What I did on my summer vacation

Summer is upon us, which fans of the blog know can only mean one thing: a lil' bit of that sweet sweet retirement redux thing. For those of you that are new or didnt know, now you know.

Here's how the story goes: After a fruitful year with my previous company, the grass appeared greener in a different pasture, which in turn, grazed my interests to plant a few new seeds. I decided it was time to take my talents to south beach, aka recruitment, where my job will be hunting down as much good head as one can find.
*note - I would be happy to represent anyone interested in coming to this part of the World. For a promising career in Asia, call me.

With the deal done, I suddenly found myself faced with the admittedly bullshit dilemma of figuring out what to do with a month off. Europe seemed like it could be fun, reliving some of my backpacking escapades from a decade passed. Though, with the economic crisis in the euro zone and my disinterest in barstool austerity talk, I decided to look elsewhere. It wasn't long before the bailout (from mum and dad), offering me their hard earned Aeroplan points in exchange for some QT with their second born. How could I resist? So, off to Canadaland I went, in search of a few good friends, time with the fam and of all the odd requests, some Chalet sauce & pantyhose. 

Stop #1: Vancouver, oddly chilly in June, a bag packed full of shorts and t's quickly cast aside for sleeves and slacks. The delightfully easy-going city and hospitality of buddies, former colleagues and the ol' softball gang made up for this though. Besides, best not to bad mouth a place that is the leading candidate for the journey back one day. Good times were had, the jet lag actually helping me survive my 6am flight time out, headed eastbound and down.

Stop #2: by default I usually refer to home as "Toronto", but in truth, it's always been you, Oakville. And there it was, the same house on the same street, the inviting pool and some very familiar faces. A wonderful place to kick back for a few days and be treated like the Prince of Regency. Aside from my dear family, I was able to catch up with a solid gaggle of chums, though sad to miss encounters with a few good ones as well. With the gaggle in mind, our get together was highlighted by a night out in the big city. With these guys, there's always a comfort when meeting up, stories and attitudes that seemingly never change nor disappoint. All things but our hairlines, I suppose.

Funny story (amusing, not haha) - we hit up a casual Bavarian-esque place for some late evening beers on the Friday night. With its bench seating at a premium, we marked out the last remaining spots next to a few female coeds and proceeded to approach the bar. Ordering up and laying down the Laurier's, I turned back in disbelief...
"Damn, those old guys just stole our sea....."
Oops. Turns out those old guys would, in fact, be us. I suppose it's easy to get caught up in the recounting of high school and uni shenanigans with the boys to make one (temporarily) forget what time it is.  For those interested, that time stands at 33'oclock for me.

Like many times before & many more to come, the visit was inevitably too $hort. Time with the family has been at a premium the last 8 years, and although weekly Skype sessions help, there's nothing like being there in person.  

My journey returned me back to where I started from, in HK for essentially a week long countdown until the new adventure began - Koh Samui. This is where I write from, on a quiet beach, next to my best travel mate, the next episode to be continued...

Freedom Quarterly - Spring 2012 Issue

umm, hey, how's it going?
what have you been up to....? (this is awkward).
yes, i'm sorry i didn't write you back...but i've been...well...busy.
no, i'm not trying to make excuses...
yes, of course you're important to me...
[and so on...]

i have been a bad blogger, to the extent that i don't think i can even call myself a blogger any longer, or refer to this thing as a 'blog'.
what went wrong, you may or may not ask?
was it work? travel? modelling?
yes, a little, and n/a.

mainly, what i think happened when i wasn't looking, was that this place all of sudden became home.
crazy, right?
if you'd asked me a year ago, i'm pretty sure i would have considered this place little more than a 2-year excursion from Canadaland. yet, as you get into the flow of this place - the bars, the restaurants, the ease of getting around, the lack of house work, it kinda doesn't suck...at all. not to mention, in as least dickish a manner as i can, the club that we are now proudly members of, does not hurt the scorecard. our weekly routine sees us there for at least one game of tennis, a few rounds of drinks, a couple workouts at a real gym, and of course, the high society. dickish.

