quality or quantity, you decide?

one thing i don't miss about a 'working' monday morning is the incessant and obligatory "how was your weekend" question. i can't possibly think of anything short of a 2-day bout of swine flu that would illicit anything but a "weekend was awesome, can't wait til friday" response.
as many of you will be picking through the freedom on your respective monday morning, i will assume that the weekend was fab for all.

that being said, given my current situation, i have no problem answering that question with a lot less snark. so here goes -
aside from taking us for a late-night dinner to a restaurant that closed a year ago, without access to a phone or wifi to figure out what other options were around, it was pretty good. the notable activity for the weekend? you guessed it, spending saturday afternoon at IKEA. yes, those damn swedes are everywhere....(hi erica). have to give them credit though, cut from the same cult cloth as mcdonalds, they more or less replicate their corporate template no matter what city/country/village. even down to the hot dogs and $2hkd ice cream...which works out to a cool canadian quarter. the reason we were there was simple: we have no furniture. well, not exactly no furniture...we have remnants of the previous tentant's furnishings...and as much as it doesn't necessarily bother 'me', it bothers 'us' quite a bit.
to note - neither of 'us' are super enthused about having a flat that looks like an IKEA catalog. but it was out of our hands...the bank calls the shots on the apartment and its contents. (given they pay the rent, literally, that's just fine)
what's good about the deal is that they gave us an allowance of $40,000 hkd ($5,000 cad) to spend. for any of you +30's out there, it reminded me of the old Wheel of Fortune format, where the contestants were forced into spending their cash on crappy featured showcases. To the living room we go.....
it's also nice that the stuff will be delivered & pre-assembled for us.

what's bad about the deal, as i mentioned before, it's IKEA.

based on the 40g's though, we were able to get a fair amount of stuff for the living/dining/office/bed rooms. if nothing else, it was fun to spend money that's not your own. we can only hope that what looks half decent on the website will look just as satisfactory at home. i'll be sure to snap a few rounds off when it's all in place....and a few pictures too.
yum.

1 down, 23 up

first month in, feelin doubleplus good...(oh right, already used that yesterday). i would love to tell you it's been a tough time adjusting to my new life here, as I peel the pull tab on my San Miguel, but in truth, i'm having a bloody good time doing what i'm doing. admittedly, there has been a lot of 'retirement' talk, which has caused at least 2 very strong unlikes in my community....but the truth is that it's really just blog schtick. i do plan to get a job eventually and contribute as much bacon as i can to this family. cue the segue, as it so happens that I got a callback from a modeling agency this week. there was a potential gig happening tonight (Friday), and it was suggested that i could be just the man model they were looking for. sadly though, the big break hasn't broken yet. the email, verbatim>
----
Dear Rich,
Sorry, the client didn’t pick you for the job.
Will contact you if any other job comes up.

Thanks for taking part in this time.
Talk soon.

Rds,
Katelyn
----
it's tough hearing things like this, after putting my heart & soul into this life choice. but i won't get defeated...i just need to get better/prettier, something....anything.

on a brighter note, i'm happy to let everyone with bated breath know that i bought some shoes. "oh good for you", you may say, and yes, i too say good for me. 2 pairs in fact....one slip-on replacement (Lacoste - are they still cool, guys?) and one more rugged pair of NB's. the great thing about shopping here is that the price you see is the price you pay. none of this BS tax stuff...just the straight goods. all-in, the 2 pairs ran me about $75 CAD. a steal.

finally, i know you've also been waiting for more tales from the grocery store. quick side note - i actually love grocery shopping, and probably a good thing, since i'm there everyday. double side note - i see the same people persistently, and i'm quite certain they probably think i'm a stripper.....why else would i be there each day at 3pm. (i sense 2 more 'unlikes' coming with that comment).

