I had the day off, so we had to do somebloodything other than sit in the apartment and watch last year’s American TV on cable. So, we went for a walk down Caine Street, to the end, where it runs into the Hong Kong Botanical and Zoological Gardens. And we looked around there a bit, […]

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Leaving the Mid-Levels neighborhood of Hong Kong is easy. It’s basically a controlled fall. To get to the nearest MTR (subway) station from the apartment we’re now staying at, I was given one bit of direction: Just keep going downhill. So, down I go. And down and down. Literally one step at a time, because […]

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Things here that I didn’t expect to see. Or notice. Or experience. Or stuff that’s just different from SoCal/USA. (And I reserve the right to come back to any of these with a full post, down the line.) –Rattling street lights. Ninety percent of street lights come with sound effects – a sort of bonk-bonk-bonking […]

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I know, I write about the weather here far too often. It’s the classic “everybody talks about it/nobody does anything about it” topic. But still … I’m going to write about it again, because the most marvelous thing has happened! It’s … livable here. No, it’s more than livable. It’s pleasant! Nice! Dare I say […]

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We have moved. Again. That’s four places in six weeks, and not one day spent, during those six weeks, fully unpacked. Other than not quite knowing where this or that T-shirt might be, or if I actually remembered to pack blue socks, and the hassle of dragging around some fairly heavy luggage … other than […]

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I am fond of much of Hong Kong. The energy and the architecture, the food and the people, the sense that anything is possible and that hard work will be rewarded. It has so much going for it. But, so far … I have to say, and maybe I’m wrong and just need more information […]

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The tropics! What images does that conjure? Warm days and nights. Gentle breezes. And sun. Lots and lots of sun. Hong Kong has very little of that, this time of year. Hong Kong Island, in particular. In fact, one of the most significant meteorological phenomena we have observed so far?

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From the time I left Highland, almost a year ago, I began losing touch with the kids I had covered for years. That process accelerated in March when I was excused from the pages of the San Bernardino Sun, after 31-plus years, just after I had moved to Long Beach. And it really moved ahead […]

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And not finding any. Certainly not much. There is crime in this city. Has to be. Among 1.26 million people on Hong Kong Island, something bad must be going down just about every hour of every day. But I haven’t seen it. And it’s not as if I’ve been spending all my time in the […]

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We’re staying at the place of a colleague, here in the Tin Hau neighborhood of Hong Kong Island. Just a few blocks from Victoria Park, if you’re looking at a map of the city. Well, of course you’re not, but still … We really like the neighborhood, and the serviced-apartment, too. It’s basically one big […]

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