Back in HK : ) : ( : O

just returned to hk from a month away in europe. longest vacation of my life. and a serious unplugging. much needed. but i'm still swimming in jetlag, which means my blog may not make sense for a couple of days. btw, excuse the awful photos. rottendoubt pulled those off the internet, so he could finish my page.

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another btw, rottendoubt is actually related to me! definitely, an unexpected headf---k. my brother emailed me (from nj) the other day and asked me if i remembered that his wife's cousin founded rottentomatoes.com, then told me said cousin has now started a new venture -- alivenotdead.com: would i like to be on the site? rottendoubt then wrote to me and i discovered he now lives in hk AND WORKS DOWN THE STREET FROM ME, LESS THAN 150 YARDS AWAY! so, now, weirdly, but, wonderfully, i have family here. very cool, that.

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i wish my page could have gone up earlier, so i could write about my travels this past month (to madrid, barcelona, berlin, london and the south of france) in more detail, but TOO BAD now. nothing more difficult than simulating spontaneity, when the inspiration has passed. but, in very short form:

madrid - Old World, civilized, romantic, modern, inventive, gracious, warm. fantastic museums. how's this? i now want to learn spanish so i can spend more time there.

barcelona - big disappointment. probably because i visited 5 years after the hype. it's got the grittiness of new york in the 90s without the creativity. but the gaudi architecture is a must-see. plus, my meal at commerc 24 was one of the best of my life (the chef is a discipie of adrian ferria). maybe it was a terrible time of the year to visit?

berlin- very cool. beautiful, 19th century historic buildings cheek by jowl with the most cutting-edge modern architecture. precise, creative, individualistic. unfortunately, though, i find german people pretty off-putting. glacial in demeanor, even if, emotionally, they may be welcoming and sincere. among the best of what europe is offering these days.... alongside london, scandinavia (and, again, madrid), i reckon.

the main thing i took away from my travels this past month: nothing can compare to living in hong kong, shanghai or beijing. they may be polluted, stressful and ugly in comparison, but no one's resting on their laurels. we live here because it's still possible to make quantum leaps in every area of culture and civilization, no?

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this was my first entry: hope it wasn't too solipsistic (but, of course, it was, by definiton, right?) -- or, even worse, boring! it's great to be able to unload here. because it's almost impossible to have this kind of conversation in the flesh, isn't it?