Christmas with the Family

Ryan came to Hong Kong for Christmas. It was my turn to go see him, but we decided he should come here. Mainland China might not be the best place for Christmas. It's just not an important holiday there. Hong Kong is nothing like home either, but it is better than China.

Lily & Kevin were also feeling a little homesick during the holiday, so we decided to all spend the day together. All of our families are in the United States and Canada, and going home to see them was not going to happen this year. We are all the closest thing to family we have in Hong Kong, so it makes sense that we spend holidays together.

Since a one bedroom apartment is a little too small for four people, and since it was Christmas, we decided to splurge and go to a nice hotel. I don't know whose idea it was originally. I think it was Kevin's. Lily & Kevin talked about it and then brought it up to me. I told Ryan.

We went to the Auberge Discovery Bay on Siena Avenue. It is nowhere close to any MTR stops, but the hotel has shuttles to the airport, Disneyland and area attractions. This was more like a resort than a hotel. It looks a lot nicer than most Hong Kong hotels and has a full service spa, is on the beach and has several dining options besides the usual restaurant.

Lily & I had to work a lot around Christmas, so I suggested we go to a hotel close to Disneyland. That way we could all spend time together at a nice hotel and Lily & I could easily go to work when we had to. This one was very close. I have never gotten to work so quickly. Since it was at Discovery Bay, there was plenty for Ryan and Kevin to do. Discovery Bay is full of expats and vacationing foreigners, so they could hang out with other foreigners and talk about football and hot dogs, or whatever they talk about in bars. They probably talk about girls and their balls, but I prefer to think about it my way.

The hotel had plenty to eat and drink, a nice swimming pool and the rooms had new TVs with more than enough channels and free internet. I don't know why all hotels don't have free internet. This was a great place for Ryan and Kevin to be lazy for a couple of days.

The Auberge Discovery Bay is an expensive hotel, but we got a Disneyland discount. That made it a lot cheaper, but that also meant we could not book the best rooms. The more expensive rooms face the ocean and have great views of the bay. The discount rooms are in the back and face the mountain. They were still very nice rooms and the view was not bad at all. The mountains on Lantau Island are pretty green. Our rooms were large by Hong Kong standards and looked a lot nicer than most hotels around here. They did not look anything like discount rooms. That's the way any good hotel should be.

Since we were not in the city, we tried the hotel breakfast. If we were in Kowloon or Hong Kong Island we would have never eaten a hotel breakfast. There is too much food that's a lot better in every direction. Here, we were away from the city, and going out to get food took longer than just walking outdoors. The hotel is not in the middle of nowhere, but it is in an overpriced neighborhood where people who don't like living in Hong Kong live. The breakfast was pretty good. It was still a hotel breakfast, but it was not all microwaved food sitting under a heat lamp. It actually looked appetizing and some of it was made by chefs rather than short order cooks.

I don't know if we will ever go to this hotel again, but I'm up for it.

Andy Williams Christmas

Merry Christmas to all!

Dean Martin Christmas

Let it snow. It’s cold in Hong Kong, but not that cold.

Bing Crosby Christmas

Bing Crosby – It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Cold Weather Warning

The Hong Kong Observatory issued a Cold Weather Warning. People are being told to take precautions and do what they can to keep warm. The daytime temperatures are around 15 Celsius/59 Fahrenheit and just under 10C/50F degrees at night.

I'm from Minnesota. 50F is autumn weather to me. It's not winter, and it is definitely no reason to be alarmed.

What I have to remember, and what other people who do not understand why anyone would complain about such a warm winter have to remember, is that in this part of the world, anything even close to freezing is considered alarmingly cold. In Minnesota, we have heating systems in our homes, heavy coats, plenty of blankets and houses with lots of insulation to protect us from the cold. No one has heaters in Hong Kong. You can buy a little portable heater but it is not the same. Hong Kong houses are designed to protect people from the humid summers. Everybody has air conditioning. I have never been to a house in Hong Kong with a heater. The insulation here is terrible. If I stand next to the living room window, I can feel the wind from outside.

There is also very little difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures. In Minnesota, it is always colder at night. In Hong Kong, it is generally about the same, just not as sunny. People from Hong Kong are not used to being warm in the day and getting chillier at night. Right now, they are just cold all the time. Especially at night.

It's easy for me to say this is a very mild winter, but that is only because I'm used to blizzards and plenty of snow every winter. For people who are used to 90% humidity 90% of the time, this is a very cold winter.

Peter O’Toole

Peter O'Toole was one of my favorite actors when I was younger. I have not seen any of his latest movies.

His performances in Lawrence of Arabia and The Lion in Winter still blow me away, as much as Night of the Generals still creeps me out. To this day, General Tanz crosses my mind at least once a month. I remember how surprised I was when I first saw The Ruling Class. I was pretty young and did not fully realize that a serious dramatic actor could do comedy. He did both exceptionally well.

His stage work included a good deal of prominent productions of Shakespeare

King Lear as the Duke of Cornwall
Othello as Lodovico
A Midsummer Night's Dream as Lysander
The Taming of the Shrew as Petruchio
The Merchant of Venice as Shylock
Troilus and Cressida as Thersites
Macbeth as Macbeth
Hamlet as Hamlet in two separate productions

And a few by George Bernard Shaw

Major Barbara as Peter Shirley
The Apple Cart as King Magnus in two separate productions
Man and Superman as Tanner in three separate productions
Pygmalion as Henry Higgins in four separate productions and a movie version

Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot as Vladimir in two separate productions
Chekhov's Uncle Vanya as Vanya in two separate productions
Noël Coward's Present Laughter as Gary Essendine
He originated the role of Jeffrey Bernard in Keith Waterhouse's Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell, as well as the movie that he co-directed


Kidnapped
directed & written by Robert Stevenson
produced by Walt Disney
starring Peter Finch, James MacArthur, Bernard Lee, John Laurie, Peter O'Toole

The Savage Innocents
directed by Nicholas Ray
written by Nicholas Ray & Franco Solinas
starring Anthony Quinn, Yoko Tani, Peter O'Toole, Carlo Giustini

The Day They Robbed the Bank of England
directed by John Guillermin
written by Howard Clewes & Richard Maibaum
starring Aldo Ray, Elizabeth Sellars, Peter O'Toole, Kieron Moore

Lawrence of Arabia
directed by David Lean
written by Robert Bolt & Michael Wilson
produced by Sam Spiegel
starring Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif, Jack Hawkins, José Ferrer, Claude Rains, Arthur Kennedy, Ian MacNaughton

Becket
directed by Peter Glenville
written by Edward Anhalt
produced by Hal Wallis
starring Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, John Gielgud, Paolo Stoppa, Donald Wolfit, Siân Phillips, Victor Spinetti

Lord Jim
directed, written & produced by Richard Brooks
starring Peter O'Toole, James Mason, Eli Wallach, Curt Jürgens, Jack Hawkins, Daliah Lavi, Jack MacGowran

What's New Pussycat?
directed by Clive Donner
written by Woody Allen
starring Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Romy Schneider, Capucine, Paula Prentiss, Woody Allen, Ursula Andress

The Sandpiper
directed by Vincente Minnelli
written by Dalton Trumbo
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Eva Marie Saint

How to Steal a Million
directed & produced by William Wyler
written by Harry Kurnitz
starring Audrey Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Hugh Griffith, Eli Wallach, Charles Boyer

The Bible: In the Beginning...
directed by John Huston
produced by Dino De Laurentiis
starring Michael Parks, Richard Harris, John Huston, George C Scott, Ava Gardner, Peter O'Toole, Franco Nero

The Night of the Generals
directed by Anatole Litvak
written by Joseph Kessel & Paul Dehn
produced by Sam Spiegel
starring Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Donald Pleasence, Joanna Pettet, Tom Courtenay, Christopher Plummer

