A happy new year in Hong Kong

Pak Tai Temple

If I weren’t heading back to Budapest on Friday, I would stay on here in Hong Kong for another month or two. I think it has resurfaced as a place I’m very happy to call home for a while. If all goes well, I’ll return early next year for an extended stay. So, home for me is now Budapest, New York and Hong Kong: a very nice balance of the old world of central Europe, and the new worlds of the West and East.

View across to Kowloon from Bowen Road on a clear day

Hong Kong is still fascinating, three decades after my first visit on a business trip  from Sydney in 1985. I moved up here in 1986, and left at the end of 1993. I’ve been back to visit half a dozen times since then, but this time has offered up something quite different: not just the chance to spend time with old friends who live here (I’ve known Cathy and David since 1971, Peter since 1987, Polly since 1988) or whose visits coincided with mine (I’ve known Chris since 1973, and Linda since 1985), or with people I’ve gotten to know on more recent visits (Cathy, Carol and Christopher in 2010 and 2011). I've been fortunate this month to meet some new people who already feel like part of my cobbled-together family of friends: Joanne, Jocelyn, Andy… At the start of a new lunar year, I’m very aware of how lucky I am to have all these interesting, courageous, creative, empathetic, funny, generous and loving people in my life.

The air quality in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta is appalling. Some days it’s just a grey soup. But once or twice there has been a break in the haze and there have been glimpses of blue sky and clouds. I don’t know when was the last time there were stars visible at night.

Chinese New Year decoration at I.M. Pei's Bank of China building

Ferry to Lamma Island from Aberdeen

Reclaimed Central waterfront area

Old Hong Kong, Ching Lin Terrace, Kennedy Town

Fishing village, Cheung Chau Island

I’ve enjoyed getting away from Central and doing a walk up in the New Territories with Cathy and Jocelyn, and across the Dragon’s Back to Shek O on the other side of Hong Kong Island with Polly, Peter and Sally. Jocelyn has become my occasional running partner along Bowen Road, where over the years I’ve run countless repeats of the 4 km path that skirts the hillside and overlooks Central, Admiralty, Wanchai, Causeway Bay and Happy Valley. I have two half marathons coming up and will need to get back into a better routine in Budapest.

Last week I spent two days in Zhuhai, near Macau, visiting a very old friend who was visiting his wife. It’s a long story… The best word I can think of to describe the whole area around there is “blighted”, but it was fun to spend time being silly with Chris. We went to a small village where we were a novelty and the local people seemed all to be on happy pills.

Hong Kong actually comprises something like 260 outlying islands in addition to Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon peninsula that’s attached to mainland China. Fishing is the traditional industry on the inhabited islands, and it’s always fun to visit a fishing village for a seafood lunch. I went with Cathy and David and friends of theirs to Lamma a week or so ago, and with Joanne and Andy and other friends to Cheung Chau yesterday. I have many memories of other lunches and dinners in those villages. Hong Kong is about so much more than shopping. (But I HAVE bought a couple of pairs of shoes!)

With Rose and Xiao, my old friend Chris's sister-in-law and wife, Zhuhai District, Guangdong Province

I’ve visited a couple of new temples I wasn’t aware of when I lived here, one with Sylvia, a local history buff and head of the Hong Kong Gardening Society, and a former publishing colleague, Peter. The other one I discovered by chance after a run last week. I gave a talk at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) to about 20 members of the Women in Publishing Society, which Polly and I started in about 1990. I’ve been to see a couple of films with Cathy (“Nightcrawler” and “St. Vincent”). (I’m timing my visit next year to coincide with the European Union and International film festivals.) I love that Cath takes lunch to the movies, complete with a little salt-and-pepper shaker and napkins. Polly and Charlie made a traditional New Zealand roast lamb dinner at Pol’s gorgeously renovated apartment to usher in the Year of the Sheep. Her fat cat Cartoon must be on his (her?) eighth life by now. Christopher invited me for a drink at the FCC, where we talked with a friend of his from Agence France Presse about property (Chris self-publishes in this area), scuba diving and publishing.

Linda, Polly, Catherine and I had an unexpected opportunity for a reunion dinner when Linda’s visit to Hong Kong to see her married son (he was six or so when I last saw him!) coincided with my visit. We were able to have a couple of long chats, our first since August 2013 when she came up to London from her home in Cornwall to meet me for a two-day catch-up. Polly has taken me to dinner at the FCC and the LRC (Ladies’ Recreation Club, where she plays tennis). I’ve walked all around the SOHO area, which didn’t exist when I lived on Old Bailey Street, opposite Victoria Prison, in the early 1990s. There are new areas being gentrified all the time, with lots of fabulous cafes and restaurants. The relocated Police Married Quarters is also now a very groovy showcase area for local artists, designers and other creatives. The area behind Queen’s Road East is also having a resurgence.

