Sunday, December 23, 2018
Saturday, December 22, 2018
Island Hopping part 1
My first date with Hisoka was pretty elaborate, yet mostly spontaneous. Our second date was a simple dinner. We both had far more time for our third date, so two days after our second, we went to 離島. It is a part of Hong Kong that so few people go to, I'm not even sure what to call it in English. Remote Islands? Google calls them the Outlying Islands, but I have never heard anyone actually use that phrase outside of the Islands District in the New Territories. Technically, all of the outlying islands are part of the New Territories, even though most of them are south of Kowloon. Politically, there are more islands in Sai Kung and Tai Po than in the Islands District.
Whatever these islands are called, they are a great way to experience traditional Hong Kong. Kowloon and Hong Kong Island have tradition all over the place, but they are also filled to the rafters with 21st century technology and convenience. Some of these outer islands can take you back in time. Only with a modern phone, it is hard to get lost. Even on a rocky island close to nothing, my phone knew where I was. I don't think I like that.
Hisoka wanted to surprise me, but at the same time, he did not expect me to just blindly follow him into the wilderness. He told me that we were going to see a few islands, but I assumed that meant Lantau. I have been to Lantau a million times. I worked on the island for six years. Instead, we went to the southern end of Hong Kong Island.
Ordinarily, when someone I do not know especially well says, “Close your eyes and follow me. And maybe bring an overnight bag,” all kinds of red flags pop up. But Hisoka has a history of top quality surprises. He never told me to bring my passport, so I assumed we would stay in China, but other than that, anything was possible.
At Aberdeen, we boarded a small boat that the company called a yacht. I'm not entirely sure what technically defines a yacht, but when you say the word, I think of giant boats with helicopter pads owned by billionaires. I doubt any billionaire would be impressed with our little “yacht”. This boat was maybe 20 or 30 feet long from top to tail. Or bow to stern, in this case. It would struggle to hold more than a dozen of the billionaire's closest friends, and most helicopters would sink it.
The biggest surprise to me was that they gave Hisoka the keys and let him sail away without any supervision. You can hire pretty much any form of transportation in Hong Kong, but anything bigger than a car usually comes with someone to operate the vehicle. This was a small boat, but it was not propelled by oars or paddles. I have absolutely no idea what kind of license is required to drive a two story motorboat around Hong Kong, but he must have had something. At least I hope he did. Had he relied on me, we would still be out there.
I am not exactly an experienced sailor. I have been on all kinds of boats in my day, from kayaks that hold one person to enormous cruise ships with 2,000 passengers. I have been on smooth boats with large sails and choppy boats with loud engines. I have sailed lakes small enough to swim across and oceans that stretch across the globe. But what I know about sailing can fit on a brochure. The only boats I can operate without assistance are small enough to be lifted out of the water by hand. This boat was a little bigger than that.
The top deck had all of the controls behind a bow that could only be reached by walking outside and holding onto a railing. But people were meant to go out there. It had cushions for several people to sit and take their Facebook pictures. Behind the steering wheel, there was a tiny kitchen with an oven, stove, sink, refrigerator and more counter space than the average Hong Kong apartment. Next to and/or in the kitchen was a small dining room sofa that could hold three or four people. The aft deck had a much larger sofa and a small ledge close enough to the water to sit and soak legs. I'm sure that ledge has a nautical name, but I don't know what it is.
The lower deck had two small bedrooms with beds larger than I would have expected. They were probably closer to queen than anything else. The windows in the bedrooms were small, but well placed, letting in plenty of light. The ceiling was also higher than I would expect from the lower deck of a small boat. In between the bedrooms was a tiny bathroom. It was designed to look like you were in the lap of luxury, but it was no bigger than an airline bathroom. All of the storage space, from the kitchen to the bedrooms, was hidden away in places the Japanese would understand. They are the masters of maximizing storage in confined spaces.
The company that owned the boat stocked the kitchen with plenty of food. That was convenient since parking is difficult. There is more than enough water around Hong Kong for everybody, but if you want to stop your boat and get off, your options are limited.
Hisoka's plan was to sail around the islands. There are more than a few choices. Most of them are much smaller than Lantau and completely uninhabited. A few are popular tourist destinations for their traditional fishing villages and clean beaches. I have seen plenty of fishing villages here, so I wanted to go where few people who look like me have ever been. Fortunately, Hisoka had a list of islands where it was physically possible to park the boat. November might not be the best time to sail around Hong Kong, but it never gets cold. At its worst, winter hits in January/February. More importantly, it never rains nearly as much in winter as it does in summer. You might think summer is a better time to sail around the islands, but summer can get 20 times as much rain as winter, and there are no typhoons in November.
From Aberdeen on Hong Kong island, you have two choices. You can go east or west. South is Lamma Island, which is too developed and full of tourists. Beyond that and you leave Hong Kong waters. I have a visa for Mainland China, but Hisoka did not. Crossing the border by boat and getting caught in some international espionage was not on the agenda.
West is Lantau and all of the islands around it. I would not mind sailing to Shenzhen Bay, but this was supposed to be an island trip and there are no islands in the bay. East was the logical choice. There is far more water and more than a hundred islands between Po Toi and Mirs Bay.
Past Ocean Park, we headed toward Ngan Chau, a tiny uninhabited island with nothing more than a rocky beach and a lot of trees. Hisoka wanted to stay close to the coast to avoid shipping and ferry traffic between Hong Kong Island and Lamma. We sailed around Hong Kong Island between Luo Chau and the cape at Hok Tsui. We could not see the famous lighthouse until we were close to the east coast. From there, we headed straight to Tung Lung Chau.
Our first port of the day was Tung Lung Chau, a medium-size rock, maybe a mile long, just off the coast of Hong Kong Island. It was an easy walk to the fort, but we both wanted to see the stone carvings first, which was a hilly hike on a more or less paved path. The few people who live on the island use the paths for transportation. On the northwest coast of the island, someone carved a large dragon into the massive rocks that spread across the shore. This dragon's claim to fame is that it is the oldest stone carving in Hong Kong, estimated at about 5,000 years old.
What I liked about it, which did not especially impress Hisoka, was that cave paintings in Europe are often large mammals being hunted by people or other depictions of their daily life. In Europe, they are mostly saying, “Look at us.” In Asia, it is dragons and other mythical creatures. Their stories are more symbolic than autobiographical. It might be a stretch, but I think this is one of the reasons Asian cultures tend to see their religious stories as parable and allegory while Europeans see their stories as literal fact.
Tung Lung Fort was at the end of an easy hike along the northeast coast. It was built in the early 1700s and is mostly rubble now, with a protective walkway for visitors to look without damaging anything, almost like the Qumran Caves near the Dead Sea. I was expecting an actual building, but the fort was abandoned 200 years ago on a rocky shore where nature takes back whatever man does not want.
