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March 30, 2002

Memories of a Fragrant Harbour: Day 1 (Saturday 2002.02.16 and Sunday 2002.02.17)

As mentioned in an earlier entry on 2002.02.20, I basically stayed up all night and went to the airport to hop a flight to Hong Kong. For those that cared, it was Continental 99, direct from Newark to Hong Kong. If you're going to Hong Kong, I couldn't recommend this flight more. It was 15h29m flight time and, compared to the experiences of my relatives, it was definitely the shortest flight to Hong Kong that any of us enjoyed.

This day is annotated as spanning the 16th to the 17th primarily because I "lost" a day going across the International Date Line. The flight was pretty good, although I sat in Economy so the legroom sucked. I had a little girl that was fascinated with the Baldur's Gate II that I was playing on the laptop. It's hard to play a game when there's a little girl trying to push her finger through your laptop's LCD screen. Too bad her mother was asleep. I distracted her with candy thrown down the aisle.

My arrival in Hong Kong was incredibly smooth and I got my first chance to brush up my Cantonese at Immigration. Fortunately for me, I managed not to say something like "I have 5 kilos of pot in my shorts" and got through with minimal fuss. I retrieved my bags, which was amusing since one of them has a Priority Handling tag from my frequent flyer status and the other one doesn't. Given that I'd arrived at the airport early in Newark, my non-priority bag was the first one on the plane... and stuck at the very back. So I got one bag right off the bat and had to wait for the other.

Exchanged a little money at the airport and walked out, where my sister found me immediately just outside Customs. She had arrived two days before from a stopover in Vancouver. My sister's name is Sheree. You may want to write down a map because I'm going to start referencing a lot of names. She recounted that she had pegged me for what I was going to wear ("I told mom that you'd be wearing a plaid shirt, t-shirt, and jeans.") Mom was further down the hall waiting at the end of the barricade outside Customs in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has a brand new airport, opened sometime within the last 5-10 years, 1998, I think, but I couldn't be arsed to look up the actual date. It's large, airy, and a true pleasure to transit. It's also connected way out in the middle of nowhere, built on reclaimed waterfront (i.e.: landfill) north of Lantau Island. It is linked to the rest of Hong Kong via numerous airport buses (public transit, not airport shuttles) and the Airport Express, which is linked in with the MTR (subway). We took the A41 bus back to Sha Tin, which is a "suburb" of Hong Kong.

The trip back to Grandmother's took more than an hour by bus, due in part to rush hour traffic; I landed after 5 p.m. locally. My grandmother lives with my cousins, Gar-Ho and Gar-Ming, though the latter spends most of his time in the univeristy dorms. Aunt #6 and her husband live four floors below. Due to the number of people, Gar-Ho was relocated downstairs with his parents for the duration of our stay and Gar-Ming stayed at the dorms. My sister and my mom stayed in the bunk bed where my cousins slept. Aunt #3 stayed in Grandmother's room on an extra cot. I got the futon in the living room, which meant I was the last one to bed and the second one up.

This was all done in an apartment that was only slightly larger than my first studio in Manhattan. It's hard to give a visual reference, but if you can think of a place that wasn't much more than 400 sq. feet, you're getting pretty close. And this is considered good for an apartment in Hong Kong. Value your space in North America.

The night was pretty much filled with settling in, eating a big homemade dinner, and catching up with family a bit. Given that my sleep schedule was quite screwed up, I was more than happy to drop into bed by 10 p.m.

Posted by KinCross at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)

Memories of a Fragrant Harbour: Basic Geography

The greater Hong Kong area is roughly six times the size of Washington D.C., though the good chunk of it is uninhabited. The terrain is mostly hilly and mountainous or water.

Hong Kong, the city, rests on the northern part of Hong Kong Island. The southern part of the island is Aberdeen, in addition to a number of notable resorts like Repulse Bay. North of the island is the Kowloon Peninsula. The southernmost tip of the peninsula is Kowloon. Just to the north of it is Shatin, separated by a ridge of mountains. To the west are a number of islands, Tsing Yi and Lantau. The new airport is located on reclaimed land (i.e.: landfill) just north of Lantau Island. Further to the north are the rest of the New Territories; technically, the New Territories started with Shatin and go north until you reach the border with the People's Republic of China.

The hotspots are typically on Hong Kong Island or near the southern tip of Kownloon.

There are over 200 islands in the area, many of them small, some larger. The area has a very diverse geological history, including volcanic eruptions, ravaging by claciers, and the flooding coming from being the mouth of a river at one point.

Posted by KinCross at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)

Memories of a Fragrant Harbour: Family

Okay. I'm obviously not going to make any headway on this if I try to do it all as one giant chunk, so it's going to come in little slivers. Before I get started, though, I need to lay down some groundwork.