here are a couple random products i decided to bring home on a whim. probably not the craziest things you've ever seen, yet the mystery is still there.
the can of 'Nescafe' probably solves itself right away....i'm betting it's something to do with coffee....and yes, remarkably it is, iced coffee or something along those lines. never had iced coffee, but i do love my iced tea, so it just makes sense that i'd like this...and i do. it will be my drink of choice when i need to quench a thirst and get jacked up and all twitchy. to its left, a random drink box, with random foreign writing....i think it might be Japanese. i also have a sneaking suspicion it's a milk product, with a flavour of.....hmm....chocolate perhaps. correct answer: chocolate soybean milk.....with pork....
of course, i kid. just straight up choco milky goodness. how's that 'culinary manhood' coming, you may ask....and yah, it's pretty weak still. that said, Chinese New Year is kicking off next week and i'll be damned if i don't bite the head of off something.
tastefully yours,
the rich

having a doubleplus good time....

for all you cunning linguists, you'll likely know by the title of this post that i just finished reading '1984' by George Orwell. one of those school-type books that i may have read back 20 years ago, but if so, god help my memory because it was all new to me. no need to worry, this isn't going to be a book report other than to say the book is eerily plausible and somewhat a reality of how society has become so easily accepting of full transparency into one's real-time behaviours, i.e. Facebook. no doubt a classic of a read, i must admit i enjoyed the first half better than the mind-F latter half.
spoiler alert - big brother wins.

speaking of big brother, here comes the point of the post. Hong Kong is a super safe city, i feel totally at ease no matter where i am or what time it is....which isn't something you can say about a lot of big cities. one thing i have noticed though, which may be in part responsible for the lack of criminal intent, is the fact that there are cameras...everywhere. in our building alone, there are cameras in every public area i've been in. the elevators - cameras, which hasn't stopped me checking myself in the mirror. the gym - cameras, which hasn't stopped me flexing in the mirror. i'm pretty sure there is even a camera in our flat somewhere, which would be extremely exciting footage of 18 hours of me on the couch with or without a cat walking around. and though i surely have nothing to hide, i do need to be a little careful when i'm out on the lamb not to spit my gum on the ground or litter for fear that it could be caught on video and i could get my ass caned...literally.
btw, i must thank AOz for hooking me up with free ebooks for the iPod. i may stay on the Orwell bandwagon a little longer with 'Animal Farm', a book i know i have read and i know i have forgotten. until next time, i'm Rich Morgan asking you to give in to the magic of reading!

it's gotta be the shoes

i need some sneakers. i packed a little light on the way over here and have found that i'm down to 2 pairs of shoes: my bad ass Old Navy slip-ons, which are just about ready to be trashed and my formerly squeaky clean gym-only Nikes, the more comfy of the two for all the creeping i'm doing around the city.
right, time to go buy some shoes....
editor's note> i am fully aware & apologize that these posts are trending towards the equivalent of a Seinfeld episode.
"what did you do today?"
"oh not much, went out to buy some shoes."
"awesome, that's another blog post."

anyway, i was told by a source that the place to go for shoes in Hong Kong is Mong Kok (yes, it sounds like it reads...get the giggles out now). now this source (who will remain nameless) suggested that the actually spot to get these shoes was super easy to find...."they are street vendors, the shoes are on the sidewalk...you can't miss them". thanks honey. seems simple enough.

MTR to Mong Kok, and i kid you not, i spent probably close to an hour staring towards the sidewalk as i dodged the foot traffic. no shoes. lots of people with pamphlets and shoe shining vendors, but no shoes. hmmm. i did come across a huge street market, full of stalls and everything you could ever imagine for sale....so figured this was it. another 15 mins or so looking back and forth through the plush toys and Man U jerseys, and yes, there were a few pair of shoes scattered throughout, but i knew this def wasn't the intended destination.

about to give up hope and abstain from any blogging for the day, i came across an actual shoe store...like a proper shop with walls and shelves. hmmm. had a quick look around, then out to the street to find yet another proper store. well, god damn, if there weren't shoe stores as far as the eye could see. mission accomplished.

totally not what i was expecting and incredibly confusing at the same time. i believe there are only 2 actual shoe franchises, and yet they both have multiple storefronts on the strip to the point where everything really started to look the same....and i believe in all my excitement, i got turned around so much i think i visited the same stores a few times over....
editor's note> one of these franchises just happens to be called Toronto Sports. No kidding.

in the end, i sadly didn't even buy a pair. shopping fail. alas, shoe mecca aside, i have a 30% off coupon to the New Balance store and the unemployed need to be savvy. sounds like a bit of a blog fail as well, doesn't it. i will step it up a bit.