We sailed to the Kwo Chau Islands, a group of 20-something uninhabited islands just east of Tung Lung Chau. Some of the islands are little more than rocks sticking out of the water. The largest island is half a mile long and 300 yards at its widest point. People go to the islands to climb rocks and explore the sea caves, assuming they can find a way in. There is no transportation to the islands, unless you have your own boat. That might be why it was completely deserted when we went. Despite a population of zero, there is a tiny temple atop the largest hill on Tai Chau, the southernmost island.
When we sailed up Ngau Mei Hoi, I looked for the house at Clear Water Bay. Every year, my roommates and I stay at a house at Clear Water Bay for anywhere from two weeks to a month. I missed last year because I was recovering from surgery and this year because I was in Spain. But I have been at the house often enough to recognize the amazing views of the harbour and South China Sea. Sailing around the islands gave me a new perspective. It is like looking at a picture for years and then finally walking around that scenery.
Kiu Tsui Chau is about a mile and a half long and anything from half a mile to a few hundred feet wide. Most people go there for the beaches and rocks. There are two main beaches and a few tiny beachlets, all of which have some of the softest sand on the islands. Most of the beaches around Hong Kong are rocky and not especially great for building sand castles. For geologists, the rocks might be more exciting. Kiu Tsui Chau has unusual volcanic rocks that you cannot find anywhere else in Hong Kong. For me, the best part was the small isthmus that connects the island with a tiny islet that you can walk across at low tide. It was like walking on water to get to Mont-Saint-Michel, Tanah Lot or the Itsukushima torii, only instead of going to a temple, you are going to a bunch of rocks and trees.
Just northeast of Kiu Tsui Chau is Yim Tin Tsai, a small island less than half a mile across in any direction. Though uninhabited, it has a visitor center, public restrooms and a restaurant. People visit the island for a little taste of history. Once a series of farms, the island was abandoned and most of the population left many of their possessions behind. You can go into mostly furnished houses and see how people lived in the early and middle 20th century, only with far more dust and weeds. There is also a 100-year-old Catholic church that is regularly maintained and still occasionally used. Boat parking is difficult since the island is almost entirely surrounded by mangroves, but there is a small pier next to the church.
Coincidentally, Yim Tin Tsai had a thriving salt industry before modern machinery changed the way salt is produced. Once the old ways died out, the salt farms were abandoned and the people left the island. I went to Aveiro, Portugal in October, which was put on the map by its salt farms. Aveiro survived the changing times because it is the largest coastal city between Lisbon and Porto, and it focused on tourism. Yim Tin Tsai is a small island far from Victoria Harbour and not at all connected to any train lines.
Not only did people leave their furniture, but enough of them left their dogs behind. Now there is a thriving stray dog community on the island. The original dogs were once pets and were probably mostly friendly, but the current generation are wild animals. I don't know if they ever attack visitors, but I was always aware whenever there was a stray dog nearby. Pet dogs can be the friendlies creatures in the world, but these are not pets. They are territorial predators and the island is their territory. I have to assume they have never killed anyone. China hates bad press and would gladly wipe out the entire island's population to keep the tourism money flowing.
Just south of Yim Tin Tsai is Kau Sai Chau, easily the largest island we visited, three miles long and about one mile wide. Though relatively removed from civilization, it has a large golf course that takes up the northern end of the island. We did not go there to golf, so we concentrated on the southern end, with a small fishing village where most of the population lives, and a 150-year-old temple. It looks old, but 150 years is pretty young by Chinese temple standards. There are more prehistoric rock carvings on the northwest coast, but they are not as interesting as Tung Lung Chau and, since they are so close to the golf course, more tourists line up to take pictures.
As a larger island, Kau Sai Chau has more room for packs of stray dogs, but to protect the golf course and its income, the government regularly removes as many as they can catch. They don't seem to be doing a good job since scientists think the stray dogs are killing off the civet population. The island also has boars that like to tear up the golf course, but attempts to stop them have all failed dramatically. The boars ignore traps and tear through electric fences. A few years ago, the golf course wanted to quietly hunt the boars, but the hunters only killed a few and outraged pretty much everybody when they posted their trophy pictures online. Unlike Americans, Chinese people consider it uncivilized to pose like a manly man over a dead carcass while holding a gun and wearing a goofy looking costume.
This is not the exact boat, but pretty close.
Whatever these islands are called, they are a great way to experience traditional Hong Kong. Kowloon and Hong Kong Island have tradition all over the place, but they are also filled to the rafters with 21st century technology and convenience. Some of these outer islands can take you back in time. Only with a modern phone, it is hard to get lost. Even on a rocky island close to nothing, my phone knew where I was. I don't think I like that.
Hisoka wanted to surprise me, but at the same time, he did not expect me to just blindly follow him into the wilderness. He told me that we were going to see a few islands, but I assumed that meant Lantau. I have been to Lantau a million times. I worked on the island for six years. Instead, we went to the southern end of Hong Kong Island.
Ordinarily, when someone I do not know especially well says, “Close your eyes and follow me. And maybe bring an overnight bag,” all kinds of red flags pop up. But Hisoka has a history of top quality surprises. He never told me to bring my passport, so I assumed we would stay in China, but other than that, anything was possible.
At Aberdeen, we boarded a small boat that the company called a yacht. I'm not entirely sure what technically defines a yacht, but when you say the word, I think of giant boats with helicopter pads owned by billionaires. I doubt any billionaire would be impressed with our little “yacht”. This boat was maybe 20 or 30 feet long from top to tail. Or bow to stern, in this case. It would struggle to hold more than a dozen of the billionaire's closest friends, and most helicopters would sink it.
The biggest surprise to me was that they gave Hisoka the keys and let him sail away without any supervision. You can hire pretty much any form of transportation in Hong Kong, but anything bigger than a car usually comes with someone to operate the vehicle. This was a small boat, but it was not propelled by oars or paddles. I have absolutely no idea what kind of license is required to drive a two story motorboat around Hong Kong, but he must have had something. At least I hope he did. Had he relied on me, we would still be out there.
I am not exactly an experienced sailor. I have been on all kinds of boats in my day, from kayaks that hold one person to enormous cruise ships with 2,000 passengers. I have been on smooth boats with large sails and choppy boats with loud engines. I have sailed lakes small enough to swim across and oceans that stretch across the globe. But what I know about sailing can fit on a brochure. The only boats I can operate without assistance are small enough to be lifted out of the water by hand. This boat was a little bigger than that.
