23rd May 2009
It was another day of meetings, but fortunately I was only expected to attend the morning one and not the afternoon one. So after the morning meeting, I ran off to meet up with Alvin and Alicia. Since by now I knew I wasn't going to Beijing but to Hainan Island instead, I decided I probably need to prepare some light clothing... and made the mistake of thinking I could stand shopping.
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A+A were kind enough to drive me around to a shopping center that was split into a “local” mall (cheap clothing and accessories) and middle class mall (think Banana Republic level). Anyone who knows me can predict the outcome – miserable failure. I was in there for less than 5 minutes before I started collapsing on Alicia (who was actually shopping for herself). The only thing I ended up buying (rather, they treated me) was a juice. I had my usual cases of disorientation and dizziness, which the masses of Chinese people didn’t help at all. After about an hour and a half of walking around and whining about how I should never have listened to myself about going shopping, A+A kicked me onto the metro headed to my dinner place. I got there slightly early and ended up sitting around and doing people watching. Really, this was what it meant to be in the moment. Regardless of how much I disliked HK, it was a great city. And what's the point of hating a city that you have to be in anyway?
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My teammates gave me a sweet surprise: because I was out with friends and they went to the Peak without me, they apparently missed me enough to create my name (“C”) in sushi. Although it was with my most hated sashimi (tuna), I forgave them because it was so adorable. Imagine a group of men ages between 37-66 collectively missing a (relatively) little girl and creating her name with sushi. It's one of the cutest things anyone's done for me (although there have been an incredible amount of sweet things that my friends have done for me... because I have so many wonderful friends :D). The other funny thing is the 5 of us all squeezing into a HK taxi. If you've seen pictures of everyone (below)... you really wonder how that's actually possible (of course, I'm always the one with the role of the “wedge” sitting with most of my body hanging off the seat… lol).
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Being in Asia with a bunch of 100% Westerners, the difference between W and E culture really hits home. The W guys all gave me incredible amount of respect whereas I kept on getting called “little girl” by the E men and getting slighted. Now, I don't consider myself all that important. But it seemed that the W people would actual value intelligence over brand. All of the guys I am with have done great things of their own (one of them developed the building that is currently the most expensive building in Manhattan and my boss had played bridge with Mr. Deng Xiaoping), but none of them were even close to arrogant and I could actually have a decent conversation with all of them. I couldn't imagine myself doing that with any of the E people I have met on this trip. Maybe that just means I’ve been too Westernized.
We were being treated to dinner by a lovely lady for a major Thai corporation who is based in SH. She took us to Savaan, which was on the top of the Prince's Tower in Central. It was a beautiful, slightly SE Asian flavored restaurant with a gorgeous balcony (which I was too shy to step onto b/c it seemed like it was so bustling with activity). The food was good (but not AMAZING) but the ambiance was without comparison.
Random thoughts:
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I had a strange feeling of everything merging together – time and space (TW in 2008, HK in 2006, HK in 2009, and so on…). Mr. James Wang (one of the amazing people I met on this trip) said that there are parallel universes, each of which is occurring at the same exact time but all of them are distinct and may be of a different space and time that we have personally experienced/are experiencing. He traveled through a wormhole while crossing the bay on the Star Ferry and saw it for himself. Now, this is a man whose work is based on science and rational thought, but he is also spiritual and allows room for such thoughts that some may deem completely nuts. He is currently on a trip to India. He told us that there is a leaf there that has had his name written on it for 2000 years, which he has set off to find, accompanied by his wife. I don't know if he would find this leaf, but what I find extremely touching is his wife, Ester, who, regardless of whether or not she has the same beliefs, gives her husband and his beliefs unconditional support and love. Sometimes cases like these lead me to feel that perhaps there is still possibility out there to find someone who is exactly matched to you (give or take a few customizable parts ^^).
I guess another huge difference between then and now is that now, whenever someone stretches, my brain is automatically programmed to think that they are doing a form in WT. It's one of the most dorky things, but I think it's absolutely fun. I also sometimes can’t help but “stretch” on the train… I think it serves to avoid trouble.
Oh... and I love my new toys (Netbook: L, Camera: Hikaru). <3
[/caption]I had a strange feeling of everything merging together – time and space (TW in 2008, HK in 2006, HK in 2009, and so on…). Mr. James Wang (one of the amazing people I met on this trip) said that there are parallel universes, each of which is occurring at the same exact time but all of them are distinct and may be of a different space and time that we have personally experienced/are experiencing. He traveled through a wormhole while crossing the bay on the Star Ferry and saw it for himself. Now, this is a man whose work is based on science and rational thought, but he is also spiritual and allows room for such thoughts that some may deem completely nuts. He is currently on a trip to India. He told us that there is a leaf there that has had his name written on it for 2000 years, which he has set off to find, accompanied by his wife. I don't know if he would find this leaf, but what I find extremely touching is his wife, Ester, who, regardless of whether or not she has the same beliefs, gives her husband and his beliefs unconditional support and love. Sometimes cases like these lead me to feel that perhaps there is still possibility out there to find someone who is exactly matched to you (give or take a few customizable parts ^^).I guess another huge difference between then and now is that now, whenever someone stretches, my brain is automatically programmed to think that they are doing a form in WT. It's one of the most dorky things, but I think it's absolutely fun. I also sometimes can’t help but “stretch” on the train… I think it serves to avoid trouble.Oh... and I love my new toys (Netbook: L, Camera: Hikaru). <3
歸去，也無風雨也無晴。
