Tommy

Have just been watching that Tommy Hilfiger reality TV show just now. Forgot what it's called - Style or Chic or something. That man's face looks weird. Does it to you? He looks like a ventriloquist's puppet to me.

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In my last post I forgot to mention I ran to the waterfront with B for the first time last week. Having him pacing me has cut five minutes off my usual time. It is a nice feeling, knowing that you could do better if only you push yourself. I was thinking about it when I was in spinning class today. I was working those uphill give-it-all-you-got bursts more than ever before. It still hasn't ceased to amaze me how your body can recover so quickly.

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Last night's dinner was in The Secret Garden in the Bank of America Tower. Last time I went there was with the EfM crew, where Grace and Ben ordered the food. Everything was very good, the service was very attentive, and it was all the more better cos it was their treat. Last night was a bit different. We ordered a 2-3 person set and two other dishes, three beers and a bottle of Soju for the four of us. I quickly noticed how the appetizers seem different from the ones we had when our Korean friends were ordering. And when the pork dish came, which you eat by wrapping slices of fatty pork, raw garlic, chillies, and bean paste in salad leaves, I saw it came with iceberg lettuce instead of the flat, dark green, very fragrant leaves that we had the last time (waitress said "aah... sesame leave!"). I had to ask twice before they brought us some. The service was sloppy - they mucked up our order, food arrive REALLY slow, and as the restaurant filled up with customers it grew increasingly hard to get any attention from the waiting staff at all.

In a restaurant like that, in a town like Hong Kong, sometimes it is hard to know whether it is more appropriate to use English or Cantonese. Increasingly, most of the restaurants, bars and coffee shops in the Central/SoHo/TST area are employing Filipina staff. In Secret Garden last night I thought a couple of the waitresses might be Filipinas, but I was told they spoke Korean. Tanned/brown skin, masses of eyeliner, well that would be a combination of both Filipinas and Korean women right? I was told that many Filipinas work in South Korea too. Could it be that she was one of those and then moved to HK? But they could be Chinese - so to be on the safe side I usually use English if they don't look like any version of Joey Yung (Cantopop star, in case you are wondering). When I spoke to one in English, she spoke Cantonese to me, in a less than polite tone. As if saying, "why you speak English to me? I am Chinese just like you ar!"... Anyhow....mental note for self. The cultural politics of language use in post-colonial Hong Kong.

As you can see, and this is a kind of apology really, I am just letting my mind ramble as I type.

K called me during dinner but I really couldn't be bothered to have a drink with him. I am starting to find him really boring. P came to pick up T and he gave me us a ride home too, in his new car. That which goes from 50 to 140 in what seemed like one second, without you even noticing it.

B hurt his knee very badly this morning, and is crutch-dependent at the moment. I did plan to go out for early dinner with him somewhere in TST, but obviously that became out of the question. So tonight I had fish balls, spinach, and tofu for dinner. I still feel really bloated though, my abdominal area, in particular, seems to be growing bigger each time I lay my eyes it. I know. I should just stop looking right?