The top deck had all of the controls behind a bow that could only be reached by walking outside and holding onto a railing. But people were meant to go out there. It had cushions for several people to sit and take their Facebook pictures. Behind the steering wheel, there was a tiny kitchen with an oven, stove, sink, refrigerator and more counter space than the average Hong Kong apartment. Next to and/or in the kitchen was a small dining room sofa that could hold three or four people. The aft deck had a much larger sofa and a small ledge close enough to the water to sit and soak legs. I'm sure that ledge has a nautical name, but I don't know what it is.
The lower deck had two small bedrooms with beds larger than I would have expected. They were probably closer to queen than anything else. The windows in the bedrooms were small, but well placed, letting in plenty of light. The ceiling was also higher than I would expect from the lower deck of a small boat. In between the bedrooms was a tiny bathroom. It was designed to look like you were in the lap of luxury, but it was no bigger than an airline bathroom. All of the storage space, from the kitchen to the bedrooms, was hidden away in places the Japanese would understand. They are the masters of maximizing storage in confined spaces.
The company that owned the boat stocked the kitchen with plenty of food. That was convenient since parking is difficult. There is more than enough water around Hong Kong for everybody, but if you want to stop your boat and get off, your options are limited.
Hisoka's plan was to sail around the islands. There are more than a few choices. Most of them are much smaller than Lantau and completely uninhabited. A few are popular tourist destinations for their traditional fishing villages and clean beaches. I have seen plenty of fishing villages here, so I wanted to go where few people who look like me have ever been. Fortunately, Hisoka had a list of islands where it was physically possible to park the boat. November might not be the best time to sail around Hong Kong, but it never gets cold. At its worst, winter hits in January/February. More importantly, it never rains nearly as much in winter as it does in summer. You might think summer is a better time to sail around the islands, but summer can get 20 times as much rain as winter, and there are no typhoons in November.
From Aberdeen on Hong Kong island, you have two choices. You can go east or west. South is Lamma Island, which is too developed and full of tourists. Beyond that and you leave Hong Kong waters. I have a visa for Mainland China, but Hisoka did not. Crossing the border by boat and getting caught in some international espionage was not on the agenda.
West is Lantau and all of the islands around it. I would not mind sailing to Shenzhen Bay, but this was supposed to be an island trip and there are no islands in the bay. East was the logical choice. There is far more water and more than a hundred islands between Po Toi and Mirs Bay.
Past Ocean Park, we headed toward Ngan Chau, a tiny uninhabited island with nothing more than a rocky beach and a lot of trees. Hisoka wanted to stay close to the coast to avoid shipping and ferry traffic between Hong Kong Island and Lamma. We sailed around Hong Kong Island between Luo Chau and the cape at Hok Tsui. We could not see the famous lighthouse until we were close to the east coast. From there, we headed straight to Tung Lung Chau.
Our first port of the day was Tung Lung Chau, a medium-size rock, maybe a mile long, just off the coast of Hong Kong Island. It was an easy walk to the fort, but we both wanted to see the stone carvings first, which was a hilly hike on a more or less paved path. The few people who live on the island use the paths for transportation. On the northwest coast of the island, someone carved a large dragon into the massive rocks that spread across the shore. This dragon's claim to fame is that it is the oldest stone carving in Hong Kong, estimated at about 5,000 years old.
What I liked about it, which did not especially impress Hisoka, was that cave paintings in Europe are often large mammals being hunted by people or other depictions of their daily life. In Europe, they are mostly saying, “Look at us.” In Asia, it is dragons and other mythical creatures. Their stories are more symbolic than autobiographical. It might be a stretch, but I think this is one of the reasons Asian cultures tend to see their religious stories as parable and allegory while Europeans see their stories as literal fact.
Tung Lung Fort was at the end of an easy hike along the northeast coast. It was built in the early 1700s and is mostly rubble now, with a protective walkway for visitors to look without damaging anything, almost like the Qumran Caves near the Dead Sea. I was expecting an actual building, but the fort was abandoned 200 years ago on a rocky shore where nature takes back whatever man does not want.
We sailed to the Kwo Chau Islands, a group of 20-something uninhabited islands just east of Tung Lung Chau. Some of the islands are little more than rocks sticking out of the water. The largest island is half a mile long and 300 yards at its widest point. People go to the islands to climb rocks and explore the sea caves, assuming they can find a way in. There is no transportation to the islands, unless you have your own boat. That might be why it was completely deserted when we went. Despite a population of zero, there is a tiny temple atop the largest hill on Tai Chau, the southernmost island.
When we sailed up Ngau Mei Hoi, I looked for the house at Clear Water Bay. Every year, my roommates and I stay at a house at Clear Water Bay for anywhere from two weeks to a month. I missed last year because I was recovering from surgery and this year because I was in Spain. But I have been at the house often enough to recognize the amazing views of the harbour and South China Sea. Sailing around the islands gave me a new perspective. It is like looking at a picture for years and then finally walking around that scenery.
Kiu Tsui Chau is about a mile and a half long and anything from half a mile to a few hundred feet wide. Most people go there for the beaches and rocks. There are two main beaches and a few tiny beachlets, all of which have some of the softest sand on the islands. Most of the beaches around Hong Kong are rocky and not especially great for building sand castles. For geologists, the rocks might be more exciting. Kiu Tsui Chau has unusual volcanic rocks that you cannot find anywhere else in Hong Kong. For me, the best part was the small isthmus that connects the island with a tiny islet that you can walk across at low tide. It was like walking on water to get to Mont-Saint-Michel, Tanah Lot or the Itsukushima torii, only instead of going to a temple, you are going to a bunch of rocks and trees.
Just northeast of Kiu Tsui Chau is Yim Tin Tsai, a small island less than half a mile across in any direction. Though uninhabited, it has a visitor center, public restrooms and a restaurant. People visit the island for a little taste of history. Once a series of farms, the island was abandoned and most of the population left many of their possessions behind. You can go into mostly furnished houses and see how people lived in the early and middle 20th century, only with far more dust and weeds. There is also a 100-year-old Catholic church that is regularly maintained and still occasionally used. Boat parking is difficult since the island is almost entirely surrounded by mangroves, but there is a small pier next to the church.
Coincidentally, Yim Tin Tsai had a thriving salt industry before modern machinery changed the way salt is produced. Once the old ways died out, the salt farms were abandoned and the people left the island. I went to Aveiro, Portugal in October, which was put on the map by its salt farms. Aveiro survived the changing times because it is the largest coastal city between Lisbon and Porto, and it focused on tourism. Yim Tin Tsai is a small island far from Victoria Harbour and not at all connected to any train lines.
Not only did people leave their furniture, but enough of them left their dogs behind. Now there is a thriving stray dog community on the island. The original dogs were once pets and were probably mostly friendly, but the current generation are wild animals. I don't know if they ever attack visitors, but I was always aware whenever there was a stray dog nearby. Pet dogs can be the friendlies creatures in the world, but these are not pets. They are territorial predators and the island is their territory. I have to assume they have never killed anyone. China hates bad press and would gladly wipe out the entire island's population to keep the tourism money flowing.
