The Impossible Dream

There is melancholy in the air. I am listening to Radiohead, and it feels like it should be raining outside, drops forming on the window pane, gathering, trickling down in haphazard streaks, colliding then molding to the sill beyond my vision where it all collects, held for moment by its own tension before breaking free and diving into the wet, musky soil of the garden below.

But it is not raining. In fact, it is a gorgeously bright sun-filled day, brighter and clearer than any other day I've seen in the city of Taipei. The diamond brilliance of the day is also burning the air that we breath and for once, there is no humidity clinging to our bodies. But the effusive sadness still lingers, heavy.

Inside the gleaming concrete building there have been a constant stream of politics being played, prejudices thrown against closed doors, misunderstanding on professional and cultural levels that though subtle are nevertheless available to anyone willing to see the truth behind the thin veneer. I write these accusations with guilt, but can it be false if a close friend has decided to leave rather than further injure herself in this house of polite impudence?

So, I am sad. And like her, I am tired of seeing the faults. Our castle of sand will stand in the late afternoon sun, still surrounded by playful children and families that watch on with pride at their joys. When the source of day dips below the horizon, the crowds depart, the moon will rise and entice the foamy tides to shore. Where then will our sand castle be?

I'm now listening to Masters at Work's Pienso en Ti (Thinking of You). If nothing else, the experience will be learned and let modified. The breathless air forgotten, the piercing light of that single bulb shaded, and we hold onto all that was good.

The Three Act Play

It was the Saturday after my birthday so I grabbed my best girl and we went drinking! It was always my intention to divide my birthday drinks into three though I almost thought the final act wasn't to take place. It had been a very stressful week and was additionally asked to do overtime for 6 hours on that Saturday. It was all very unpleasant. But thank god Kristen and I felt equally in need of letting our hair down after a very strange day in the office. All you need sometimes is just one good girlfriend who knows what's been going on and who's as ready to flush out work bullshit with alcohol as I was, if not more.

We went to a little basement bar where we'd been once before with a bunch of friends. We weren't sure what the vibe would be like. Luckily it was just what we were looking for. A quiet bar that night, but with a live band. The two waitresses that worked there remembered us from last time and gave us a couple free shots. One was their own making, which was an espresso flavoured vodka shot dropped into a glass of Guiness. They said something about it being a wake up call.

After the band finished for the night we chatted to them. The singer/guitarist was Taiwanese Aboriginal, the bass player and drummer were two Japanese guys who'd met in the US. They were a blues band. What an odd mix. But they were great.

My first of my three part 30th birthday celebrations in HK were just as I had expected. By the third part I had left it all to chance and accepted whatever befell me. Like I keep saying to myself and people around me, Taiwan has been a really strange experience and continues to do surprise me. A taste of what's to come in life in my 30s? Let's have it then.


L: What we saw when we left the bar. R: A reflection of the singer on glass.



Top left: Kristen and I. Top right: Japanese drummer and bass player from the band.
Bottom left: In the cab. Bottom right: At the lights.

Onwards and Upwards

It was a nail-biter to the end. The clock was counting down. Our meeting was delayed further and further into the twilight day. Half hour went by. Another half hour. And another. And we're still waiting. The room was then freed, but we experience technical difficulties. Ten more minutes. Then another ten. Anxiety intensifies. Only 50 minutes before the band goes on stage, and I am still at work preparing for a screening that will last exactly 49 minutes and 42 seconds.

The lights dimmed in the HD projection room. I gave up hopes of going out and seeing a band on the night of my actual 30th birthday, sitting there alone in that meat locker between the editor and the director. Afterwards we hashed out ideas for a tighter storyline which was very productive, but I couldn't help feel a little deflated.

It was just after 9pm. The night was still young. Off to the brewery we go!

Going to the brewery after work for a quick bite and beer with 5 co-workers in tow couldn't have been simpler or more effective. Too much food was ordered. But I couldn't resist all the dishes popular with Taiwanese people, being a Taiwanese person myself. 3-Cup Chicken, Drunken Prawns, fried tofu, octapus salad, duck blood and rice cakes. Just a few of the gourmet dishes we had.

Impromptu was the name of the game. I had expected to be drinking a beer listening to a UK band on tour in Taipei and picking up, but instead I was in a warehouse in a brewery having a great time, eating and drinking. Little did I know then, but someone at the table had bought a can of silly string for the occasion, and I was to be set upon by pink mucus on the way out. I loved it! The surprise attack was complete. I chased down the main perpetrator like we were a couple of school kids. Finally I panted my threats of keeling over.

So that ends the evening, or so I thought. Just to finish my weird and wonderful day, my cab driver who looked about 47, asked twice for my number during the ride home. So artfully he asked between in takes and chews on his beetle nut that I was fishing for the door handle before the cab came to a complete stop. And consequently, I left a pair of earrings I had received as a birthday present in the passenger seat.

I try not to be glum. I missed out on the band, but made it to the brewery. I got silly-stringed for the first time in my life. I got a lovely pair of earrings. Some dude asked for my number.

I look forward to Saturday night, when I'll be having my third and final round of birthday drinks to mark 3 decades in this Adventure.

The Never Ending Journey

Landed on Saturday at 1030am. The comfort and ease of catching the Airport Express into HK station was a great start to the trip. As the MTR traversed towards my destination, the clear blue sky and pillows of white clouds released me for the weekend. From HK station it was only a short ride to Yosy's place, but that cab ride continued to heighten my delight. Hong Kong is tall and modern, yet its narrow streets and hills make it a city of its own making and character.

