You can just imagine the look on my son Josh’s face in Hong Kong today as my chair collapsed out from under me in Las Vegas as I disappeared from view in his skype video frame! He he. Fell on my bum as he kept helplessly asking “are you alright?” Are you alright?”
Had an outside lunch with son Greg, his Punjabi surgeon friend, Jody, and his wife Heather, and Greg Smith who was a classmate of Greg’s in high school.
Playing with Val, Greg’s 16 month old yellow lab who is constantly underfoot. He is now jumping by himself in the pool and getting out and jumping in again over and over…shaking himself on us each time. “OMG, close the door!”
Son Doug calls from Salem, Oregon
Greg gives me a knife to carry for protection when I travel. He worries about me. Gives me a lecture called the Color Code of Mental Awareness
White: Unaware of any threat in your immediate surroundings
Yellow: Aware of your immediate environment
Orange: Aware of specific, potential threat; continue to observe
Red: Aware of specific, real threat; no doubt in your mind
Black: The line in the sand is crossed by your assailant
I clean and polish all of Greg’s stainless steel cookware
Noi, my Thai friend Skype-chats me from Bangkok.
A high school classmate visiting here in Las Vegas will drive over to see me.
Great Greek dinner last night with Greg and erstwhile girlfriend, Adela, at a Greek restaurant
Naps during the afternoon.
In other words I am no longer aware of any danger in my environment. It’s nice. But Greg says I should always be aware. Ok, so I usually am when I travel. But I figure an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Well, as expected, here I am at 2am wide awake on the island of Hong Kong. After a somewhat frenetic 3 weeks with Bob and I taking up Doug’s kitchen and entire dining room table in Salem Oregon, Bob has returned to his home in Thailand and I am now ensconced in Josh’s 800 square foot flat in a 70 floor high rise…one of hundreds and hundreds that line the horizon. I have only admiration for Amy who arrived here by herself after almost 2 years living in Beijing to find a flat prior to Josh’s arrival!
There was visible health monitoring upon arrival at the airport…a system left over from the SARS and Bird Flu days. Had to fill out a form reporting any symptoms of illness and coming out of immigration the arrival crowds are “scanned” by some sort of technology for temperature readings and any person showing a high reading is pulled to the side. I don’t know what they do with you from there and I didn’t wait around to find out! :))
Hong Kong is often mistakenly thought of as a city or a country. Actually it comprises a small peninsula bordering mainland China called the New Territories, Kowloon, on the southern tip of the peninsula, plus a group of islands, including Hong Kong Island across Victoria Bay from Kowloon, and covers about 1,100 square kilometers. Although Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories came under the rule of the British as a result of the Opium Wars between Britain and China (1939-1942), the area is now a part of China since the hand-over of the lease by the British in 1997 and has maintained it’s status as a Special Administrative Region. Each stage of Hong Kong’s economic development can be linked to events in China and the two economies continue to become interconnected as Hong Kong “looks over it’s shoulder.” But as far as I am concerned, culturally it is another country distinct from mainland China thanks to the British. Also, along with southern China that used to be called Canton, the everyday language is Cantonese although English is widely understood and spoken especially by the business community. On the other hand, the various dialects of mainland China, based on the Beijing dialect, have melded and have become known in the west as Mandarin. Cantonese and Mandarin speakers do not much understand each other.
Only 20% of the land mass is urban. Typically, Asians don’t mind high-density living so “city” planners left the bulk of the island to itself and built “up.” Josh says Hong Kong Island has the highest population density of any urban area in the world. And I might add…the most expensive. It has surpassed Tokyo! It’s clean and efficient. A high-speed train (runs on time almost to the second every 10 minutes) brought me 30 minutes from the airport right onto Hong Kong Island for $10. Contrast this with the $60 taxi ride from the airport in Las Vegas Nevada to Greg’s house!
When I was here twice before, I stayed in Kowloon. It was just a short ferry ride across the bay to Hong Kong and I only explored the terminal area…not imagining where/how people actually live here…although Kowloon, which used to have a small town look, now looks much like Hong Kong Island with it’s own wall of high-rises. For a couple thousand dollars a month, you can imagine how small an 800 square foot flat is compared to my apartment in Oaxaca which is 3 times the size for $300! Tidy by necessity. Josh’s one bedroom has a double mattress on the floor…the corner of which has to be lifted up to get the door closed! It took a bit of juggling to find a place for my 2 small pieces of luggage and computer bag. Josh gave me his bed and he took the big comfy leather couch in the small living room…but I think tomorrow we will switch so I can roam around in the middle of the night without waking him…if “roaming around” is what you would call it given the amount of space. :)) But I can also go out on the veranda with a straight-ahead view of the bay and Kowloon beyond in between 2 walls of high-rises. But lest I give you the wrong impression, behind his tower is about a 3-block by 1 block area of free space with swimming pool, gym, a children’s play area and a restaurant you would never know was there looking from the street.