My trip to Hong Kong was mostly for family. Consequently, it follows that family would feature prominently in my accounts of the trip. Let me tell you a little something about my family: I have one sister, Sheree, who is three years younger that myself. I have a mother and a father, though my father didn't join us on this trip. However, my family doesn't stop there. All of my father's side of the family has moved to Canada, whereas my mother's side is split between Canada and Hong Kong. For this trip, I'm dealing exclusively with my mom's side of the family. Let's get started:

Mom is fourth in a line of seven siblings. Grandmother turned 85 during the trip, which was the main reason why the family flocked back to Hong Kong this year. We'll do it again in five years. Grandfather passed away in 1984. From there, it gets a little more confusing.

In my culture, it is typical to call your elders by their relational titles, such as Uncle or Aunt. It is not proper to call them by their names. Even in my generation, the older ones are given titles. Here's how I address my mom's side of the family:

Right. Those are the people you're likely to see mentioned most often. I'll probably be calling my cousins by their names, English or Cantonese. I'll probably be using shorthand for the older generation, too. U1 and A5 instead of Uncle #1 and Aunt #5, for example.

Confused? Believe me. It makes much more sense using the Cantonese words. It's nearly impossible to translate "biu jie" as "female cousin, older than I am, from my mother's side". By the by, broken down further, "jie" is a female of my generation older than me, and "biu" sets the relationship of cousin on my mom's side.

Posted by KinCross at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)

Adventures in... Chinatown

Sorry, it's not a story about Hong Kong.

Woke up this morning and looked at the clock. I'd promised myself that if I woke up early enough after last night's late night work, I would haul myself out of bed and check out Dr. Su Yu-Chang's school in Chinatown. Dr. Su teaches Northern Mantis, Bagua, Hsing I, Bachi, Pikua and Tai Chi. I have to say, I was really impressed. There was a palpable camaraderie at the school and the teaching was personal. It wasn't as personal as the attention lavished on students at the Lung Ying school I saw a couple of weeks ago, but this place had a lot more space. The Lung Ying school felt claustrophobic. So, bottom line, I liked this school, but I'm going to see if I can do a trial class first before making a final decision. I still owe the Jeet Kune Do school (Anderson's Martial Arts) a try-out, but I need to get a doctor's note first. Wouldn't mind checking out a Wing Chun school while I'm at it, too. I've been out of the loop for over a year, now, so I've got time to get back into it.

Had lunch with my friend, Kevin, who went to check out Dr. Su's school with me. We tried out a new (to us) Vietnamese restaurant called Nam Phuong. It wasn't bad, but I liked our usual place on Mulberry St. better. The "usual place" became that after we started going there after kung fu classes. Alas, not going to classes in over year, it's not so usual anymore.

The most bizarre experience of the day came after I parted ways with Kevin to find myself a haircut. I used to go to China Beauty Salon on Doyers St. They do a cheap shampoo and cut, but they're a little more on the functional or austere side. Great for basic stuff, but not so much for the fancier stuff. Well, three weeks ago, I changed my haircut over into something that fit more along the fancier side, I guess, though I could probably get away with going back to CBS. I had my hair done at Pell Allison Salon last time: I got it chopped by nearly 4" and had it coloured a red-brown colour that I don't have a name for. This time around, I slipped over to the next block and went to Lee Lee's Beauty Salon. Why did I just ramble on about this? I have no idea.

Anyway, the main reason why I walked into this one instead of going to either of the previous two was... a quick look in the window showed that, with the exception of one man, all of the staff was female with a significant portion of them bloody cute. Yeah, I have a great set of criteria.

Okay, so shampoo and a cut. That's not so bad. It's $13 here, which is only $4 more than CBS. However, this is where my limited Cantonese gets the better of me. Typically, I can crudely describe what I want and get it somewhat close. Most of the time, it's a phrase roughly equivalent to "like last time." Well, you can't do that with a new stylist, not to mention a new stylist where you have no idea how to describe the haircut. Interesting problem, but that wasn't the first one I ran into.

As I was sitting down for a shampoo, the lady that was going to wash my hair asked if I wanted to have my face washed, too. I'll rephrase. She asked, in Cantonese, if I wanted a "face wash." Now, this is a phrase that I'm used to at home as simply washing my face. In the context of this salon, though, it meant "deep facial cleansing." So, rather than saying no after I realized what I was getting into, I just let it ride and found myself out $48, but happily refreshed, exfoliated and... shocked, at what they do in salons that I never knew about.

They have a little vacuum thingie that they can use on your pores. That freaked me out, but at least it wasn't as painful as some of the other things they did. I'm glad I didn't agree to have a Brazilian done on my privates with my super-basic language skills. I did get a couple of blemishes on my cheek burned out with some kind of zapper or laser, though. That hurt like a real bitch. The masochistic part of all this, though, is that I've got five more that could be treated and I'm actually thinking I might get them done in a few months.

What I liked best about this place? The shampoo. Oh my God! It was incredible and came with a rather lengthy massage. Damn, for the extra $4, it's totally worth it!

Right. That's about it, really, except that I got a work-related call around 8 p.m. and now I have to haul my ass in to deal with work stuff on Easter Sunday. Of course, I have no backup because everyone else that's on the team happens to have Easter plans with family and stuff. I'm the only one on the team that has no family in the area and is areligious. That really sucks.

