my butt look good, so there's that. But it was a great hike, and would have been fantastic views if not for the pollution. It's actually quite bad there, on par with Shanghai, which I was not expecting at all. So 2 days of good hikes. Then we had to get home to clean up and head to my last dinner, which was a bit of a Beijing reunion. Through Shuk-Wah I met my friend Iris, who was in HK visiting family and having her HK wedding. And through Iris I met my friend Wendy, who was in HK starting out her Fullbright. So we all met up for dinner, along with Iris's husband (who I'd never met before) and two of his friends, and had a great time catching up. I've seen Wendy recently as she's been in and out of Beijing, but Iris I hadn't seen in 3 years. And we had a 3 year pact, which we've now updated for the next 3 years and included Shuk-Wah in. It was fantastic to see them and catch up. And luckily Shuk-Wah is close so I'll see her more, and Wendy is going to be in HK and Beijing for the next 7 months working on her Fullbright, so I'll see her more, too. Good stuff. After that, it was one last sleep and then home. It was a really fantastic trip, and I really want to take more weekends down in HK to visit. We'll see if I can work it out, though, as I've got quite the crazy schedule already for the year.
I told you it was long. But music will be quick. Here's a new song called Child. It's by an Israeli artist named Ninet Tayeb. This is the first single off of her debut, as-yet-untitled American album, which will be out later this year, and which she's releasing using only her first name. It's a great first listen, and I'm definitely interested to hear more from this lady.
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