I love finding old photos that I haven’t seen in years, maybe decades. And when those photos were taken in Hong Kong, even better. Before the days of the camera phone, it took a special effort to take photos–and keep them. So I’m thrilled to show these from March and December 1996.
First from March. My mom and Uncle Budgie visited me for a week that year. I write about their trip in Good Chinese Wife. I took them to the canteen (cafeteria) in my graduate dormitory for lamb hotpot.
Another day that week I took them to the Shatin Floating Restaurant. I can’t remember if I’ve been back since then!
And here are my mother and me on the streets of Central. As I remember, she and Budgie had a pretty extensive shopping list for friends and family back in the US.
Later that year, my parents visited me in December for my graduate school graduation. We of course spent a lot of time walking around Hong Kong. Here’s a street scene, I think on Hong Kong Island. If anyone can identify the street, please let me know!
My dad and I in Tsim Sha Tsui along the harborfront. The buildings across the harbor in Central are all decked out with Christmas lights.
And here I am at Ohel Leah synagogue before it was restored. When my dad and I registered at the front desk, a woman offered me a job teaching Sunday School there. I declined, but have always regretted not taking it.
And my dad at the Jewish cemetery at the grave of Sir Lawrence Kadoorie.
If you’ve read Good Chinese Wife, you might remember some pretty heavy stuff went down between March and December of that year (ie, those doctor visits). I was just trying to hold onto my marriage–and my sanity–and did my best to appear calm and collected on the outside.
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