dis-Oriented

A little tardy seeing as I've been home for 8 weeks now, but I feel like I have to officially wrap up my 2 exhilarating, life-changing, INCREDIBLE years in HK with some sort of blog entry closure.

Here's a copy of my "Goodbye Hong Kong" email that I sent out to family and friends after I left. LONG, but readable I hope.

With no more business trips to 4th tier Chinese cities, SE Asian destination sporting events, and 3 hours of notice before trips to Paris I'm still unclear on my future blog post inspirations, but I do know that the blog will definitely live on....this girl's passport won't be controlled for very long.


After having the experience of a lifetime living in Asia, I am finally repatriating back to the United States and wanted to bookend my initial report from Hong Kong almost 2 years ago. I’m about to hand over my Hong Kong residency card - reason enough to attempt a written recap of my highlights in the Far East before the vibrant technicolors of Asia start to fade.

Here's a brief statistical overview of my time here for those of you numbers-minded people:

7,200 miles away from home
114 flights
36 border crossings into Mainland China
22 months in Asia
6 apartments
5 typhoons
0 Asian diseases

And for those who have email-reading time to spare, keep scrolling down for more details…

My time in Asia has been eye-opening, humbling, inspiring, and absolutely a blast. From the palm-fringed islands of the Philippines to the man-made Palm Island in the UAE, it’s safe to say I’ve been seduced by this continent. And 114 flights later (which sounds obnoxious I realize, but keep in mind most of them were work-sponsored) and a near investment in a second home in the HK airport, I still feel like I've only scratched the surface of an unrequited love.

From the peaks of the Himalayas to the depths of protected dive sites in Borneo and a handful of spectacular nooks in between, I've had far too many "is-this-really-my-life??" moments and may have maxed out my body's cortisol supply along the way. But really the biggest thrill of all was being able to live in the GREATEST city in Asia, where non-stop adventure, excitement, and cultural collisions in all their forms were right outside my doorstep every single day: finally becoming an insider with the lady at the mango stand....maneuvering through sidewalk crowds in high heels during an amber rainstorm...getting my temperature taken before entering a classy restaurant...being evicted from a taxi while in possession of the notoriously pungent durian fruit… And somehow through all the madness, Hong Kong became my home, and before I knew it, my comfort zone encompassed all the thrills and quirks of this exhilarating city. And now I'm leaving home and moving home…. still in the midst of processing all of this.

Thinking back on my time here, I realized the entire city of Hong Kong can be compared to a large airport terminal: pleasantly air conditioned, retail on every square foot, a wide selection of food, people from around the world, and everyone in transit with the next destination on their minds. But really, Hong Kong is food. I heard somewhere that there's shopping and finance too. Oh, and there's other stuff one probably shouldn't miss - skylines and beaches and temples. But mostly there's food. The compactness of the city, the embrace of its sub-tropical climate, the excellent transportation - everything conspires to move you about until you find the perfect little air-conditioned hole-in-the-wall where, at three in the morning, a small family will be slicing up mangoes. Everyone is in on the action and everyone's a critic. The best way to see Hong Kongers at their most communal, intimate, and animate moments is to follow them directly to their table. Whether it's "dumplings stuffed with the ovary and digestive glands of a crab," sea worms, “1000 year old eggs,” or bat stew.... my taste buds will never be the same again. They've been shocked and they've been awed.

Beyond my acquired food snobbery, I think I’ve also developed a serious case of people snobbery as well. The friends I was privileged to make in Asia are nothing short of awe-inspiring – expats and locals, old-timers and newcomers, all thrilled to reel more people into their various communities in the South China Sea, and all with a spirited eagerness to engage full-on with Asia in both its raw and refined versions. The hardest part about leaving will no doubt be parting with my surrogate Asian family; the people that opened my eyes and my mind to so many unknown frontiers, co-piloted endless travels and adventures, made me feel like I could survive anything HK could possibly throw at me, and helped me laugh along the way. The people of the Orient have also deeply impressed and impacted me - the loyalty of the Chinese, the sincerity of the Cambodians, the warmth of the Indonesians, the generosity of the Japanese, the community mindedness of the Bhutanese, the politeness of the Taiwanese... each country's population proving unique with distinctive and admirable attributes (and always made me leave wanting to be more Japanese/Indonesian/Taiwanese, etc)