I have seen my accountant and finalised my accounts for the last two years, done a heap of work, and read some books, including a reread of “Never Enough”, about the murder of an American Merrill Lynch high-flyer by his shopaholic wife in 2003, a case that shocked the expat community and delighted the local Chinese. Nancy Kissel is still serving her life sentence at a women’s prison here in Hong Kong. I’m talking with two people here about books they are writing, one about the horseracing scene which is hugely popular with the local Chinese. I went to a dinner in Hong Kong Park where I spent a lot of time talking with an expatriate New Zealander about publishing, dogs, art and many other topics of mutual interest. Joanne and Andy invited me for a delicious dim sum brunch at City Hall, on the edge of a wasteland that used to be the seabed in Victoria Harbour. Jo grew up in Hong Kong in an American expatriate family, went to college in the US and returned to Hong Kong to live. Andy, a Briton, lives in Thailand. Through Cathy and David I met Liz and Ian, who divide their year between Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Barcelona; and Heather and Craig, who have done a lot of walking in places like Nepal.

This has all been in just three weeks! My visit has coincided with Chinese New Year. It feels to me like something new is beginning; that I’m entering a new stage of my life. It’s a life I never imagined I would have and I’m profoundly grateful for it.

A change of focus

The big news since I arrived in Kuching three weeks ago is that my application to become a resident of Hungary – specifically, Budapest – for at least the next five years was successful! It all happened very smoothly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world for me to decide to put down roots in a city in central Europe I'd never thought to visit before September 2013. Now it feels like home. In fact, it will be a base for all of Europe. Being a resident will mean I don't have to keep an eye on day counts within the Schengen Zone, so I'll be able to explore more widely and not have to carry everything I own with me everywhere. I still have a foot firmly planted in New York, but I'll be spending less time in Asia after next month.

It's always great to see Min and Sam, Ivy and Swee, Emily and other friends here, but it's not really been a very social visit. My workload has been heavy, and it's been very wet, so we haven't run much. It's been fun to be present for my Friday Night Flicks movie screenings at the Batik, now in its second year. I've also had another complete wellness check: there's nothing physically wrong with me that wasn't wrong with me last year, which is good news!

Kuching is getting ready for Chinese New Year, with decorations going up all over town.

Terminal 2B or not 2B?

Twice within a week a Hungarian taxi driver asked me if I wanted terminal 2A or 2B at Budapest's international airport. The second trip had long been scheduled: a return to Malaysia; the first was a spur-of-the-moment excursion.

My cousin Kylie broke her ankle at a very convenient time for me, if not for her! I was able easily enough to change my plans and fly to Berlin to meet her the day her bus tour ended. (She had been one week into her two-week bus-about holiday when she fell on an icy road in Slovakia the day her group was due to travel to Budapest. I saw her there, where she decided she could continue on the tour after I offered to help get her and her luggage from Berlin to Amsterdam the next week. The alternative was to cancel her holiday and fly straight back to Australia... Not fun.)

So, I flew to Berlin to meet Kylie on January 2. Once she was organised in our hotel I walked over to see my friends from Malta, Norbert and Marisa, who have a gorgeous pad on a street that was once divided by the Berlin Wall. We had a lot to talk about: I hadn't seen Marisa since I stayed with them on Gozo in 2007, and I hadn't seen Norbert since he stayed with me in New York in 2010 or 2011.

The next morning Kylie and I took the train from Berlin to Amsterdam. This was the challenging part of the journey, but we finally found our seats and got all our bags together in the one place. I then disappeared into my book for the day.

After we checked into our hotel in Amsterdam we went to a hospital to see what was needed as follow-up to the treatment in Budapest. They basically said there was no point in doing anything until the Monday (it was now Saturday), so I spent Sunday catching up with people: Sarah, a cousin from New Zealand I'd never met (this time on Dad's side) and her partner Simon for a fun brunch at Paper Planes; and Susan, a runner friend from New York, for an exhibition of Vivien Meier's photographs at Foam Museum. Kylie managed to rest her foot and have fun in her own inimitable way.

Monday morning I had to head back to Budapest, and Kylie went off to hospital where she had an operation and an overnight stay over the next few days, in time to fly back to Oz at the end of the week (yesterday).

In Budapest I had a terrific meeting with Orsolya and Zsofia from the Hungarian House of Photography to discuss an idea I've put to them and Albury Art Gallery. That night I took Miki, Jules, David and their visiting friends Lori and Ted to dinner. I'm leaving some things at Jules and David's, which is a great help.

And before I knew it, the taxi driver was asking me yet again if I wanted 2B (or not 2B)...

I'm now back at the Batik Boutique Hotel in Sarawak, where I have my Kuching routines, including running in the predawn with Min and now also Swee.