But I have fresh egg tarts and they are making me happy. Or maybe I'm just riding a sugar high. Let's see if I can ride this high to complete a few posts about Hong Kong.

Posted by KinCross at 08:32 PM | Comments (0)

For Cassie Claire

Not that she reads my blog or anything, but on the odd chance that she does, she'd be all over this one.

Posted by KinCross at 07:39 PM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2002

Making an ass of myself

Had my annual review today. Didn't go too badly, but there are definitely a bunch of places where I could do better. Mostly time management and personal aggressiveness. It's nothing new to me, but at the same time, those are probably two of my greatest faults. It's going to be hard to surmount them.

On the other hand, it's not like I have trouble finding a pair of jeans.

Posted by KinCross at 09:41 PM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2002

Some days you wonder why you bothered to wake up

Ever have this feeling when you're at work? I want the macho penis-shaped plasma rifle!

I promise to get Hong Kong stories posted up soon, which should be easier now that the ACN site has been updated and turned live for 2002.

I'm also thinking of starting up a Shadowrun-style game, but I don't want to use the Shadowrun game system. I'm open to ideas on what else I could run it on. So far, the front runners are GURPS and d20, but I've never run either system nor played in either one to any great extent. I'm stuck.

Posted by KinCross at 07:48 AM | Comments (0)

March 22, 2002

I love SUVs

This is the best Car & Driver review. Ever.

Courtesy of Dazz.

Posted by KinCross at 05:39 PM | Comments (0)

Come to me!

My digital camera came back. It came back with a new main control board, a new main power board, and a new rear cover. It was cleaned and passed all tests.

Why do I get this feeling that it went for surgery and got some spa treatment before the released it?

In other news, I'm joining the digital revolution. I broke down and bought in on cable broadband last night and they have Monday as the scheduled delivery date of my gear.

Ian... aren't you in tech? Don't you "work with computers"? What are you still doing on dialup?

Well... I tried to get broadband access toward the end of 2000, when DSL finally came available in my area, but after four months of their tech support being unable to 1) answer the phone, and 2) telling me to power cycle the DSL modem over and over again, I gave up and sent it all back for a refund of my money. I scored a free NIC out of the deal, though. The timing being what it was, I didn't bother trying anything else, mostly because I was traveling extensive at the time and I couldn't justify spending gobs of money on Internet service that I would only see for less than 48 hours on weekends. So I waited, then I waffled, because I wasn't sure I was going to be in the same apartment for the duration of a year's contract and so on and so on.

Recently, I reread their agreement and pretty much resigned myself to the fact that, desire to move out of the area or not, I was likely not going anywhere any time soon. There. Now I have cable.

But I'm also looking for a cheaper place to live in Hoboken that allows cats. Anyone know of any places? Anyone know if there's a supermodel looking for a roommate?

Posted by KinCross at 02:26 PM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2002

Blogger slow

Blogger sucks.

Posted by KinCross at 09:13 PM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2002

Pictures from Asia

None of these are mine, but they're pictures if you're interested.

Nelson's, my cousin: http://stealth.zarnke.com:1033/~nmho/albums/hk2002/

Sheree's, my sister: http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/stirfrynoodle/lst?.dir=/Vacations&.view=t

Posted by KinCross at 08:44 PM | Comments (0)

If only I could write diary entries like this...

On second thought, I'm glad I don't.

"Folks, I know this may be hard to stomach, but we only recovered his middle finger."

Courtesy of bazima.

Posted by KinCross at 02:11 PM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2002

Morning Goodies

Thank <--#include virtual="deity.txt"--> for the smell of frying bacon.

And coffee grounds, pre-percolation.

Posted by KinCross at 07:40 AM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2002

Instability

I'm initiating the process of bailing out on my ISP today. Don't be surprised if the site suddenly disappears. In the meantime, feel free to try http://www.iocane.com/kincross if it goes down.

In other news, I signed up for an account on FedEx.com today, saved 10%, .

Posted by KinCross at 08:53 AM | Comments (0)

March 12, 2002

That's Brisk, baby!

What is it about Lipton's Brisk lemon iced tea that makes it so easy to drink? I don't think there's any other drink that I can slug down faster than one of these things. Too bad it's not usually my first choice when picking drinks. I really like the things but never think to buy them.

Posted by KinCross at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)

They're just good ole boys

Looks like Bo and Luke got new jobs on the river.

Posted by KinCross at 06:49 AM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2002

"A Wake and an Awakening"

[Received via forwarded email, reprinted with permission.]

By John Voelcker, a NYC resident

The Jewish custom of sitting shiva after a death, similar in some ways to the Irish wake, provides for a designated 7-day period of mourning. There follow 30 days of lesser mourning, and 11 months during which a mourner says Kaddish twice daily. These rituals also specify the end of mourning, when life may resume -- changed, but normal.

For me, the nonspecific end to my personal wake came sometime in February. I felt no great need to write a February letter, and so I didn't. The "events of 9/11" had quietly become backdrop, had been written into my ongoing narrative, were now part and parcel of life.