Casino Royale
directed by Val Guest, John Huston, Joseph McGrath, Robert Parrish, Ken Hughes, Richard Talmadge
written by Wolf Mankowitz, John Law, Val Guest, Billy Wilder, Woody Allen, Terry Southern
music by Burt Bacharach
starring David Niven, Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, Woody Allen, Orson Welles, Deborah Kerr, John Huston, William Holden, Charles Boyer, Joanna Pettet, Daliah Lavi, Jacqueline Bisset, Ronnie Corbett, Tracy Reed, Peter O'Toole, Geraldine Chaplin, Richard Talmadge, Valentine Dyall

The Lion in Winter
directed by Anthony Harvey
starring Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins, John Castle, Nigel Terry, Timothy Dalton

Great Catherine
directed by Gordon Flemyng
written by Hugh Leonard
starring Peter O'Toole, Jeanne Moreau, Zero Mostel, Jack Hawkins, Akim Tamiroff

Goodbye, Mr. Chips
directed by Herbert Ross
starring Peter O'Toole, Petula Clark, Michael Redgrave, Siân Phillips, George Baker

Country Dance
directed by J Lee Thompson
starring Peter O'Toole, Susannah York, Michael Craig, Harry Andrews, Cyril Cusack, Brian Blessed

Murphy's War
directed by Peter Yates
starring Peter O'Toole, Siân Phillips, Philippe Noiret, Horst Janson

Under Milk Wood
directed & written by Andrew Sinclair
starring Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter O'Toole, Victor Spinetti

The Ruling Class
directed by Peter Medak
written by Peter Barnes
produced by Jules Buck & Jack Hawkins
starring Peter O'Toole, Coral Browne, William Mervyn, James Villiers, Arthur Lowe, Carolyn Seymour, Harry Andrews

Man of La Mancha
directed by Arthur Hiller
starring Peter O'Toole, Sophia Loren, James Coco, Harry Andrews, John Castle, Ian Richardson,
Brian Blessed

Rosebud
directed & produced by Otto Preminger
written by Erik Lee Preminger
starring Peter O'Toole, Richard Attenborough, Cliff Gorman, Peter Lawford, Isabelle Huppert, Kim Cattrall

Man Friday
directed by Jack Gold
written by Adrian Mitchell
starring Peter O'Toole, Richard Roundtree, Peter Cellier

Foxtrot
directed & written by Arturo Ripstein
starring Peter O'Toole, Charlotte Rampling, Max von Sydow

Rogue Male
directed by Clive Donner
starring Peter O'Toole, John Standing, Alastair Sim, Harold Pinter

Power Play
directed & written by Martyn Burke
starring Peter O'Toole, David Hemmings, Donald Pleasence, Barry Morse

Zulu Dawn
directed by Douglas Hickox
starring Peter O'Toole, Burt Lancaster, Denholm Elliott, Bob Hoskins, Peter Vaughan, James Faulkner

Caligula
directed by Tinto Brass
written by Gore Vidal, Tinto Brass, Malcolm McDowell
starring Malcolm McDowell, Teresa Ann Savoy, John Gielgud, Peter O'Toole, Helen Mirren

The Stunt Man
directed & produced by Richard Rush
written by Richard Rush & Lawrence Marcus
starring Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsback, Barbara Hershey, Allen Garfield, Alex Rocco

Masada
directed by Boris Sagal
starring Peter O'Toole, Peter Strauss, Barbara Carrera, Anthony Quayle, David Warner, Richard Basehart

My Favorite Year
directed by Richard Benjamin
starring Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper, Joseph Bologna, Bill Macy, Lainie Kazan, Lou Jacobi, George Wyner, Selma Diamond, Cameron Mitchell

Pygmalion
directed by Alan Cooke
starring Peter O'Toole, Margot Kidder

Supergirl
directed by Jeannot Szwarc
starring Helen Slater, Faye Dunaway, Peter O'Toole, Mia Farrow, Brenda Vaccaro, Peter Cook, Marc McClure, Matt Frewer

Creator
directed by Ivan Passer
starring Peter O'Toole, Mariel Hemingway, Vincent Spano, Virginia Madsen, David Ogden Stiers, Rance Howard, Eve McVeagh

Club Paradise
directed by Harold Ramis
written by Chris Miller, Harold Ramis, Brian Doyle-Murray
starring Robin Williams, Peter O'Toole, Rick Moranis, Jimmy Cliff, Twiggy, Joanna Cassidy, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Brian Doyle-Murray, Joe Flaherty, Robin Duke, Mary Gross

The Last Emperor
directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
written by Mark Peploe & Bernardo Bertolucci
produced by Jeremy Thomas
starring John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Ying Ruocheng, Victor Wong, Wu Junmei

High Spirits
directed by Neil Jordan
written by Neil Jordan & Michael McDowell
starring Daryl Hannah, Peter O'Toole, Steve Guttenberg, Beverly D'Angelo, Liam Neeson, Jennifer Tilly, Peter Gallagher, Martin Ferrero, Connie Booth

As Long as It's Love
directed by Lina Wertmüller
written by Lina Wertmüller & Rutger Hauer
starring Rutger Hauer, Nastassja Kinski, Peter O'Toole, Faye Dunaway

Wings of Fame
directed by Otakar Votocek
written by Otakar Votocek & Herman Koch
starring Peter O'Toole, Colin Firth, Marie Trintignant, Andréa Ferréol

The Rainbow Thief
directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky
starring Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Christopher Lee

The Nutcracker Prince
directed by Paul Schibli
starring Kiefer Sutherland, Megan Follows, Phyllis Diller, Peter O'Toole

King Ralph
directed & written by David Ward
starring John Goodman, Peter O'Toole, John Hurt, Richard Griffiths, Joely Richardson

Rebecca's Daughters
directed by Karl Francis
written by Dylan Thomas & Guy Jenkin
starring Peter O'Toole, Joely Richardson, Paul Rhys

Civvies
directed by Karl Francis
written by Lynda La Plante
starring Jason Issacs, Elizabeth Rider, Peter O'Toole

Isabelle Eberhardt
directed by Ian Pringle
starring Mathilda May, Peter O'Toole

The Seventh Coin
directed by Dror Soref
starring Peter O'Toole, Alexandra Powers, John Rhys-Davies

Heavy Weather
directed by Jack Gold
starring Peter O'Toole, Richard Briers, Judy Parfitt, Sarah Badel

Gulliver's Travels
directed by Charles Sturridge
starring Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Alfre Woodard, John Gielgud, Ned Beatty, Geraldine Chaplin, Isabelle Huppert, Kristin Scott Thomas, Warwick Davis, Karyn Parsons

FairyTale: A True Story
directed by Charles Sturridge
starring Peter O'Toole, Florence Hoath, Harvey Keitel, Bill Nighy, Phoebe Nicholls

Coming Home
directed by Giles Foster
starring Keira Knightley, Emily Mortimer, Peter O'Toole, Joanna Lumley, Paul Bettany

Phantoms
directed by Joe Chappelle
written by Dean Koontz
starring Peter O'Toole, Rose McGowan, Joanna Going, Liev Schreiber, Ben Affleck, Clifton Powell

The Manor
directed by Ken Berris
written by Ken Berris & Steven Moses
starring Greta Scacchi, Gabrielle Anwar, Edie McClurg, Fay Masterson, Peter O'Toole

Molokai: The Story of Father Damien
directed by Paul Cox
starring David Wenham, Kate Ceberano, Derek Jacobi, Alice Krige, Kris Kristofferson, Leo McKern, Sam Neill, Peter O'Toole, Tom Wilkinson

Joan of Arc
directed by Christian Duguay
starring Leelee Sobieski, Jacqueline Bisset, Powers Boothe, Neil Patrick Harris, Olympia Dukakis, Robert Loggia, Shirley MacLaine, Peter O'Toole, Maximilian Schell, Peter Strauss

Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell
directed by Tom Kinninmont & Peter O'Toole
written by Keith Waterhouse
starring Peter O'Toole

Global Heresy
directed by Sidney Furie
starring Peter O'Toole, Joan Plowright, Alicia Silverstone

The Final Curtain
directed by Patrick Harkins
starring Peter O'Toole, Adrian Lester, Julia Sawalha

Bright Young Things
directed & written by Stephen Fry
starring James McAvoy, Michael Sheen, Emily Mortimer, Stockard Channing, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Broadbent, Peter O'Toole, Simon Callow, Richard Grant, Stephen Fry

Hitler: The Rise of Evil
directed by Christian Duguay
starring Robert Carlyle, Stockard Channing, Jena Malone, Julianna Margulies, Liev Schreiber, Peter Stormare, Peter O'Toole

Imperium: Augustus
directed by Roger Young
starring Peter O'Toole, Vittoria Belvedere, Charlotte Rampling

Troy
directed & produced by Wolfgang Petersen
starring Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Diane Kruger, Orlando Bloom, Peter O'Toole, Brian Cox, Sean Bean, Brendan Gleeson, Saffron Burrows, Julie Christie

Lassie
directed & produced by Charles Sturridge
written by Charles Sturridge & Eric Knight
starring Peter O'Toole, Samantha Morton, Peter Dinklage, Jemma Redgrave, Kelly Macdonald, Edward Fox

Venus
directed by Roger Michell
starring Peter O'Toole, Leslie Phillips, Jodie Whittaker, Richard Griffiths, Vanessa Redgrave

One Night with the King
directed by Michael Sajbel
starring Tiffany Dupont, John Rhys-Davies, Omar Sharif, Tommy Lister, Jonah Lotan, Peter O'Toole

Ratatouille
directed & written by Brad Bird
starring Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano, Ian Holm, Janeane Garofalo, Brad Garrett, Brian Dennehy, Peter O'Toole, John Ratzenberger

Stardust
directed by Matthew Vaughn
written by Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn
starring Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Mark Strong, Rupert Everett, Sienna Miller, Peter O'Toole, Ricky Gervais, Ian McKellen

Dean Spanley
directed by Toa Fraser
starring Jeremy Northam, Sam Neill, Bryan Brown, Peter O'Toole, Judy Parfitt

Christmas Cottage
directed by Michael Campus
starring Jared Padalecki, Marcia Gay Harden, Peter O'Toole, Chris Elliott, Charlotte Rae, Edward Asner

Iron Road
directed by David Wu
starring Sun Li, Peter O'Toole, Sam Neill, Tony Leung Ka Fai

Eldorado
directed & written by Richard Driscoll
starring Daryl Hannah, David Carradine, Peter O'Toole, Michael Madsen, Brigitte Nielsen, Steve Guttenberg, Kerry Washington

Cristiada
directed by Dean Wright
starring Andy García, Eva Longoria, Peter O'Toole, Oscar Isaac, Rubén Blades, Bruce Greenwood

Decline of an Empire
directed & produced by Michael Redwood
starring Nicole Madjarov, Peter O'Toole, Edward Fox, Samantha Beckinsale

Diamond Cartel
directed by Salamat Mukhammed-Ali
starring Armand Assante, Peter O'Toole, Michael Madsen, Tommy Lister

Hong Kong Smog

Hong Kong changed a lot after the British handover. Since then, Beijing has been exerting more and more influence on Hong Kong. The laws and rules are more Chinese than British. Cheaper Chinese paint and poisoned milk are more available than ever before. Now Beijing has increased their export of smog into Hong Kong.

Smog has always been a problem in Hong Kong. A trip up the Peak could get you great views of the harbour and Kowloon or great views of a giant sheet of dirt. It has always been best to go up just after a typhoon. The air is much cleaner and everybody is out shopping.

But it is getting worse. When the wind comes up from the ocean, we get good days. When the wind comes down from the north, you can't see your spring rolls in front of your face.


A fine day in Hong Kong

John Lennon

1940-1980

As soon as you're born they make you feel small
By giving you no time instead of it all
Til the pain is so big you feel nothing at all
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

They hurt you at home and they hit you at school
They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool
Til you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years
Then they expect you to pick a career
When you can't really function, you're so full of fear
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and classless and free
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

There's room at the top they are telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
If you want to be like the folks on the hill
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

If you want to be a hero well just follow me
If you want to be a hero well just follow me

Pearl Harbor

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

“The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleagues delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.

“It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

“The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

“Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine islands. Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island. And this morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island. Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.

“As commander in chief of the army and navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

“I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.

“Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God.

“I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.”

--President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 12/8/1941

Pearl Harbor National Memorial

Nelson Mandela

I just heard about Nelson Mandela's death. He was 95 years old, so I don't think anyone was surprised that he died. He was in and out of hospitals for a long time and I'm sure his family is happy that his suffering is finally over. The rest of us can only look back at what he did in awe.

South Africa before Nelson Mandela was about as divided as you could get. When Americans talk about politics, we like to say we are a deeply divided country these days, but it's nothing compared to the way South Africa used to be. Even the American South during segregation was fairer to black people than South Africa during apartheid. Black Americans were seen as less than equals. Black South Africans were seen as less than human. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be told I'm not a citizen of the country I was born in just because of my race.

Now all of the world leaders are making speeches and putting out statements about how great Nelson Mandela was. None of these people are fit to change his socks. Why is it so hard to elect people like him now? Was he such a rare person that we can't have people like him today? Or have we settled to the point where we will elect whoever our TVs tell us to elect?

Thanksgiving 2013

Lily, Kevin and I went out to Thanksgiving dinner together. They are Canadian, so their Thanksgiving is in October, but it is not nearly as important in Canada as it is in the United States. It is one of our major holidays. To them, it's just a day off. So they celebrate mine with me when they can. We have never celebrated theirs. They don't even notice theirs until it has come and gone.

We went to Otto e Mezzo. This is currently one of the trendy places for the fancy people to eat in Hong Kong. It is an Italian restaurant with 3 Michelin stars. There are plenty of Italian restaurants in Hong Kong, but most of them do not have any stars. I think the main difference is that this one is owned and operated by a famous Italian chef.

That was really the main reason I wanted to go there. Non-Chinese food in China is usually more Chinese than anything else. Hong Kong has more than a few Italian, French, American, Indian restaurants, but most of them are nothing like what you would find in those countries. Everyone puts a little of their own style in whatever food they make. Chinese food in the United States is more American than Chinese and American food in Hong Kong is more Chinese than American. Otto e Mezzo is genuinely Italian. The Michelin people even said so.

It is also very expensive. That's what you get with a 3 star restaurant owned by a famous chef. Since this was a special occasion, we did not mind the price. I'm willing to pay extra for Italian food that actually reminds me of Italy. Paisano's Pizza is pretty good, but it is nothing like Italy.

What I really don't understand is why these hip fancy restaurants serve tiny little portions on huge plates. I get that the portions are so small because you have so many courses, but what is with the jumbo plates? It just makes the food look even smaller. It also must be murder on the waitresses to carry a single olive on a plate that weighs more than the entire tree.

I hate to say it, but the food was not all that great. It was nothing close to terrible, but you expect more from 3 Michelin stars. I had better food at restaurants in Italy that the Michelin people will never know exist, for a fraction of the price. The wine was good and the bread was excellent, but we definitely paid for the stars and famous chef more than for the food.

My 23rd Birthday part 2

Ryan came to Hong Kong for my birthday. It was partly for my birthday and partly because we decided we need to see each other in person more often. From now on I will be going to Fuzhou more and he will come to Hong Kong more.

Since I live with two roommates in a tiny closet apartment, and since it was my birthday, we decided to get a hotel room this time. He was only in town for two nights, so a hotel was not going to break the bank. There are about a million hotels in Hong Kong and we might try out a new one each time he comes over. People are always asking me about hotels in Hong Kong, but since I live here, I never really go to any of them. Maybe now I will have better recommendations.

