Erik: 2006

Now that I am between worlds so to speak, certain things have become much clearer-or am I deluding myself? I am getting close to feeling like I somehow fit in to this jagged jigsaw, that my skin has hardened a little, that my big-city calousness is nearly fully developed. Hong Kong really epitomises a new asian metropolis (that's why I'm here?)-the consumerist culture is the official culture, image its fuel, money a fast flowing syrup in my hands. Now that I can play karaoke drinking games with the best of them, patiently sneer at being overcharged, speak my mind directly without politeness and affect my voice with a slightly deeper timbre to suggest authority, I feel like this town could really work. Why why why am I in Hong Kong? It's not even important any more. What would a polar bear do if you placed it suddenly in the tropical east indies? How would a crocodile fare in the West Sahara? I'm no chameleon, but I bring little baggage to speak of to this town. I am my own experiment, HK is the petri dish. I eat the food (but I have my limits-frogs legs have a disgusting texture and I will not look at intestines) and talk to people. We talk about cultural differences and similarities, money, girls, films, foods. I no longer talk about some things that interest me but that I know will have no relevance in HK to anyone because I hate getting blank stares.
I don't use embellishment with my language too much-Cantonese speakers don't understand it for a start and their own language seems to lack it, instead being hardy, flexible, subtle and pragmatic. I can't just talk like me sometimes because I rarely speak to an australian native speaker. There's always Bob the man from Melbourne who is "In I.T" as Clint put it, is a good man, especially for ceremonious and excessive drinking. Australia Day unfortunately went by without mention.
Chinese New Year on the other hand was a different story. The married coworkers give out Lai See (red money envelopes) to everyone who's single or unmarried, The Fireworks are gobsmacking, and...people actually start to relax for a short while. To see people during this time walking unhurriedly is quite a shock. I really wonder what the hell Adelaide is going to be like when I say hello again. Hans, Yutaka, Charmaine, Wales and me went to the flower market in Causeway Bay which is a big tradition during the festival season. It's sort of like a fair with little shops selling lucky chinese new year trinkets and flowers, and there is always an innovative gimmick that has been invented to cash in on peoples hunger for buying luck. This year is the year of the dog, Monkeys like me are preordained to have a steady but slightly shit year, snakes will prosper and monkeys are gonna rule.
After getting crushed by the crowds in Victoria Park, we found a dessert restaurant and I tried Durian for the first time. Wales and Charmaine thought this was really funny as no foreigner usually eats this stinky, fetid fruit. But I managed and will try again at Charmaines insistance. “Keep persisting” she tells me, “and then you will understand.” You either love them or hate them apparently, but I have yet to swing either way.
I will not try to learn cantonese yet, we will see how my upcoming Mandarin lessons go. Besides, the usual mistakes of beginners usually are made with the use of tones. Say something slightly out of phase and you're telling your girlfriends mother that she has a nice cunt instead of nice cooking. Mandarin has 3 or 4 tones, Cantonese has 9. I practiced some Mandarin tones already to some lessons I have on iPod and made sounds like a coy macaw, a person with a hairlip, a cat sneezing.
My apartment is too small for my big soul so I will have to move somewhere else soon. Decent furniture arrangement is impossible. It’s a mess at the moment too-I continue to be sick with a stomach infection that doesn’t hurt but just makes my stomach gurgle and throb strangely. I’ve had it for months now and the other symptoms include aching joints, general tiredness and shit skin. So I usually just lurch around my apartment making a mess but cleaning things up only when I trip over them. They say that if you’re not from HK, it will take at least a year for your body to acclimatise. Goddamn, only 5 months to go…
So I’ve had no energy to really go out and wrestle with the world much.
On the other hand, I’ve discovered that there are people in this town that enjoy just actually chilling out listening to records and goofing around: Cedric and Francois. Maybe this girl I met a few times.
Chilling out. That’s pretty rare.

Media !Attention!

“Life of Pi” is the funniest book I’ve ever read.

Stereolab are undergoing a new renaissance in my head. Their album “Margerine Eclipse” is amazing and sweet, not too posy and just really happy and positive.

HK is good for “fucky house music.” I love that expression.

Shanghai Crab is really good.

Jet Li’s final purely kungfu movie “Fearless” is incredible. The action scenes are really mindblowing. The same motion director as from the matrix, but this time actually working with a guy who knows how to fight properly.

And how to describe work? I really like all the people I work with. I say that honestly. I like the work I am doing, though the project for a tower in Shanghai we’re working on right now needs an injection of vision and enthusiasm. I hang out a lot with work mates. Dennis is a local guy who is just a blast. He wants to practice his english with me, so I oblige by speaking slowly and clearly. He takes me to cheap fun places to eat. Kevin comes too sometimes. He knows his pirate software and DVDs and we enjoy trawling around looking at computer toys and gadgets. He has burmese roots. We all went and ate burmese last night in Wanchai and the food was simple and delicious. I will return!
Ok, that’s enough.