I wondered last night if I were the only person in NYC not watching the CBS special on the Naudet brothers' remarkable 9/11 video. Third Avenue seemed unusually quiet, even for a cold Sunday night. But the friends with whom I'd spent that remarkable night were dispersed, each to his own social life. Coming together to remember our shared horror that day would have seemed superfluous. We wouldn't forget it. Where were you when JFK was shot?

Much has been written about an upcoming second mental-health impact. The events of 9/11 may have become part of the background, but grieving families and those most affected cannot move on as the rest of the world does. And yet, visibly and emotionally, life in NYC for most seems to be back on track.

The stories still punctuate our news, of course -- even more so last week and this. So six months is a good time to take stock, to remember what happened and look at how far we have come.

Six months after the attack, 83% of the debris -- 1.4 million tons -- has been cleared from Ground Zero. The process should be complete by May, not the two years first anticipated. The cost will have been $600 million, not the $2 billion projected. There has not been a single death or serious injury among the work crews.

A 30-foot plywood wall is to be built around the site. The last major closed road links, West Street and the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, will reopen April 1st. The 1/9 subway line will be rebuilt by November, the PATH trains to New Jersey sometime in late 2003.

Intact human remains are still being found in the last major pile of debris, which formed a ramp into the foundation of the WTC until it was superseded by a custom-made metal bridge. The bodies of two police officers were taken from the site Wednesday. And the corpose of Moira Smith, the only woman NYPD officer of the 23 killed, from the 13th Precinct -- my local, just around the corner -- was recovered recently. It came just days after a memorial mass held on Feb 15th (her birthday) at St. Patrick's Cathedral. The photo of their 2-year-old daughter holding the hand of her husband, NYPD Officer James J. Smith, was widely seen. Her partner, Bobby Fazio, is still missing.

The number of confirmed dead is 2,672. Another 158 are listed as missing but unconfirmed. And the families of the 9 people killed in the 1993 attack on the towers have now officially been added to the roll of the bereaved. The WTC memorial to those dead, a granite disc with their names, was completely obliterated.

The families of the dead may get an indoor viewing area in a nearby office tower. It will have to be high enough so they can see into the excavation, which is now 70 feet deep. Hundreds of cars from the site and surrounding area are being returned to their owners or insurance companies. Some are crushed to the size of an office desk, others are just very dirty. All contain traces of toxic materials, and will need to be cleaned in very specific ways.

Momentously, the fabled clothing discounter Century 21 reopened on Thu, Feb 28. Across the street from the WTC plaza, its building was not damaged, but $10 million of stock was. The owners' vow to return probably meant as much to bargain-hungry New Yorkers as the American Express pledge to return all employees from Jersey City to Manhattan. That was possible, news accounts point out, because AmEx had laid off so many people since 9/11 that they could consolidate their remaining employees in space they already had.

Today, two memorials are to be unveiled close to Ground Zero. "Tribute in Light" will be illuminated from dusk to 11 pm for one month, its two 50-foot arrays of 44 searchlights each creating an infinite tower of light stretching to the sky. They are only one-quarter the size of the actual footprints of WTC 1 and 2 -- but far, far higher. And under a glass roof in Battery Park City sit the damaged remains of "The Sphere," a 17-ton bronze globe, 25 feet high, that was the focus of a 90-foot circular fountain in the WTC plaza. Artist Fritz Koenig dedicated it in 1971 as a monument to world peace through world trade.

Over six months, the economy got worse. Much worse. It will be a painful year indeed for New York City and state residents. The city's projected budget deficit has reached $4.5 billion. Parks will get scruffier, streets will get dirtier, but programs for the elderly will likely retain a larger percentage of their funding than programs for needy children. (They always do, since NYC's elderly vote while its needy children and often their mothers do not.)

Insurance claims from 9/11 are now expected to reach $52 billion, up from $38 billion. Far more than the original projection of 57,000 jobs were lost. Travel to NYC remains depressed. The recovery of Broadway theatres -- February grosses actually exceeded the previous year's -- relies largely on New York area residents. But we're only buying tickets a few weeks ahead. Much nail-biting has ensued among producers. (And if the horrendous "Sweet Smell of Success" I saw Saturday night was any indication, some of them should gnaw off their contract-signing fingers altogether.)

The crime rate has continued to fall, last month to levels equal to those from 1962. Returning NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly has refocused on quality of life crimes -- taking us thankfully back to at least one part of the normality we knew before 9/11.

We now have a mayor with seemingly no ego needs, no debts owed to vested interests, and the ability to ask for necessary budget cuts with no sacred cows. Has this happened within living memory? My knowledge of NYC mayors starts only with Jimmy Walker and Fiorello LaGuardia, but it is hard to imagine a mayor so bereft of the need to appear in the spotlight. He lets his lieutenants take credit for their programs, and simply shows up -- quietly -- at the appropriate ceremontial occasions. Of which there are still many.

