It seems like ages ago when my kids and I spent a week in Hong Kong. We stayed next to Garden Hill, an area I knew because of the eponymous Garden Bakery. The bakery building is gorgeous.One evening after a long day out, we returned to our hostel and the kids wanted to … [Read more...]
Best Intentions
So today I was supposed to be landing in Laos for a week-long writing retreat to workshop my new manuscript. But along with everyone else, 2020 has not been what we expected. So I'm still in Chicago, working on notes for the now-online writing workshop from Authors At Large that … [Read more...]
The Jumbo: the end of an era?
With recent news of the closing of Hong Kong's iconic Jumbo floating restaurant, there has been some much talk on social media about this famous restaurant that once upon a time was top on the tourist circuit. The Jumbo was always included in postcard packs in the 90s--and maybe … [Read more...]
Chinese tea in Montreal
About seven years ago my sisters in law and I stumbled across a Chinese tea shop in old Montreal, across from Notre Dame. I remember spending quite a bit of time there, stocking up on my favorite teas. I’ve been thinking of Ming Tao Xuan since then and put it at the top of our … [Read more...]
Student protests in Seoul, 1987
The six-month (and counting) long protests in Hong Kong have drawn comparisons with the student protests in Seoul a year before the 1988 Olympics. My dad and I flew to Seoul in June 1987 as the protests heated up. I was sixteen.These are photos we took from our hotel. I can … [Read more...]