a quick rundown of the last few months -
1. the in-laws came for a visit. greatest guests ever. the weather did not agree so much.
2. softball playoffs saw our team win the consolation final (without me). a blessing for them.
3. aline with the raise - to my 'go fish'.
4. romo got fatter (more to love)
5. a couple of little jaunts to Australia & Taiwan

with the latter in mind, Oz (Sydney to be specific) was a pretty amazing place. what always seemed like an inconceivably long journey from Canada, is a delicious 10-hour flight from Hong Kong, which sadly seems like a layup compared to HK>TO. the weather couldn't have been any better during our stay; the throbbing sun casting its rays on us for the entire week. we found it to be very similar to Vancouver, very chill, very green, with a coastal walk similar to the seawall that stretches from the Harbour Bridge all the way through to the mecca of Bondi beach. caught a ballet at the Opera House, and i'm very comfortable to admit that it was the greatest ballet i have ever seen (lifetime ballets attended = 2). it is easy to assume that the cliches are all true Down Under. let's see...

Did - see some 'Roos in the wild
Did Not - get challenged to box one
Did - eat some crocodile (thought it was chicken)
Did Not - have anyone offer us any shrimp on the barbie
Did - drink a lot of cider (btw, i like cider now)
Did Not - consume any Fosters...didn't even see any actually

we retreated to the beach in Manly for a day, and rented a car to hit up wine country for an overnight as well. it was my first time cruising on the left-side....drove that thing like a boss. and, unlike previous foreign rental car experiences, we managed to avoid any crashes or damage. a great trip, we will definitely be back.

on to Taiwan.....where do I begin...?
whoa whoa...easy big fella, that's enough for one quarter.
i'll just let the pictures takeover from here....

Sydney
Taiwan

Local Canadian man retires at 33

oh wait, we already ran this one last Jan.
instead, let's go with - Kung Hei Fat Choi, friends!
it's a fresh new year of Freedom, full of hope, dreams and dragons.
trust me, at the moment i am very unretired, but did enjoy my sabbatical over the Christmas break. to those who i had the pleasure of embracing, thank you and thanks for the kind words shared regarding these scribbles of mine. if we weren't able to cross paths, i extend an open invitation for a raincheque on the far east side, any time.

although tough to leave home, I return back to Hong Kong with renewed optimism that the next 365 will be easier than the first. a job, a Jacky, and in 2-months, a country club membership.
that's the way we roll in the Kong. (note - the bank is paying for most of this).
a few trips planned as well - Singapore in less than 24hrs, over the Chinese New Year break…along with our first ever trip to the land down under over Easter. no complaints, mates.

well, maybe one.
as of Monday, we relocated offices….and gone is my luxurious door-to-door mini-bus chauffeur. i'm choked. we've moved a little further away from the WASPy comforts of Central, now clocking in at an area known as Quarry Bay.
would i recommend out-of-towners to come check this hood out? nope.
don't get me wrong, it's still on the Island side of HK, but it's fairly desolate in parts…aside from the 7-11 & McDonalds on every other corner. and yes, it may be true that on my first day, i just happened to stumble upon a dead mouse & a lizard on route to the office…but hey, it's like seeing a squirrel & a bluejay scurry across the sidewalk back in the burbs.
upon crossing the threshold of the building, we're still not home yet. it's a very typical space in this region of the World - an old industrial building turned white collar. the hallways are dim and long, and the preferred option to get up & down from the 22/F are the service elevators.
non-ironically, smoking does go down in the boys room; i keep telling myself the persistent wetness on the floor is from avid hand-washing.

now to the positive. our office space is actually quite nice. it's bright, with consistent wifi & an actual meeting room to take up private conversations. (not having this private space previously required me to dismiss my employee in the pantry of a shared workspace. awkward.)
it's also the first time in 8-months that everyone is in the same room, sharing ideas, banter and my Absolute 80's selections……go team. before we moved our staplers in, it is a local custom to have a Fen Shui expert come in to help us, amongst other things, get our shuit together. i'm still very unfamiliar with the 'in's&out's' of it all, but i do know that they've stuck me in a prime seat in the 'wealth corner'. no, this doesn't mean they'll pay me more, however, it's meant to help me bring in more money for the biz. with that, and my 'Always Be Closing' poster on my wall, i can't fail. they've also placed a money plant in my corner, which i was sure to water the shuit out of as well before leaving this weekend.
happy new year, folks….get your dragon.