This time, we stayed at the Kowloon Hotel at Tsim Sha Tsui. It is a reasonably priced business hotel across the street from the Peninsula, which is far more expensive. This is a great location in the southern tip of Kowloon within easy walking distance to the Harbour, Promenade and a bunch of tourist crap. There is shopping and plenty of tourist restaurants all over the place.

We don't care about any of that. We picked it because it is cheap enough and was available at the last minute. It also has two MTR entrances right outside the front lobby door – exits L3 & L4. You can walk from the hotel to the MTR without getting wet.

The hotel itself is nothing special. It is old and drab, but they have updated most of the rooms with new TVs and bathrooms. The rooms are small, but so are most hotel rooms in Hong Kong, unless you are willing to pay substantially more. The staff's English is hit and miss, and they seemed pretty bored to be there when we checked in. Maybe it is not the most exciting job in the world, but you should never let your guests know that.

There are lots of shiny gold decorations in the lobby that Chinese people love. We never looked at the restaurant, so I can't say anything about that, except that if you are in Hong Kong, there is no reason to eat in your hotel. The city is full of food 24H.

Friday, November 22, 1963

People keep asking when America started going downhill. Republicans say it was as soon as Obama came into office, or Clinton or Carter. Democrats say it was Bush, or Reagan or Nixon. They all want to blame all of our problems on the supposed mistakes of whoever was in the White House that they did not like.

I don't think it is the temporary policies of temporary presidents that hurt us. I think it was the very permanent damage on the nation's soul that came with the assassination of a very youthful president. Like him or hate him, Kennedy was young and could have easily been president for another five years. There is no way to know what would have happened in those five years had he lived. The 1960s were a very turbulent decade for the United States and a lot of it might have been very different without the assassination.

It does not really matter if Kennedy was murdered by a vast conspiracy or some lone nutjob. His murder shocked the country out of white picket fences and into the real world. Before the assassination, people wore suits and hats whenever they left the house. After the assassination, they all started dressing like slobs. People used to trust the government and believe pretty much anything they were told. Now, no one trusts the government, though too many people still believe anything they are told. Wars used to be about principle and doing the right thing. Now, they are about money and corporate investment. Worst of all, movie musicals used to be good. Now, they are Auto-Tune and CGI. Can you imagine Judy Garland singing with Auto-Tune or Gene Kelly needing computer graphics to dance?

The world would not be a perfect place if Kennedy had lived. But maybe without the shock of seeing a young leader so publicly executed, it would have taken us longer to become as cynical and bitter as we are today. Maybe we could have even avoided that whole disco phase.

My 23rd Birthday

Tomorrow is my birthday and I’m doing something very special. I don’t want to jinx it so I’ll talk about it later.

Three Auditions part 2

The TV audition was first. I was not sure what to expect when I went. I was surprised by how professional it was. TV shows in Hong Kong are all pretty wacky and madcap. I used to picture the people behind the scenes wearing baseball caps and throwing darts at the wall. They actually seemed like they knew what they were doing.

Everybody was pretty vague about what they wanted from me. I don't know if that was because they don't want too many people talking about this show before it even goes into production or if it was because this was only a first audition. As far as I can tell, it's all Chinese people and I'm up for the part of the foreigner who appears occasionally, for some reason.

I went in and did my thing. Now it is up to them to call my agent and let me know where we go from here.

Typhoon Haiyan

Typhoon Haiyan tore through the Philippines on Friday. It's supposed to be one of the largest typhoons ever. They said Usagi was going to be the largest typhoon of the year. Haiyan is a little bigger and, unlike Usagi, is actually causing damage.

Usagi was supposed to slam into Hong Kong. It did not. It veered north and hit a less populated area of China. Haiyan went straight into the middle of the Philippines. It has killed about 200 people so far and left about a million homeless. They are saying as many as 10,000 are dead, but that is not even close to confirmed. One of the areas it hit had an earthquake two weeks earlier.

People talk about typhoons in Hong Kong, but they rarely hit us directly. It is the Philippines that gets hit several times every year. They protect us from whatever the Pacific Ocean throws at us, thankfully. This time, they protected us from a massive super typhoon.

Three Auditions

I got an agent earlier this year. Since then he has not really gotten me any work. He got me a few auditions. Most of them went nowhere. One of them eventually led to a part that got cut.

I can't really blame him for the lack of work. Since he has been my agent, I have been pretty busy with my real job, I have taken a lot of vacation time and I was sidelined by two different injuries. He is trying to get me work, but there is nothing he can do if I'm out of town or out of commission.

Now he has three different auditions lined up for me. Two are movies and one is a TV series. All are in Chinese. One of the movies wants someone who can speak English. I can do that. The other movie is a speaking part in Chinese, but they specifically want a foreigner who does not speak Chinese very well. I can do that, too. I don't know anything about the series. I don't even know if I want to do a series. It's not the lead or anything close, but it still sounds like it would take longer than a few days on a movie set.

At this point I'm not going to spend too much time worrying about it. I will go to all the auditions and see what happens. If I don't get any of the parts, life will go on. If I do, I will deal with it then.

Halloween 2013

This year's Halloween party was at the house of one of Lily's friends. I don't know her very well, but her house is just barely big enough to host a party like this. As is almost always the case on Halloween, there were too many people in too small a space.

In honor of the World Series, Lily & I dressed as the Minnesota Twins. I know the Twins were not in the Series, but they have better uniforms than Boston or St Louis and there were two of us. Kevin came straight from work, so he was dressed as a corporate peon. Even when dressed like all the other business people, he still looks like he is in costume. They all wear the same Chinese suit while he dresses like a Canadian.

For the first time in my entire life, I did not hear the Oingo Boingo song, “Dead Man's Party”, at a Halloween party. It's funny because Danny Elfman is more respected now than ever. Who knew when that band first came out that he would become one of the top film composers.

Fuzhou Trip part 3

The trip was great, mostly, and the hotel was very nice. We got a better than average good hotel because it was either that or a really cheap hotel, or stay at his house with all of his roommates. The hotel made it noticeably different from my first trip to Fuzhou. Privacy is a wonderful and rare thing on this side of the world.

Mainland China is always a strange place to go to. Even though I live in Hong Kong, I still think of China as a different country. They are technically the same, but they are very different in a lot of ways, like living in New York and visiting Kansas. Except you need a visa and the money is different.

For this trip, we spent a lot less time sightseeing. Ryan showed me all the main attractions in Fuzhou the first time. This trip was about spending time with each other.

We also got in a big fight, mostly because we never really see each other anymore. When Ryan moved to Mainland China, I thought it would be for a few months and then he would come back to Hong Kong. That was 15 months ago. He is obviously not coming back any time soon. He makes more money there and, even though he does not particularly like living in China, he likes it better than Hong Kong. I could never do my job in China, so moving to him is out.

Since he left, we have taken a couple of vacations together. I have gone to Fuzhou and he has come to Hong Kong, but we usually go months without seeing each other in person. We talk on the phone and Skype all the time, but it is not the same. So we decided we need to make more of an effort. We are not old enough to have a long distance relationship without physical contact for months at a time. We are both in our prime. We need to touch and be touched.

Ryan just might be the only foreigner in China who does not have a thing for Chinese girls, but if two months ever turns into six months, there is no way he will be able to hold out. He is at that age where a car commercial can give him an erection. I'm not much better. Car commercials don't do it for me, but I want some sweaty monkey action just as much as he does. The difference is that it would be easier for me to cheat on him than for him to cheat on me. I have more options. That and the lack of sex scares the hockey sticks out of him.

So we decided to make more of an effort and see each other more often. It does not have to be a vacation or a week in Hong Kong or Fuzhou. Even just a day or two is better than nothing. Flights between our cities are short and not expensive. He can come here without a visa and I have a multiple entry visa to go there. I just need to get a new one before it expires. Getting a visa to Mainland China is actually a lot easier than people think.