Reflecting on my time abroad, I like to think I learned a lot more than a nuanced knowledge of Asian culture and geography. I’m returning with some important life skills – how to elbow my way onto mass transit during rush hour, how to survive extreme climates, how to switch back and forth between American and British spelling/vocabulary, how to treat bargaining like a competitive sport (it’s offensive if you don’t bargain here…), how to overcome personal space limitations… and some more superfluous life skills - Chinese banquet etiquette and chopstick dexterity, how to keep a straight face while conversing with colleagues clad in surgical masks, and how to discern between high and low quality knock off goods from the Mainland. But as with any typical experience abroad, the most valuable lessons learned were about myself – limits, loves, and life aspirations.

I will miss my favorite running trail populated by serious Tai Chi-ers and devout incense lighters (usually clad in Louis Vuitton, mind you), hearing 14 different languages during my lunch break, $10 massages, dim sum (ok just a few dishes), having 2 New Years, and this this list could go on for pages and would probably inculcate serious thoughts of staying in Asia. But more importantly, if I start rambling about Hong Kong with no end in sight please tell me to stop. And then seriously consider moving there if the opportunity presents itself :)

It pains me to admit it, but Hong Kong did have its faults. No one has time for anything (direct quote from multiple colleagues: "I don't have time for children"), and no one has space for anything (my favorite example of this is witnessing runners jogging through shopping malls on a regular basis) - and I'm ready for time and space to be back in my life. And clean air would be a nice perk too. The paradigm through which I look at life has shifted a little – life luxuries used to be more technology and material based (an indulgent high-tech gadget…a vacation…a nice pair of shoes), now all of the sudden life luxuries have taken the form of time, open space, untainted nature, proximity to family, and I’ll just go ahead and be un-PC and say it - being able to fully communicate with people who speak English as a first language.

People are always asking me if they should move abroad. What I've learned is that the point is not necessarily that we move to these places, but rather, that we allow these places to move us. Change your location and you just might change yourself....and I like to think I've changed for the better thanks to Hong Kong.

I may be Avian Flu-free, but Asia is officially in my blood now, and I have no doubt I will find a reason to make my way back soon. In the meantime you can find me at the local SoCal Asian eateries where I will be coping with my separation anxiety. Thanks for being so good to me, Hong Kong! And Thanks to all of you who kept in touch (and an extra thanks to those who visited!) during my sabbatical in the Far East – you kept my American roots grounded and alleviated all of my fears of getting lost in the Chinese abyss - couldn't have survived without you!

Chinese Characters

Some of my favorite Chinese characters from the past 2 years...

curler corn lady

"I'm suffocating mommy!"


On their way to the Christmas Card 2010 photoshoot

Working up a serious sweat at the typewriter

Hong Kong dollaaaa....can never have enough

waiting for the metro en route to salsa dancing class

Bhutan-believable

Bhutan has been at the very tip top of my travel wish list for as long as I can remember. And It snagged this spot for more than just its off-the-beaten-path-uber-exotic status.... in my mind it's always been the real last frontier, begging to be explored. And for us travel junkie/addicts that's the ultimate HIGH. Sophomore year of college I even applied for a research grant to study traditional Buddhist healing techniques in Bhutan (I guess Stanford saw through my real intention to have them fund a trip to Bhutan?). The point is, I've felt a pull towards Bhutan from the minute I first saw it on a map in my 6th grade geography class. And what else could be more fitting than ending a 2 year stint at Shangri-La Hotels with seeing and experiencing the REAL Shangri-La.

Enter my wonderful friend, Katharine. Business school bound and eager to max out on summer traveling, I convinced her to accompany me on this once-in-a-lifetime trip under her caveat that I would do all the planning (a travel companion match made in heaven!).

After pre-gaming in HK, a quick stop in Bangladesh (which we conveniently were not aware of until the plane landed in Dhaka) and one too many hours stuck at the not so charming Kathmandu airport (inclusive of a brief very serious Bhutan visa scare remedied by Kat's iphone) we finally boarded our scenic one hour flight bound for Paro International Airport.

passing Mt Everest on the way!

Bhutan's travel regulations might seem pretty stiff to outsiders - they allow a limited number of travelers into the country per year and tack on a daily tariff to obtain a visa (all in the name of warding off backpacker type travelers). But we soon found out that this is really just code for "come to our country and your guide-babysitter will plan all logistics, take care of your every need, and treat you like princesses." Great, sign us up!

