Handling the heat

1) There are a number of friends who still get angry at the little things here in Hong Kong every day. Yes, I still curse under my breath when I get stuck behind two meandering people who block an entire sidewalk. But long ago, I learned many ways to cope with it: Staying at home on my days off, avoiding the stressful areas of Hong Kong, like Causeway Bay, unless necessary, or the easiest, just not letting it bother you. After this long, if you let every little thing get to you, you implode. Plus, it could be my age is making me wiser, too. That said, I loved this t-shirt I saw someone wearing a few weeks ago. 

2) The downside of my new, expanded beer side business is I have very little free time anymore, especially with a summer of hell looming at my full-time job. I don't get to go to the beach as much anymore on my days off; I do business calls. But as I was taking a walk the other morning - yes, one of the advantages of living on the far edge of Hong Kong island is you can go for walks on quit(er) roads is I realize how much I do love this island some days. I love going for walks and seeing huge cargo containers swing by just a few hundred yards away in the shipping channels. I love seeing weird stuff, like layered cemeteries built hundreds of yards high in a hill. I love being able to stop for a water at the stalls that sell flowers for the relatives who clean the tombs there. I love seeing all the little engineered terra-forming they have done on this island, with the little stepped creeks they build to prevent landslides. I love that in my house, I can view a huge hill outside one window, and part of an ocean on another. I love that I can walk downstairs at night, if I want, and get a spicy tuna roll or grilled ox tongue at my Japanese restaurant. I realize, hopefully, I may be here a while. I miss the US, sure, but the greatest thing about Hong Kong is meeting a ton of people. That, and the fact there is a grocery store across the street from me. 

3) On the walk back, I saw this next to an industrial building near me. The other thing about Hong Kong is the fastidiousness of the city. Even on the remote roads, a government worker sweeps the sidewalks of leaves and dirt every few days. Public trash bins are emptied every day. And they replace them regularly, too; the shot below are a bunch of bins waiting to be put into service. It's nice, sometimes, to be in a city with some money to keep it in good shape. 

4) I still am waiting for the full-on construction to start and make my life hell. The shot below is not much different than last month, though you can see the ground floor of the building next to mine. Check out the bottom right of the picture; the owner has created an outdoor patio with high walls. I never see anyone outside, but I would kill for a space like this. Strangely, in Hong Kong, no one wants these spaces as much as you would think; I knew a couple that was renting an upper-floor apartment in Wan Chai, about 600 square feet, for $10,000 HK a month, I think; they rented half the rooftop, about 400 square feet, for an additional $1,000 or $1,500 a month. It was theirs alone to use for parties, bbqing, morning coffees, etc. Sure, it was unusable in the rain, but I would love a situation like that in my building. 

5) The next big thing, it seems, in restaurants here is Mexican food. A high-end, hipster restaurant is opening, serving Mexican food, and they want our beer on draft. Score!

6) Speaking of, the beer scene has changed here. Two years ago, we could not get my favorite bar, the Globe, to buy our American beers for $17 HK a bottle with my first beer venture. Just this week, they agreed to carry some of our Japanese beers for $27 a bottle. The market is booming here for beer, and that's good for us.