We have not decided when we will see each other again, but it is definitely his turn to come here.

Fuzhou Trip part 2

I'm leaving Monday for Fuzhou. Coincidentally, it is the same flight that I took the first time. It is also almost exactly one year since the first time. That one was in the beginning of November and this one is the end of October. We never planned any of that. That's just the way it worked out. The typhoons and work determined the timing more than anything else and I keep picking this flight because it is the cheapest one.

Since the flight gets in just before midnight, which is probably why it is the cheapest, I will stay at Ryan's house Monday night. He does not want to pay for a full day at the hotel if we are only going to be there late at night. I don't think it makes any difference, but his way is cheaper and we are not made of money. He also says it is easier to go to his place from the airport after midnight.

Fuzhou Trip

I'm all set to go see Ryan in Fuzhou on Monday. We are both working this weekend, so Monday was the soonest typhoon-free day we could get.

Ryan suggested we stay at a hotel this time. Last time I went to Fuzhou, I stayed at his house. I don't mind getting a hotel since he lives with too many roommates. It will be nice to have some privacy.

I don't know why, but there were only a few hotel options. Maybe there is some Chinese holiday that they don't celebrate in Hong Kong. Nothing is going on here, but something is taking up all the hotels in Fuzhou. Or maybe there are simply few hotels.

Our options were higher end 4 and 5 star hotels, like the Ramada, Sheraton and Westin, or cheaper dive hotels like Days Inn and Howard Johnson. There was even a Super 8. I had no idea they were in China.

We decided to aim high because why not. I live in a tiny Hong Kong apartment with two other people and he lives in a small Chinese house with four other people, and the occasional visiting girlfriend. A few days in a decent hotel will be a nice change of pace.

Typhoon Fitow

Ryan and I have been talking about seeing each other in China. He says it's my turn to go to him since he came here a couple of months ago. Before that, he came to Hong Kong for the cruise. We also went to Mainland China on the cruise, so on that trip, he came to me and I came to him.

He is right about it being my turn. He took time off work and came to Hong Kong. Now I should go to Fuzhou.

Then there was Typhoon Usagi. It was supposed to be the biggest storm of the year and they said it was going to hit Hong Kong directly. Obviously that was not going to be a good time to go to the airport. Usagi turned out less impressive than anyone expected and it did not hit Hong Kong at all.

So we waited for that storm to come and go. I could always go to Fuzhou afterward.

Then there was Typhoon Fitow. It never posed a threat to Hong Kong, but it was headed straight for Fuzhou. It ended up hitting north of Fuzhou, but it still delayed flights and caused all the usual transportation problems.

Now there is Typhoon Danas. It is headed toward us, but is supposed to turn north and go to Japan. Sometimes these typhoons go where they are supposed to go and sometimes they go wherever the mood strikes them. I don't want to book a flight to Fuzhou only to have it canceled because of some typhoon that refused to do as it was told.

After Danas, who knows. It is still typhoon season, so you never know when another one will show up. We usually have a few days' warning, but it also takes a few days to book a flight. If I book something tomorrow, there could easily be another typhoon by the time I'm supposed to leave. If I wait, there will probably be another typhoon sooner or later.

Life On the Amazon

When you have a book on Amazon, it needs to fit into a set category. If it is a mystery, it goes in fiction/mystery/whatever sub-category works best. If it is your personal memoir about your time spent in prison, it goes in non-fiction/memoirs/crime. If it is yet another zombie story, like we need more of those, it goes in fiction/horror/zombies.

Barnes & Noble, on the other hand, does not invent their own categories and sub-categories. They use standard BISAC codes and put every book into its coded category. Every physical store might not have a section for every possible category, but their online version should put every book in the right place.

When I wrote Hailey's Bali Diary, I never would have guessed it would be categorized as travel/Bali. It is not a travel book, yet is surrounded by Lonely Planet and Frommer's. On the other hand, I could never tell you which category suits it better.

Nudist Cruise was put in travel/cruises. That makes more sense since it is about what happens on a cruise. It seemed to be the right move because it sold very well in that category. It hovered around #5 for several months. Sometimes it would go higher or lower, but it stayed in the top 10 for a long time. I think that's pretty good, especially since almost everything else in the top 10 in that category is from travel publishers that sell millions of books.

Then Amazon moved it to literature & fiction/erotica and sales plummeted. I have no idea why they moved it. There is nothing erotic about the book. It is mostly about not being a nudist on a cruise ship full of nudists. Any nudist will tell you there is absolutely nothing erotic about nudism. Maybe Amazon considers nudism erotica, but I don't think so. There are other nudist books that are not in the erotica category.

The funniest part is that erotica is not even on their list of categories. If you write erotica on purpose, there is no way to let them know. Somewhere along the line, Amazon decides what is and is not erotica and puts it in. In the case of my book, they messed up. The worst part is, there is nothing I can do to fix it. Everything at Amazon is automated and it is exceptionally difficult to speak to an actual person. They respond to e-mails with computer-generated form letters that don't do anyone any good.

It all seems pretty stupid to me. Their unwarranted change benefits no one. Since it went from a bestseller to buried in the backroom, not only am I losing money from their mistake, but they are as well. They make money on every single thing they sell. While it was in the travel section, it was selling and they were making money. Now that they hid it away from impressionable eyes, it is dead and they are getting nothing. Their piece of the pie was never going to make them millions of dollars. Not from anything I write. But I don't see why they would want to throw away even a tiny crumb, especially in this economy.

Hobbling Around Town

I like my job, but sometimes it is nice to take a break. The problem is that I could not really take advantage of the days off I had. I was not as mobile as I like to be and Hong Kong is by no means a great place to get around if you are on crutches. It was an interesting experience, but I got a little tired of how much people here have absolutely no consideration for anyone with any handicap. Trying to go anywhere on crutches was a challenge, but I'm sure it would be a million times harder in a wheelchair.

There are not as many elevators in Hong Kong as there should be. This is not a level place where all the streets are flat. There are hills and sometimes you have to go up a flight of stairs to get to the next street. People in wheelchairs might know all the ways to get around, which probably include going very far out of their way to find some kind of ramp, but I'm used to just walking in as straight a line as possible.

The MTR definitely needs more elevators. The biggest stations have one or two and they always seem to be full of people who could easily take the stairs and escalators. The smallest stations do not have any elevators at all. Some do not even have escalators. I asked a Chinese person how handicapped people get around and he said they can take a taxi. His cavalier attitude truly disappointed me.

There are great things about Chinese people, but compassion for their fellow man does not seem to be one of them. I have been here a while and I think I might be used to the blatant racism. Hong Kong is 95% Chinese, so anyone who looks different is going to be treated differently. The price gouging is easier to deal with if you can haggle in Chinese.

What I'm still having trouble adjusting to is how selfish so many people are. Where I come from, you hold the door open for other people when you are going through. It has nothing to do with gender or age. It is simple common courtesy. I would be amazed if I ever saw anyone hold the door open for anyone else in Hong Kong.

I see smokers blowing their filth in people's faces all the time. I realize smokers all over the world are a privileged group with special rights that allow them to poison whoever they want, but they are even more inconsiderate here than they are in Europe. And Europe is shockingly poisoned compared to the United States.

The worst thing for me has always been the MTR. It is the best way to get around, but is full of the most selfish people I have ever seen in my entire life. Some of these people would run over their own grandmothers to be the first on the train. For some reason, everyone has to be first. There is plenty of time to get on and the doors will never close on people and cut them in half. If you are in the doorway, it automatically opens. If you miss a train, there will be another in three minutes. Yet every day, I see a million people who all have to be first at all costs.

