One of the themes of my memoir GOOD CHINESE WIFE is culture shock. Before my first marriage, I thought culture shock was a sign of weakness.So it was quite disconcerting when I found myself in the throes of culture shock in the mid-1990s when I often traveled to mainland … [Read more...]
The Poseidon Project
In 1931, a Chinese steamship and the British submarine HMS Poseidon collided off the coast of northern China. It was a turbulent time in the region and just months before Japan invaded Manchuria.The Poseidon was hailed as the best of its kind, not unlike the Titanic. A new … [Read more...]
The Grandmaster
Last night I dragged my 15-year-old son and a friend of his to see Wong Kar-wai's latest film, The Grandmaster. I'm not super into the somewhat-recent kung fu flicks, although I loved Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. But to me, anything by Wong Kar-wai deserves a cinema … [Read more...]
A gem close to home
At dinner last night, the subject of Cantonese and Mandarin came up again, namely the differences between the two and where each is spoken. So that led me to recount once again the story of how when I studied Mandarin in Hong Kong many years ago, I actually had to leave the … [Read more...]
Book of the week–Aunty Lee’s Delights
Last week I went on my first family vacation since my little kids were born four and six years ago. I still brought a slew of books and managed to read three in six days (the kids go to bed early, even though they didn't fall asleep at their usual time that whole week we were … [Read more...]
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