Sunday, June 27, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
A week in the life...
A week in the life....
Sunday-Leave the beach in Lantau fly to Taiwan. Taiwan is really just halfway between Hong-Kong and China, a little lost in its identity really.
Fly to LAX on Delta and the narrowest seats I have ever come across, I can hardly walk when I get off the plane. Then onto Mexico City.
Monday- Stranded in Mexico city for 24 hours, miss flight because I fall asleep after trying to stay awake so I don't get robbed. This was another of those hallucinating times, but this time not only did my vision go but also the weirdest thing with sound as well. As I am trying desperately to keep my eyes open, all the sounds around me take on a very crystal heightened tone, until they all merge into a cacophony of sound, and I can hear strange conversations, such as being nagged and shouted at-very very bizarre! Only by begging American Airlines for a ticket back am I able to literally get the hell out of Dodge.
Tuesday- Have a couple of fags outside Dallas airport in the scorching heat. American Airlines charge US $7 for a beer, even on long haul flights and as with all North American Airlines you have to pay by credit card-even for $3 headphones to listen to the in-flight movie!
Wednesday- As we take off from Tokyo, I get a wonderful clear view of Mount Fuji and then of Tokyo itself. Watch England game back on Lantau.
Thursday- Fly to Shanghai, arrive at 1am stay at the airport hotel. Watch Italy game in room.
Friday.-Walk into the fish pond in the Shanghai hotel as I am walking along looking at my tickets. Shoes, socks and bottom of pants soaking. Not the best way to fly! 13 hours in Toronto airport. Standing outside having a fag, as ever, I couldn't remember where I was and only after mentally retracing my steps did I remember!
Saturday- Fly to Mexico City, and then Guadalejera.
Sunday-Leave the beach in Lantau fly to Taiwan. Taiwan is really just halfway between Hong-Kong and China, a little lost in its identity really.
Fly to LAX on Delta and the narrowest seats I have ever come across, I can hardly walk when I get off the plane. Then onto Mexico City.
Monday- Stranded in Mexico city for 24 hours, miss flight because I fall asleep after trying to stay awake so I don't get robbed. This was another of those hallucinating times, but this time not only did my vision go but also the weirdest thing with sound as well. As I am trying desperately to keep my eyes open, all the sounds around me take on a very crystal heightened tone, until they all merge into a cacophony of sound, and I can hear strange conversations, such as being nagged and shouted at-very very bizarre! Only by begging American Airlines for a ticket back am I able to literally get the hell out of Dodge.
Tuesday- Have a couple of fags outside Dallas airport in the scorching heat. American Airlines charge US $7 for a beer, even on long haul flights and as with all North American Airlines you have to pay by credit card-even for $3 headphones to listen to the in-flight movie!
Wednesday- As we take off from Tokyo, I get a wonderful clear view of Mount Fuji and then of Tokyo itself. Watch England game back on Lantau.
Thursday- Fly to Shanghai, arrive at 1am stay at the airport hotel. Watch Italy game in room.
Friday.-Walk into the fish pond in the Shanghai hotel as I am walking along looking at my tickets. Shoes, socks and bottom of pants soaking. Not the best way to fly! 13 hours in Toronto airport. Standing outside having a fag, as ever, I couldn't remember where I was and only after mentally retracing my steps did I remember!
Saturday- Fly to Mexico City, and then Guadalejera.
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Move along sir!
2.00am-Silvermine Bay beach
I am not sure how long I had been there to be honest, but there I was. On a covered bench at 2am smoking a fag, I hadn't seen another human being for at least half an hour, I had my beat box next to me blasting out the loudest music possible. In front of me was the sea and the relentless wind. The 2 police men stopped directly in front of me and the second one said' please turn down the music' 'no' I said, and after a short conversation he said ' I don't want to argue with you anymore, I'm going' and off he went.
I have spent a long time since, thinking about this short exchange, and let me make it clear-I really do have the upmost respect for the Hong Kong police, and I am convinced this would never have happened elsewhere.
I was awakened from my reverie by the policeman's request to switch down the music, and it is really impossible to write down with any accuracy the speed and volume of thoughts that went through my head before I decided upon 'no' as an answer.
I am not a fucking fool and immediately I thought 'this is a man with a gun,a truncheon and possibly other things that could seriously hurt me and if he fails there is always his mate as well'.
On the other hand though, I was sat on a beach at least a quarter of a mile from the nearest house which I did tell said policeman after I said no and he told me I was noisy and I told him I was sat on a beach, and he said someone might complain and I told him there was no one within a quarter of a mile. It was at that point that he told me he didn't want to argue and rode away. Could I have gotten away with that anywhere else? No fucking way! Across most of the world the police have some really big mental shit going on, especially in England and the US. I was there tonight, a lone man on a beach, defying 2 coppers, I knew full well that if I was elsewhere they would have dragged me off to jail before I could utter ' bent copper'. The officer i met tonight though, considered my non compliance and thought' well ,he is actually well within his rights, let him be' and went on his way. He doesn't know it, but I am so thankful that there are still policeman as upstanding and honest as him.
I am not sure how long I had been there to be honest, but there I was. On a covered bench at 2am smoking a fag, I hadn't seen another human being for at least half an hour, I had my beat box next to me blasting out the loudest music possible. In front of me was the sea and the relentless wind. The 2 police men stopped directly in front of me and the second one said' please turn down the music' 'no' I said, and after a short conversation he said ' I don't want to argue with you anymore, I'm going' and off he went.
I have spent a long time since, thinking about this short exchange, and let me make it clear-I really do have the upmost respect for the Hong Kong police, and I am convinced this would never have happened elsewhere.
