I spent so many afternoons in this room 20 years ago, I can still smell the musty fragrance of the building.When you're halfway across the world and 19 years old, it's nice to have a place to go where you can feel at home.I lived across the quad from the Office of … [Read more...]
Archives for August 2010
Remembering Manila
Yesterday I read with horror about the hostage stand-off in Manila, where a disgruntled ex-cop hijacked a Hong Kong tour bus. It sounded like something you'd see on a Hong Kong movie set.And then something went terribly wrong and 8 tourists were murdered.Like everyone … [Read more...]
China watching, 1990
I took this photo 20 years ago next Monday, standing in Lok Ma Chau, the scenic border town with mainland China.There's not much going on here.Back then, no one knew what would happen in China. Tiananmen had just happened a year before and Deng Xiaoping had yet to take … [Read more...]
Postcard from Shatin, 1997
I first arrived in Hong Kong 20 years ago this week. To commemorate this anniversary of sorts, I'm going to dedicate this week's posts to my favorite memories of my favorite city.I sent this postcard to my paternal grandmother in 1997, a few months before the handover.My … [Read more...]
Book of the week–The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai
Earlier this month I came across a new author, Ruiyan Xu, on GoodReads.com. I'm always on the lookout for new Chinese authors, so I entered the raffle for her debut novel, The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai (St. Martin's, 2010).Lucky me. I won an advance readers' … [Read more...]