Just south of Yim Tin Tsai is Kau Sai Chau, easily the largest island we visited, three miles long and about one mile wide. Though relatively removed from civilization, it has a large golf course that takes up the northern end of the island. We did not go there to golf, so we concentrated on the southern end, with a small fishing village where most of the population lives, and a 150-year-old temple. It looks old, but 150 years is pretty young by Chinese temple standards. There are more prehistoric rock carvings on the northwest coast, but they are not as interesting as Tung Lung Chau and, since they are so close to the golf course, more tourists line up to take pictures.
As a larger island, Kau Sai Chau has more room for packs of stray dogs, but to protect the golf course and its income, the government regularly removes as many as they can catch. They don't seem to be doing a good job since scientists think the stray dogs are killing off the civet population. The island also has boars that like to tear up the golf course, but attempts to stop them have all failed dramatically. The boars ignore traps and tear through electric fences. A few years ago, the golf course wanted to quietly hunt the boars, but the hunters only killed a few and outraged pretty much everybody when they posted their trophy pictures online. Unlike Americans, Chinese people consider it uncivilized to pose like a manly man over a dead carcass while holding a gun and wearing a goofy looking costume.
It's Cold Outside
Baby It's Cold Outside
Idina Menzel & Michael Bublé
Do You Hear What I Hear
Vanessa Carlton
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Going Dutch
At the end of May, Hisoka and I had our first date. Generally speaking, if there is no second date within six months, there probably never will be. But we are both busy people. We also live in different countries. And I was out of mine for two of those six months.
We kept in touch during the six months and we both happened to go back to Hong Kong at about the same time. So we set up a second date at the end of November.
For our first date, he took me to Hiroshima on a private plane and I spent the night at the most amazing natural hot springs. Our second date was never going to be that noteworthy. We went out to dinner.
In honor of my new job in Amsterdam, Hisoka wanted to take me out to a Dutch restaurant. Hong Kong is not exactly a bastion of Dutch cuisine. I have lived here for years and could not think of a single restaurant. After a little research, Hisoka found a small place above the Paisano's in Mong Kok. It turned out to be a standard Hong Kong style “international” restaurant. He misunderstood the name, Go Dutch Cafe.
Despite the restaurant's name, I let him pay. I usually pay for myself on the first few dates. Some men have strange ideas about money and power. It is simply easier if everyone pays for themselves. At least until you know each other well enough that no one cares. I paid for almost nothing on my first date with Hisoka, but that one was highly unusual. I don't have the faintest idea what half of that would cost. After a year of not working, I did not mind letting other people buy my meals. Dinner at a moderately priced Hong Kong restaurant was never going to break Hisoka anyway. I can't begin to guess his salary, but I don't think he is living in a refrigerator box and eating cat food.
Dinner was nothing special, but I generally don't care where I eat anymore. We had a nice conversation. That was the important thing. He was also in town for a while, so we set up a longer, more interesting third date a couple of days later.
I also let Hisoka pay for our third date, but that was only because we spent almost no money. And what did have to be paid for, I never knew about ahead of time. This all happened at the end of November, but I was still typing about Barcelona back then. Now that I am in Amsterdam working on the future, I can type about my Hong Kong date in the past. Sometimes life moves fast.
As it turns out, there is a supposedly authentic Dutch restaurant in Lan Kwai Fong. Maybe some other time.
We kept in touch during the six months and we both happened to go back to Hong Kong at about the same time. So we set up a second date at the end of November.
For our first date, he took me to Hiroshima on a private plane and I spent the night at the most amazing natural hot springs. Our second date was never going to be that noteworthy. We went out to dinner.
In honor of my new job in Amsterdam, Hisoka wanted to take me out to a Dutch restaurant. Hong Kong is not exactly a bastion of Dutch cuisine. I have lived here for years and could not think of a single restaurant. After a little research, Hisoka found a small place above the Paisano's in Mong Kok. It turned out to be a standard Hong Kong style “international” restaurant. He misunderstood the name, Go Dutch Cafe.
Despite the restaurant's name, I let him pay. I usually pay for myself on the first few dates. Some men have strange ideas about money and power. It is simply easier if everyone pays for themselves. At least until you know each other well enough that no one cares. I paid for almost nothing on my first date with Hisoka, but that one was highly unusual. I don't have the faintest idea what half of that would cost. After a year of not working, I did not mind letting other people buy my meals. Dinner at a moderately priced Hong Kong restaurant was never going to break Hisoka anyway. I can't begin to guess his salary, but I don't think he is living in a refrigerator box and eating cat food.
Dinner was nothing special, but I generally don't care where I eat anymore. We had a nice conversation. That was the important thing. He was also in town for a while, so we set up a longer, more interesting third date a couple of days later.
I also let Hisoka pay for our third date, but that was only because we spent almost no money. And what did have to be paid for, I never knew about ahead of time. This all happened at the end of November, but I was still typing about Barcelona back then. Now that I am in Amsterdam working on the future, I can type about my Hong Kong date in the past. Sometimes life moves fast.
As it turns out, there is a supposedly authentic Dutch restaurant in Lan Kwai Fong. Maybe some other time.
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Penny Marshall
One of the first pieces of international news I heard when I arrived in Amsterdam was that Penny Marshall had died. The news reports told us that Laverne was dead, but I always knew her as a director. As an actor, she was known for her TV show. Her movie roles were mostly bit parts and cameos. She was not a prolific director, but everything she did is worth watching.
Jumpin' Jack Flash
directed by Penny Marshall
starring Whoopi Goldberg, Stephen Collins, Carol Kane, Annie Potts, Roscoe Lee Browne, Jonathan Pryce
Big
directed by Penny Marshall
written by Gary Ross & Anne Spielberg
produced by James L Brooks & Robert Greenhut
starring Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard, Mercedes Ruehl
Awakenings
directed by Penny Marshall
written by Steven Zaillian
starring Robin Williams, Robert De Niro, Julie Kavner, Penelope Ann Miller, John Heard, Max von Sydow, Anne Meara
A League of Their Own
directed by Penny Marshall
written by Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel
produced by Robert Greenhut
starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Anne Ramsay, David Strathairn, Garry Marshall
Renaissance Man
directed by Penny Marshall
produced by Robert Greenhut & Penny Marshall
starring Danny DeVito, Gregory Hines, Cliff Robertson, Ed Begley Jr, Stacey Dash
The Preacher's Wife
directed by Penny Marshall
starring Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, Courtney B Vance, Gregory Hines, Jenifer Lewis, Loretta Devine
Getting Away with Murder
directed & written by Harvey Miller
produced by Penny Marshall
starring Dan Aykroyd, Lily Tomlin, Jack Lemmon, Bonnie Hunt
With Friends Like These...