I was awakened from my reverie by the policeman's request to switch down the music, and it is really impossible to write down with any accuracy the speed and volume of thoughts that went through my head before I decided upon 'no' as an answer.
I am not a fucking fool and immediately I thought 'this is a man with a gun,a truncheon and possibly other things that could seriously hurt me and if he fails there is always his mate as well'.
On the other hand though, I was sat on a beach at least a quarter of a mile from the nearest house which I did tell said policeman after I said no and he told me I was noisy and I told him I was sat on a beach, and he said someone might complain and I told him there was no one within a quarter of a mile. It was at that point that he told me he didn't want to argue and rode away. Could I have gotten away with that anywhere else? No fucking way! Across most of the world the police have some really big mental shit going on, especially in England and the US. I was there tonight, a lone man on a beach, defying 2 coppers, I knew full well that if I was elsewhere they would have dragged me off to jail before I could utter ' bent copper'. The officer i met tonight though, considered my non compliance and thought' well ,he is actually well within his rights, let him be' and went on his way. He doesn't know it, but I am so thankful that there are still policeman as upstanding and honest as him.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
The Yuppies are taking over the asylum.
The Yuppies are taking over the asylum.
I have lived on Lantau-on and off for 17 years, and during that time I have seen many changes. When I first arrived in Lantau it was almost a backpackers/hippy paradise, there were very few foreigners, and those people lived quite happily with the locals, the dark days of the airport soon followed and the huge influx of airport workers clashed terribly with the locals-often violently. The culture clash was deep indeed, taking the bus to Pui-O was a real drag, and the locals began to resent all foreign men under 50. Thankfully those times passed with the completion of the airport and things once again settled down.
For the last 5 years more and more families settled in Lantau, and a lot of us started families of our own. Locals and foreigners now live side by side, and our kids are friends and those cultural differences seem to be much less marked-until now!
Living in an idyllic place such as this word is bound to get out, and more and more affluent foreigners have begun to settle here. This is in itself not a problem, although it has pushed up prices for us riffraff-but that's life.
What is now becoming apparent is another cultural clash, this time not only with the locals, here is an example;
Wang Tong in Mui-Wo, is situated in the swamp behind the beach, and rents there have remained low for many years-and there is a reason for that which I will come to. Recently a few large houses have grown there, which were built by foreigners but the majority of the village has remained the same-cheap housing and holiday flats. A group of people who apparently represent foreigners have recently begun a campaign to change some things in the village.
• Reduce noise in the village by closing holiday flats
• Control the number of dogs loose in the village
• Rehouse a particular person who lives in a house with no roof at the entrance to the village-he is apparently an eyesore.
• Close the toilet bar
Mui-Wo is a seaside town-if you don't want to live next to holiday flats , you should have done your research before moving to Wang Tong! This is important income for Mui-Wo residents and any chance of changing that will seriously piss them off, and that is really not a good idea. I can give you a list of people who can attest to that.
Go to any New Territories village and you will see lots of loose dogs, they are a part of life, and unless they are dangerous are nobody's business.
How someone lives is none of your damn business-if that person wants to change his life he will, who are we to dictate?
Good luck with closing the toilet bar-it never has any noise complaints against it, it is a perfectly legal shop, the same as hundreds dotted around Hong Kong, and once again I certainly wouldn't want to mess with a locally owned shop and then have to walk to Wang Tong every night.
In the end, things are how they are, and that is part of Lantau's charm, and the local people accept us and our differences quite happily, we should do the same-or piss off back to where we came from.
I have lived on Lantau-on and off for 17 years, and during that time I have seen many changes. When I first arrived in Lantau it was almost a backpackers/hippy paradise, there were very few foreigners, and those people lived quite happily with the locals, the dark days of the airport soon followed and the huge influx of airport workers clashed terribly with the locals-often violently. The culture clash was deep indeed, taking the bus to Pui-O was a real drag, and the locals began to resent all foreign men under 50. Thankfully those times passed with the completion of the airport and things once again settled down.
For the last 5 years more and more families settled in Lantau, and a lot of us started families of our own. Locals and foreigners now live side by side, and our kids are friends and those cultural differences seem to be much less marked-until now!
Living in an idyllic place such as this word is bound to get out, and more and more affluent foreigners have begun to settle here. This is in itself not a problem, although it has pushed up prices for us riffraff-but that's life.
What is now becoming apparent is another cultural clash, this time not only with the locals, here is an example;
Wang Tong in Mui-Wo, is situated in the swamp behind the beach, and rents there have remained low for many years-and there is a reason for that which I will come to. Recently a few large houses have grown there, which were built by foreigners but the majority of the village has remained the same-cheap housing and holiday flats. A group of people who apparently represent foreigners have recently begun a campaign to change some things in the village.
• Reduce noise in the village by closing holiday flats
• Control the number of dogs loose in the village
• Rehouse a particular person who lives in a house with no roof at the entrance to the village-he is apparently an eyesore.
• Close the toilet bar
Mui-Wo is a seaside town-if you don't want to live next to holiday flats , you should have done your research before moving to Wang Tong! This is important income for Mui-Wo residents and any chance of changing that will seriously piss them off, and that is really not a good idea. I can give you a list of people who can attest to that.
Go to any New Territories village and you will see lots of loose dogs, they are a part of life, and unless they are dangerous are nobody's business.
How someone lives is none of your damn business-if that person wants to change his life he will, who are we to dictate?
Good luck with closing the toilet bar-it never has any noise complaints against it, it is a perfectly legal shop, the same as hundreds dotted around Hong Kong, and once again I certainly wouldn't want to mess with a locally owned shop and then have to walk to Wang Tong every night.
In the end, things are how they are, and that is part of Lantau's charm, and the local people accept us and our differences quite happily, we should do the same-or piss off back to where we came from.
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