Budapest: A fling becomes a long-term thing...

I believe in making plans, but I’ve also learned to go with the flow of my life when events take me in unexpected directions. Making plans is efficient; being flexible about them is where life’s surprises lie.

This lesson hit home on day 2 of this year, when I flew into Marrakech for a planned month-long visit that would include a half marathon race. I was then planning to spend February in Spain and Malta, where I was entered in half marathons in Barcelona and Valletta, and to visit Cairo for a week on my way back to Kuching at the start of March. Instead, within two hours of arriving in Morocco, I had a broken right (dominant) arm after walking into the path of a cyclist. I had an operation on the arm that night and would be without the use of my arm for the next six weeks.

There wasn’t much I could do except change all my plans and follow my gut feeling, which was to fly immediately to Kuching and gratefully accept the help of my family there: Min and Samantha, and the crew at the Batik Boutique Hotel, my home in Malaysia.

After further surgery in Kuching to insert a plate in my arm and two months of physiotherapy, I picked up my original plan and moved to Ubud, in Bali, where I had a very busy couple of months working on a huge job for a brand-new client that had appeared out of nowhere. Some friends came to stay for a couple of weeks, which I really appreciated. I was feeling a bit battered…

I brought forward a planned December visit and spent June and July back in Australia. That visit didn’t go as I’d hoped, either. I made a quick visit to my father in New Zealand before heading back to Kuching for a couple of weeks to take part in the inaugural Kuching half marathon/marathon. I hadn’t run during the first half of the year, and I finished the race just on the back of the few runs I had had in Albury. I ended up on the ground at the finish with leg cramps – a first for me.

That night I flew to Istanbul, where I spent a couple of days before returning to Budapest for my third visit in 12 months. I caught up again with new friends Julie and David, who by then had become old friends. Through them I met Miki and his dog, Joki. I ran my second Budapest half marathon, which is a fabulous event. I was sorry to leave Budapest: it was taking hold of my heart.

After flying to Dublin for an appointment with my hairdresser Carly, I returned to New York and settled into regular running training with the 5.30 am crew. I only ran one race, the 5K on November 1 from the United Nations Building to the New York City Marathon finish line the day before the marathon. My time was 55 seconds slower than the year before. I was grateful it wasn’t slower. It was fun also to spend time with friends from Albury who came for the marathon. During my two months in New York I saw lots of films, got to know Pat and Steve a bit better (new friends from 2013), and worked hard on the project I’d started in Kuching in February, which dominated my whole work year.

In mid-November I spent 10 days in the South with a very old friend from our Hong Kong years. We visited friends of mine in North Carolina, then checked out Savannah, Georgia, for a week. I had thought I would fall in love with Savannah, but it didn’t happen. Instead, I was feeling a very strong pull to Budapest.

To St Augustine, in Florida, for Thanksgiving with the family of one of my oldest friends. When I met Barb I was 13 and she was 15. Her family always felt like my family, too.

Back to Dublin for another hair appointment with Carly and a quick flit to Belfast before flying on to Budapest.

Plans were in place to spend a week in Hungary before returning to Spain: I would be in Valencia for three weeks, where I was entered in a half marathon, and in Barcelona for about four days to visit a new friend from New York who spends six months a year there. Accommodation and flights were booked and paid for. I would then return to Budapest for two days before flying to Kuching.

During the flight from Dublin I realised I didn’t want to leave Budapest so soon after arriving. I’m sure I would have had a great time in Spain, but it hit me that I really wanted to stay on in Budapest, and that I could change my plans. It was sort of a revelation, like realising I was in love. I thought about it for two days and then cancelled everything. I moved into an apartment and gave myself over to this beautiful, amazing city, where I feel completely at home.

... So at home, that I’ve applied for a five-year residency permit. Jules and David recommended a wonderful attorney, who prepared all the paperwork. I’ll know in a few weeks whether I’ve been accepted. I’m reconciled to getting only a two-year permit, which I expect I’ll try to extend later if my life stays on this course.

In the process of putting together my application I thought about why I wanted to base myself here.

When I left Australia nearly five years ago, I didn’t have a five-year plan. I intended to keep travelling for as long as it felt right. I hadn’t anticipated that I would feel so at home in Budapest that I would want to make a commitment to it and be able to call it home for most of the time that I’m not in New York. I feel a strong urge to set up a physical home here. But more than that, I want to contribute to the community in some way.

I have had an idea that might create something new and of benefit to a whole bunch of people, both here in Hungary and in Australia. It fits perfectly with my interests, skills and vision, and I’m incredibly excited about it. The first steps have been taken, but a meeting early in January, a couple of days before I fly back to Malaysia, will hopefully start the ball rolling.

