Sunday 17 May 2009

Last Sighted in Hong Kong



It may sound unusual, but I've really missed the heat and humidity and haven't realised it till I got back here. The instant warmth the moment you step out of the door, the hot sun, the feeling like you are walking around in an over-sized steam room - sadly conditions that Holland doesn't often offer.

It's good to be back in The Big Lychee. Let the holiday commence.

Monday 11 May 2009

Plans

Looking back at this blog so far it seems all I've produced recently is churn out a few photographs and stories about rusty old bikes that, surprisingly, turn out to be rusty old bikes and break. My life is much richer and varied than this, but it seems I can't blog without the aid of a photograph or transport-related mishap. Can I manage to create a readable blog post without these crutches?

This week I will be going off on a long-overdue and badly needed holiday to visit my friends in Hong Kong, with a side-trip to Hanoi thrown in for good measure. I've not had a proper holiday since I moved here back in October (Christmas doesn't count, everyone knows that), and my brain would quite like some time to stop from and take a breather from all that's happened to me in the past year. I'm really hoping that this break will energise me again and bring me out of the routine trap I seem to be all-too-happily falling into (that's the trouble with comfortable places).

Gigs, old friends, nights out in SOHO (and, god forbid, Lan Kwai), beaches, more Indochine and most importantly sun and heat are the ingredients for the proposed pick-me-up. If I look in my copy of the Cultural Revolution rural medicine classic the Barefoot Doctor's Manual it suggests a remedy of 'Xiao yao wan' three times daily, three qian per dose. However, not knowing exactly what that is, and more worryingly the book not explaining it either, I think I'll stick with my own prescription.

Sunday 3 May 2009

Beach

I decided to make hay while the sun shone, and braved a trip to the seaside despite the fairly stiff North Sea breeze. Still - it was good weather for kite surfers!