I haven’t written here in awhile, but it’s not because my life in Hong Kong has become boring and dull; far from it. I think it’s because it’s become my LIFE, and not a constant series of amazing adventures. I am no longer blown away by the strangeness of things every time I step outside my door. Neither does every activity I participate in seem like a unique occurrence that must be preserved for posterity! So I actually have been hesitating to write about the fun yet everyday-type things that I do. And yet, but NOT writing about them I risk losing them. I think I need to go through a transition with this blog. It will still be about Asia, since that’s where I am, but life in Asia after two years in Hong Kong looks and feels different from six months, or one year. Hong Kong is home, for now anyway.
So, this past month I’ve done several things that are worth remembering. I went on a bike ride led by Michael Hanson in the New Territories. There are plenty of relatively flat places to ride out there without too much traffic and with smooth pavement. There are even bike paths here and there! We rented comfortable bikes with baskets in the Tai Po Market area and rode through markets, towns, woods and villages. The trip was about 20 miles in total. Going through the villages was the hardest part for me, since I’m so balance-challenged. Village paths tend to be narrow and sometimes there are drop-offs on either side. At one point in attempting to avoid a drop-off on one side of the path I crashed into the fence on the other side! Several village dogs came bounding toward me (on the other side of the fence!) barking wildly, which caused me to fling myself away from the fence with alacrity. I sustained several colorful bruises on one leg and some cuts, but no lasting injuries. It was fun to ride a bike; it had been a long time….not quite as much fun as that electric bike in Kyoto though!
On the cultural front I went on the gallery walk for the Sotheby’s Auction. It was held at the Wan Chai Convention Center. A young man that was extremely knowledgeable about art took us through the contemporary Chinese art gallery. This was great, because he was able to explain several of the artists to us. I wish I could remember their names, but there were several artists whose works I have seen displayed in galleries in Hong Kong. Their art was quirky, humorous, at times beautiful, and bursting with creativity! The man that is known as the gunpowder artist was well represented. Cynthia and I saw his cars with their neon thunderbolts in the museum in Seattle! He has an exhibit right now at the Guggenheim in NYC but I’m afraid it will be gone by the time Sarah and I get there. One work I saw that I really liked was a mobile that showed Chinese characters gradually changing into birds. It was really amazing. I would love to have a print of his. I also went into the jewelry gallery. It was kind of intimidating – diamonds, emeralds, sapphires and pearls – all in exquisite settings and many just HUGE stones. Pearls over an inch in diameter, 23 carat diamonds….There were in display cases with agents standing there; eager to have you sit down and examine them more closely (after all it WAS an auction). They asked me if I wanted to look at them more closely but I said NO! I was actually a little scared in that gallery! I peeked at the on-going auction. This was a very civilized proceeding, nothing like the Tokyo fish market or an auction in small-town Missouri! The auction was held in 3 languages (Cantonese, Mandarin and English) and 6 currencies. Amazing.
If you haven’t already go to my Flickr website - http://www.flickr.com/photos/momwizard. Check out the pictures from the Yuen Yuen Monastery. This place was so beautiful and colorful. Next time you are in Hong Kong I’ll take you there!
In a couple of weeks I will be heading off to the US again. This will be a fun trip, but very long. I’ll be gone for almost two months, but there will be plenty of adventures to relate, including Daniel’s college graduation, Cody and Elsa’s high school graduations, a trip to NYC with Sarah and an Elderhostel at the Santa Fe opera with Mom. Stay tuned!
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