directed & written by Philip Messina
produced by Robert Greenhut & Penny Marshall
starring Adam Arkin, David Strathairn, Jon Tenney, Robert Costanzo, Amy Madigan, Laura San Giacomo
Riding in Cars with Boys
directed by Penny Marshall
produced by James L Brooks
starring Drew Barrymore, Steve Zahn, Brittany Murphy, Lorraine Bracco, James Woods, Sara Gilbert
Cinderella Man
directed by Ron Howard
produced by Ron Howard, Penny Marshall, Brian Grazer
starring Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Paul Giamatti
Bewitched
directed by Nora Ephron
written by Nora Ephron & Delia Ephron
produced by Nora Ephron & Penny Marshall
starring Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, Kristin Chenoweth, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Amy Sedaris, Richard Kind
Jumpin' Jack Flash
directed by Penny Marshall
starring Whoopi Goldberg, Stephen Collins, Carol Kane, Annie Potts, Roscoe Lee Browne, Jonathan Pryce
Big
directed by Penny Marshall
written by Gary Ross & Anne Spielberg
produced by James L Brooks & Robert Greenhut
starring Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard, Mercedes Ruehl
Awakenings
directed by Penny Marshall
written by Steven Zaillian
starring Robin Williams, Robert De Niro, Julie Kavner, Penelope Ann Miller, John Heard, Max von Sydow, Anne Meara
A League of Their Own
directed by Penny Marshall
written by Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel
produced by Robert Greenhut
starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Anne Ramsay, David Strathairn, Garry Marshall
Renaissance Man
directed by Penny Marshall
produced by Robert Greenhut & Penny Marshall
starring Danny DeVito, Gregory Hines, Cliff Robertson, Ed Begley Jr, Stacey Dash
The Preacher's Wife
directed by Penny Marshall
starring Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, Courtney B Vance, Gregory Hines, Jenifer Lewis, Loretta Devine
Getting Away with Murder
directed & written by Harvey Miller
produced by Penny Marshall
starring Dan Aykroyd, Lily Tomlin, Jack Lemmon, Bonnie Hunt
With Friends Like These...
directed & written by Philip Messina
produced by Robert Greenhut & Penny Marshall
starring Adam Arkin, David Strathairn, Jon Tenney, Robert Costanzo, Amy Madigan, Laura San Giacomo
Riding in Cars with Boys
directed by Penny Marshall
produced by James L Brooks
starring Drew Barrymore, Steve Zahn, Brittany Murphy, Lorraine Bracco, James Woods, Sara Gilbert
Cinderella Man
directed by Ron Howard
produced by Ron Howard, Penny Marshall, Brian Grazer
starring Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Paul Giamatti
Bewitched
directed by Nora Ephron
written by Nora Ephron & Delia Ephron
produced by Nora Ephron & Penny Marshall
starring Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, Kristin Chenoweth, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Amy Sedaris, Richard Kind
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Christmas in Amsterdam
I will be in Amsterdam this Christmas. I have been out of the country for a couple of Thanksgivings, and I spent a Halloween in Tel Aviv, but this will be my first Christmas outside of China since I moved here. I have what might be high expectations.
Tokyo and Barcelona are not the ideal cities for Thanksgiving. They are far from the worst places, but neither country cares about the holiday. Halloween night in Tel Aviv was just like any other night. Fridays and Saturdays always get interesting in Tel Aviv, but I think Halloween that year was on a Monday.
In contrast, Christmas in Amsterdam just feels right. Not only is it a country that actually celebrates the holiday, but they have snow. I have not seen snow on Christmas in a long time. Christmas in Hong Kong is hot and humid. Some people wear coats and scarves because it is December, but it never comes close to freezing. You can't make a snowman out of warm rain. I suppose you could make a snow angel in the dirt and garbage on the street, but that might be dangerous.
The obvious downside to Christmas in Amsterdam is that I will have absolutely no one with me. I am going there to work, so it is not like I will be locked in a room and staring at the wall all day, but I don't know any of the people I will be working with yet. I would not be at all surprised if I make some genuine friends before it all ends, but probably not in a week. I think I'm pretty easy to get to know, but I rarely trust someone right away. I assume there will be some kind of Christmas party at some point in time. No one has told me anything so far, but it is almost inevitable. I have mixed feeling about office Christmas parties, but obviously I will go if I'm alone in a city I don't really know as well as I think I do.
Tokyo and Barcelona are not the ideal cities for Thanksgiving. They are far from the worst places, but neither country cares about the holiday. Halloween night in Tel Aviv was just like any other night. Fridays and Saturdays always get interesting in Tel Aviv, but I think Halloween that year was on a Monday.
In contrast, Christmas in Amsterdam just feels right. Not only is it a country that actually celebrates the holiday, but they have snow. I have not seen snow on Christmas in a long time. Christmas in Hong Kong is hot and humid. Some people wear coats and scarves because it is December, but it never comes close to freezing. You can't make a snowman out of warm rain. I suppose you could make a snow angel in the dirt and garbage on the street, but that might be dangerous.
The obvious downside to Christmas in Amsterdam is that I will have absolutely no one with me. I am going there to work, so it is not like I will be locked in a room and staring at the wall all day, but I don't know any of the people I will be working with yet. I would not be at all surprised if I make some genuine friends before it all ends, but probably not in a week. I think I'm pretty easy to get to know, but I rarely trust someone right away. I assume there will be some kind of Christmas party at some point in time. No one has told me anything so far, but it is almost inevitable. I have mixed feeling about office Christmas parties, but obviously I will go if I'm alone in a city I don't really know as well as I think I do.
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Back in the Zadel
After a year of working on the sidelines, I am now partially employed in my chosen profession. I have been teaching ballet to little girls since March, but now I am finally back on stage. It is only a part-time job and 6,000 miles from home, but it's a lot better than nothing.
Before I went to Barcelona, I considered that they might offer me a more permanent job. It was certainly never guaranteed, but stranger things have happened. Instead, I was asked by a visiting choreographer to audition for a company he worked with in Amsterdam. I went to Amsterdam on vacation a few years ago. It is a great city, but nowhere near Barcelona. Fortunately, KLM has several flights every day. Unfortunately, I would have to pay for it. Once you have the job, plane tickets flow like wine, usually in business class. Before you get the job, no one wants to pay for anything.
