another lifetime

When I went to New York for college, there were many occasions during that four-year period where I was in constant awe and development of my life experiences after having grown up in small town America in an immigrant family. As I got older, those moments have lessen as I got used to the lifestyle and experiences of 'keeping up with the Joneses'. Part of the appeal to relocate across the world was to recapture some of the excitement of new learnings and experiences.

My first trip to Hong Kong has now set a high bar. Upon our arrival, we were whisked to a beach on a remote island that can only be accessed by private boat. It was a catered, theme party for someone's 30th birthday. Au d'oeuvres and champagne were brought to us while we were frolicking in the ocean. Warm water, beautiful weather and good friends - a formula for great fun that ended with dancing on the top deck of a boat surrounded by fresh ocean breeze and scent under a cloudless sky filled with stars and moonlight.

Just when I thought the surreal moment was the highlight of the weekend, we ended up at another part of the remote island on Sunday finding snails, exploring caves, and drinking and chatting it up on a millionaire's speedster. Lunch at Jaspas Beach Club that can also only be accessed by boat was full of laughs and casualness. We all had a hard time leaving to catch our flight that evening, and for once, I was hoping to miss my flight. More importantly, I met new friends from all walks of life (from farmers to entrepreuners) that appear to just enjoy life and tell it like it is - something I find I miss a lot living in a very passive-aggressive country like Vietnam. They reminded me of my friends in New York, and while I'm not entirely sure whether it is the metropolitan city that shapes people or whether people like that gravitates to such cities, I just know it was a breath of fresh air for me.

Of course, I didn't realize how unconventional my weekend was as a 'day in the life' of a Hong Kong tourist until I got back to the realities of everyday life and was told that Hong Kong does not have any nice beaches so I could not have spent a weekend in Hong Kong. Looking back, it was definitely one of those 'who would have thunk?' moments. Here's to more of where that came from!! Cheers!

color me confused

While many currencies in Asia are linked to the US dollar, each country has its own currency although I wish they would learn from the benefits of the Euro...ok on second thought, maybe not, given the economic situation in Europe. I used to have a mug with random coins from my travels since they usually wouldn't convert the coins back to the US dollar. Of course, I would always forget that I had them when I went back to the respective countries - I have loonies galore.

I have stopped converting now since I plan on making numerous trips back and forth during my stint in Asia. My travels though have not taught me to be any more efficient in discerning the notes and coins. Even in Vietnam, there are times where I catch myself giving the wrong currency since the colors of the notes are similar (VND 500,000 is a similar blue as VND 20,000) - a very few honest individuals have given me the notes back. There are so many colors that it baffles me why we cannot have a note in purple, for example.

To add to the confusion, Hong Kong is one of those rare countries where they do not have just the central bank printing the notes. Certain coins/notes are minted/printed by not only the central bank but also three approved banks with their own branding. At first blush, I thought people were giving me counterfeit bills as change - one of those 'take advantage of the stupid tourist' scenarios. Even after understanding the system though, I'm still convinced that there is a component of 'stupid tourist' traps, especially when it involves imbibing Absolut and Jack!

third time's the charm

My dad is MacGyver. We would have appliances dating back to the 1970s because he kept fixing them until we would have enough of the 'old farts' that we would force him to stop. Naturally, I inherited some of his mechanical mind and usually am not gadget/electronics challenged, and can hook up any complicated entertainment system. However, I was at a loss this weekend when I couldn't figure out the rice cooker, microwave or oven in my apartment.

Given the diversity and mass production in the Asian markets, gadgets/appliances usually have symbols rather than words. The user manuals seem to cover a number of different models in one booklet, and it usually isn't clear what model I have in the apartment. There are a number of options on my washer and dryer but I've been happy to just figure out the basics to avoid shrinking or coloring my clothes. We had three people look at the manual for the oven just to turn it on. We ended up having my friend call her friend who coincidentally is my neighbor to walk her through it. It doesn't seem so self explanatory that one has to push the timer and heat buttons at the same time to turn it on.

After baking the chocolate cake twice, we could not figure out why it would only cook the top. Luckily my friend is married to a MacGyver also. While he couldn't explain to us what he did, he somehow managed to solve our dilemma. After scraping off the burnt top, the chocolate cake was well worth the wait.

elvis has left the building

It's been over two months since I have moved into my permanent place. Although I can be a homebody, especially in the winter months in New York, for some reason, I'm constantly out and about here. I haven't finished a book that I have started here yet. Although I don't cook much and insisted on having an oven, I have only used my kitchen to boil water once. Many of the weekends have been filled up with trips (e.g., Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia and other domestic locations). Regardless, I have not organized and put away the items that I had shipped. Someone speculated that it is because I don't want to put down roots here. 

Apartment View @ Night

Since I moved out of my Chelsea apartment in early December, which was before my transfer date was determined, I had to decide at that time what items get stored and what items get shipped to Vietnam. I had spent a bit of time researching what other expats recommended to pack or not pack, especially items that would get hung up at customs and/or that are not readily available in Vietnam. For example, media (e.g., books, DVDs) may get screened for content, which given translation issues, would take a long time to clear customs. Despite what was noted in that's a-mores!, pornography including toys would be confiscated. One blogger recommended condoms since the quality here is questionable, and supposedly, the size is not as diverse.

