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| Another great little story of random and unexpected happenings in HK. There I was in Shamshuipo buying a USB for E and I was over at the Yuen Chau Street end, so I normally head over to a nice little shop to pick up some fu juk (thin sheets of beancurd normally used deserts). So I picked up half a catty and paid my $10 and the lady who served me said her colleague wanted me to check how well (or how badly) he could sing a particular English song. I thought they were all joking but it seemed they were serious, so I had a few minutes so I went inside this old-style beancurd sheet shop and came face-to-face with a middle-aged beancurd sorter/packer. I really didn't know what to expect - would I know the song, and even if I knew the song would I understand his rendition? So he began to sing..."Feeling...nufin more dan feeling" "Tryin to forget my feelin ofu luv" - well, luckily I knew the song, not very well but it like one of those classics. And he sung it surprisingly well for a person who could not speak English. I guess he'd been practicing at home in front of the karaoke or something. But it was "his" song and he wanted to see how well he was doing. With me being interested in language and whatnot, I wanted to try and correct him, "Feeling" ying goi hai "feelingS la" and so on but I think he was happy enough with his version. The rest of the shop's staff were also listening in and saying a few things too. It was just a nice feeling of that one song that he liked a lot and that I knew of and it was his chance to try it out on a native speaker. A really nice moment... | | |
| Has it really been that long? Perhaps I should keep my entries shorter, or just write about anything that's on my mind. I think I gotta find a way to spur me on to write a little more regularly. Anyway, guilt for being away so long finally caught up with me so here's my first entry in...er...quite a while... But what a way to kick things off again...I have a incident that happened to me last week that I'm dying to tell. Each morning I normally catch the bus from Central back to work. But I was running late so I sometimes have to catch a taxi up to Pokfulam to save time. Last week was just such a need. HK taxi drivers are a diverse bunch - some like to chat and others don't, and that's fine with me. So today's driver was quite a chatty type and so we talked about the weather, the state of HK and travel. I asked him where he'd really like to go in the world and he stunned me in saying that he was a big fan of Antonio Gaudi and so wanted to visit Barcelona. Wow! I'M A BIG FAN TOO!. So for the remaining part of the journey we talked about Gaudi's work and Barcelona, about La Sagrada Família, Casa Milà and the cute paving stones Gaudi did. I left inspired, surpried and wondered when that kind of thing will happen again. Hong Kong IS a place full of pleasant surprises... | | |
| Finally here in Denmark and everything seems to be going fairly smoothly and according to plan. It was a long flight on Oasis but luckily on time (delay was my worst-case senario but this time we were ok). My honest comments about Oasis are pretty positive - reasonably efficient and comfortable. My only negative comment was the evening meal was just too small and with such a long time to wait for breakfast, my stomach was growling. More detail to come after I get more time at a computer... | | |
| Has it really been nearly two months and no entry? Sorry - this wasn't planned but just work consumed all my time. Its funny, most of you were super busy at the end of the sem with assignments and projects, then into revision time and then exam time (=stress time). For me it was working in tandem with you - getting the last 1003 assignment back to you before the exam (which took less time than expected since many of the papers were very good), the "Invasion of Room 116" on the last few days before the pragmatics deadline (probably my busiest couple of days in the last few years), then wading through the pragmatics movie clips and papers, and then organizing and joining the team grading of the 1003 exam (completed in 3 days - thanks you guys). Believe it or not, it now ALL DONE! I have the same kind of elation that you have when you have finished the last exam or handed in the last paper. But now its "out of the (HK) frying pan and into the (Danish) fire" - there's a lot to still do regarding the Danish field trip but I have pretty much a full week to get it all organized - we leave on the evening of the 9th June. I "plan" to keep this up-to-date during my absence and there'll be lots to share. Watch this space! Thanks K and C and others for the friendly reminders to get updates up - will do, will do! Let me get some entries written recalling some of the above (comical and stressful) events - I think they'd make for good reading (and that was the idea of this particular xanga anyway - another viewpoint to look at :) | | |
| Sorry for the seemingly long absence - other things distract - and I didn't realise that I need to be "in the mood" to write and share. I kinda need to force myself and then its fine. Anyway..... here's a little treat to feast your eyes: 
Went to a restaurant "LaVilla" in TSTE and it was really nice - great presentation. But it was just that...a feast for the eyes... when I tried the centre piece, the tiramisu itself, it was a bit of a let down, more like a tiramisu moose rather than a REAL tiramisu, kinda like those tiramisu cakes that are based on the flavour of tiramisu but not like it really. Too bad...still...great presentation... I think the best tiramisu I've had here in HK is at Grissini's at the Grand Hyatt in Wanchai (a long time ago when I was a little more affluent than now  ) It was the "real thing" with a twist - and if I ever go there again I'll be sure to take a pic. | | |
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