Having already flown from Hong Kong to Doha, Doha to Barcelona, Barcelona to Porto and Porto to Barcelona, a quick flight to Amsterdam was practically routine. One of the great things about Europe, at least the EU parts, is that it is easy to fly or take a train from here to there. The bad news for people who like to collect stamps in their passport is that none of the airports ever stamp anything. They put an exit stamp when I flew out of Barcelona back to Doha, since I was leaving the EU, but there are no entrance stamps anywhere. I went to five different airports and took eight flights on this trip and my passport was only stamped once.
The detour in Amsterdam meant that I would lose two free days in Barcelona. Instead of seeing the sights, I went to another country. It was far from a waste of time. The choreographer told me who to talk to. I would love to say that I gave a spectacular audition because of my natural talent and grace. The truth is, I had been working practically every day for almost two months just before the audition. When you dance with people who are better than you are, it only makes you better. Had I auditioned straight from my dormant year in Hong Kong, the outcome might have been less exciting.
Much like I did with Tel Aviv, I will be commuting back and forth between Hong Kong and Amsterdam. I will never be in Holland long enough to have any kind of residency status, just like Israel, but that usually means lower taxes. I will have to look into EU tax laws. Israel was surprisingly accommodating to foreign workers. Americans love to complain about taxes, even though we pay less than most of the world, but I am already paying in two different countries. Holland will be number three, so the less they gouge me, the better.
One of the biggest differences between Amsterdam and Tel Aviv will be the living arrangements. In Tel Aviv, they put me up at the Melody Hotel, across the street from Independence Park, which is a short cliff away from the beach and Mediterranean Sea. This was a charming little boutique hotel with bicycles that I rode to work and the best hotel breakfast I have ever had anywhere in the world. I'm sure there are plenty of nice hotels in Tel Aviv, but this one will always be my first choice whenever I go back.
In Amsterdam, I am on my own. No one is putting me up in any hotels. Fortunately, there are other dancers in the same position. Finding a house to share was pretty easy. I was in Amsterdam for two days and I found a place before I left, excluding a few phone calls and emails. It is almost like a time share. When I'm there, everyone else will be somewhere else. I currently have one roommate, and will eventually have two, but I will almost always live there alone. I will probably treat it more like a hotel than a house, except there is no front desk, housekeeping, swimming pool or gym. But there is a full kitchen with everything I would ever need. It is a full-size house, but I am renting a bedroom and sharing a few common rooms. I look at it as an apartment. As an apartment, it is more than big enough for me, but it is enormous for a hotel room. Three people could easily live there at the same time.
One thing Amsterdam has in common with Tel Aviv is the bike culture. Both cities are easy to ride in, and Amsterdam takes bike riding to another level. Riding a bike to work in Tel Aviv was easy. The bike was owned by the hotel, it is a mostly flat city and it was only a two mile ride. Amsterdam is also flat, but there are no free bikes. When I started to seriously think about working in Amsterdam, I looked up bike rentals. It turns out there are a million places I can get one at a reasonable price. But then I found the house. It is less than a mile to the theater and even closer to the rehearsal space. If I don't feel like walking less than 20 minutes, there is a tram a block from the apartment that goes straight to the theater. I like the idea of riding a bike to work, but it is so close, I don't need to in Amsterdam.
I have been to Amsterdam, twice now, but I know nothing about living there. Americans can easily visit without a visa, but anyone who works there has to endure government bureaucracy. I figure the Netherlands cannot possibly have more paperwork than Israel or, the emperor of bureaucracy, China. If I can successfully navigate China's labyrinth, any other country should be easy.
The hardest part about working in another country is usually finding a place to live. It only took a few weeks to find my first apartment in Hong Kong, but we searched for three or four months to find the one we are in now. I'm told that it is pretty hard to find a place in Amsterdam. Obviously, I got lucky. My accidental timing must have been perfect. It also helps that I will not be living there full time. Roommates are easy when you are all in the apartment at different times.
I don't speak a word of Dutch. Some of it looks pretty easy. Yes is ja and no is nee. Some of it might be more challenging. Liability insurance is aansprakelijkheidsverzekering. Then again, I don't know much Hebrew either, and I was fine in Tel Aviv. And almost everyone in Amsterdam speaks English. If I were living there full time, I'm sure I would learn a lot. Since I will only be there in short spurts, and mostly working, I am worried that I will not learn anything. I worked in Israel for a year, but I know precious few words and phrases and can't read any of it. At least Dutch uses a recognizable alphabet.
I miss going to Tel Aviv. The people were as friendly as can be and I ate some of the best food in the world. Amsterdammers seem pretty friendly, but it is too soon to tell. You don't really know what people are like when you go there on vacation. You have to deal with and/or cause local problems.
Amsterdonians? Those Dam people? Yet another thing to figure out.
Before I went to Barcelona, I considered that they might offer me a more permanent job. It was certainly never guaranteed, but stranger things have happened. Instead, I was asked by a visiting choreographer to audition for a company he worked with in Amsterdam. I went to Amsterdam on vacation a few years ago. It is a great city, but nowhere near Barcelona. Fortunately, KLM has several flights every day. Unfortunately, I would have to pay for it. Once you have the job, plane tickets flow like wine, usually in business class. Before you get the job, no one wants to pay for anything.
Having already flown from Hong Kong to Doha, Doha to Barcelona, Barcelona to Porto and Porto to Barcelona, a quick flight to Amsterdam was practically routine. One of the great things about Europe, at least the EU parts, is that it is easy to fly or take a train from here to there. The bad news for people who like to collect stamps in their passport is that none of the airports ever stamp anything. They put an exit stamp when I flew out of Barcelona back to Doha, since I was leaving the EU, but there are no entrance stamps anywhere. I went to five different airports and took eight flights on this trip and my passport was only stamped once.
The detour in Amsterdam meant that I would lose two free days in Barcelona. Instead of seeing the sights, I went to another country. It was far from a waste of time. The choreographer told me who to talk to. I would love to say that I gave a spectacular audition because of my natural talent and grace. The truth is, I had been working practically every day for almost two months just before the audition. When you dance with people who are better than you are, it only makes you better. Had I auditioned straight from my dormant year in Hong Kong, the outcome might have been less exciting.
Much like I did with Tel Aviv, I will be commuting back and forth between Hong Kong and Amsterdam. I will never be in Holland long enough to have any kind of residency status, just like Israel, but that usually means lower taxes. I will have to look into EU tax laws. Israel was surprisingly accommodating to foreign workers. Americans love to complain about taxes, even though we pay less than most of the world, but I am already paying in two different countries. Holland will be number three, so the less they gouge me, the better.
One of the biggest differences between Amsterdam and Tel Aviv will be the living arrangements. In Tel Aviv, they put me up at the Melody Hotel, across the street from Independence Park, which is a short cliff away from the beach and Mediterranean Sea. This was a charming little boutique hotel with bicycles that I rode to work and the best hotel breakfast I have ever had anywhere in the world. I'm sure there are plenty of nice hotels in Tel Aviv, but this one will always be my first choice whenever I go back.