It takes a nation of 10,000 Buddhas to hold us back

another day, another hike from the Hiker's Guide to Hong Kong. happy to say that this did not turn into a tour of the dead but a pilgrimage to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery. there was a moment of concern along the way, but let's get some deets first.

located in 'the new territories', the monastery is in a place called Sha Tin, essentially on the way to mainland China. it takes about 45 minutes to get there from HK Island, a total of 4 different MTR's (subways) and all for the bargain price of $13HKD (about $1.50 CAD)....public transit is ridiculously cheap in these parts. take another 431 steps up and that's where you'll find the temple containing 10,000+ small golden buddahs.

on the way up though, you'll find some larger buddahs lining the pathway as well as one real-life monk. without the ability to strike up a boisterous conversation in English with the fellow, i simply smiled and intended to make my way up the steps. he was attempting to tell me something, i didn't get it...so he started to tap a little clay dish, which upon further review had some HKD bills in it. my initial reaction was that this was an entry fee into the monastery....fair enough i thought, however i was fairly certain it was free to get in. ah well, slapped down a twenty and figured that was it....not quite. he then reaches into his pocket and presents me with a neato beaded bracelet...which isn't my thing really, but whateves. the monk then proceeds to bestow me with what i imagine is a Buddhist blessing, including a little tap on the forehead. cool....all done, let's do this thing....
not so fast. he then starts his tapping routine again, looking for a little extra cash. not to be rude, but i'm not really down with jewelery, and although appreciative of the blessing, not quite sure i'm going to get my money's worth with that one. i shake my head and tap my pockets (even though he's already seen i'm flush), and so i start to forfeit my beads back to the monk....
perhaps he felt my inner good, or perhaps he knew i was a tightwad; either way, he decided to let me keep the 'gift' and likely cursed me out as i walked away.
i decided to re-enact the events for you (which wasn't much of an ordeal, but who wants to read about a straight up monastery hike, right?)

By the way, it loops because i didnt want to have to cut the track, so feel free to cut after the first time round. also, there are subtitles, so get rid of that damn ad at the bottom if you like.

the full album, just in case you're interested.

Lost in Transcription

i am ScarJo. well, almost ScarJo, minus the boobs and the divorce proceeding....but pretty much I am following in her footsteps from the flick Lost in Translation. let's see - she had a LOT of free time on her hands (like me), she spent her days touring around a foreign city (like me), she hung out with an old actor dude (not yet) and she loved to get her karaoke on.....like i did this weekend.

all this build up to tell you i sang with a bunch of people, perhaps a little unnecessary, but i really did feel like i was lost in translation.

here's a quick rundown of the evening - start with a buffet of traditional Chinese fare - hot pot, and a whole bunch of other things that will remain somewhat of a mystery, but you can't really go wrong with meat & noodles. the group of ~25ish peeps had a private room, which just happened to be stocked with a bunch of 40's of whiskey and a few cases of carlsberg. my kind of karaoke already...and a side note, the drink of choice was whiskey and green tea. didn't know what to make of that as a mix, but it was downright tasty....i recommend if you ever find yourself out of coke...or pretty much any other mix.

yes, there was singing...and aside from not being able to understand the song selection machine as well as any of the selected Cantonese/Mandarin tunes, i still managed to bang out a few bars (proof to follow).

a unique part of the night was learning a few HK drinking games, known as jiuling to the locals. certainly a little different than the one's i used to play as a young man....my 2 faves:

-Finger Guessing: kinda like rock/paper/scissors, but with fingers and numbers....sounds a little juvenile, but actually pretty fun as you add more people into a circle.....a lot of fingers, be careful not to bang as you go.


