Sunday, April 15, 2007
Each time I leave Vancouver and come back, I find this city more and more beautiful. Today, the cherry blossoms were out, new green was upon the trees, snow still on the mountains, a shining sun and a cool breeze. It was perfect. It's no wonder that Vancouver is one the most desirable places to live.
Friday, April 06, 2007
IPCC
Overall I'm a pretty optimistic person, but sometimes the world looks awfully dim.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
New York on steroids
...that's probably the best that I've heard Hong Kong described as.
There are just SO many people here. It's pretty nuts, particularly this one district called Mong Kok, which directly translates into "Busy Corner". Let's see, what's a good way to describe it... take Robson and Thurlow, make it about 2.5 times bigger, then pack it with the dense crowd of people you might find right after fireworks, but add to it the semi-organized chaos of people going in multiple directions. And this is on a normal day! (My dad, on the other hand, likes to describe it this way: "If everyone there had swords and sheilds, then it would look like one of those epic Middle-Ages battles you see in the movies").
Several of my relatives here have asked if I would move to HK, but I don't think I can. Too much noise, too many people, super fast-paced; I don't think I could deal with it long term. Even just being here for a little while I feel a bit 'claustrophobic' and a bit crazed by the constant information overload. I'm also slightly annoyed I haven't been able to perfectly communicate here... although I speak Cantonese, I don't really know enough of the idioms/slang and true mannerisms to get my point across effectively. The style of humour is totally different and people are much more 'in your face'.
Nonetheless, I'm enjoying it here while I can and eating as many "weird" things as possible. That being said, I'm also really looking forward to some plain yoghurt and granola! :P
There are just SO many people here. It's pretty nuts, particularly this one district called Mong Kok, which directly translates into "Busy Corner". Let's see, what's a good way to describe it... take Robson and Thurlow, make it about 2.5 times bigger, then pack it with the dense crowd of people you might find right after fireworks, but add to it the semi-organized chaos of people going in multiple directions. And this is on a normal day! (My dad, on the other hand, likes to describe it this way: "If everyone there had swords and sheilds, then it would look like one of those epic Middle-Ages battles you see in the movies").
Several of my relatives here have asked if I would move to HK, but I don't think I can. Too much noise, too many people, super fast-paced; I don't think I could deal with it long term. Even just being here for a little while I feel a bit 'claustrophobic' and a bit crazed by the constant information overload. I'm also slightly annoyed I haven't been able to perfectly communicate here... although I speak Cantonese, I don't really know enough of the idioms/slang and true mannerisms to get my point across effectively. The style of humour is totally different and people are much more 'in your face'.
Nonetheless, I'm enjoying it here while I can and eating as many "weird" things as possible. That being said, I'm also really looking forward to some plain yoghurt and granola! :P
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
"It's like watching TV"
Last week Dad and I went to Thailand - more specifically, Patong Beach in Phuket. What a crazy tourist ridden place! Like many major tourist destinations, the place was packed with foreigners and the streets lined with locals trying to sell you stuff (or in this case, trying to pull you in to their massage parlours). The place was crowded, sunny, and damn hot!
The first day we got there we walked all around town to find a good diving school and finally settled on Sunrise Diving - a small diving outfit located right by the beach run mainly by South Africans. He signed up for the Open Water while I signed up for the Advanced. What a great place to go diving! Because of our different courses, we didn't get to do any dives together but the water is chalk full of fish and we both saw plenty. The most exciting for me was diving through a ferry wreck (the toilets were still intact!) and swimming for a bit alongside a sea turtle before it headed up to the surface. Dad, on the other hand, didn't seem to impressed. After his first open water dive he said "It's not really what I expected. It's not that exciting... it's like watching one of those nature shows on TV". Gah! It's true, except when you're diving you're actually in National Geographic!
The first day we got there we walked all around town to find a good diving school and finally settled on Sunrise Diving - a small diving outfit located right by the beach run mainly by South Africans. He signed up for the Open Water while I signed up for the Advanced. What a great place to go diving! Because of our different courses, we didn't get to do any dives together but the water is chalk full of fish and we both saw plenty. The most exciting for me was diving through a ferry wreck (the toilets were still intact!) and swimming for a bit alongside a sea turtle before it headed up to the surface. Dad, on the other hand, didn't seem to impressed. After his first open water dive he said "It's not really what I expected. It's not that exciting... it's like watching one of those nature shows on TV". Gah! It's true, except when you're diving you're actually in National Geographic!
What is the deal? I just joined it... finally ...though I'm unsure of exactly what I've just joined. In a matter of minutes there were already messages and people writing on my wall - crazy! - and connections with people I haven't talked to in years!!
Weird. We'll see how this goes.
Is this just another one of those fads?
Weird. We'll see how this goes.
Is this just another one of those fads?
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Lucky 8
It turns out I remember a little bit more Chinese than I thought! I found the link I needed to change the language and it appears I've magically remembered my correct login info. Bizarre.
Anyways, I was wrong. That building is 88 (!!!) stories high.
Anyways, I was wrong. That building is 88 (!!!) stories high.
HK first impressions
The 20-odd hour journey to Hong Kong began in the wee hours of Thursday morning. We flew to San Francisco (note: if you have a stop-over in SF before heading to overseas locales, hang out in the main terminal and not the international one) then took a 14.5hr flight from there to Hong Kong. Stepping off the plane, the first things that struck me were Starbucks, the "Free Duty" shop, and the humid haze outside.