In Amsterdam, I am on my own. No one is putting me up in any hotels. Fortunately, there are other dancers in the same position. Finding a house to share was pretty easy. I was in Amsterdam for two days and I found a place before I left, excluding a few phone calls and emails. It is almost like a time share. When I'm there, everyone else will be somewhere else. I currently have one roommate, and will eventually have two, but I will almost always live there alone. I will probably treat it more like a hotel than a house, except there is no front desk, housekeeping, swimming pool or gym. But there is a full kitchen with everything I would ever need. It is a full-size house, but I am renting a bedroom and sharing a few common rooms. I look at it as an apartment. As an apartment, it is more than big enough for me, but it is enormous for a hotel room. Three people could easily live there at the same time.
One thing Amsterdam has in common with Tel Aviv is the bike culture. Both cities are easy to ride in, and Amsterdam takes bike riding to another level. Riding a bike to work in Tel Aviv was easy. The bike was owned by the hotel, it is a mostly flat city and it was only a two mile ride. Amsterdam is also flat, but there are no free bikes. When I started to seriously think about working in Amsterdam, I looked up bike rentals. It turns out there are a million places I can get one at a reasonable price. But then I found the house. It is less than a mile to the theater and even closer to the rehearsal space. If I don't feel like walking less than 20 minutes, there is a tram a block from the apartment that goes straight to the theater. I like the idea of riding a bike to work, but it is so close, I don't need to in Amsterdam.
I have been to Amsterdam, twice now, but I know nothing about living there. Americans can easily visit without a visa, but anyone who works there has to endure government bureaucracy. I figure the Netherlands cannot possibly have more paperwork than Israel or, the emperor of bureaucracy, China. If I can successfully navigate China's labyrinth, any other country should be easy.
The hardest part about working in another country is usually finding a place to live. It only took a few weeks to find my first apartment in Hong Kong, but we searched for three or four months to find the one we are in now. I'm told that it is pretty hard to find a place in Amsterdam. Obviously, I got lucky. My accidental timing must have been perfect. It also helps that I will not be living there full time. Roommates are easy when you are all in the apartment at different times.
I don't speak a word of Dutch. Some of it looks pretty easy. Yes is ja and no is nee. Some of it might be more challenging. Liability insurance is aansprakelijkheidsverzekering. Then again, I don't know much Hebrew either, and I was fine in Tel Aviv. And almost everyone in Amsterdam speaks English. If I were living there full time, I'm sure I would learn a lot. Since I will only be there in short spurts, and mostly working, I am worried that I will not learn anything. I worked in Israel for a year, but I know precious few words and phrases and can't read any of it. At least Dutch uses a recognizable alphabet.
I miss going to Tel Aviv. The people were as friendly as can be and I ate some of the best food in the world. Amsterdammers seem pretty friendly, but it is too soon to tell. You don't really know what people are like when you go there on vacation. You have to deal with and/or cause local problems.
Amsterdonians? Those Dam people? Yet another thing to figure out.
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
l'Apartament de Barcelona
I shared an apartment in Barcelona for two months with a lovely young dancer from France. Being French, she provided me with an opportunity to practice the language when we both should have been studying Spanish. Or Catalan.
When you work in a foreign country, it is always best to have someone living with you. A local might be ideal, but I like exploring a new place with other foreigners. A local can show you the ropes and make it easier, but you can share the experience with another foreigner. In this case, I did not pick my roommate or apartment. I just got lucky.
The outside door to the Barcelona apartment looked like every other door on a street full of residential buildings that all pretty much looked the same. It took a few days to find the right door on the first try. Beyond the front door was a dark and gloomy hallway that I imagine would have been right at home behind the Iron Curtain. I'm still surprised whenever I see anything in Western Europe that reminds me of Eastern Europe. Up several flights of constantly cornering stairs was another door that looked just like every other door. The only saving grace was that there was only one door per floor. As long as you were on the right floor, it had to be the right door.
Everything changed as soon as that door was opened. The apartment interior was bright and airy. The high walls and ceiling were all various shades of white and there were large windows taking up an entire wall of the living room and kitchen. The bedrooms had smaller windows and they faced south, so there was less light. The living room and kitchen faced east, letting light flood in almost every morning, weather permitting. There was only one bathroom, unfortunately, and it was tiny and dark. The building was at least a hundred years old. Probably older. The kitchen was obviously remodeled some time in the last five years. The living room and bedrooms were decorated in a different decade, but everything was clean and in one piece. The bathroom might have been older than the building. I have seen better equipped outhouses.
The bathroom was clean, but almost useless. The water pressure was a joke. Turning the shower up all the way provided little more than a trickle. We adjusted the water heater in every way imaginable, but that did nothing for the pressure. Eventually, a maintenance person told us that Barcelona was simply a city of low water pressure. I could not help but think he was just being lazy. The water pressure in the kitchen sink was amazing. It was so high that it forced a bowl out of my hand one of the first times I washed dishes. In the kitchen, we had to turn the water as low as possible. In the bathroom, nothing worked better than a bus station.
The bathroom and kitchen were night and day. I loved everything about that kitchen. Not only was there more than enough light in the daytime, there was more than enough counter space at all hours. The refrigerator, oven and washing machine were all new and high tech. Each could be programmed a million different ways that we never understood. Partly because neither of us were used to appliances that require an internet connection and mostly because we both arrived knowing pretty much no Spanish. The kitchen came loaded with all manner of dishes, utensils, silverware, pots and pans. We were surrounded by food all around the city, but could make practically anything in that kitchen.
The apartment had doors everywhere. Each bedroom had a door that led to the living room and another door that led to the hallway that led to the front door. Both the living room and kitchen had doors to the hallway and another door that separated the two. On our first few nights in the apartment, we closed all of the doors for safety, but quickly abandoned that idea and left most of the doors open all the time. With doors open, the light from the living room and kitchen went almost everywhere. Except the bathroom.
The front door was the most complicated. From the outside, there was a single lock that could only be closed by pulling the door tightly shut and forcing the key far more than felt right. From the inside, there were three different locks, one of which had different layers of latching. When we were home, it would have taken a battering ram for someone to force their way in. When we were out, a simple credit card could do the trick.
The best thing about the apartment was that it was an actual apartment. I stayed in an apartment when I worked in Paris and it made all the difference in the world. It felt like I was living there, if only temporarily. The Barcelona apartment was less elegant, and the neighborhood was not as photogenic, but it felt far more genuine than a hotel. I would never want to buy that particular apartment, but it was a nice place to stay for a couple of months.