-Dicing: again, similar to what i imagine Yahtzee to be like, but given i've never played, it follows the same cup & dice setup. players shake their cup, and then based on the numbers showing on your multiple dice, you suggest how many other people have the same numbers on their dice...., trust me it's more fun than it sounds. don't judge me for the games i play.

without any further delay, here is a sample of the sweet melodies from yours truly. it lasts :90, and you'll likely be tempted to stop it after :15...and feel free to do so. a side note - without an iphone, i was left to record this as just an audio track via my ipod. youtube doesn't like audio-only files, so i had to slap on this really crap image of the aforementioned ScarJo and Mr. Bill Murray.
For relaxing times, make it Suntory time.

Quickie for Friday

a really quick post for Friday, here are 3 things to think about over your lovely weekends: Planes, Products & Poon Choi.

1) Planes - found this little beauty on Travel Zoo for my friends in BC. I urge anyone out there to come for a visit (even if you don't live on the West Coast). I'll even give you a guest writer feature on the Freedom. Book your tickets now....

2) Products - something that i probably don't need to tell you, but will: China is a big deal on the World economy stage. yes, i likely have somewhat of a skewed vision from my current coordinates, but it goes without saying that China is so hot right now. investments in China are seemingly the big thing to talk about, but there is also a push to get Chinese exports out west. it started with Yao Ming, it continues with Li-Ning. can't really comment on the shoes (haven't seen them or worn them), but I think they've done a great job taking the piss out of themselves with this spot -



3) Poon Choi - nothing really to say about this, just thought it was an interesting first offer from my signing up to Groupon Hong Kong. More specifically, the deal was: 50% off for 10-person Poon Choi. what can i say, i love this town!!!

Eat & Drink Asia

maybe it's because i'm an adman, but each time i visit a new place, i'm fascinated by the different types of products you can buy, especially food & bev. since i'm the shopping bag of the house, i get to call the shots on cool new stuff for the pantry, and take full responsibility for items that explosively miss the mark.

that said, i promise not to take this segment into restaurants and snap every item the waiter puts in front of me.....sorry, I make the rules and I say that is dumb.

first up...a beer from the Philipines named San Miguel. A popular beer in Hong Kong, and it's likely you can get it all over the world> confirmed.

not the point. what i'm getting at isn't about the beer itself so much (although it tastes pretty good)...i'm more interested in the choice of imagery for the can. Somehow, they felt it was necessary to reinforce the idea that this was indeed a beer by placing a bottle of the beer on the can.....call me crazy, but i don't remember any kids throwing back a tall boy of Nestea.

next, I found this little beauty in the freezer section of our local expat grocery story called Taste. now, I have no idea what 90% of the box said for these Meiji treats, so i figured the picture told most of the story...the ingredients told the rest: soda & vanilla flavoured confection. yum. so i ran home, opened the box, and popped one into my mouth. i have to admit i expected some type of soda 'fizz', but it was fairly flaccid in substance.....i did like it though, kind of a creamcicle idea going on.

i know, big deal right, anyone can eat a god damn ice cream bar....grow a pair and eat something that's got some bite...

Hopefully that doesn't require eating a pair, but I'm at your mercy....I'll do anything for you.
XOXO

Hiking irony in Happy Valley

when we arrived in Hong Kong, we received a bunch of hand-me-down travel guides and reference books for Asia. one of which is - the leisurely hiker's guide to Hong Kong...and given my appointed status as a man of leisure, i decided to get my read on.
flipping through the pages, i came across an entry for Happy Valley, and couldn't help but smile...hooray for happy. i geared up, got myself to the starting point in the next district, and let the guide, well, guide me.

first stop - St Margaret's church....built in 1925, statues of Peter & Paul out front...ok cool enough.