I don't know how many times I have seen healthy young people just sit in their precious seats while an old person or a pregnant woman stands next to them. There are special seats designated for pregnant women, handicapped and the elderly, but I have never seen anyone ever give up any of those seats for someone else. The MTR is usually pretty crowded. Rush hour is between 6am and 2am. Actually sitting down on a train is rare, so perhaps the people who have a seat would rather die than give it to someone who needs it more. They got there first. They won. That hard plastic is their prize come hell or high water.

It does not especially bother me that no one ever gave up a seat for me while I was on crutches. I was otherwise healthy and only mildly incapacitated. It very much bothers me when I see an old lady who can barely stand up having to stand on the train just because the healthy people sitting around her don't give a shit about anyone but themselves.

The Chinese have a reputation for being polite. In many ways they are. They will never say bad things about you to your face. In other ways, they are not even close.

Mean People

Why are people so hateful to each other? I guess I can understand people who know each other and have a reason to hate each other hating each other. Maybe something happened between them that they just can't get over. What I don't get is total strangers screaming their hate at someone they do not even know.

The woman who does http://housewifedownunder.wordpress.com just announced her retirement from blogging. I'm not exactly her biggest fan. I don't even know her name, but I've been reading her blog occasionally for over a year. She has great stories to tell about being an expat in Australia. If you are thinking about moving to Australia, check it out.

She is done with blogging because she got tired of all the hate people send her online. When you have a blog, or any kind of website where people can comment, you will get negative comments. Sometimes it is constructive criticism, but only rarely. Usually it is simply people who want to make everyone else as miserable as they are.

In her announcement post, she defends her decision to not post the ugliest comments. I don't think she has to explain that at all. It is her blog. She does not have to post any comments at all if she does not want to. We have gotten so used to being able to say anything to anyone at anytime that we have forgotten the fact that not everything in the world is an open forum for any and all opinions.

I used to keep comments on my blog open to everyone no matter what crazy thing they wanted to say. The only comments I ever deleted were blatant spam. If you want to increase your manhood, you don't need to read about it here. Just check your e-mail.

Then I started moderating comments. Someone got really angry about something I said. I don't even remember what it was about. I just remember thinking that I should probably do something about it as soon as the death threats started. I never took any of it seriously. Most of the angry people online are all talk anyway, but there was just too much negativity to ignore. I don't need all comments on my blog to be sunshine and rainbows, but I think there is already enough hate in the world. There is no reason to post more here.

Blogs are easy enough to deal with. You can moderate comments, block certain people or turn off comments entirely. What is harder are other social media sites where you have no control. If you interact with people online, you will be subject to hate. It is inevitable. They say movie stars should never read their own press. Reading too many negative reviews can get to you eventually. Online, we are all movie stars, in a distorted way. People can and will feel free to say to us whatever pops into their heads. For whatever reason, a lot of people are more free with their negative comments than they are with saying something positive.

I wrote a couple of books. I will probably write more in the future. I know having a few books available in a few places is not anything like having a New York Times bestseller, but I enjoyed writing them and I don't see any reason why I should not continue doing it. When you write a book, whether it sells or not, you have to expect a few bad reviews. Nothing in the history of the world has ever been written that everybody likes. I realize that the things I write about are not going to excite everyone. I realize that my writing style is not everyone's cup of tea. The funny thing is that when you look at the reader reviews of anything by Shakespeare, people complain about his content and style. I read a review about Romeo and Juliet complaining that the two families should not have been fighting. That's pretty much the point of the story. Someone is going to complain no matter what.

I know it sounds like I'm complaining about negative reviews. I'm not. I do not have enough to complain about. What I'm really complaining about is how the negative people share their opinions more than the positive people. I think most people in this world are generally positive, but they are a silent majority. They are more likely to keep their opinions to themselves. The angry people are the minority, but they share their opinions far more often.

It has reached the point where you have to have very thick skin to be online. No matter where you are online, people are going to share their hate with you. Some people will join in the hate just to fit in. Hopefully, most people just ignore the hate. Too many people hate everything and everyone. If you are sensitive to what total strangers say about you, you will just have to stay offline. If you are a sullen teenager just looking for any excuse to kill yourself, you should really throw your computer away. The internet is like a loaded gun in your mother's dresser.

There used to be a time when unhinged people were confined to their basements. Only the walls and their imaginary friends heard their ranting and raving. Now the internet lets everyone connect with the rest of the world. You don't have to have all your marbles to talk to people or give your tirade online. You can harass a blog writer until she gives up and quits. You can even write a book review with absolutely no ability to form a coherent sentence. That is like a blind person writing a movie review, but that is how the internet of citizen critics work.

Typhoon Usagi

When Typhoon Usagi started making its way toward Hong Kong, the authorities issued their storm warnings and told everyone to batten down the hatches. They told us this was the largest storm of the year and it was coming straight for us. Government offices and some businesses closed their doors. Schools told students to stay home. Airlines announced canceled flights.

Then the typhoon hit the Philippines and Taiwan. Those islands took a lot out of it and changed its course from Hong Kong to Guangdong. We got some rain, but no direct impact.

Usagi killed a few people, mostly in the Philippines and China. That’s also where most of the damage was. Not coincidentally, places with stronger buildings and better infrastructure, like Hong Kong and Taiwan, suffered far less damage.

In Hong Kong, there was a lot of warning but very little action. For people in Northern Philippines and Southern China, it was the largest storm of the year.

Dancing in the Rain part 5

Dancing in the Rain part 1
Dancing in the Rain part 2
Dancing in the Rain part 3
Dancing in the Rain part 4


The nearest hospital to the big house is actually pretty close. It is a medium-size hospital with all the modern facilities you want in a modern hospital. Hong Kong is advanced when it comes to health care. It is also incredibly inexpensive, especially compared to the United States.

We went to the ER and in about ten minutes, a doctor was looking at my ankle. They took me to get x-rays and twenty minutes later I was talking to the same doctor again while looking at the x-rays on a computer monitor. The doctor said nothing was broken, but I tore a deltoid ligament. It should be completely healed in a couple of weeks, but they gave me an ankle brace and told me to walk on crutches for about a week. They also gave me a bag of drugs.

Any time you go to a hospital in Hong Kong, they give you a bag of drugs. They gave me a pill to help prevent swelling, a pill for pain and a pill to counteract the side effects of mixing the pills for swelling and pain. There are a lot of things about health care in Hong Kong that are better than the United States, but I'm not crazy about their practice of throwing drugs at everything.

So I never took the pain medication. The days after were never as painful as the initial event anyway. That is when I could have used those pills. Since I'm not taking the pain pills, there is no reason to take the side effect pills. Of the three medications they gave me, I'm only taking the one for swelling.

I also have an ice pack that feels very nice on hot and humid summer afternoons. I'm thinking about keeping it and using it all over my body on the hottest days.

Since dancing on crutches is not much of an option, I'm taking some time off work.

If this happened in the United States, I would be getting a hospital bill for at least a few hundred dollars. They would charge for going into the ER, seeing a nurse, seeing a doctor, getting x-rays, being taken back and forth in a wheelchair to get x-rays, the gloves everyone wears, the disposable cap on that electronic thermometer they stick in your ear, and those disposable plastic sheets they put on the ER tables. Then I would have to go somewhere else and pay a few hundred dollars for the prescriptions and go somewhere to buy crutches and an ice pack.

In Hong Kong, I walked away, or hobbled away, from the hospital about US$10 poorer. I did not have to go anywhere to get the medications, ice pack and crutches because they gave everything to me right there in the hospital. Everything that happened in the ER was included in the standard hospital fee and I paid a few more dollars for the drugs. That was it.

How much does an x-ray in the United States cost? It's right there on your bill. How much does it cost in Hong Kong? No one knows. It's all part of the standard fee.