Enter Karma Tenzin. Friend to German celebrities, Himalayan botanist, spicy food connaisseur, loyal Buddhist, and most importantly our Bhutan guide extraordinaire. Karma and his counterpart driver, Dorji, met us at the airport (one of the most stunning airports I have ever seen might I add) and immediately we knew we were in capable hands. Kat was moved to tears by her surroundings, I was drunk on the cleanest air I've ever inhaled, and suddenly we were clothed in white silk Buddhist scarves winding through rice paddies en route to the country's capital, Thimphu.

Dorji, me, Karma, and Katharine

Population 85,000 and charmingly devoid of any street lights, we spent a day touring around the sights of Thimphu and getting acclimated to the altitude, chili-smothered foods, and smiling beautiful people all around....convinced we were on a movie set the entire time.

After a day in Thimpu we hit the road bound for Punakha, a gorgeous valley in Western Bhutan that can best be described as rice paddies meet the Swiss Alps. We paid a visit to some temples and Dzongs (combination monestary and administration building) and then spent the night at the Phuntsho Chholing Farm House - a much more memorable evening than a hotel stay - complete with a hot stone bath! (and hot water-filled balloons in our beds to keep us warm).

The lovely farmhouse where we spent the night

An evening at the spa - getting ready for our hot stone bath

Next it was back on the road passing through Trongsa for lunch and another scenic Dzong tour, and finally reaching beautiful Bhumthang Valley. We couldn't have timed our trip more perfectly - during our 2 days in Bhumthang, we were able to attend 2 festivals - the Numa Ling Festival and the Kurkey Festival (both once-a-year events). They were quite the spectacle, we really got to see Bhutanese culture at its most animate, intimate, and colorful. Bhutanese families dress in their fanciest traditional attire and gather at the festival grounds to watch performances, say prayers, and receive Buddhist blessings. This is also when Western tourists clad themselves in traditional Bhutanese dress and pretend that they are locals. Yes, the people watching never got old.

Our new friend Diane from Irvine, California looking discreet

Then it was a marathon 8 hour drive back to Thimpu followed by an evening out on the town dining out with some monks and watching the world cup with some locals (who we suspected might have been Indian immigrants pretending to be locals). We spent our last night in Bhutan in the gorgeous monestary-turned-hotel Uma Paro where we indulged in massages, yoga on a deck overlooking the Himalayas (straight out of Yoga magazine!), and gourmet chili cheese dumplings (the local food of choice).

After several days of being visually bombarded with glam shots of the current King (also known as K-5) wherever we went, it was inevitable to start feeling like you and K-5 were friends. Well Kat even discovered that she might have a little crush on him - Cambridge educated, 30 years old, and endowed with some pretty stellar real estate.....who wouldn't go for that? And after finding out that there were some Swiss ladies that had married into the family in the past, we were feeling pretty optimistic about our plan....anything is possible with a degree from HBS right?

Our final conquest and arguably our most memorable was the hike up to the Taktsang Monastery, or the Tigers Nest. We decided to forgo the horseback option and take on the high altitude trek on our own feet (and if Karma was doing it in his robe and dress shoes, we could do it in our Northfaces). The heavy mist and fog made the climb even more dramatic, rounding a steep corner to be stopped in our tracks by such a stunningly gorgeous structure precariously jutting out of the rocky cliffs. It almost seemed photoshopped into our view, absolutely surreal, and should be added to the 7 Wonders of the World immediately! We finally made it to the Monastery and toured around the inner temples, followed by a slippery and escorted hike (thanks Karma!) back down the mountain to our base camp.

Unbelievable!

Karma Tenzin: a true gentleman

After 7 days of traveling through such a magical country, the picture perfect Bhutanese paradise I had crafted in my mind over the years had been quickly replaced and far surpassed by a more breathtakingly perfect country than I could have imagined ever existed! One month later and I am still in awe of everything that I saw and partook of during our Himalayan adventure. Life changing. And I don't say that lightly. Bhutan had everything that was missing from my Hong Kong existence, and everything I think I need in my future life - wide open space, gorgeous natural surrounds, clean air, no technological distractions, friendly people, HAPPY people, and an embedded spirituality. But more than that, Bhutan had such a strinkingly pure culture. A culture that embraced foreign visitors but at the same time proved strong enough to withstand any potentially damaging exterior influences. A culture that proved to me that human populations can live lives that are happy, peaceful, spiritual, educated and engaged, communal, and connected with their surrounding environments.