Bloomberg does intervene, politely but firmly, where needed. He opened City Hall Park to pedestrians, for example. Under Giuliani the newly restored park had been gated off for security reasons. He has also continued to ride the subway to work, and urged his deputies to turn in their city-provided black cars.

The mayor has also said publicly that the rebuilding process at Ground Zero should be slowed, not speeded up, until a master plan is in place. Developer Larry Silverstein's much-publicized plan to start work on a replacement for 7 WTC by September may not happen. And Bloomberg quietly worked a deal with Governor Pataki under which the city can appoint new members to the Redevelopment Council, so that NYC has as much say as NY state in what gets built, where, when and how.

First comes the plan for a massive underground transit mall tying together various subway lines and the PATH to Jersey. On top of that will be layered some portion of a street grid restored to its pre-WTC routing, linking the north and south sections of Greenwich Street and a few east-west corridors. Only after those basics are in place will buildings be specced out. It could be a year or more before we see plans.

What should be built? Remember that public opinion is very far from a deciding factor. But it's worth noting that 75% of NYC voters support a plan that mixes offices, apartments and a memorial on the site. That's even higher than the 61% nationally who opted for the same mix. And NY City Opera, the perennial step-child at Lincoln Center, has serious plans to propose a new opera house to add culture to the mix. I can practically write the 2007 article: "The striking new Memorial Hall was inaugurated last night with Memoriam, an elegaic work commissioned by the NY City Opera to launch its first season in its new home while paying tribute to the site's tragic significance .... "

My favorite whimsical idea comes from my friend Jem in Scotland. He notes that, "the British Government has been desperately trying to get rid of the Millenium Dome for the last couple of years. And it does seem that Ground Zero is getting the number of visitors that the Dome could only dream of ...."

Back in reality, work is well underway on most of the damaged buildings around Ground Zero. Verizon's 1926 Art Deco ziggurat of a switching center -- where a supervisor in chest-deep water slammed a 2x4 against circuit breakers to switch off power before fleeing -- is being restored. The basic work will be $300 million, but restoring damaged historic detail might raise the total toward $1 billion. Cass Gilbert's 90 West Street -- its 23 stories made it a skyscraper in 1907 -- seems likely to be restored, keeping company with its slightly newer and much taller brother, the Woolworth Building. Though individual floors were gutted by fire, the terra cotta surrounding its steel frame keep the structure intact and sound.

The crushed corner of City University of New York's 15-story Fiterman Hall has now been amputated. But the building, opened just days before 9/11 following a seven-year, $65 million renovation, is still laced with dust containing dioxin and other toxins. Cracks in its stairwells make the university wary. One administrator told The NY Times it might be easier and quicker to demolish the remains and start from scratch.

Most apocalyptic is the 40-story Deutsche Bank tower at 130 Liberty Street. The black metal-and-glass 1970s building was declared structurally sound, despite a 24-story zipper-like gash in the north facade that shows where WTC 2 debris sliced through an entire set of load-bearing columns. But left open to the elements, the building has been invaded by an infestation of mold so aggressive and persistent that it may have to be torn down altogether.

And yet. People talk as much about the absurdly warm weather and the coming drought as about 9/11. Upstate reservoirs are at 40% or less of capacity. There is NO snowpack at all to melt this spring and refill the streams and lakes. This was painfully evident from my house in the Catskills; some of the trees I cut down on a balmy Sunday in mid-February had already begun to bud.

A few weeks ago, the stairwells in our PR agency's century-old loft building acquired a shiny new coat of paint and bright fluorescent lights. Coincidence, or a landlord making it easier to evacuate if necessary? The stairwell in Eziba's building has the same, but so far only between the first and second floors.

I no longer notice the odd "New York Needs You Strong" ad campaign in the subways, a series of NYC Dept. of Public Health posters. Hand lettering describes the coping strategies of individual New Yorkers ("Janine, 44, maintenance worker") with a toll-free number to call for mental health referrals. I haven't seen many people reading them -- though, honestly, no one ever seems to pay any attention to ANY subway ads.

The hordes visiting Ground Zero are now almost entirely tourists. Regular New Yorkers working or visiting downtown implicitly acknowledge the void, and politely sidestep or walk around, past, through the People From Somewhere Else. But there are deals to be done, people to meet, drinks to be had, contacts to be schmoozed, trains to catch. Excuse me, pardon me, excuse me ... move, please ... NOW!

Tomorrow, the New-York Historical Society will open an exhibit called "Missing: Streetscape of a City in Mourning." It includes rolls of butcher paper covered in messages from Union Square Park, a stopped clock from Ground Zero, and a host of other items that chronicle the tide of emotions that washed across NYC in the weeks after 9/11. I wrote about some of the hundreds of shrines, and the open-air ecumenical chapel that arose spontaneously at Union Square Park. I may go see the exhibit. But I don't think I'll be paralyzed by it.