Starbucks: Hong Kong is a very modern city (if you ignore the few remaining dot-matrix printers) replete with 7.5million cell phones for it's 6.9million person population. Cell phones are a huge part of life here - it would be a sin to leave home without it. Even second hand phones are more leading edge than the ones we can get back in Vancouver! Being modern and stylish is huge and you can find every designer fashion house here. I don't think I've ever seen this many places that sell Prada, Gucci and Burberry is such close proximity. Starbucks is trying to nudge it's way into the market here, and they make a really big point of advertising when a location is nearby. I don't know that people will gravitate towards it though, I don't think western-style coffee suits pallettes here. Small food shops are absolutely everywhere! And it's all SO good.
"Free Duty": The last time I was in Hong Kong, it was 17 yrs ago and I remember English grammar here being a complete abomination. Things seem to have gotten a lot better since then with nearly all signs written in multiple languages. There's also still plenty of British influence - when walking onto the subway train, you might not "mind the gap", but you do "mind the space" and "alight" at the desired destination.
Humid haze: Yick... it's only about 25C outside, but it feels warmer and because of the humidity and means you can feel pretty sticky after walking around outside. The haze is in part due to the pollution but I don't know that it can be attributed to cars like the way in can be in most other places. The public transportation system is amazing. If you can name it, they have it. Subway, skytrain, double decked LRT, double decked buses, mini-buses, ferry... and it's all heavily used! There's still a fair bit of pollution, though, and it would be hard to imagine there not being any with this many people in such a small space. There was a building I saw yesterday that must have been 80 stories high - it was literally in the clouds! Buildings are typically no shorter than 20 stories and when you're talking about condo/apartment/housing developments, there aren't just 2 or 3 buildings, but 10.
Crazy. Maybe this is what development looks like.
When my parents visited me in Guatemala, they commented that Guatemala City was a lot like Hong Kong 50 years ago. Lots of crowded markets and street-corner shops, dirty and polluted, disparity between the rich and poor etc... These elements still exist here, but with an ever rising middle class modern technology and western influence and standards have infused into the culture and way of life. The romantic charm seems to have gotten lost in the process - I see that in the nostalgia my Dad and Aunt show when they talk about what they enjoyed while growing up.
But for now... I'm the tourist. And for the first time I can pass under the radar without obviously being the one out of place. Haha - oddly enough, I find it really strange to see other "foreigners" ( i.e. white people) here... :P
Starbucks: Hong Kong is a very modern city (if you ignore the few remaining dot-matrix printers) replete with 7.5million cell phones for it's 6.9million person population. Cell phones are a huge part of life here - it would be a sin to leave home without it. Even second hand phones are more leading edge than the ones we can get back in Vancouver! Being modern and stylish is huge and you can find every designer fashion house here. I don't think I've ever seen this many places that sell Prada, Gucci and Burberry is such close proximity. Starbucks is trying to nudge it's way into the market here, and they make a really big point of advertising when a location is nearby. I don't know that people will gravitate towards it though, I don't think western-style coffee suits pallettes here. Small food shops are absolutely everywhere! And it's all SO good.
"Free Duty": The last time I was in Hong Kong, it was 17 yrs ago and I remember English grammar here being a complete abomination. Things seem to have gotten a lot better since then with nearly all signs written in multiple languages. There's also still plenty of British influence - when walking onto the subway train, you might not "mind the gap", but you do "mind the space" and "alight" at the desired destination.
Humid haze: Yick... it's only about 25C outside, but it feels warmer and because of the humidity and means you can feel pretty sticky after walking around outside. The haze is in part due to the pollution but I don't know that it can be attributed to cars like the way in can be in most other places. The public transportation system is amazing. If you can name it, they have it. Subway, skytrain, double decked LRT, double decked buses, mini-buses, ferry... and it's all heavily used! There's still a fair bit of pollution, though, and it would be hard to imagine there not being any with this many people in such a small space. There was a building I saw yesterday that must have been 80 stories high - it was literally in the clouds! Buildings are typically no shorter than 20 stories and when you're talking about condo/apartment/housing developments, there aren't just 2 or 3 buildings, but 10.
Crazy. Maybe this is what development looks like.
When my parents visited me in Guatemala, they commented that Guatemala City was a lot like Hong Kong 50 years ago. Lots of crowded markets and street-corner shops, dirty and polluted, disparity between the rich and poor etc... These elements still exist here, but with an ever rising middle class modern technology and western influence and standards have infused into the culture and way of life. The romantic charm seems to have gotten lost in the process - I see that in the nostalgia my Dad and Aunt show when they talk about what they enjoyed while growing up.
But for now... I'm the tourist. And for the first time I can pass under the radar without obviously being the one out of place. Haha - oddly enough, I find it really strange to see other "foreigners" ( i.e. white people) here... :P
Friday, February 03, 2006
no Photoshop involved
The following aptly illustrates some of my frustrations here:
Entrance to the old office.
Entrance to the new office.
The time it took to move?
3.5 weeks.
Entrance to the old office.
Entrance to the new office.
...and this is where they are located in relation to eachother.
The time it took to move?
3.5 weeks.
