I can’t recall the name of it, but one of my favorite books when I was very young was about a boy, about my age at that time, who was bored, as I often was. His family had just had an appliance delivered in a … Read More →
Category Archives: General
All sound different
There’s a website called AllLookSame that many find offensive. I think it’s hilarious. It brings up photos of various Asians and tests your ability to identify their nationality – Korean, Japanese, or Chinese. The joke, of course, is that you can’t: Asians all look the … 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 →
Five little things I dislike about Hong Kong
Like I said in my post, Five little things I like about Hong Kong, I’ve been making mental notes on random things in Hong Kong that strike me as odd, for better or for worse. While that other post is upbeat, this one’s a bit … Read More →
Five little things I like about Hong Kong
One of the advantages of being a newcomer is that you see all the details that locals can’t. I’ve been urgently cataloguing peculiar little observations in my mind because I know I get just one shot at this, here at the start, before they just … Read More →
Hong Kong as hub
Although I’m originally from Korea, I’ve decided to make Hong Kong my gateway to the rest of Asia for several reasons. First, it’s one of two major metropolitan areas in which you can live comfortably speaking only English (Singapore being the other). Second, it truly … Read More →
Goodbye LX3, hello GF1
Although my LX3 was a fine point-and-shoot, it was time to get serious. So meet Krystian (named after the great Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman; Krys for short), my GF1 micro four thirds camera. Most of the photos you’ll see in this blog … Read More →
One month countdown!
I get back on the boat in one month, so it’s time to start recording this journey.
Flight ticket to HK on Singapore Airlines. Check.
Passport, driver’s license, ATM and credit cards. Check.
Panasonic Lumix LX3. Check. (Hoping to upgrade to a GF1 soon.)
Macbook and iphone. … Read More →
Back On the Boat
I arrived in Los Angeles on the very last day of the 1970s, on a plane and not a boat. During the next decade in sunny Southern California, it seemed there was a constant stream of Asian immigrants coming in just like … Read More →
A smear on the map
In a few weeks I will celebrate two extraordinary years in Asia. I say Asia even though my base has been Hong Kong because so much of my internal shift has been powered by my travels in the region. Bangkok, Taipei, Yangshuo, Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing, … Read More →