next, Tam Kung temple....ok, now we're talking. burning incense, cool statues....good times.
following the road ahead, it then leads me to a Jewish Cemetery. not exactly "happy", but i take a look and it's definitely a peaceful place.

add in another temple (Hindu edition), then another cemetery (Indian), skip to the Hong Kong cemetery, the 'don't miss' Catholic cemetery and wash it all down with the Muslim cemetery.

what the hell?

i flip back to the beginning of that chapter in the guide, read the finer print a little closer and realize i've just completed the 'celebrating cemeteries hike'.
somehow, i feel cheated.

after all of that, the guide has the audacity to suggest at the end of the trip to grab a drink at the Cosmopolitan Hotel nearby "if you are flagging".
not quite sure what that meant, but according to Urban Dictionary, i'll likely pass on the flagging.

here's the not-so-happy hike in living colour.

Air traffic needs to clear the runway....

....cause Rich is about to takeoff. I've been holding off on my dream for too long, the time is now. I'm 32 years young, and it's my destiny to be a male model. Don't get me wrong, I'm not thinking supermodel kinda status...something maybe 10 badges below that. The truth is, I have no experience, but come on, it's modeling right?
Let me bring you back stage for a second and let you all experience the life of a wannabe male model.

1. First thing that's needed to be a model is a portfolio. Now some will tell you that you need professional glamor shots....to which I say, they are probably right. My approach - sort through all personal photos where I'm giving 'good face' and send those off instead. Crop out anyone that is better looking than I am....(short work).

2. Show up to the casting call about 15 minutes late (model time), and wear sunglasses inside for as long as possible. Basic form to fill out, which asks for measurements....to which I have no f'n idea...and would make fun of anyone who does.

3. Then it's time for some one-on-one with the camera. The assistant working with me may or may not have been a model type....I couldn't tell behind that sexy surgical mask she was wearing. (Side note fact: I'd say about 2% of everyone in HK wears one of these bad boys).

4. Showtime....I give my best blue steel type of look...however, this casting is looking for smiles....and not just subtle smiles, but toothy-ass grins. Not my speciality, but I do my best. "Chin down", "Shoulders straight", "Your other left"....it felt like grade 4 picture day.

And that's that....modeling casting over and done with.
Do I feel good about my chances? It's a tough one.
As much as I am somewhat unique in this market, I'm also perhaps not the right guy to be pimping skin smoothing products or something else that would be best left for someone with a lot less body hair than this guy. My only hope is that there may be something for me in the 'creepy dad/uncle' category. Time will tell.
-----
A final note to address all this model talk and its place in the retired man's rationale. Alas, I must admit, a wise-man told me once that you should never go full retir'd. I promise you this, either way it'll be on my terms.

Here's the obligatory Zoolander clip you've all been scrolling for>

Monday Mail

as promised, we're going take some time out for a little freedom 32 mail.
here's one from Oakville, Ontario -

"Richard, now that you're 'retired', what is it that you do with your days?"
- A Concerned Parent

Thanks, Concerned.....a great question to lead off this segment.

The first few days were tough I admit, but now I have a solid routine down.

I wake up when the gf gets up for work around 6:30am, but quickly get right back to the business of sleep. I emerge from the cocoon around 9am, check out the morning news with a bowl of fruit & yogurt.....(this is sounding like a big fat fbook update).
cut to the chase - workout, followed by a long shower (sorry power smart fans), and then my afternoons are usually spent exploring the city. i am pretending to be a photographer and usually have my Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT at the ready. i've found a pretty sweet park in Central, that offers some weekday serenity as well as free wifi. trip to the expat grocery store and then home to cook/pretend to cook dinner.
oh yes, how could i forget, i'm also very excited to be doing a load of laundry everyday. all this makes Rich a kept man...and I'm fairly happy about the whole thing.
that said, my goal is truly to experience as much of this place as possible and would love nothing more than to mix up the aforementioned routine as often as possible.
alright, great question to start us off....would love a real one so we can keep this segment on the air though.

