moh din-si

After being interviewed in several forms of media I have now realised that the best looking reporters are those who appear on tv.

I was putting something in the microwave yesterday when my colleague ran excitedly into the kitchen and slammed the door shut. 'The reporter is here!' she gasped. Seeing my lack of excitement she continued, 'It's (NAME CENSORED), one of the most handsome news reporters in Hong Kong!'.

As I was having the interview I could see my colleague sms-ing everyone in her phone book in a frantic fashion. I mentioned casually to the celebrity, 'I think that (CENSORED NAME OF FAMOUS CHINESE ANIMAL) has seen you on TV before'. 'Yes', replied the celebrity, 'do you watch TVB?'

'No, I don't have a tv' I answered, trying not to look smug. I resisted the urge to say that I only watch tv when I am on it.

Oh dear. How am I going to relinquish my c-grade celebrity status in August? Is this the prelude to something greater or is this the peak after which I will never find fame again?

In Shanghai

Ok, so I can't read my blog in China but I can use blogger to make entries. Strange! I should alert the government to this inconsistency.

Shanghai is quite impressive and much wealthier than I imagined. Public transport is excellent, and I'm now an expert on the 911 bus which goes along the road outside Jen and Sebastian's flat.

thatäs all for now because this laptop has a german kezboard and iäm finding it verz frustrating,

Out of touch

I'm leaving HK tomorrow for four days in Shanghai with my old school friend Jen who's living there for half a year with her German boyfriend Sebastian. She's prepared an incredibly cool itinerary and I'm looking forward to exploring Shanghai and getting to talk about school days again.

Speaking of old friends, I ran into my old chemistry lab partner, Hayley, in Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station this morning! I thought I recognised her from behind but was still shocked when she turned around and I figured out it really was her. She's on holiday here until the end of the month so we will catch up when I get back from Shanghai.

It's quite obvious that I've been blogging less lately. This is partly because work has been busier than ever. It's also because I've been going through what I am coming to think of as a 'quarter life crisis'. No need for panic because I'm hoping to come out quite okay.

The big news for the moment is that I'm quitting my job and expecting to leave HK in August. I gave my resignation a couple of days ago and I'm looking forward to taking a holiday in India, Australia and elsewhere and then doing something different.

Okay, I'm signing out until Tuesday because Jen has told me my blog is not available in China.

Money - lots of it

Today I had the ultimate Hong Kong experience. I was seconded to another centre of our organisation to help a Hindi speaking client and the work involved withdrawing $130,000 dollars from one bank and crossing Nathan Road to deposit it at another. How was the large bundle of notes carried? In a Hello Kitty bag of course. For ten minutes I felt very cool and exciting.

And I have to mention this cos I'm quite proud - I just googled 'Chungking Mansions' trying to find a population estimate of the building. The work newsletter that I wrote last year came up on the first search page! I feel like quite the authority.