So this morning, I listened to the memorial service from Ground Zero on 1010 WINS, my news source and touchstone in those terrible days. I paused with the city for a moment at 8:46 am, and again at 9:03 am, to pay tribute to the heroes and victims of 9/11 -- the dead and the living. By far the most gut-wrenching moment was the poem, "Death is Nothing at All," recited by the 12- and 16-year-old sons of one WTC victim. The mayor ended with our collective vow: "Never forget."

Then I got coffee from the Starbucks around the corner that evacuated me on the morning of 9/11. I cranked up Gloria Gaynor's anthem, "I Will Survive," and played it. Loudly.

And then I went back to work.

Which is, after all, what New York is all about. Always has been, most likely always will be.

love, jv.

P.S. As always, feel free to pass this on. Please note, however, that this and previous letters are my own personal reaction to what I see and hear and read. There are 8 million stories in the naked city. This has been merely one of them.

© 2001-2002 John Voelcker

Posted by KinCross at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)

Kiss Me

Got Secretly Kissed again. This is starting to get annoying. At this point, I don't think it's someone genuinely tagging me. I think it's people guessing who kissed them. After all, the website says this:

"Have you been Secretly Kissed?: It means that someone really likes you very much... Would you like to find out who? Signup Free and find out who has the 'hots' for you. Secretly kiss those you think could have kissed you and start having FUN now..."

Great.

Posted by KinCross at 08:28 AM | Comments (0)

Hong Kong and Beijing in a Nutshell

What follows is a day by day summary of what I did on my trip. Although I plan to write more detailed accounts of each day, I'm throwing this up as a general overview, in part to keep my own head straight on when things happened.

Day 1
Flew to Hong Kong. Arrived without a problem and was met by Mom and Sister, Sheree. Took two buses back to Grandmother's place in Sha Tin, where we stayed for the length of the trip. Had a big home-cooked dinner with family and settled in, starting the "catching up" process with relatives.

Day 2
Sheree and I met up with Uncle #7 ("U7") for some touring. We went up to Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island, had some McDonald's (McWings!) and visited Madame Tussaud's wax museum. We took the bus down to Wan Chai and got some snacks and bubble tea and saw where Chow Yun Fat gets his groceries. Heading over to Kowloon, we hit Sham Sui Po around dinner time and had snake soup. We then slipped over to Temple Street for a brief drift through the Night Market and some exotic casseroles.

Day 3
My nuclear family went to dim sum with Grandmother, Uncle #1 ("U1") and wife ("A1"), Uncle #2 ("U2") and wife ("A2"), and U7 at Maxim's Palace Chinese Restaurant. Since Chinese New Year had just passed, we spent the afternoon going from house to house to pay New Year's respects ("Bai Lin") at U1's, U2's in Kowloon and later at U7's in Aberdeen. On the way to U7's, we stopped in to check out his office, which sells industrial lighting and does importing/exporting for nautical replicas. Joining up with the rest of U7's family, we had a big seafood dinner in Aberdeen.

Day 4
My sister hurled overnight... a lot. It was bad enough that she was taken to the hospital. I hurled shortly before noon, felt good enough to diddle online for awhile, long enough to retype the in-flight blog post, and then passed out for the rest of the day.

Day 5
Still affected by the digestive instability of the day before, both my sister and I spent the day in bed, sleeping a hell of a lot. According to the doctors, it was some kind of stomach flu. Very runny. TMI.

Day 6
Felt better this morning, both of us, and got some very safe and mundane toast for brunch, then went down to the Marriage Registry in Tsim Sha Tsui (in Kowloon) to witness my cousin Denise (daughter of U2) get married to Danny Chang, in the eyes of the law. After pictures, my nuclear family broke off to go shopping at New Town Plaza, a major mall near Grandmother's place. I broke off later in the afternoon to join U7 for a tour of an area in Mong Kok where they sold a lot of models, toys, and replica guns. Later, for dinner, U7 and I met up with U1, A1, and Aunt #5 ("A5") and her husband ("U5") who had arrived from Toronto earlier in the day. We had excellent wonton noodle soups that sat well in my still slightly quesy stomach.

Day 7
Grandmother's 85th birthday! Actually, it isn't. Her birthday falls on 2002.02.26 this year, but the party was held on the Saturday prior to it. Before the big banquet at Maxim's Palace, though, A6 and my nuclear family went down to visit Tseng Tai Uk ("Tseng's Big House," an ancient walled house/castle), where Grandmother and A6 used to live. We also visited a Shrine for General Che, who had been attributed with eradicating the plague many centuries past, and the Hong Kong Heritage Museum.

Day 8
U7 chartered a bus for the family to take a tour of Hong Kong. We took a closer look at the new suspension bridge built as part of the Lantau Link for the new airport, then went to a restaurant reknown for their goose dishes. Later, the bus tour took us down along the southern side of Hong Kong Island, stopping in Repulse Bay (beaches) and Stanley (a giant flea market, lots of White people and Western style restaurants and pubs). We then took a chartered boat from Aberdeen out to Cheng Chau, an Outlying Island where we bought seafood and had it cooked up for dinner.

