Archive for February, 2008

Protected: Thursday

Friday, February 29th, 2008

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Protected: Wednesday

Thursday, February 28th, 2008

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Tuesday

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008

Back into the Chinese madness. Left dearest honkers for the day and back to work in the motherland and it was all good. I am slowly coming round to the opinion that although not as advanced as the HK populous, the Chinese are very willing and very able to learn once pointed in the right direction. It this that will advance the country to insane levels of development in a few decades time. I like to work with people that want to help themselves and my basic (very) mandarin is improving slightly as both parties try and bridge the cultural gap. In the evening a mad dash to HK airport to pick up the mother-in-law as my wife is slowly drowning in baby land. I hope things can now improve.  

Protected: Monday

Tuesday, February 26th, 2008

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Saturday

Sunday, February 24th, 2008

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I thought we would enter HK full of soft music and sweetness and light as we returned home as a triumphant family but instead it’s a hornets nest of infighting and tension. I landed Thursday night and was picked up by the driver as per usual but what I wasn’t expecting is that said driver would be drunk on wine. Following my ordeal Friday was preparation and Saturday was the flight back to honkers. The flight we were dreading but our baby was the model of perfection and slept through the whole thing. After a long journey my wife was upset that she had to leave the luxury of back home the squaller of our abode and there was a tension all day. It’s unpleasant and we keep snapping at each other when our child stares at us in bemusement as the two ‘adults’ lock swords. I have been waiting for months for the return of my family only to find it’s a bigger anti-climax than the new Star Wars films were. My own child doesn’t recognise me such is my outsider status. The three us trapped in Hong Kong in this grey weather. Tomorrow is going to be an ordeal.

Wednesday

Wednesday, February 20th, 2008

Two days off work courtesy of Park and Shop and their very dodgy ‘fresh’ produce. Back on my feet today all guns blazing. Speaking of blazing the sun was out and although its not hot its much warmer and the hat is back in wardrobe. China is back to work and it was great to be back in the groove. One thing I realised the last few weeks is that when China closes then so does Hong Kong. Linked never to return.

The Minstrel Show – Little Brother

Sunday, February 17th, 2008

I was slow to this. It had got rave reviews but then so do a lot of things so I was skeptical. The title is no quip the whole album is structured as TV Show much like 3 Feet High and Rising with an intro, skits, adverts all connecting the tracks. As Phonte says on Slow It Down this is some grown man shit right here. This is adults rhyming for adults not kids in clubs. This soul music and an album you can grow with and let sink into you. The real revelation for me are the beats by 9th Wonder which are the closet thing to soul that only Pete Rock or Premo can conjure on the regular. This soulful feel coupled with adult subject matter and brilliant rhymes makes this indeed an essential purchase. It doesn’t blow your head off like a Ghost banger but instead slowly seeps into your consciousness and once it’s there impossible to ignore. Believe the hype. 9.5/10.

Sunday

Sunday, February 17th, 2008

Awoke hungover which is bizarre as I hadn’t drunk a drop of booze. Must be my body on a kind automatic setting after being in a boozer the night before. Same thing happened on Thursday morning. A quick walk to the shops and the weather was very fine. I think we are waving goodbye to the cold at long last. The BBC has warm temperatures for the end of the coming week. A quiet day full of glorious isolation before the madness begins afresh tomorrow.

Saturday

Sunday, February 17th, 2008

Relaxed and macked in the crib. Ate, slept and played Halo 3 not in that order. In the evening played football under the lights of Happy Valley before retiring to the boozer for a diet coke. No booze again although next weekend I face a huge social event and I fear I may crack or at the very least end up on crack depending what happens. Riveting.

Friday

Saturday, February 16th, 2008

A colleague left today so a nice lunch of Dim Sum perhaps the most fantastic Asian food there is. Love it especially the radish thing that looks like a waffle. And the fried dumplings. The last time I had Dim Sum with colleagues was in my old company in Aberdeen where I was the only Gwai Lo on display and nervously played with my food as an outsider but now shit dun changed and the honkies were in full effect here. Not sure which I prefer the most but then that’s already been explained (or hasn’t) in other posts. My departing colleague had been at the company for two years and not a golden clock, handshake or even a gathering to say goodbye. I think it was because they were basically crap at their job but still. Easy come easy go. Welcome to Hong Kong. No wonder the locals build up so many invisible walls when people just take or leave Hong Kong once they have had what they need. Seems to be they way here. Seems to be the way in Asia.