Dancing in the Rain part 4

Dancing in the Rain part 1
Dancing in the Rain part 2
Dancing in the Rain part 3


While Kevin and I were waiting in the big house for the taxi to take me to the hospital, Kevin went into my room and got some clothes. I was too much of a beggar to be a chooser, but he could have put a little thought into it. He came back with jeans and a button down blouse. He did not bring a single stitch of underwear, but he brought me socks. If I could put on socks, we would not have been in this situation. I was having a hard time pulling jeans on over my throbbing ankle, so Kevin went back into my room and brought out a skirt. Still no underwear, though. I understand that he was too embarrassed to go through my panty drawer, and I normally prefer men to stay out of there, but this was a unique situation. A bra was not technically required, under the circumstances.

When the taxi showed up, Kevin carried me outdoors while I tried to keep us dry under an umbrella. Try is the key word here. We both got wet anyway, especially while he was trying to put me in the taxi. The taxi driver even got out in the rain to help, but there are only so many ways you can carry someone into a small car. The taxi driver got wet for nothing, although I do appreciate the effort. Say what you will about Hong Kong taxi drivers, and people have said plenty, but I have always found them willing to help carry bags and heavy items if needed. Rain or shine. We gave him a nice tip when we got to the hospital. Since you don't tip taxi drivers in Hong Kong, he was very grateful.

Something crossed my mind that was not necessarily important, all things considered, but since I was going commando, I think I might have given the driver an even bigger tip than I intended. He was enough of a gentleman not to let on if he got a free show.

911

Dancing in the Rain part 3

Dancing in the Rain part 1
Dancing in the Rain part 2


After what felt like hours lying broken and naked on the wooden deck in the rain, but was more likely less than one hour, I scooted myself over to my cell phone and called Kevin. He works closer to the big house than anyone I know and it is easy for him to leave work early, especially since his boss was out of town. No one would complain, but in the unlikely event anyone did, Kevin could always say he was checking something at the house. Absolutely no one would interfere with Kevin's protection of that house.

My first obstacle was getting to my phone. It was on a deck table, protected by a large sun umbrella. You are supposed to close the umbrellas at night and when it rains, but I'm glad we forgot to do it. Otherwise, I would have kept my phone indoors and I would have had no other choice but to drag myself kicking and screaming inside.

When I got to my phone, I told Kevin what happened. He thought I was joking at first. I convinced him with the tone of my voice that I was serious. I might have even scared him a little, but you do what you have to do when surviving in the wild.

He got to the house faster than I expected and found me sitting up against the deck table. I tried to get myself off the deck and actually sit at the table, but I was too exhausted by then. Lying broken on the deck naked in the rain takes a lot out of you.

Kevin picked me up and quickly carried me into the house. He had a towel wrapped around me before I knew it. We briefly talked about calling an ambulance, but then decided it would be faster to take a taxi. It was not really an emergency and I would not want someone to die because an ambulance was busy with me. We also knew there would probably be one or two taxis already in the neighborhood. Anyone without a car who lives or works there almost has to take taxis.

Dancing in the Rain part 2

Dancing in the Rain part 1


I was lying on the pool deck naked in the rain. My ankle was throbbing in pain and no one else was home. After I stopped crying and imagining my entire career flushed down the toilet, I thought about how to get myself from the wet pool deck into the dry house. Standing up was out of the question. My foot felt like a heavy weight strapped to my leg.

Standing up would have been extremely difficult. Walking into the house would have been impossible. I was maybe twenty feet from the door, but it might as well have been twenty miles. I decided to wait a while and see if the pain subsided enough so that I could get into the house.

It took surprisingly little time to get tired of lying on the floor in the rain. Being naked in the rain is great for the first few minutes. The rain feels refreshing on your skin. It's like taking an outdoor shower. I love outdoor showers. Lying helpless on the floor in the rain is less exciting. The constant rain stabbing down into your body gets fairly annoying after a while.

The way I saw it, in that moment, I had three choices. I could crawl to the door and drag myself indoors. Crawling naked on the wooden deck did not look like the greatest idea as I pictured it in my head. I would have gotten enough cuts, scratches and scrapes all over my body that I might have forgotten about my ankle. In a life or death situation, I would have done it without hesitation, but this was a bum ankle.

My second choice was to call an ambulance. That quickly seemed like the worst choice. They had no way to get inside the house. They would have had to break down a door. Not to mention the mess they would have made going from the front door, through the house, out to the pool deck and then bringing me back out the front. This was not my house. I was just a guest here. I was not prepared to cause so much damage in someone else's house. Someone I have never even met, by the way. I'm also not sure how Chinese paramedics react to finding naked white girls in the rain. I don't need those pictures on someone's Facebook page. Things that are wildly illegal and inappropriate in my country are often accepted here.

My third choice was to call someone else. Anyone without a key would have to break their way in just like the paramedics. Only Lily and Kevin had their own keys.

Lily was at work. It would have taken her at least an hour to get to me. Probably longer. She would have to find an excuse to leave work early first. They really don't like it when we leave early. Your best friend is lying naked in the rain on the pool deck is not the best excuse, but it just might be one they have never heard before.

I knew who I had to call.

Dancing in the Rain part 1

I went to the hospital again. This was the fourth or fifth time I've gone to a Hong Kong hospital. I broke some bones in my hand when an MTR train derailed a few months ago. That was the most dramatic one. On the opposite end of the scale, I went to the hospital when I had a pretty bad cold last year. People go to doctors all the time for colds around here. I'm not used to that since it would be too expensive where I come from, but in Hong Kong, I have good insurance and hospitals don't cost nearly as much as they do in the United States. My first Hong Kong hospital visit was for some weird rash I had on my hand. The same hand I broke on the train, by the way. I never found out what caused the rash, but it went away right after I took the medication they gave me.

None of those were my fault. The cold was a simple cold that got out of control. I don't know what the rash was, but if I did anything to cause it, it never came back. The train was definitely not my fault. I would not know how to derail a train even if I wanted to.

This particular hospital visit was entirely my fault. It was raining, as it does all summer, and I went out to the pool deck at the big house. I like being in the rain as long as I'm not in a hurry to go somewhere. I was at the house and wasn't going anywhere at all, so the rain was never a problem. The worst thing about being out in the rain is that your clothes get wet. Wet clothes just don't feel right, but wet skin feels perfectly natural.

There was no one else at the house, so I took my clothes off and went out in the rain. It seemed like a good idea at the time. The pool deck is completely private from any of the neighbors. It faces the ocean, so only the fish and seagulls can see anything.

There is a wide open terrace around the pool with plenty of room to move around. I dance off and on the clock, and I have danced on that deck more than once or twice. Only this was the first time I did it naked in the rain.

The thing about rain is that it makes the ground slippery. I should not have been surprised when I fell down, but I was. I started crying like a small child whose parent was stupid enough to walk past the toy store. Not because I was in pain, though I was. It hurt like a son of a mother, but I was more upset than anything else. I twisted my ankle and at that point, in the immediate aftermath of such a simple fall, I had no idea how bad it was. It felt bad, but I could not tell if I sprained it, broke it or simply bruised it. As a dancer, an ankle injury can be the worst thing in the world.

Summer Highlights part 4

Another great thing about the big house is the kitchen. My tiny apartment has a typical Hong Kong kitchen. It's a sink and a miniscule counter up against a wall. There is barely enough room for the toaster oven or rice cooker, and never both at the same time.

The big house has a western style kitchen with a real oven. It's great. I can actually bake things like cookies and brownies. Have you ever tried to make a pizza in a toaster oven? It does not work. Unless you like small, undercooked dough discs.

It's not that I'm a great cook. I'm not even close, but even mediocre homemade cookies are always better than boughten. Plus you get that fresh baked cookie smell in the house. No one ever complains about that.

There is also the issue of living with roommates. In my tiny apartment, there is barely enough space in the kitchen for more than one person at a time. If I'm in there making something, no one else can do anything at the same time. In the big house, you can fit a whole football team in that kitchen. They like cookies, too.

