Archive for June, 2007

Happy Birthday

Tuesday, June 12th, 2007

Me and my cake yesterday

1 year old today, well, two days ago to be precise. So there we have it; a year in the life of Hong Kongs favourite blogger before I even knew where Hong Kong was. Blogs, or electronic diaries as we call them in the trade, offer a record of the various and ultimately inconsequential lives we all lead with mine being far from the exception but, as irrelevant lives go, this year has marked a dramatic change. This time last year I was living in a Kensington bubble, ran a small handbag company. Forward on a year and I’m living in a Hong Kong bubble, been to more places than I could have wished to have, know China as well as can be expected and even speak a little of the language, earning and working as an alien in an alien environment, have a completely different view of the world, made lots of new friends and now, the big one, have a son or daughter on the way. That’s one hell of a year in my book. If you ask me to compare life in London to my life here I would say that I am much happier. I am less stressed and depressed for sure and things that used to bug me a year ago, estate agents and the Daily Mail, seem miles away from being of any interest. There are things in Asia that bug me but not many. You work hard here and you are rewarded although to work hard requires the patience of a saint and mental agility of somebody with a great mental agility. 10 months on and I don’t miss London for a second. Well, ok, some days I do wonder but then I look through my photographs and it all comes back to me and I look out the window at the mountains or the glowing skyscrapers and breath a sigh of relief. Hong Kong has its fair share of detractors, myself included from time to time, but it’s been good to us; it’s the land of opportunity if you have the inclination, and wisdom, to grasp it.