Hello again!
Things are going great here in the place also known as adult Disney. We celebrated Long and Tory's birthdays a few weekends ago with 25 of their closest friends and partied late into the evening...well, some of us partied later than others. Long went home at midnight because she drank a little too much snake wine that our friends Charlie & Quin brought from the dark dwellings of Kowloon. No, I am not kidding. It is Vietnamese rice wine complete with a dead snake in the bottle. It makes tequila with a worm look like apple juice.
I must share, in full disclosure, that the party almost didn't happen thanks to a moronic move on my part. I was trying to cancel a brunch we were supposed to attend the next morning because I knew it would be a late night and we wouldn't be up in time to catch the ferry, and I cancelled the birthday bash by accident. I immediately starting receiving texts and emails from people asking if everything was okay. It took a few minutes to realize what I had done but once it sunk in I FREAKED. I mean totally lost it. My palms got sweaty, my face was completely flushed and I felt sick to my stomach. A logical person would simply reply to everyone on the email chain and explain the error (which I eventually did) but for about 10 minutes I sat in complete panic mode with Long and Blair. I hadn't even had a single drop of alcohol but once I realized what I had done I asked for a very tall, very strong beverage with lots of alcohol. More to numb the embarrassment I knew I was about to endure when we got to the bar. Phew. At least everything turned out okay.
Two weekends ago was an impromptu trip to Phuket with my good friend Cate (aka Kate/KT/Pig Pen) who I haven't spent much QT with since our amazing, wonderful trip to Africa and Dubai with Sandy back in 2007. She moved to London, married an awesome guy and is pretty much running JP Morgan so that doesn't leave her much free time. We spent three amazingly fun days together riding elephants, sitting on the beach soaking up the beautiful Thai sun, eating carb-infused Thai food, and reminiscing about life the past 4 years. It's a great feeling to know that regardless of life's twists and turns, some friendships can stand the test of time and end up being stronger than ever. Thanks for a great weekend KT --- already looking forward to London/Croatia 2012 with Linus!
This past weekend I went to my first housewarming party HK style. It was more like a 'flatwarming' party since no one lives in actual free-standing houses here, but it was fun nonetheless. At least until the police showed up and told us we had to quiet down or the hosts would get fined a good chunk of Chinese change. It's crazy to think how drastically different my life is from a year and a half ago - I used to have people over to grill out on my patio in the backyard, I could run down the hallway from the kitchen to my bedroom, and I would stress over whether or not the house was clean. Now I have someone clean my apartment, another person to cook me dinner, I can barely fit a couch and chair in my living room and a hallway is a distant memory. But I wouldn't change it for the world and would do it all over again if asked.
We celebrated Halloween Saturday night. I know everyone back in the states thinks Halloween is a big deal. I did too. But there's no place quite like Hong Kong at Halloween. I don't know if it's because there are so many emotional challenged people living here who can't relate to other people under normal circumstances, or if it's because there are more chemically-dependent people, but it is absolutely INSANE. We were dead set against going out but since my friend Carolina was visiting from NYC I felt the pressure to show her a good time. So we dressed up as pirates and went to a bar party. It ended up being a fantastic time --- people watching was some of the best I've ever seen, the music was great (cheesy 80s so I was in heaven), and the local Chinese thought enough of our pirate costumes to keep stopping us to take our picture. Weird but kinda cool.
Well there you have it. The latest and greatest in my Asia Adventures. Thanks to all my friends from near and far. And to the BFFs - it's gonna be great! You guys make my world go round...
I also want to give a special shout out to one of the best couples around. My parents are celebrating their 47th year of wedded bliss this Halloween. They are as much in love today as they were when they stood at the altar in UVA chapel all those years ago. I love you guys!!!
Things are going great here in the place also known as adult Disney. We celebrated Long and Tory's birthdays a few weekends ago with 25 of their closest friends and partied late into the evening...well, some of us partied later than others. Long went home at midnight because she drank a little too much snake wine that our friends Charlie & Quin brought from the dark dwellings of Kowloon. No, I am not kidding. It is Vietnamese rice wine complete with a dead snake in the bottle. It makes tequila with a worm look like apple juice.
 |
| Me w/ the birthday brunettes - Tory & Long |
 |
| snake wine - ewww! |
I must share, in full disclosure, that the party almost didn't happen thanks to a moronic move on my part. I was trying to cancel a brunch we were supposed to attend the next morning because I knew it would be a late night and we wouldn't be up in time to catch the ferry, and I cancelled the birthday bash by accident. I immediately starting receiving texts and emails from people asking if everything was okay. It took a few minutes to realize what I had done but once it sunk in I FREAKED. I mean totally lost it. My palms got sweaty, my face was completely flushed and I felt sick to my stomach. A logical person would simply reply to everyone on the email chain and explain the error (which I eventually did) but for about 10 minutes I sat in complete panic mode with Long and Blair. I hadn't even had a single drop of alcohol but once I realized what I had done I asked for a very tall, very strong beverage with lots of alcohol. More to numb the embarrassment I knew I was about to endure when we got to the bar. Phew. At least everything turned out okay.
Two weekends ago was an impromptu trip to Phuket with my good friend Cate (aka Kate/KT/Pig Pen) who I haven't spent much QT with since our amazing, wonderful trip to Africa and Dubai with Sandy back in 2007. She moved to London, married an awesome guy and is pretty much running JP Morgan so that doesn't leave her much free time. We spent three amazingly fun days together riding elephants, sitting on the beach soaking up the beautiful Thai sun, eating carb-infused Thai food, and reminiscing about life the past 4 years. It's a great feeling to know that regardless of life's twists and turns, some friendships can stand the test of time and end up being stronger than ever. Thanks for a great weekend KT --- already looking forward to London/Croatia 2012 with Linus!
 |
| "The Twins" |
 |
| sunset at Raiwai Beach - Phuket, Thailand |
 |
| From This - view in Charlotte |
 |
| To This - view in Hong Kong |
We celebrated Halloween Saturday night. I know everyone back in the states thinks Halloween is a big deal. I did too. But there's no place quite like Hong Kong at Halloween. I don't know if it's because there are so many emotional challenged people living here who can't relate to other people under normal circumstances, or if it's because there are more chemically-dependent people, but it is absolutely INSANE. We were dead set against going out but since my friend Carolina was visiting from NYC I felt the pressure to show her a good time. So we dressed up as pirates and went to a bar party. It ended up being a fantastic time --- people watching was some of the best I've ever seen, the music was great (cheesy 80s so I was in heaven), and the local Chinese thought enough of our pirate costumes to keep stopping us to take our picture. Weird but kinda cool.
 |
| LKF @ 10pm - just getting going |
 |
| Me & Carolina! |
 |
| Me & Norma - "the zookeepers" |
 |
| I shamelessly stole this from a friend's FB Wall |
 |
| One of the happiest couples around. Ever. |
