Quotes

"Hey! That elephant just spilled my beer."

-Andrew, after an elephant spilled his beer. You only get to say that once.

Thailand

I'm back from my week long holiday in Thailand. I spent most of my time in Bangkok, but also saw Pataya and Koh Larn.

Bangkok is a great city with beautiful people and deliciously spicy food. I still feel it. I recommend that city for any traveler.

I had loads of fun and met some great people. I would rather tell you about it all in person rather than write in a blog. Please check out my pictures sometime and see for yourself.

Sai Kung

I went hiking yesterday with the Yip sisters. I couldn't remember the last time I had been out of a city setting, so the fresh air was welcomed. After a 90 minute trip out into the New Territories, we found what we thought was our trail and set off. I am just now realizing that we were on a completely different part of the trail than we thought.

Our hike was expected to be along a nice beach for a few hours, but instead we climed up and down four mountians over 11km and ascended up 400m to a peak. There were stairs along the steep parts, but they almost made it worse on my ageing knees.


Our trail ended in a great fishing village, Sai Kung. Its quite touristy, but for a reason. Along the docks there are plenty of restaurants that put their fresh catches into large tanks. When you're ready to eat, you walk over and point out what your craving. Then, the chef prepares your 'catch' however you like. The three of us easily put away a 6lb. fish, two crabs and a pound of shrimp.

All in all, the views were terrific and the setting serene. Our dinner was fantastic too. It felt great to get out of the city and hopefully I'll find some time to do some more treks.

Sick Games

I left work early on Thursday with a fever and I've been in bed for 48 hours since. I'm feeling much better now, but I'm fresh out of '24' episodes. My sinuses are also clearing and everything is coming up. I've taken a few steps to cure the boredom. I'm on my bed, window open to the cool breeze and 21 floors below is; not sure and don't want to check because...Whenever I cough something up, I spit it out the window and wonder where that gooey glob landed. Then, I write about it on the internet.

Gross? Not until you've tried it.

Mr. Jack Hammer

I remember walking down the streets of New York multiple times and feel the sidewalk begin to shake, or at my desk 21 floors up and hear the building rumble and think to myself, “It would not sadden me if I never hear the pneumatic sound of a jackhammer ever again.”

Alas, not fifty yards from my desk in Hong Kong, two 40 story apartment buildings are being constructed. Outside the school, the air is constantly filled with sound waves of whining cement trucks, swirling cranes, and of course the abhorrent jackhammer.

I am sitting in the garden on the roof of my school, trying to escape the chaos of the classroom, but even my iPod cannot rescue me from the machine gun battle that rages in the construction zone across the way. Neither can the book I’m reading which is ironically describing a scientist’s efforts to control the sound of the universe and turn all of its annoyances off. Until this fiction becomes a reality though, I won’t be able to concentrate enough to even finish the chapter.

Whoever invented this beastly tool should be imprisoned for disturbing global peace. I think his sentence should be lying on a bed with a jackhammer constantly drilling next to his head, 24/7. I doubt he would survive a week before he lost his mind and was crippled with internal tremors for the rest of his quaking days.

The rattling of the jack hammer outside or the Chinese chatter in the classroom; which one should I choose?

Attack of the Chinese Students!!!

I decided today, amid the chaos of my classroom, that a good illustration for my job would be a four-hour Chinese horror film. Imagine the constant rambling in Chinese with errant screams. Kids running around, bloody noses, people bumping into each other and falling onto their faces. Objects flying through the air, mass confusion, everyone lost in their own world and the only interaction with each other results in a fight of some sort.

Then, there is me in the middle, trying in what ever way possible to pacify the situation; urging everyone to keep calm. But no one understands a word I’m saying or even bothers to try to listen. Instead, they glance at me when I shout their name and the carry on shouting as they run across the set of this Asian horror flick. On any given day you would think that Godzilla had crawled out of Victoria harbour and was standing outside the school.

Lamma Island

I found my new getaway spot last weekend. They guys and I all retreated to Lamma Island for the laid back scene instead of the usual rush. The island is only a twenty minute ferry away, but it seems like you’re thousands of miles off. Set just to the southwest of Hong Kong Island, it is rumored to contain the earliest evidence of Chinese society from over 5000 years ago.

There isn’t much to Lamma, and that’s the beauty of it. The ferry arrives at the terminal and you follow the gangway onto the sole street on the island. Seafood restaurants are separated only by small bars and food shops. We dined on a balcony overlooking local fishing boats in the South China Sea. We ate everything from squid and garlic shrimps to ginger crab and grouper. The meal was fantastic and cheap.

Afterwards, we sat by the bay and had some drinks while playing cards into the wee hours. A hotel room steps from our table cost us each about $12 USD. In the morning, a local restaurateur cooked up an American breakfast special for us with eggs, bacon, sausage and plenty of coffee.

For about $50 USD we each had one of the best weekends we can remember in Hong Kong. Lamma is definitely a regular spot for us now to escape the ruckus that is Central Hong Kong and to relax the right way.

Jet Lagged New Year

From the time I left for home three weeks ago up to now I have been very jet lagged. In Texas I was sleeping for five hours a night and then a marathon nap in the afternoon. I’m finally getting over 7 hours of sleep at night now that I’m back in Hong Kong.

After my recent travels in the States, I am realizing how much I really miss my friends. I really hope to go back to New York after my stint in Asia. Hong Kong is a good city and I am satisfied, but I feel like I have seen all it has to offer me and now I’m ready to shake things up again. My job has gone from extremely stressful to very easy and boring. I use it simply as a source of money and vacation time for my travels.

I booked my ticket to Bangkok last night. Andrew and I will spend Chinese New Year in Hong Kong and then spend a week in Thailand. In April some friends from the States will be in town and we’ll tour the mainland for two weeks. A couple months following, school will be over and I will hopefully spend quite awhile traveling west from here, crossing multiple continents, to get back to the U.S.

I do spend a lot of time thinking about the future, but that’s what keeps me going. Teaching was just a means to make these journeys happen. Already half way over, Hong Kong hasn’t disappointed, but it feels dull now and I’m ready for more adventure.

Holiday Wrap-up

Its been awhile since I've posted anything. Things were pretty quiet leading up to Christmas and all I could think about was getting on the plane to go see family and friends.

I was in Texas over Christmas and spent some good time with my family. I also met Selah Wolf in her first week and had some good guy time with Micah and Lucas.

After Texas, I spent a few nights in New York catching up with some more friends. Lauren was in town to see a friend too so I got to be part of her first New York experience.

New Year's was a blast at Collin's apartment. We had a good group of old friends and I think everyone rang in the new year in good fashion.

On my last night, I met Andrew and the old crew at McSorley's. It was as if I never left. All of the bartenders were curious to know about Hong Kong and later that night we all went out for karaoke. What a fun crowd!

Four of my students were waiting for me at my office this morning to say how much they missed me. I'm still happy in Hong Kong, but I miss the states now and really want to go back to NYC. There is some more travel coming up soon, but I would like to end up in New York later this year.

Quotes

I've been keeping a log of my favorite lines people around me have said over the past few years. Its usually just one sentence at the right time that makes me laugh so hard that I never want to forget it. Friday provided two gems:

"I know I'm mentally unstable, but I'd rather be that than married."
-Phil, 40

"Vegas Baby, Vegas!"
-Westley, 6