Just as I thought my plans for the next week or so were in order, a cousin from Australia arrived in Budapest on a tour through Central Europe. Kylie broke her ankle in Slovakia on Boxing Day and has had to reassess the rest of her trip. We worked out a new plan together that will give her the support she needs after her tour group disbands and also give me some unexpected opportunities.

Yes, this year has been all about being flexible as my life becomes bigger than even I can plan for.

An Irish interlude

I now schedule my flights between New York and Europe based around the availability of my hairdresser, Carly, in Dublin. As one does...

I also like to see some films at the Irish Film Institute (this visit I saw the German film "Stations of the Cross", the Irish documentary "The Possibilities are Endless" and Bill Murray in "St Vincent") and to catch some theatre ("High Heels in Low Places", a monologue by Ireland's foremost drag queen and "national treasure" Panti; and "Follow" at The Abbey). I also visited Belfast for a day. I would like to have gone up to the mountain that crouches over the city but I had only six hours and it turned into an overcast day with not great visibility. Instead I spent a couple of hours at the Ulster Museum and the rest of the time walking around the city.

Dublin is a great stopping-off place for me for a few days. The area around the river is familiar, and I have my routines that I enjoy. From there I'm just a short hop to Europe and Budapest, which has taken a firm hold of my heart, mind and spirit.

A family affair in Florida

I spent five days over Thanksgiving with very old friends Barb and Bill from Oz and their extended family in St Augustine, Florida.

I had cut short my stay in Georgia after a too-close encounter with a ghost at my hotel after Sarah left, and headed to Jacksonville by Greyhound coach a day earlier than planned. The next morning, B&B collected me at my hotel and we drove down to St Augustine, which dates from the 1500s and is the oldest continuously settled city in the US.

Thanksgiving was very traditional: family and food. It was great to see Michael and Meg again and to meet their daughter Leni. I stayed a couple of days with Bill's mum Roma, who has moved back to the States from Albury to be around her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I really enjoyed meeting Dianne, Bill's sister, whom I've been hearing about since, oh, forever!

I spent the last three days at a very cute carriage house right in town, where there was lots to see just walking around. It's a very charming town for a short stay. Lots of pedestrian streets, great buildings, funky houses, proper restaurants, pubs, garden cafes, quality shops, and even an art house cinema where I saw two films.

Lunch at the gorgeous Cap's On the Water on my last day yesterday with Barb, Dianne and Ron, Roma, Meg and Leni topped off a short but sweet visit.

I'm now back in New York after flying up this morning. Tomorrow I'm returning to Dublin and Europe. I won't be back in New York until mid-next year, which seems an awfully long time away!

Georgia on my mind...

I thought I was going to fall in love with Savannah, which would have been a bit inconvenient as I’d then want to find a spare month each year to live here as a local. Luckily, I’ve liked it enough to enjoy my week as a southern belle, but not so much that I feel the need to return.

It’s a small town if you discount 90% of the city where it’s not safe to stay as a naïve visitor from out of town. Gun violence is a real problem. Just in the past week there have been three shootings that have left two kids dead and one injured.

It’s suggested that visitors confine themselves basically to the area between Forsyth Park (in the centre of the Google map below) and the Savannah River, with a side visit to Bonaventure Cemetery. You want to be a NOG, which stands for "north of Gaston", the street that runs from west to east across the top of the park.

My friend Sarah and I were booked into two cottages in a lane near the bottom of the park, where we felt a bit exposed and vulnerable. After two days we cut our losses and moved to an inn near the river. We then started ticking attractions off the must-do list for tourists. Once you’ve done that, there’s not much to do other than eat and shop.

We saw two vintage Gregory Peck films (“To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Roman Holiday”) at the wonderful old Lucas Theater, which actor Kevin Spacey helped rescue. I think it’s a shame the theatre doesn’t have regular screenings of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”, as I would love to have seen it again here. A high percentage of visitors to the historic part of town have read the book or seen the film, and it’s become Savannah’s “brand”.

We visited the art museum, a mansion-turned-gallery and Bonaventure cemetery. A Sunday morning service at First African Baptist Church was a highlight for me. I loved the music and singing, the physical worship and dancing, the sense of community and the very warm welcome we received as visitors from Canada and “Down Under” (as the pastor called Oz). We pedalled our way around the historic streets for an hour in a pedal-powered vehicle with a bucks party from Florida, and we walked the grid that encompasses about 20 city squares complete with live oak trees and Spanish moss.

As I’m not on holiday, I also worked each day from early morning and during some of each afternoon.

Prior to arriving in Savannah we spent a couple of days travelling from New York by train through North Carolina, where I caught up with Dead Runner friend Rietta and my much-missed New York friend Brigitte, and South Carolina, where I regret I didn’t have time to visit Charleston.