Nostalgia aside, the weekend in HK was like nothing I'd experienced before.
Sitting, giggling on the curb as the afternoon sun drifted away,
Looking out to the water when I wake,
Sneezing at cat fur and barking at the barking dog;
I felt like I was homebound ( in a good cosy, lazy sort of way),
A house guest steeped in over-generous hospitality.

So, thank you my sweet-scary darling of a friend.

Being in HK always gives me a feeling of strange nostalgia.
The windy roads, loud chatters in Cantonese,
Even the Wellcome signs.
I don't know why,
Because I've never lived here for long periods of time,
Nor have I had particularly memorable fun.
There's something very familiar about the The Escalator (this I attribute to having watched Chungking Express 8 times), the roads that creep under stony bends, even the roast birds hanging in greasy windows.
Taking the cab around Central at night magnifies this all out of proportion. I get mushy inside, start humming soundtracks in my head, and think I could write a novel about my life.
So here I am - determined to go visit GOD (the store, not the Father), eat roast goose, and have a few martinis in a highly pretentious bar.

There are things I generally avoid doing because I attach certain associations with them, no matter how unfounded or silly.
For example -

The shopping-followed-by-dinner routine in big crowded malls on the weekend. Crowds irritate me, and having dinner in a mall depresses me. I think it's because I can't tell what time it is outside and the fluorescent lights always make me feel miserable.

Going to the movies on a Saturday night - unless it's a date (I know, 'the movie date' is such a retro concept!)

~
Today I went shopping (and had dinner in a mall). It was a particularly satisfying day -
2 x perfect white t-shirts from Gap (I've been obsessed with finding tees of the right texture, fit, and length for months now)
2 x CDs:
Sigur Ros: Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Mountain Goat: Get lonely
2 x books:
David Sedaris: When you are engulfed in flames
Haruki Murakami: Dance Dance DanceD (I haven't read a Murakami in ages!)

While collapsed in bed, contemplating falling twin-hairs and the impact of too many 16-hour work days, I decided to work harder.
~
Lately I've been quite intrigued with paper art. I saw a great little piece in Time the other day and decided to look it up. It was by New York artist Andrea Dezso, who created an amazing book that comes to life with layers of paper cuts and light play. Truly a marvel.