COUNTDOWN

27 days left in hong kong. i had been severely missing home, it's never felt so far away, but i think i've gotten used to solitary life. watched four films, days of being wild last and it put me in a mood. after leaving the archive at 7:00, i sat by the harbor till it got dark and then went to have dinner in the area. as of late, i've been eating alone more and more, usually sharing a table with a stranger. tonight, i sat across an older man who was reading the newspaper the entire time. when alone, it's nice to be left to one's thoughts, to let the mind wander, to realize the details you've been paying attention to, etcetc.

had a fun weekend, saturday was walter's birthday so we went to a french "restaurant" that took up half a floor of an old industrial building. uncle made reservations and they sent us a personalized menu beforehand. walter gave a long installment of his family's history during the dinner. we passed by this gas station/car wash when we walked back home



the next day uncle walked with me around the back streets of wan chai, which reminded me of san francisco b/c of the slanted and narrow streets. this shop was going out of business and had the strangest assortment of goods left over



shaded haven in an alley



we had lunch at a revolving restaurant on the 66th floor of the hopewell



watched a play in the afternoon, and then had dinner at a restaurant founded 140 yrs ago and known for its swiss sauce chicken. this one was built circa 1960s in tsim sha tsui



after dinner, we took a ferry back to hk island to see queen's pier before it gets relocated. there was a hunger strike going on earlier this week to protest/resist its removal. the place is mostly used by philipinos on sundays. one of them was dancing to thriller when we were there. the hunger strikers, tents, banners, photos, and flyers created quite a scene, made uncle and i wonder if we'd take up the cause, given different circumstances

SWELTERING

saturday morning started with the south china morning post, featured a photo of parkour (urban sport that has its players race from point a to point b, can involve jumping off buildings and climbing of walls) and an article on mean youngsters



afternoon, frankie and uncle took me to mid-levels and hong kong university where we found the safest female toilet.





old apartment, there aren't many of these! proper conservation is a rare occurrence, as conservation in hong kong is understood to be demolishing the old site and building a new "old" version.



sunday, auntie alisa and fam took me to stanley, which is towards the south on hk island. there were markets and beaches and restaurants with tables that spilled onto the street. had a mediterranean feel that was quite pleasant!

HALF DONE

this summer feels like the longest one i've ever had! research on hk's new wave cinema hasn't been going too well b/c so many key films are missing from the archive's collection. i've gotten over my frustrations with the place though. the archive is in eastern hk, just two subway stops from my uncle's place. the area is sai wan ho, which reminds me of tribeca because of its many restaurants, park, and mix of community members. sometimes i come here to eat lunch!



last saturday, uncle and i went to a talk on contemporary hong kong art called handover/talkover. there have been a plethora of such events dealing with the issue b/c it's the tenth year anniversary of hk's return to china. you hear/see/breathe it everywhere, but it's not considered as unsettling a crisis as it used to be. anyway, it's not uncommon to hear that hk is a cultural desert, which i couldn't really understand because there are so many people in hk! hk isn't a cultural desert, but it's no cultural oasis. below is the cattle depot artist village where the talk was held. they also had a show up, but it had pieces we saw last week at the cuhk show!



then sunday i went to high tea with frankie at the mandarin oriental before a show he was going to see at the cultural center. on the top are "sandwiches" that were wrapped with thin slices of cucumber, salmon, etc. we had scones too, i miss eating scones.



i've started taking mandarin/putonghua classes this week. the night before my first class last monday, i had a dream that i was being forced to play piano again. there's a 10 year old in the class, as well as a woman in her late thirties. the class is interesting because the pronunciation is not only taught with pinyin, but with chinese characters that have the corresponding tones. got a haircut after the first class, went to a place called myth in causeway bay. my hair is now short in the back but longer in the front so it slants at the sides. it's nice b/c the view from the back is so different from the front.

last night i took the tram from eastern hk to the western district. when it got dark, i took it again from the western district to causeway bay. the trams have open windows and run on tracks through the heart of hk island. taking the tram at night is probably one of my most favorite things to do. it's fun to see the street lights and people in double-decker buses/restaurants/inside spaces, they often seem encapsulated

WEEK'S END

boy dressed in blue plaid, stripes, and shoes!



saturday, uncle and i went to chinese university to see the grad student art show



we parted ways, and i went to a punk/hardcore show of cu bands in the industrial area of wong tai sin. not my genre of choice, but it was fun anyways. there was respectful moshing, terrible acoustic punk, and a screamo band that had the lead playing an erhu! around 8 bands played, i didn't stay for all of it





today, i met up w/ frankie in kowloon and saw parts of his hood. he showed me old government housing that was being restored for historical preservation and some other buildings. architecture, or just use of space, in hk is really intriguing- still more explorations to come!

REUNIFICATION

this year marks the 10th year anniversary of hong kong's turnover from britain to hong kong, there were festivities and shopping opportunities planned for the day, but we opted for the protest and seafood dinner on lamma island instead.





then the boat took us to the harbor to see fireworks, made me feel like i was in some war movie

LONG TIME NO POST

been back for a week since cambodia and thailand, but exhaustion and laziness got the best of me. i still feel exhausted, though i blame the humidity, it makes me feel incredibly slow. anyway, brief recount below!

arrived in siem reap, in the background is their newly built airport. carmen brought so much photo equipment, here she is looking hardcore backpacker.



this was the view below our guesthouse room in siem reap (city closest to angkor wat and other temple ruins), it's rain season so rain was on/off, rained when we arrived which made things feel quite dreary



we went to angkor wat twice for sunrise, below was taken second try.



the second time at angkor wat, we mostly just took in the place and the people.



since we hired a private car, we were able to stay as long as we liked at each ruin. below is ta prohm, there were madd tourists and we had to be v.v. patient to get the shots we wanted. it's been decided that this temple be taken over by the jungle, roots were grotesquely beautiful.



on our second day, we visited a vietnamese floating village and had a boat take us out. saw a full rainbow for the first time, but couldn't photograph it!





and then we got to see the rich/expat side of siem reap with their art galleries.



ran amok with the amok- a khmer dish of various meats in coconut-based curry



angkor vice. we bought goods mostly based on design.



and then we were off to bangkok! it's a colorful city, really campy.



first day we went to the weekend market, largest outdoor market in asia had the smallest cakes i've ever seeen



some of the shops/stalls were very much like boutiques or window displays



there was mostly shopping, their malls are HUGE. we got to the fifth floor of one and they had CARS for sale. ridic. here's a part of the mall that had an industrial feel



and eating. carmen had flat noodles eveerrrrywhere



we were all templed-out from cambodia, so we took it easy in bangkok. we met up with jac, friend of my uncle's. he teaches people how to breathe and is doing quite well from it. he shared a bit about his life, showed us fabulous photos of the r.a.t. parties he used to have in australia. next day we left for hong kong, later- reunification!