sneak preview for tomorrow - one word: Hansel

Weekend Warriors

TGIF folks...., am I right? 2 weeks in and really starting to hit my groove in this little city of mine. I appreciate all the love and encouragement thus far with my diary...err...blog posts. I'm going to take a little breather over the weekend, but join me on Monday for my weekly segment of Rich's Male,where I take the tough questions and let you all in to experience the full me.

in the meantime, I'd like to acknowledge the fact that this blog isn't super pretty....i'll work on that.

also, 'live tweeting' has been suggested and certainly would bring my broadcast medium closer to 2011....; unfortunately, I don't have a phone, so am bound by the various wifi zones around town to whip out my iPod and tweet tweet away....but a good idea regardless.

ideally, i wouldn't force people to leave their precious FBook to read Freedom 32....and will try to never go further than 2 degrees of separation from the book.

with that, I'll leave you with a few of my early snaps from around HK....

redirecting back to FB now...and breathe> http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=601198&id=555555575

hey, how's about a little on Hong Kong - vol. 1

One of the greatest things about moving to a new city is the opportunity to explore it. My calendar, as previously discussed, appears to be fairly wide-open, and with that, I expect that I should be able to give tours of this town by the 4-month mark.

For anyone that hasn't been to Hong Kong, I offer a few high-level tidbits:

1) Hong Kong is one of China's special adminstrative regions (or SARs for short)....hmm....

2) the currency here is Hong Kong Dollars, and a Canadian dollar is worth about 8 HKD's.

3) feel free to check out wikipedia for the rest - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong

Hong Kong is an amazingly dense city, with skyscrapers sprawling out of the ground similar to Manhatten. The cool thing that I've noticed though is that when you get down to the street level, most of the time you forget about the 'big city' around you, and in its place is a local market type of atmosphere.

Before arriving, I really had a sense that I would stand out and was told on a number of occassions that I would be a giant. Thus far, I can report that people could pretty much care less about me....so my hopes of becoming a pseudo celebrity have so far proven errouneous. I will keep trying though.

In my first weeks here, I've been trying to play a game I like to call 'get lost', where I randomly set out on a route without a map or GPS device.

It's fun for hours, I recommend to anyone without a day job, or a night job for that matter.

Anyway, I've learned quickly that HK isn't set up so much in a grid (like TO or NYC), and more often then not, the best way to get from A to B isn't by traveling at the street level, it's all about getting above the city by the elevated connecting walkways, with plenty of escalators to help on the ups and downs. So far, I'm happy to say that I've been able to make my way back to the flat in one piece every time.

Finally, I must admit I have yet to pick up any Cantonese, I haven't sampled any yuanyang and haven't taken in the nightly light show...figure I have another 720 nights to see it. I promise though, I will do my best to continue to provide you all with a digital take on a city that never sleeps.

Me on the other hand, I'm getting a solid 10 hours currently....oh retirement....

Here's a view from my new sofa office.

Local Canadian man retires at 32!

No, there is no need for a fact check. The story's title is correct. A simple scan of his passport confirms that Rich Morgan is indeed 32....and a quick scan of his wallet also confirms that he is unemployed, or as he quickly corrects - 'retired'.

Let's backup for a second to 2 months ago to where this all started. Add one job offer and one opportunistic gf mixed with a splash of Asia and there was only one resolution - retirement. Rich promptly concluded his tenure at a Vancouver ad agency, received his gold plated watch (iTunes gift card), and packed his bags for Hong Kong.

Enter Freedom 32, a chronicle of the misadventures of a bright-eyed retiree, looking for good time/long time, be it the nearest happy hour or early-bird special. Join Rich on this journey...or don't...up to you.

Of course, since this story is also a Facebook entry, it would not be complete with a real time status update:

Rich is off to make a sandwich.

(no confirmation on what kind of sandwich, but we really hope it's on a cheese bun)

Stay tuned, folks.