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?
