Appalled

a) by the way interviews are conducted here. I really hope the experience is not representative of recruiters in HK. The interviewer didn't shake hands, didn't handout their name card, and, openly bashed the person who referred me. I can understand the first two irregularities - HKers are not usually known for being friendly or wellcoming- but the last part was down right rude.

b) by the combo of minimum wage and horrendously long hours : 12 hrs a day Mon - Fri + unpaid overtime on weekends, and if you want to get promoted sooner, extra projects to take on in your own time, sans pay of course.
I might as well go into i-banking... at least I'd be sufficiently compensated for selling my soul to the corporation.

Nobody Knows

(aka Daremoshiranai: official Japanese site)

Caught this at the Arts Center. The film was delightful - the kids were so cute that I couldn't helping smiling. The whole film, in spite of all the tragic incidents, has a lightly happy and sweet feel to it. The kids' optimism radiates across so naturally that it is easy for the audience to forget how unfortunate they are. Nobody has a very different sentimentalism from say, The Grave of Fireflies (Chinese title: Goodbye Fireflies), which is similar in plot; but there are no teary sobs here, just peaceful toleration with all the crap that happens in life.

Exciting week!

1. Mid Autmn Festival (tomorrow)
Hadn't had mooncakes at an appropriate location (ie. on this side of the planet) for... 12 years!
That is, with full moon, paper lanterns, plastic lanterns (in the shape of Hello Kitty's, Powerpuff Girls etc etc) and mooncakes of all varieties (besides the traditional lotus seed paste ones, we now have "ice skin", which I've never had, but suspect it's mochi-like; green tea; date paste; sesame paste; Starbucks (coffee flavoured?! urgh) ; and Hagen Daaz ice-cream ones) ^o^
Want to catch the giant lanterns exhibit at the Victoria Park.

2. 2046 (9/29)
I won't rant on, seeing how the topic is taking up the bandwidths in China / HK these days.
The posters alone send sparks down the spine:

[Fingers-crossed: will or won't I get to meet William Chang Suk Ping, art director for Happy Together & In the Mood for Love???]

3. National Day for People's Republic of China (10/1)
Is something that sort of exists in my mind but never acknowledged, since I've never physically been in Hong Kong, in October, in the seven years that HK's been handed back to its Mamaland. Oh yes, we are part of the PRC now, as gaudy as the name of my country sounds, I have to accept it.
On the bright side, I'll get to see HK fireworks, which I haven't seen in years. HK fireworks are nothing like fireworks anywhere else in the world. They are gargantuan, and no one else gets to show fireworks with the fantastic backdrop of Victoria Harbour at night! :) Am looking forward to seeing the big smiley pattern this year, a first in HK fireworks history.

The kitchen fridge at home

is not dissimilar to a time capsule. Digging through the mid-sized General model is a bit like an archeological dig in Pompeii, back in the day when it was still buried in volcanic ash. Look! Roman aged bread and wheat preserved in ashes! In the case of the Wong's Residence, thanks to my mum's obsession with NOT throwing anything away, EVER, the deceivingly small fridge, vault-like in capacity, now houses a historical collection of foods: preserved dried scallops (I swear they've been there since I was 12), boxes of expired chocolates (almost none were ever opened *sigh*), half consumed bags of beef and pork jerky, a giant box of cheese crackers that should have been thrown out four years ago, and the like...

Mum suggested I make food sculptures out of all this when I become a famous artist. "Hmm this is an interesting time-based piece... look at how the material itself is perishing without the aid of humans and technological intervention!" Or something. Andy Goldsworthy, look out!

Woohoo! Successfully delayed return date to the States to 10/4, since interesting job leads have been popping up.

Meanwhile, I'll continue to enjoy all the family pampering, the superb food (in taste and variety), non-laundry-doing and non-housecleaning, shopping for cheap Marc Jacob suits, and of course, catching 2046 when it comes out =D

Gay Republicans

Isn't that an oxymoron? Had no idea they even existed....

Celeb spotting:

On the way to lunch at 鼎泰豐 Ding Tai Fung at Hong Hum, walked behind 方中信 [Alex Fong] from the parking lot to the elevator. Was vaguely exciting cos I always thought the man was a bit of a dish - tall, clean cut and lanky... just how I like them men ;) All the better if they play firefighters on telly.

BOS>HKG>SGN>NHA>HKG:

Back in Hong Kong, after a short detour in the form of a 5-day family holiday in Saigon & Nha Trang, Vietnam.

Vietnam was wicked. Just like in Tran Anh Hung's films - leisurely slow, lush and saturated with tropical colours. Well, maybe not the crazy traffic in Ho Chi Minh City. But, I did have a superb time.

The particularly noteworthy:

Petting sea turtles at the Nha Trang Aquarium - OMG. They are even cuter than in Nemo. I never knew turtles were so friendly. (Well, they might have thought it was lunchtime when I walked down the stairs to the marine shelter where they were kept with the giant groupers) The ancient reptiles with X-File-alien like eyes swam up close enough to let me pet their seaweed-covered heads and flippers. Wanted to bring one home badly but that would get me arrested by less friendly Vietnamese customs...

Vietnamese coffee iced with sweet condensed milk is possibly the bestest coffee EVER. And this is coming from a gal who stays away from most coffees. Strong, super concentrated and creamy yet jitter-free; imagine Bailey's without the alcohol.

Lotus tea - It smells like vanilla ice-cream. I was sold after my first sip.

The Ana Mandara Hotel at Nha Trang is one of the nicest hotels I have stayed in... antique Chinese meets Bali / Thai tropical, the place is beautifully landscaped with fragrant jasmine bushes, Birds of Paradise, plumeria (egg flower) and palm trees of all sorts and sizes. Rooms were clustered as tropical bungalows with porches and thatched roofs.
And the pool! The pool! It was right out of Conde Nast Traveller - located perfectly on the edge of the beach, the view was water + sea + sky.

Fruits so exotic and so fresh, it's like I've never seen or tasted fruits before: dragonfruit, jackfruit, custard apples, coconuts, mangos, crazy sweet watermelons and half a dozen more that I can't name in English. Served most deliciously in lightly sweetened or flavored waters: dragonfruit with vanilla; mango with lemongrass; watermelon with ginger; bananas with coffee beans...

Going around town on a cyclo - there's nothing like it. A rickshaw powered by a bike (except the carriage thingy goes in front), one feels quite vulnerable when there's nothing barring your body from the streets packed with 1000's of motorcycles, whose drivers blatently ignore any attempt of traffic regulation.

Fresh honey- the Vietnamese like theirs straight off a giant chunk of honey comb. It tasted of flowers! Just a spoonful made my superstrong Viet coffee the perfect caffeinated nectar.

Spotting a two tailed lizard - free freak show on the way to breakfast. And I thought those things only exist on believe-it-or-not type TV shows.

Pics to follow...