Arriving at Yosy's new apartment building was like arriving at a boutique hotel. As I walked through its front door a man walked past. He was casually yet smartly dressed, wearing sunglasses and talking on his mobile phone. And gorgeous. I was liking Hong Kong so very much, and it was only the first hour.

Yosy and Ted lives on the 35th floor. The views from their apartment was amazing. Their apartment was equally impressive containing all mod-cons. Though not a huge place, it still boasted a kitchen that even Martha Stewart would be proud of. Which means I was positively drooling (they had a normal oven, a steam oven, dishwasher, 4 gas burners AND a built in grill).



I was reunited with Yos and Corrinne, two dear friends I had made in London. This was the first time we'd all been together in two years. Corrinne had moved back to Melbourne for a stint, then relented to her travel bug and Yos's current location at that time and the two lived and worked in Singapore. After Yos met Ted, the two married and moved to Hong Kong about a month ago. It was a perfect arrangement to spend my birthday in Hong Kong and have both Yosy and Corrinne to celebrate with me.

Lunch on Saturday was at a small, local claypot joint. Corrinne impressed us all with her fluent Cantonese and even ordered me a milk tea and coffee combo drink. Let's just say it was interesting. After lunch we made important visits, to Zara and H&M. Two clothing stores that are close to many women's hearts and quite obnoxiously not available in Taiwan. We like to pay our respects and homage to them.



A quick cool dessert of mango ice cream, fresh fruits and birds nest jelly refreshed us and we headed back to Yos's to ready ourselves for the main event: dinner at Aqua and drinks in Lan Kwai Fong.

I had chosen to dine at Aqua not because of its food, but purely for its location which boasted one of the finest views of Hong Kong. It was a short ferry ride from Hong Kong to Kowloon. From our private glassed room on the corner of the 29th floor restaurant overlooking the harbour, Hong Kong Island was lit up in candied-coloured lights. Its festive mood matched mine and I couldn't be happier with the setting and company. I had two additional friends join us for dinner, Kelvin who I'd first met in Toronto and Felix, a friend of Kelvin's I'd first met in Taipei last year who'd moved to China earlier this year. Three ex-colleagues would have been present also, if we hadn't miscommunicated and they hadn't changed their flights to arrive the week before! The girls were missed, both by myself and the boys I think.






Despite missing their presence, I had the good fortune of typhoons from two weeks ago delaying my friends' travels in Asia. Ant, an ex-colleague from London and his friend Louise are currently on a backpacking trip and circumstances aka natural disasters allowed us to all be in Hong Kong at the same time. Ant and Lou joined us for drinks afterwards in Lan Kwai Fong, possibly one of the rowdiest drinking arenas I'd ever been. It reminded me of Temple Bar in Dublin. Small narrow streets with pub after pub after bar after pub. And plenty of white folk which enforced that idea.



We first went into the Russian ice bar for a shot of vodka each, then it was followed by jellied shots from Australian bar. Later in the evening, as we stood on the street, a man approached us with a box and offered us its contents. We peered in and saw giant novelty syringes. Curious. The syringes were filled with a burnt yellow/orange colouration. Definitely curious. The man then enthusiastically explained they jellied shots and that these were on the house. We laughed thankfully and all grabbed a syringe each. Beside us were a group of people attending a pyjama party. In their pyjamas. Further down the street were girls dousing each other with beer. And the last memory of the crowd of the night was seeing famous a Hong Kong radio DJ wearing a black T shirt and black leather skirt and boots (he is a man), walking with three women linked to his arms. He only has two arms.




Corrinne and I walked back to Yosy's place at the end of the night. It wasn't a far walk, but our heels were giving us great grief. Ending the night in a comfortable bed on the 35th floor of central Hong Kong took the grief away in a jiffy.

Sunday lunch was a late affair. But we'd kept to our plans of eating the famous roast goose at Yung Kee, famous for, well, its roast goose. It's roast goose cooked in the same way as Peking Duck, though the meat tasted far more tender, the flavours were rich without being overly powering, and the plum sauce to dip into was superb. I also ate salted pork and preserved egg congee which is a Hong Kong staple and it was just as tasty as I'd expected it to.



After lunch we strolled around Hong Kong a little bit more and embarked on the travelators that go on forever. This is the world's longest outdoor escalator, officially known as the Central-Mid-Levels Escalators. Mid-Levels is an area that boasts higher rent for its elevation and views, and we passed an open inspection of a residential building on our way up. The queues for this viewing was large to say the least, it was as if it were a queue for tickets to a concert or night club. It reminds you of how little land/housing there is in Hong Kong and that they are actively filling in the harbour to make more land. Eventually, one of our cab drivers told us, Hong Kong and Kowloon will be connected by landfill roads. Not bridges and ferries.



We stopped for an egg-tart break once we had enough of the escalators and jealousy of the rich in Hong Kong that lived in this area. It was time to head back. At Yosy's, we relived our night and days in Hong Kong over champagne the boys had bought for me the night before. The girls also presented me with a pair of beautiful earrings from Bali as a birthday present. Corrinne and I then said goodbye to Ted and Yos and their newly wedded bliss and we made our way back to the airport from whence we came.

At the airport I said goodbye to Corrinne who was returning to Singapore. I was to return to Taipei. It was a perfect weekend but I was sad to be leaving behind friends. Yet again.



Hong Kong. The world's Chinatown.

Aqua
29th Floor, One Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon
Hong Kong