So Josh has already given me an access lesson to his flat. The tower has about 6 doormen, (actually I think more for security,) but you have to know which tower entrance to use…a magnetic card letting you in the door. Then an elevator takes you up to level 6 (car park) where you get another elevator that takes you up one more floor to his flat. So no just stepping out into the city like it is for me in Oaxaca. I hope I can remember all this when Josh goes to work tomorrow! He says he will take me for a tour of The American Club where he is a chef. But first things first. I MUST NOT lose the card or the key at this stage of the game because my iPhone still has “no service” for some reason (I haven’t mastered it’s secrets yet) and I don’t yet know were I can find an internet cafe! Hence no contact with Josh if I get locked out.
Incidently, I’ve never seen this before but in all those apartments very few have their curtains drawn on their windows at night so you can see clearly what everyone is doing in their living rooms. Josh says they just don’t think about it…they just see what is in front of them.
Amid jet-lag my psyche is swirling…on the road since retirement in 2002. Since 2005, after 4 months in a sublet in Brooklyn, there were several more months in China and SE Asia. Then after a couple months in Salem and Las Vegas, a year and a half in Oaxaca Mexico 2006-7. Then several more months in China and SE Asia again. Then back to Oaxaca November 2008. Now Hong Kong and Thailand and wherever else. So I guess you could say, like many famous people do, that I “divide my time” between Mexico and Asia with “vacation time” in the U.S in-between. And I do mean vacation time. It sounds romantic. It is…only in retrospect! :)) But I’m not complaining. I am very lucky. I feel like a 35 year-old. I could be sitting in a plaid barco-lounger in front of the TV…feeling my third-age…65 years.
This is actually kind of funny…
My husband wrote me and our three sons an email the other day telling us what he wants done with his body if something happens to him in Thailand…where he lives…where he has regular bouts of road rage…while driving…or dodging threatening cars while on his motorbike. I have to admit, drivers are worse in Thailand than they are in Mexico and that is saying something!
My husband:
I just stumbled onto a site re USA embassy procedure for a death of a US citizen in Thailand. The embassy makes an effort to notify the next of kin, coordinates wishes re transfer of the remains, organizes and disperses the personal property and forwards all the official necessary documents.
Not always a palatable subject but I do have some preferences: -no need to transfer any remains — arrange for a cremation in Thailand, ashes left under a tree anywhere. And prefer no memorial service. – I have little personal property of any value in Thailand (beatup pickup, obsolete computers, generic TV, poorly functional gold clubs and misc shorts, T-shirts and sandals). I will arrange for local dispersal.
I am registered with the embassy and receive their periodic updates, warnings etc. It is a worthwhile feature. Statistically, most likely, I will be around for a while. But an accident –esp with my motorbike riding is always a possibility so when I saw what the embassy does I just wanted to express common sense wishes.
Also in Thailand the medical profession goes to inappropriate heroic measures to prolong life. Shutting off a ventilator is apparently not an option so step in if I am incapacitated and veging inappropriately…
Not anticipating checking out anytime soon but just wanted to simplify any decision making……..
A friend recommended Effexor for road rage but received no comment…:))
Son number 1 who lives in Las Vegas:
Ok.
As long as we’re on the topic.
My preferences.
I want to be buried in the middle pasture at Black Butte Ranch. I’ve often thought about this. It’s the happiest and most serene and most beautiful place I can ever remember.
I dont care if it’s my whole body, but I think the BB folks would NOT be cool with something like this (full burial in public w/o permission with guests passing by with frowning faces) so it will probably have to be clandestine. So that means cremation and then plunk me under a cow pie somewhere while no one else is aware of whats going on.
Im serious. I dont want a headstone. I dont want to be in some no name cemetery.
As far as my belongings, I dont care about any of it. Disperse it, share it, trash it. It wont matter to me. My estate attorney, he’ll help with all that.
Ok. Got it? Black Butte Ranch. Cremated. Buried in the pasture, maybe a couple meters off the bike path that cuts across it. NO sign or maker. I just want to be where I can see the sisters, Mt Washington and Jeff.
K?
Got it?
Good. Im not kidding.
Afterward, hike up Black Butte, stand at the top breath the clean eastern oregon air and think, “it’s good to be alive and not under a cow pie!”
You dont all have to be there, but at least got to be one of you otherwise it wont happen.
(My day is coming, just like everyone else’s)
Then son number 2 who is married to a Thai wife and lives in Thailand:
creamate me, add the ashes to soil, grow a pot plant and my friends can smoke me.
Not a peep from son number 3 who lives in Hong Kong…yet…:))
I told my husband that in Mexico, where I am, any unclaimed bodies are cremated…no charge! :)) Of course all this is predicated on at least one of us being around to honor various wishes.:))
But all is duly noted..and recorded here…:)) Mainly so as to not drive future genealogists crazy who would uselessly be looking for headstones.
Had a nice long visit with Greg (oldest son) last week. He tells me about the mini triathlon he ran that day…happy that he is back into running, biking and swimming. And he tells me he misses his brother, Josh, who stayed with Greg in Las Vegas for a week while he waited for his visa to Hong Kong. He misses Josh’s job as cook, pool cleaner, conversationalist, companion…all with no demands. We laughed then. Doug, third son, is due in to Salem from Thailand on September 7 for a month. I’m going to make him do some work for his board and room! :)))
Oregon is most delightful in summer! Everything is so green. And my mouth has been watering for local strawberries, raspberries, peaches and cherries. And Walla Walla Sweet Onions! Cars obey the rules, garbage is picked up and motorcycles don’t try to run you down. And sweet faces of old friends are a joy.