When you work in a foreign country, it is always best to have someone living with you. A local might be ideal, but I like exploring a new place with other foreigners. A local can show you the ropes and make it easier, but you can share the experience with another foreigner. In this case, I did not pick my roommate or apartment. I just got lucky.
The outside door to the Barcelona apartment looked like every other door on a street full of residential buildings that all pretty much looked the same. It took a few days to find the right door on the first try. Beyond the front door was a dark and gloomy hallway that I imagine would have been right at home behind the Iron Curtain. I'm still surprised whenever I see anything in Western Europe that reminds me of Eastern Europe. Up several flights of constantly cornering stairs was another door that looked just like every other door. The only saving grace was that there was only one door per floor. As long as you were on the right floor, it had to be the right door.
Everything changed as soon as that door was opened. The apartment interior was bright and airy. The high walls and ceiling were all various shades of white and there were large windows taking up an entire wall of the living room and kitchen. The bedrooms had smaller windows and they faced south, so there was less light. The living room and kitchen faced east, letting light flood in almost every morning, weather permitting. There was only one bathroom, unfortunately, and it was tiny and dark. The building was at least a hundred years old. Probably older. The kitchen was obviously remodeled some time in the last five years. The living room and bedrooms were decorated in a different decade, but everything was clean and in one piece. The bathroom might have been older than the building. I have seen better equipped outhouses.
The bathroom was clean, but almost useless. The water pressure was a joke. Turning the shower up all the way provided little more than a trickle. We adjusted the water heater in every way imaginable, but that did nothing for the pressure. Eventually, a maintenance person told us that Barcelona was simply a city of low water pressure. I could not help but think he was just being lazy. The water pressure in the kitchen sink was amazing. It was so high that it forced a bowl out of my hand one of the first times I washed dishes. In the kitchen, we had to turn the water as low as possible. In the bathroom, nothing worked better than a bus station.
The bathroom and kitchen were night and day. I loved everything about that kitchen. Not only was there more than enough light in the daytime, there was more than enough counter space at all hours. The refrigerator, oven and washing machine were all new and high tech. Each could be programmed a million different ways that we never understood. Partly because neither of us were used to appliances that require an internet connection and mostly because we both arrived knowing pretty much no Spanish. The kitchen came loaded with all manner of dishes, utensils, silverware, pots and pans. We were surrounded by food all around the city, but could make practically anything in that kitchen.
The apartment had doors everywhere. Each bedroom had a door that led to the living room and another door that led to the hallway that led to the front door. Both the living room and kitchen had doors to the hallway and another door that separated the two. On our first few nights in the apartment, we closed all of the doors for safety, but quickly abandoned that idea and left most of the doors open all the time. With doors open, the light from the living room and kitchen went almost everywhere. Except the bathroom.
The front door was the most complicated. From the outside, there was a single lock that could only be closed by pulling the door tightly shut and forcing the key far more than felt right. From the inside, there were three different locks, one of which had different layers of latching. When we were home, it would have taken a battering ram for someone to force their way in. When we were out, a simple credit card could do the trick.
The best thing about the apartment was that it was an actual apartment. I stayed in an apartment when I worked in Paris and it made all the difference in the world. It felt like I was living there, if only temporarily. The Barcelona apartment was less elegant, and the neighborhood was not as photogenic, but it felt far more genuine than a hotel. I would never want to buy that particular apartment, but it was a nice place to stay for a couple of months.
Sunday, December 9, 2018
Veneza de Portugal
Aveiro, a tiny coastal village in central Portugal, is called the Venice of Portugal, for some reason. It has a few canals running through the city, but is above sea level and not likely to be flooded into extinction any time soon. I have never been to Venice, but I have to assume it is far more beautiful.
We took the train from Porto to Aveiro, which is a pleasant little 45 minute ride along the Atlantic coast. Unfortunately, we spent less than 12 hours in town, and I was working about half of that time, so what I know about Aveiro can fill two or three paragraphs.
Aveiro is not a crowded town, at least not in October. The largest crowd we saw on Aveiro day was at the Porto train station. Porto is not nearly as big as Barcelona, but there were more people milling about the station than I would have expected. The Porto train station is a popular tourist site, mostly for the murals on the ceiling, but once you pass the lobby, the crowds thin out. There were hundreds of people in the station, but almost no one waiting for our train.
Aveiro is famous for salt, I have been told. Everywhere we went, people were selling salt. I never bought any because salt should cost less than 20 euros for a 4 ounce bottle. Salt in different colors and mixed with herbs and spices does not impress me much. The ceramic trinkets and knick knacks were more impressive, but I generally don't buy souvenirs if they are only going to sit on a shelf and never do anything.
Aveiro also has colored boats that take people around the canals, but I never went on one.
During my time in Porto, several people said nice things about Aveiro. I'm sure there is something to it that I missed, but I was simply not there long enough.
We took the train from Porto to Aveiro, which is a pleasant little 45 minute ride along the Atlantic coast. Unfortunately, we spent less than 12 hours in town, and I was working about half of that time, so what I know about Aveiro can fill two or three paragraphs.
Aveiro is not a crowded town, at least not in October. The largest crowd we saw on Aveiro day was at the Porto train station. Porto is not nearly as big as Barcelona, but there were more people milling about the station than I would have expected. The Porto train station is a popular tourist site, mostly for the murals on the ceiling, but once you pass the lobby, the crowds thin out. There were hundreds of people in the station, but almost no one waiting for our train.
Aveiro is famous for salt, I have been told. Everywhere we went, people were selling salt. I never bought any because salt should cost less than 20 euros for a 4 ounce bottle. Salt in different colors and mixed with herbs and spices does not impress me much. The ceramic trinkets and knick knacks were more impressive, but I generally don't buy souvenirs if they are only going to sit on a shelf and never do anything.
Aveiro also has colored boats that take people around the canals, but I never went on one.
During my time in Porto, several people said nice things about Aveiro. I'm sure there is something to it that I missed, but I was simply not there long enough.
Saturday, December 8, 2018
John Lennon
We don't care what flag you're waving
We don't even want to know your name
We don't care where you're from or where you're going
All we know is that you came
You're making all our decisions
We have just one request of you
That while you're thinking things over
Here's something you just better do
Free the people now
Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it now
We were caught with our hands in the air
Don't despair paranoia is everywhere
We can shake it with love when we're scared
So let's shout it aloud like a prayer
Free the people now
Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it now
We understand your paranoia
But we don't want to play your game
You think you're cool and know what you are doing
And 666 is your name
So while you're jerking off each other
You better bear this thought in mind
Your time is up, you better know it
But maybe you don't read the signs
Free the people now
Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it now
Well you were caught with your hands in the kill
And you still got to swallow your pill
As you slip and you slide down the hill
On the blood of the people you killed
Stop the killing now
Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it now
Bring on the Lucie
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