Put it on the top of your list, friends. And hurry up this is a limited time offer, unfortunately I have a feeling that the current Bhutanese dreamworld won't last forever. And let me know when you do go - I may have an inside connection with the future Queen of Bhutan (K. Hill Khesar Namgyel) ;)

Kathmandu we really have to be here for 3 days?

I'm sure Nepal is really lovely - unfortunately, I wouldn't know. Our 3 days in Kathmandu were spent holed up in our delightful fortress of a hotel seeking refuge from the chaos, crowds, and cholera of the city streets - all just too much to handle after spending 7 days in a Bhutanese dreamworld. (Bhutan blog post coming soon, stay tuned).

Thank goodness for the Dwarika's Hotel, surgical masks, and the world cup - helping us fight off the retox and linger in our Bhutanese nirvana for just a little longer.

The one day we did venture outside the safety of our hotel walls to take on some sight seeing, we checked off Durbar Square, Bhaktapur, and the ever so humbling Pashupatinath Hindu temple and cremation site (Nepal's very own Varanasi equivalent, and another thank-goodness-we-have-the-masks-with-us moment..... think fully exposed burning bodies)

But most of our time was spent like this. Reading memoires of Bhutan and pretending we were still in the "land of the peaceful dragon." Oh and feasting on delicious Nepalese food (which might have been the only thing in the country to one-up that of Bhutan).

Probably best not to ask me for Nepal recommendations in the future - tell the pilot to bypass Kathmandu and fly straight to Paro International Airport.

*disclaimer*

reclusive, bratty, elitist behavior is a common side effect immediately following one's departure from Bhutan.

Came - Climbed - Conquered: Mount Kinabalu

I've always had a soft spot for Kota Kinabalu, probably because it's referred to as "KK" in this part of the world (my preferred nickname since as early as I can remember). Thanks to Buddha's birthday and the 3 day weekend celebration in HK, I put my traveler opportunist self into gear and planned an adventure weekend climbing Mt. Kinabalu - the highest mountain in SE Asia located in gorgeous Sabah, Malaysia. My friend Mason was up for the challenge too, so we set off for Borneo with high hopes of conquering the famous Low's Peak.

I of course convinced myself that I was in great shape from the residual effects of completing a half marathon 6 months ago (ha). And as I write this post find that I am still high on lactic acid, I guess the cubicle-induced muscle atrophy was worse than I thought. More on that later.

But I'm proud to say that we made great time, starting out early in the morning (accompanied by our local guide, Anthony) and reaching our halfway point lodge with plenty of time to lie frozen on the floor in post-stairmaster recovery mode, eat a carbo loaded dinner, and get a couple of hours of high quality, high altitude shuteye.

Then it was a 1:30am wake up call and back on trail, this time bundled up in layers, gloves, hats, and sporting headlamps to light the way. We beat the large pack of other hikers (although may have been passed by a couple of Japanese grannies on the way), and made it up to Low's Peak (4000 meters high) just in time to claim a prime spot on the top and watch the sunrise over Kinabalu. The view was so breathtaking that we almost didn't realize our teeth were chattering from the frigid air. Quite a spectacular sight, one that I will not be forgetting anytime soon.


After summiting the mountain, most sane climbers would then hike the 8.5km back down, finishing by early afternoon. But 24 hours on the mountain just wasn't enough for us, so we opted to do the "Via Ferrata" - an additional 5 hours of iron cable reverse rock climbing (NOT a Steve and Chris Hazy approved activity). I'll let the pictures do the talking.


After finishing the Via Ferrata (apparently the longest one in the world?), we were immediately back on the trail, taking on what seemed like a never-ending, rocky 6km downward staircase - quite a challenge on wobbly legs that hadn't had a break in 14+ hours. By the end, I think I was hunched over a walking stick and had handed over my backpack to our concerned guide. Embarrassing. But worth every minute of the debilitating leg pain and post-hike lactic acid coma. Thanks to my favorite job perk, I spent my final day in Kinabalu rehabilitating at the Shangri-La pool downing advil and mocktails. What a glorious weekend - I'm proud to share a name with you, KK!