Day 9
Woke up bloody early in the morning to depart for the airport to fly to Beijing, People's Republic of China, with a tour group. Toured around the city by bus for a bit and stopped at Wangfujing for awhile, a popular shopping district. Saw a Chinese acrobatics show. Went to bed early.

Day 10
Stomach bug came back for a rerun. Missed out on the early morning activities, but was able to rejoin the group by mid-morning. They went to Tiananmen Square and visited Mao's Memorial. I just did the former with Mom, who stayed with me. After lunch, the group visited the Forbidden City and the Eternal Garden. The evening found the four "core" expatriate cousins (myself, my sister, Dixon, Nelson) at an American-style bar and grill.

Day 11
Visited a jade carving workshop and the Ming Tombs in the morning. Had excellent hotpot for lunch. Imodium was my friend. Visited the Great Wall at and climbed up to the top. Ate traditional Beijing dumplings for dinner. Skipped on going to the bar again in favour of watching movies with the "core."

Day 12
Visited the Lamasery in Beijing, the largest outside of Tibet. Visited the Tak Shing Gate north of the Forbidden City. Ate Mongolian grill for lunch. Visited the Summer Palace. Missed out on the porcelain workshop because of delay by other tour members. Returned to Hong Kong.

Day 13
The expatriate families (my family, A5's family, and A3) went to pay our respects to Grandfather, who passed away in 1984. Went to the Ladies' Market in Mong Kok with Mom and Sheree. Met up with Dixon and Nelson after they were done paying their respects to their paternal grandmother and the "core" went to the mall at Kowloon Tong for some shopping and to meet up with Dixon and Nelson's old family friend, Pearl, for dinner at a Spanish restaurant.

Day 14
Met up with Dixon, Nelson, and Pearl at The Landmark on Hong Kong Island and went to lunch at Pacific Place, another mall. Shopped around until mid-afternoon, then parted ways with Pearl to head over to Times Square, a mall in Causeway Bay. Rushed home within an hour to get changed for cousin Denise's wedding banquet at the Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel. Afterwards, the "core" went out to Lan Kwai Fong, a popular hangout, especially for Westerners, with U7 and Jimmy (cousin Antoinette's husband).

Day 15
Saw my sister off at the airport. I was supposed to leave today, too, but I had visa issues that required me to stay longer. Dixon and Nelson also left this day, but they left later in the afternoon. I went to the Po Lin Monastery with Mom, A6 and her husband ("U6") and saw the largest, seated, bronze, outdoor Buddha. We also had some of the best Tofu Fa (sweet silken tofu) in the area. Dinner, for the first time in awhile, was home-cooked back at Grandmother's.

Day 15+1
Stayed at home and played on the computer all day. Had another home-cooked meal, then hopped out to Tsim Sha Tsui to meet up with Jimmy for drinks at Felix and Schnurrbart.

Day 15+2
Climbed down Victoria Peak from Magazine Gap Road with U1, A1, U7, A3, A6, and Mom. Ate dim sum at Jumbo Floating Restaurant. Missed the boat to take us to Lamma Island for freshly rolled egg rolls (not the same as egg rolls found in most Chinese-Canadian/American restaurants). Stopped at Times Square mall on the way home to pick up a toy and then went home for another home-cooked meal. By now, felt a lot better digestion-wise.

Day 15+3
Had dim sum with Biu Yee Ma (Mom's cousin). Visited the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence with Mom and U7, then took the tram from Tai Koo down to Causeway Bay where Whacking Day festivities were well underway. Had a quick snack with U7 and Mom and then broke off from them to head over to Tsim Sha Tsui to join cousin Antoinette, her husband Jimmy, and their daughter Claudia for sashimi and other assorted Japanese delicacies at Garlic Factory Kamo. Had dessert and drinks afterwards at the Inter-Continental Hotel, overlooking Hong Kong Harbour.

Day 15+4
Went to see U2's little apartment in Tuen Mun, New Territories, with U2, A3, Mom, and Grandmother. On the way back, Mom and I shopped for a bit in Mong Kok. Dropped and broke my digital camera. Calmed down once I got home and had dinner with the usual home meal family (Grandmother, Mom, A3, A6, U6, cousin Gar-Ho) and U7, A5, and U6.

Day 15+5
Ate dim sum with U1, U2, U7, A3, A5, Mom, and Grandmother. Went to visit Chi Lin Nunnery (Lotus Pond Nunnery). Went to visit the Hong Kong Museum of History with U1, A3, A5, and Mom. Went to Biu Kau Fu's (Mom's cousin) 62nd birthday banquet. at Heichinrou. Received my visa, so I can go home!

Day 15+6
Mom, A3, A5, A6, and U6 left for Guangzhou, People's Republic of China. U5 returned to home. Went shopping in Mong Kok with Jimmy. Grabbed egg tarts at a bakery in SoHo that former Governor David Patten really liked. Wandered around SoHo and Lan Kwai Fong some more. Had dinner at Washizawa's Kitchen Michi in Tsim Sha Tsui with cousin Antoinette's family. Had dessert and drinks at Davidoff's at the Peninsula Hotel.