Quite frankly, I had forgotten what I had put into the air cargo category. Over the last few months, there were certain things that I was hoping I had heeded other bloggers' advice on, such as loading up with tampons since they are pretty scarce in this part of the world, but had faint recollections of such preparations to the point where I doubted myself. The housekeeper who comes three times a week started to put things in piles just to clear up areas for her to clean. So I decided that I was going to buckle down this week, and would force myself to put things away by hosting a pool/BBQ party at my place this weekend.

I am a bit baffled at some of the things I decided to bring and not bring in my infinite wisdom - common sense may have been on a vacation that day.

• Wig - a spontaneous purchase with a friend but since I've decided to grow out my hair, the long-hair wig makes less sense now. Hair extensions here cost less than the wig does.
• Toaster oven - made sense until I realized that the voltage here is significantly different. I have already fried my hair dryer, flat iron and rollers.
• Corset - while this came in handy for a theme charity event, I'm not sure why I didn't decide to also pack the garter attachments that goes with the corset as well as the stockings to go with it. Somehow I also managed to pack a garter belt but of course a bit useless without stockings, which are impossible to find here without it costing something like USD 40.
• Cowboy boots - I've lived in Texas for almost 20 years without owning cowboy boots, but for some reason, I had a hankering to purchase some boots before leaving for Vietnam and somehow thought that bringing two pairs made sense in this part of the world where flip flops are worn for a reason - who wants toe sweat?
• Freestanding burner - hasn't been used since college when I lived in a dorm. I can't think of an occasion where I would even need this, especially given the voltage issue.
• Computer locks - not just one but two. Neither personal nor work computers have slots where these would fit.
• Sewing kit/medical scissors - those scissors would cut through anything too but somehow it didn't make it into the cargo. =(
• Certain shoes, clothes, etc. - if I didn't wear them (even if they still had tags on them) for years in New York, I'm not sure why I thought that I would do so here.
• Jewelry - I've heard stories about necklaces, earrings, etc. getting yanked off of people so not sure why I thought it made sense to pack all of these. I've already lost portions of 3 pairs of earrings and 2 belly rings and I'm not entirely sure how.

me love you long time (part 5)

As noted in china anniversary, many of the bars and clubs have working girls (slang for them here is 'chickens'), with the higher-end establishments housing higher-end pros. I have been told by a number of expat men that they can distinguish these ladies by their blatant eye contact (although given the propensity for some to not charge certain foreigners, primarily white skinned individuals and for the local girls who are on the prowl for the next sugar daddy, I'm not sure that there is an exact science to picking them out).

So when my friends and I were sandwiched between two groups of hens, it was natural for me to assume that when an Icelander approached me at a very high-end bar for supposedly one of his friends, it was because they assumed I was working. As he was a tourist, it would have been forgivable that he would not know the 'eye contact' rule. After acting all offended, it turned out that he was on a business trip looking for a potential acquisition, whereby we could assist him in his ventures.

When I gave him my business card, it amused me to see his friends' reactions thinking that he scored. At the end of the day, we are also in the professional services industry. There have been times where I, too, feel like I am 'bawking'.

it takes a village (part 1)

New York has its fair share of people begging on the streets, in subways, etc. Over the years, the city has tried to clean this up to encourage tourism. When I was in college, some people in my dorm did a social experiment to see how much money they could make doing this. You would be surprised at how much they made that day.

Because of this, I am cautious when it comes to helping those individual(s) and tend to support them by purchasing food for them. In some cases, I have issues with the organized charities that have significant overhead (e.g., executive salaries) that take from the moneys that should be given to those that they were meant to help. As a general rule, I do not give to those that I believe are capable of finding employment. In addition, I also do not support those that exploit children. This is a common practice in Vietnam. Bars and clubs are inundated with children of all ages selling gum or trinkets or outright begging. Their parents are usually across the street and do not intervene when foreigners, etc. are 'petting' their children.

Tony is a kid that I met through someone, who told me how Tony helped him when he was in a bind and got his wallet stolen. One night I struck a conversation with him to find out his name and learned that he goes to school in the afternoons, which doesn't quite make sense given normal school hours. He's probably 11-12 years-old but is in the third grade. At times, I will pay extra for his gum or not even take the gum, knowing that his mother is watching every dong that changes hands. I am still trying to figure out how to help him, such as pay for his education, without his parents taking advantage of the situation. Last week, I saw Tony as I was going into an after-hours club. He found me as we were leaving at 4am and immediately hugged me. When I told him that I had to leave, he said he wanted to go with me.

Despite my general rule, Tony has tugged on my heartstrings. I had another touching moment this morning in Bangkok. Although I am generally conditioned not to pay too much attention to beggars, especially when I peripherally see children, I happened to notice an elder woman, perhaps grandmother, either assisting with schoolwork or teaching a small child (~ 5-6 years-old) spelling and words as they were hunched over sitting on the edge of the sidewalk. She had a small glass jar of coins in front of her, but was entirely focused on the child at the time. Initially, I kept walking, but the image stuck in my mind, and I had to turn around. I gave her what I had of cash (minus lunch and taxi money to the airport), which was not much. Regardless, she was very appreciative. As I left later, I walked by her again, and she thankfully bowed her head once again.

I do not generally have regrets as I believe that we should learn from our mistakes. Having regrets means that one wants to change the past, thus eliminating the lesson that we were meant to have learned. Not exchanging more dollars to baht today is one of those rare regrets I have in life.