Hong Kong weekend - from Belon to beach in 24 hours

You'd never know it, by the amount of times I end up there - but I really never ever used to like Hong Kong. Long story involving a boy and a broken heart.

Fast forward to today, and I guess as a result of sheer overexposure, this wonderful island two hours south has earned a place in my heart. Where else can you be drinking organic French wines and eating refined food one minute, then in the midst of sky scrapers, then hiking in the wilderness the very next morning? All short taxi rides away.

And the buildings! The beautiful pastel high rises, all banked on top of each other and glorious in tone. The silver sky scrapers edging towards to the harbour, circled by inner city expressways. 

The food - how is Hong Kong just down the road from China but also a world away? Fine dining (Belon!!), street food, ice-cream, great coffee and french cheese to slip across the border. Did I mention ice-cream? And the wilderness. Well wilderness might be a stretch but there is something wonderful about being 20 minutes away from the CBD and able to go for a 3 hour hike to a pristine beach. Where else can you do that? Yeah, Sydney and San Francisco come close but not with the same intensity, diversity and big city feel. 

Nup. Hong Kong is all that. And I like it. 

Dogs of China - # 155

Dogs of China - # 154

Thursday night sounds

I actually typed Monday night and then I realised it was Thursday...

Says a lot.

This song has been on high rotation because it is both awesome, and I am too tired to turn over the record.

Radiohead - Burn The Witch

Spotted and hearted in Liwan

Little red dresses

China - the year that was

Better late than never.  I hit the one year mark a few weeks ago while I was back where it all began.  I had grand plans for a long post marking the event, but time has slipped away so lets just go with some highlights.  Goodness knows I can't remember what I did last weekend, let alone in a few months time remember what I did last year. So...during the first twelve months in the G to the Z:

I've had about 23 or so visitors from afar. I've received over 20 cans of tuna, fresh dates and olives and a dozen packets of ibuprofen - not to mention all the tea, stamps, coffee, chocolate...

I met over 150 dogs.

I've had about four really bad haircuts.

I travelled a lot and went to all of these places (*some of them more than once):
Hong Kong*
Shanghai*
Macau
Chengdu
Xiamen
Fuzhou
Yangshuo*
Phnom Penh
Siem Riep* 
Longyan
Kuala Lumpur
Tokyo
Dali
Manila
Beijing
Shenzhen 
Wuhan
Canberra
Bowral
Sydney

I made 13 of you join WeChat - some with more chat success than others (thank you for embracing the only social media I can reliably access).

I painted not enough paintings and went to zero movies. I listened to more music than I have in years, but only went to a handful of live shows and one music festival. I watched an entire season of Girls in two sittings. I went to one wedding. Well two actually, but they were both for the same couple.

I developed an unnatural addition to the TV channel Diva and then went cold turkey from TV for 11 months (hence the uptake in music listening). 

I've drunk a lot of coffee, taken thousands of photos, ate many dumplings and drunk more cocktails in sky-high bars than I'd care to admit. So yes it's been fun, but it wouldn't have been so great if it wasn't for the family of friends I've made here in G to the Z and being able to share this with you all from afar. 

Next time I'm at a sky-high bar I'll raise a glass to the next twelve months and make a wish that you are all here. Though just so we are all clear on that, maybe not everyone come at once...

Perfect Saturday

Listening to records, drinking tea, buying flowers, visiting my favourite grocer lady and cooking up a storm.