This blog has just been sitting here while I have been planting flowers and maintaining the house for the last month since I’ve been home. I’m not used to house maintenance. I’m not used to making appointments and keeping them on time. My inner mechanisms are a jambles. The world news is upsetting and I’m sick of the negative campaign and mindless pundits. So I have been planting flowers. And enjoying my home. It’s like being in a 5 star hotel after all the cheap guest houses in Asia.
A couple weeks ago I was treated with a visit from two of my sons…Josh and Greg. They were on a mission to see their 92 year old grandmother in Portland. Josh was in between jobs so he spent a few days here and treated me and some of our old friends to a wonderful dinner here at the house…4 hours in the preparation of. Just like old times. I loved the banter. I miss it now. Then he flew to Las Vegas with Greg where he spent a week or so before flying to Hong Kong to join his wife Amy and begin work. They are happy to finally be out of mainland China…especially with the Olympics coming.
I’ll have a month of peace before Doug arrives from Thailand the first week of September…leaving the end of October. And time to catch up on my reading. Finished “Bangkok Blondes,” a book of short stories by expat women living in Bangkok. And “Tales From The Expat Harem,” also a book of short stories by expat women living in Turkey. Now I’m reading a short history of the Balkans where I hope to go next fall.
I am looking forward to leaving the house in the care of a renter in November and returning to Oaxaca Mexico for a couple of months before going to Cuba and Guatemala with an American expat friend in Oaxaca. Then I hope to go on to other Central and South American countries before returning to Oregon next summer. So that’s the deal…taking advantage of a window of time while I am still able to walk and before the cost of airline fuel prohibits any more travel.
In the meantime I spend time on http://www.couchsurfing.com making friends in all the prospective countries I will be visiting. It’s an online community where you hook up with friends and arrange to stay with them…and they with you. And join CS activities in their local communities. If you travel try it! You’ll like it!
Well, enough of politics and the weariness of world crises.
When I couldn’t get a visa for a three day trip to Burma (should have used a travel agent instead of going to the embassy myself) and to keep from losing the money for the flight, my Thai friend and I changed the destination to Hanoi. The whole junket was ill-conceived so I shall not talk about it. Glad to be back in BKK.
On the bright side, my son Josh has accepted a position as Chef de Cuisine at the American Club in Hong Kong. The American Club has nothing to do with America, Josh says, so will have to find out why it is named this. His wife Amy will be teaching history at an international school there. So while waiting for the movers to pack up his things in Beijing, he is flying to Bangkok on the 9th to see his mother and have some dental work done. Or rather he will have some dental work done and see his mother! On the 11th we will taxi it down to Hua Hin for a couple days so Josh can get a little beach time.
Am also waiting to welcome old friends from Josh’s dad’s medical school days who are flying in today.
I fly out to PDX on the 15th. Will be nice to be out of the heat after four months in Asia.
My son the chef!
Here is a picture of me and my chefs!!
Josh says: “The two in the grey are myself on the right, chef de cuisine of “One East On Third” Restaurant in the Hilton Hotel in Beijing, and Ivan, on the left is chef de cuisine of “Elements,” another restaurant in the Hilton. In the blue in the front is Boris my pastry chef, the guy in white on the left is William, the exec sous chef, and the guy in white on the right is Jason Ong the exec chef.”
Can you guess the sports??
Enjoy
Josh
Wanted to post some pictures of menu items created by my son Josh at the One East On Third Restaurant in the Hilton Hotel Beijing where he is the Chef de Cuisine but am despairing of getting menu descriptions from him. So here are a couple of pictures…one of Josh and another of his sous chefs. His wife Amy and I had two dinners there when I visited in January-February 2008…absolutely wonderful…even though I thought I was going to freeze to death during China’s recent hard winter.
I must be getting old. Came across this shocking article in Newsweek describing teen sex taking place openly in public parks in Santiago Chile. Actually I remember being agape at the couples in public parks in Guadalajara Mexico when I visited a few years ago.
It reminded me of something my Thai friend who teaches at Kasetsart University in Bangkok told me a couple weeks ago. She said AT LEAST half of the boys at the university are openly gay. I asked if it was a reaction to so many girls chasing foreigners and she said definitely no. It’s more of a fashion thing she said. It has become “hip.”
Next wednesday night there is a talk at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club about expat authors and their writing about Thailand. Apparently, after all these years, expat writing is branching out from “older man looking for the hooker with a heart of gold only to arrive at a no good end” to more literary material. Ought to be interesting.
On a more mundane level, son Doug and his wife Luk left Bangkok today to return to Koh Samui. Another dentist appointment tomorrow and a doctor appointment Friday.
Update: The Bangkok Post had an article a couple days ago that the Thai military is trying to decide how to designate a third sex.
Laughingnomad 