Over the last three years I spent 2 weeks in the USA, my country of citizenship. This meant I always received news from afar: reading news and talking to friends and family. The reality of life in the States was always remote. I didn't experience broadcast TV, the price of gas, talking with strangers or... Continue Reading →
The Chinese Opera is feared, mocked, and sometimes reviled. Everyone will tell you not to go, they’ll get a look of terror in their eyes, and say, “Why?! It’s awful!” You should ignore them. If they have seen it, they have an experience you lack, and if they haven’t seen it, they are just speaking... Continue Reading →
I splurged last weekend, and it was completely worth it. We spent the weekend in the Grand Hyatt, and never left the building. We did a small escape from stress of work/life/relocation by heading over to the Hyatt for a staycation. This hotel happens to have a special deal for HKID holders called "8-2-8": $828 per... Continue Reading →
On Monday, we spent the hours from 8AM to 9PM in Stanley, on the south side of Hong Kong Island, most of it in the sun on the beach. It was a public holiday, this time in honor of the annual Dragon Boat Festival. Last year I took off to Taipei, but this year I... Continue Reading →
Lunar New Year is the time in south Asia when all the expats go on vacation. China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan all shut down in some way; everyone has public holidays and reunion dinners, so the foreigners tend to take off. True, plenty of people stick around. There are fireworks in Hong Kong,... Continue Reading →
When guests come to Hong Kong, they often want to do similar things. You send them to the escalator, to see the peak, to a night market; you eat all the dim sum. Not surprisingly, the Big Buddha with the cable car is usually on the list. I have now gone to Ngong Ping 4... Continue Reading →
We got back from the UK Tuesday afternoon at 4 after leaving London at 7am Monday. Our flight had been delayed from Mumbai, so we spent 3 hours playing cribbage, eating KFC and drinking pints in the airport. Then I slept the entire flight home, and on the bus ride back to our apartment. Then... Continue Reading →
My family visited: big brother and parents going around the city. It was great to show them around the city, take them to good restaurants and force them to try strange foods, even if they didn't like dim sum as much as I do. We did all the normal Hong Kong things, even did the... Continue Reading →
We took the ferry over to Mui Wo to go sit on the beach. We arrived at Chung Sha at about 3 PM , began our afternoon of drinking Tiger draft, with our feet in the sand, and watching the sky go from greyish blue to grey, to navy blue, to night. We threw frisbees on... Continue Reading →
I went back to Texas last week to see family. It was very Texan. I started saying "y'all" and remembered how to use the word "fixin" to mean "about to" or "preparing for". I saw a fox while running, had no trouble breathing because the air was so much cleaner, saw all the cousins on... Continue Reading →
A repatriated American, living in Chicago for the first time, occasionally writing about it.
jamielynnwaters 