Day 15+7
Stayed up late packing. Got up after three hours' sleep to go to the airport, partly accompanied by Gar-Ho. Picked up a few last knickknacks and flew home. Didn't have much trouble getting home, but had to buy food for the cats as they had totally run out. First order of business after that was a big Italian meal at Margherita's with kung fu buddies, Bill and Kevin.

Posted by KinCross at 07:52 AM | Comments (0)

The Very Secret Diary* of s.a.mwise** Gamgee

Day One
Ate half a mushroom mushroom I found. Flew 8000 miles. Ended up in a land of hobbits.

Day Two
Climbed up a mountain. No snow. V. good. Saw a lot more hobbits.

Day Three
Trekked from cave to cave. Killed 6 pigs. Hobbits everywhere. Starting to look kind of appealing.

Day Four
Got sick. Not sure why. Think it was Pippin's second breakfast. V. bad. Had to clean shorts.

Day Five
Still sick. What do these hobbits eat? Sight of hobbits makes me sick. Except Frodo. He has a cool ring. Think Aragorn is jealous of Frodo. Keeps looking at him funny.

Day Six
Saw some hobbits get married. It was weird. Thought there'd be more... something. Then again, hobbits are small.

Day Seven
Went to Bilbo's birthday party. So much food! So many hobbits. Oh, so many hobbits. Why hobbits?

Day Eight
After party, went riding out to the big lake. Took a long boat ride. Hobbits didn't paddle. Have blisters on hands. Rowing hurt, too. Aragorn really wanted Frodo in his boat. Sam went with them.

Day Nine
After boat ride, lots of walking. I hate walking. I want a horse.

Day Ten
Found a big flat plain. Had to walk across it. At least it was flat. Found a castle on the other side. Went inside, but it was filled with hobbits. Thought hobbits didn't like castles.

Day Eleven
Walked through Moria. Nothing there. Nothing nothing nothing. Some dead people. Not exciting at all. Then had to climb another mountain. All this walking is killing me.

Day Twelve
Still no horse. Still more walking. Saw Aragorn sneaking off with Frodo again.

Day Thirteen
Walked through a cemetary. V. spooky. All stones looked the same. Some graves looked open. All Elves' graves. V. weird. Saw man in white robe with long hair on mountaintop. Not attractive.

Day Fourteen
Finally got to eat again. Ate so much I felt like I would burst. Nice to lay around all full, though. Hobbits know how to eat. Still not trying to think of Frodo and Aragorn.

Day Fifteen
Sam got mad today. Told him Aragorn was sleeping with Frodo to keep him warm at night. V. funny watching hobbit chase man with pot.

Day Sixteen
Found some horses. Make it easier to go to Mordor. Not sure why we go to Mordor. Nothing but more mountains and more hotter. Would rather go to sunny beach. Sunny beach Morgooder.

Day Seventeen
Hobbits have weird tastes in vacation spots. Frodo wants to go to Mordor and throw away his ring. Why? He looks so cute with it! Silly hobbit.

Day Eighteen
Still going to Mordor. Couldn't convince them that Morgooder is better. Least we have horses.

Day Nineteen
Horses getting tired. Haven't had anything to eat in days. Hobbits looking kinda tasty. Maybe with ponzu sauce. Have sharp knife, can make sashimi.

Day Twenty
Got really hungry. Had to eat the horses. Hobbits wanted noodles.

Day Twenty-One
Getting hungry again. Haven't eaten since yesterday. No more horses. Had to walk.

Day Twenty-Two
Found the other half of the mushroom in my pocket. Ate it. Flew another 8000 miles. Ended up in... Kansas? V. bad. No more hobbits, at least.

*Very Secret Diaries courtesy of Cassandra Claire. If you want to see the t-shirts, go to the main page.
**s.a.m is the acronomenclature for secret asIAN man.

Posted by KinCross at 07:21 AM | Comments (0)

Here I Am

(Originally posted about 8:50 a.m., but accidentally deleted.)

About this time, six months ago, I called my mom to let her know that I was okay and nowhere near the World Trade Center when the first plane hit. It would be another few minutes before the second one would strike and really totally throw the day into chaos.

Today, about this time, I called my mom in Hong Kong to let her know that I had returned home alright.

This is my saddle and I'm in it. Now all I need is a horse.

And some time to post up stuff...

Posted by KinCross at 07:14 AM | Comments (0)

March 08, 2002

Stopgap

I've got my visa. I've got my booking. I'm going home on Sunday.

In the meantime, as it might take me awhile to get out my trip posts, here's something to hold you over: Enron voicemail

Posted by KinCross at 09:00 AM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2002

I'm not dead yet!

I'm still in Hong Kong. The visa was approved last week and received by the attorneys this week. It's on its way to Hong Kong by FedEx and should arrive tomorrow. I'm booked on a flight home on Sunday.

I hope the cats haven't pissed on my bed.

Posted by KinCross at 05:09 AM | Comments (0)