For the newly arrived, jetlag is a real drag. But it wears off after a week or so. The uneasy feeling of being an outsider, of being in your own little bubble while the rest of the city is going about in a well-choreagraphed dance… … Read More →
Monthly Archives: July 2010
Comforted by dumplings
If comfort foods are measured by their rustic simplicity, few things can comfort you like northern Chinese dumplings. You can just see all the comfort in their primitive form: a simple, white flour dough around a lumpy bite-size filling of pork and chives or whatever … Read More →
Manila Sundays
Well over a hundred thousand Filipinos reside in Hong Kong by official reckoning, making them the largest ethnic minority here. Most of them are young women, many college educated, who come to labor as domestic help. There are other ethnic groups who are here in strong … Read More →
Hot tubbing with snow monkeys
Right at the top of my must-do-before-I-die list is a trip to a small Japanese mountain village covered in snow, where the white sheet of silence is punctured only by the occasional birdcall and perhaps the cracking of a frozen twig or the slightest crushing … Read More →
Smells like Hermès
Rules of etiquette are curious things. Some carry simple but important lessons on health and hygiene (it’s impolite to sneeze on someone’s food), while others seem to have no readily apparent intrinsic value beyond cultural preferences (it’s rude to chew loudly in America but perfectly normal … Read More →
Tantalizing tonkatsu at Tonkichi
For years I’ve been telling people that fried chicken would be a course in my fantasy final meal, maybe a drumstick or two as one of the appetizers. I love fried chicken; it’s one of my favorite things to eat. Or at least it was … Read More →
The creaking joints of Tai O
One of my favorite things about Hong Kong is that it gives me everything I love about big metropolises while providing quiet getaways that are easy to get to. With a 30 minute bus ride or an hour on a ferry, you can be transported … Read More →
Mangolomaniac
Mangoes are a lot like soccer: wildly popular everywhere except in America. The mango is in fact the most widely eaten fruit in the world. True, mangoes can be found in most American grocery stores, just as soccer is played in most suburbs by little … Read More →