Summer Highlights part 3

Not only is there plenty of room for everyone at the big house, but there is also a very nice swimming pool. That's a great luxury to have in a place as hot and humid as Hong Kong. Of course, Hong Kong has public pools, but they are pretty disgusting. Once you have seen someone stand at the edge of the pool and urinate into the water, you don't feel like going back there again. You also can't swim naked in public pools. I can, and very much do, swim naked at the big house.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, once you swim naked, you don't want to go back to wearing a bathing suit. Water is natural. Skin is natural. They both feel natural against each other. Don't believe me? Take a shower in a bathing suit. That is unnatural.

The big house also has a hot tub, which is always a good thing. A long soak in a hot tub is just what the doctor ordered after a long day. If you can't have a swimming pool, a hot tub is the next best thing. Even better is having both.

Summer Highlights part 2

Another great thing about staying in the big house is that it is much bigger than my tiny apartment. I love Lily & Kevin to death, but three people in a one bedroom apartment is just too crowded. The big house has more than enough bedrooms and our very own private bathroom for every single person. It would be impossible to exaggerate how nice it is to have my own bathroom.

The living room of the big house is bigger than my entire apartment. Each of the private bathrooms is bigger than my apartment's bathroom, and one is huge. Each bedroom is larger and has more closet space than my entire apartment, which does not say much. Hong Kong apartments are not known for their spacious closets.

Summer Highlights part 1

The best part of summer for me was having Ryan back in town. We had not seen each other since the cruise and that was all the way back in June. Seeing him in Hong Kong is much easier. There is none of the stress of booking tickets and dealing with airports, and we do not spend much time seeing the sights here like we would on a trip. He has seen as much of Hong Kong as he wants to see, so that meant more time for us in that wonderful Clear Water Bay house. That meant loads and loads of steamy hot cuddle bunny time. That's something we can always agree on.

Cyber Bullies

I don't like bullies. I mostly feel sorry for them. Can you imagine how pathetic your life would have to be if you felt the only way you could express yourself was to pick on people weaker than you? Outside of politicians, who does that?

Bullies in real life are mostly cowards. The best way to defeat a bully is to stand up to them. They feed off of fear and if you are not afraid of them, they don't know what to do. When you see a cat about to knock a cup off a table and you pick up the cup, the cat will just walk away. It's the same with bullies.

Cyber bullies are a little different. Because they are anonymous, or at least think they are anonymous, standing up to them does not really work. It's a different dynamic. Schoolyard bullies want to hit people who will not fight back. Cyber bullies want people to talk to them. If no one talked to them, they would be invisible. The worst thing you can do to a cyber bully is ignore them.

What I don't understand are teenagers killing themselves over cyber bullies. I know teenagers love to be martyrs – everyone is out to get them, no one understands them, life is so hard on test days, doing homework takes away from their free time. When I was a teenager, people talked about suicide all the time, but it was just talk. Most of us knew that suicide was the stupidest way to solve a temporary problem.

Teenage bullies used to be limited to your own neighborhood. Now you can meet bullies from all over the world. The big difference to me, and where I really get lost in all this, is that bullies at school can be very difficult to avoid. They are physically in the school you have no choice but to attend every day. Sometimes they are in your class, sitting next to you. That is hard to avoid. Bullies online are exceptionally easy to avoid. If someone at school is harassing you and the adults don't care, you are pretty much on your own. If someone online is harassing you, why not just ignore them?. How do you get to a point where you think suicide is a solution, but you never considered not going to that website anymore?

People should never have to stay away from certain websites just because of troublemakers, but if going to that site is making your life that miserable, why keep going? Who is forcing these children to go to these websites? I do not pretend to understand today's teenagers, but isn't everything you do online voluntary?

Now some people want to outlaw some sites and send the owners to jail. Isn't that like arresting the producers of a TV show because someone did not like it and killed themselves? Who is responsible when they don't change the channel? Or better yet, turn off the TV and go outside once in a while.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation part 2

What made this year at the big house different from other years is how much all of our lives have changed since last year. When we first went to the big house, Ryan lived in Hong Kong and we lived together. Lily & Kevin lived together in their own tiny apartment. Now Ryan lives in Fuzhou and Lily & Kevin live in my tiny apartment. We went from two couples living in two different apartments to one couple living apart and the other couple living with me. Living with two other people in such a small space has definitely changed my relationship with them. For the better, I hope.

I did not really know Kevin all that well before he moved into my tiny apartment. I knew him mostly from how Lily talked about him and all the times I saw them together. We had never spent any time together just the two of us. Now he is one of my best friends.

Lily was already a close friend, but since we started living together, we are even closer than ever. She is not just my best friend in Hong Kong. She is the best friend I have ever had anywhere in the world.

Unfortunately, Ryan and I don't see each other nearly as much as we did when we lived together. We have been lucky enough to take a few trips together, which you can read about for the low, low price of only $19.95. Hailey's Bali Diary, Nudist Cruise Or whatever it is. I have also gone to Fuzhou and he has come to Hong Kong a couple of times.

I think if we could all live at the Clear Water Bay house all year, convincing Ryan to move back to Hong Kong would be easier.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation part 1

It was not really a vacation. I still went to work. It only felt like a vacation while we were all staying at the Clear Water Bay house. Kevin's boss goes away every summer and asks him to look after the house. Lily & I also move in since there is more than enough room. What made it even better was that Ryan was in town while his band had a short term engagement in Hong Kong.

We all stayed in the house the entire time Ryan was here. Now he's back in Fuzhou. Lily & Kevin are still in the house full time and I'm staying there part time. At first I thought it wasn't right to stay there without Ryan, but now I'm agreeing with Lily & Kevin. There is really no reason not to stay there, other than it's faster to get to work from my tiny apartment. So I'm thinking about moving back in. Summer is not over yet and there's no reason I should act like it is just because Ryan went back to Fuzhou.

The Cruise Ship

Taking pictures on the ship was discouraged, so these are official publicity shots. Most of these areas, except the casino, are featured in the book.

These pictures are probably a lot more interesting if you've read the book, so you should just buy it.

Go ahead. I'll wait.



The main lobby/shopping mall
This area was very crowded at the beginning of the cruise
And practically empty for the rest of it



We had more meals in the main restaurant
Than anywhere else on the ship
I thought we would eat at more of the other restaurants
We tried them, but always came back to this one



Some of the main swimming pool area
We spent a lot of time here
The exercise pools are in the opposite direction



The ship had a few theaters
But this was the main one
It really was this red



This was a nice little quiet room most of the time
A good place to get away from the hustle and bustle
Except during the big bridge tournament
And when all the older people were out on the town



The Chinese restaurant looked like any banquet style Chinese restaurant
And nothing like the typical restaurant that a billion Chinese people eat at every day
The food was pretty good, but Ryan never ate there



The ship was big enough for them to give everyone a map when we checked in
But they still had directories and maps all over the place



We spent almost no time in the casino
I don't think I even mention it in the book
We looked at it and went on our way



The library was comfortable and almost always empty
And had a better variety of books than I expected



You really don't get a sense of how big this ship is unless you see it in person
It's hard to believe you're on a boat when you go up and down the elevators



This is just a publicity shot
But one of the shows had traditional dancers
Including some very good Thai dancers

Typhoon Soulik

Typhoon season started off with a bang this year. The first reports were that a super typhoon was coming toward Hong Kong. Then came the good news that it would slam into Taiwan before hitting Hong Kong. Good news for us, at least. Not so good for Taiwan.

Then the typhoon turned north and they said it wouldn't hit Hong Kong at all, but it was still going to slam straight into Taiwan.

After it tore through Taiwan, it went straight for Fuzhou. Ryan said he saw people preparing like never before, which doesn't really make much sense since the storm lost most of its power after it went through Taiwan. It hit near Fuzhou, but it was much weaker by then.

Hong Kong got a lot of rain, but it's been raining off and on for about a year anyway.