2019-2020 Fall Semester; Complete

We're done, after 2.5 years. It really has gone by so fast, I still remember submitting my application, my first day on campus, my first exam, my first friend. Masters of Science, Big Data Technology.

It's not so much the degree but the memories and the events that took place along the way.

So then, the question is, what's next?

Passing away

I haven't had a chance to sit down and reflect over the year that was 2019. Have I had a good year? What were the highlights? What am I grateful for? What did I learn? What would I have done differently? Then there's the extension of those questions and applying that to the past decade. I can think of a couple of things this year that have been defining.

I can already think of a couple of things that standout, progress with school and career, as well as the highlights that aren't so much me but events that will standout when I look back. Marriages, holidays, new friendships. Sadly it's also the decade where I've seen members of the generation above say good bye. It is inevitable, but it's a reality check that Father Time has now turned his attention to the more immediate group of people; a group we hold near and dear.

Within the space of a month two figures in my life have passed away. My auntie, and my babysitter. Only when you take a quiet moment to sit and think about your relationship with these people. The relationship that continues in nostalgia is so clear, almost clearer than when they were alive. For them, the moments that replay are of me as a child, running, laughing, playing, and then older the interactions are them being curious about my life and making sure that I'm adulting correctly.

The news breaks and suddenly there's a weird emptiness, a surreal feeling. That's the problem with being overseas, sometimes you feel disconnected such that when things actually disconnect, the feeling and the event become less defined and it's just numbness.

Home stretch

It feels a little different to undergraduate, there's less of a "I'm finally done with school" feeling and more of a Friday morning at work vibe.You know that feeling? It's a Friday, you've already been at work for a few hours and as soon as lunch is done, it's the home stretch until the weekend. This has a distinct feeling of that, the last stretch and then the weekend.

My final semester of school, all assignments have been submitted and all that remains are the final (take home) exams and then I'm finish, or then it's the weekend. I have a sense of anticipation and excitement and I can taste the feeling of freedom. I'm trying to take this all in, and am especially enjoying the intellectual stress and looking forward to releasing the student shackles.

Thanks

Out of all the American traditions, the two that I look forward to the most are Halloween and Thanksgiving. It's the latter which I've grown particularly fond of, it's the combination of feasting and the company of close friends and more importantly taking a moment to pause and relish what we're thankful and grateful. I'm grateful for concept of Thanksgiving and that I have close friends in Hong Kong that make this something I look forward to each year.

Classes canceled

Universities announce all remaining campus classes have been canceled and the remainder of the semester, exams included has been moved online. I'm kind of relieved, but also mindful that online exams aren't necessarily a good thing...

East Coast

The annual trip out to the East Coast, I'm grateful that this year's trip is earlier in the year. I still have (traumatic) memories of last year's post-Thanksgiving trip and being severely underprepared clothing-wise. The confronting reality that I'm a thirty-something year old profession who is incapable of keeping myself warm is concerning. The already positive of this year's trip is that it is earlier in the school semester so I'm less troubled about school and missing out on assessments.

Marketing trips, on paper sound glamorous. Business Class flights, Five Star Hotels, Client Drinks and Meals. However, there is a side to the travel when you're sitting in a bar trying to keep warm waiting for the next meeting at 10 pm. I can't imagine having to do this trip solo, so I'm thankful that I get travel with one of the more senior colleagues. Who admittedly, managed to keep me sane especially during the times of attrition, late night meetings, early morning flights. Our trip this time of the year was targeted, hitting up prospects and clients mostly in New York, Virginia, Washington DC and finally Chicago. Another successful trip, multiple clients, plenty of wins as well as some quality downtime around the East Coast.

Sydney

Coming together of cultures

There's really no point in measuring time spent at Burning Man in days. The concept of time and using daylight as a unit of measurement is abstract. Burning Man is best measured in moments and interactions. However for the reader, in total I was on the Playa for three whole days and four nights. Combined with almost 12 hours of driving, the amount of time and effort for three days it can be argued that it was almost not worth it. However, it's Burning Man, even a day some would argue that it's "worth" it. I'm physically and mentally exhausted after this week.

Final leg of the trip, back on the grid in San Francisco for the wedding of one of my favourite people. First time attending an Orthodox Wedding. First time attending an Eritrean Wedding.

Burning Man trip

"Check out the Woolly mammoth art sculpture!"

I rode around everywhere trying to find it. Philosophically, was it a wild goose chase, the mammoth was something that has been extinct for millions of years. I was a searching for something that was no longer there. As I pedalled across the Playa, hoping to find something, I questioned whether or not this was a euphemism for something.

I passed butterflies, statues, hedgehogs and even elephants. At each exhibit I stood and squinted and internally asked "Is this it?". Eventually I found the booth, the 'Talk to God telephone booth", it was ringing. I pulled up and picked up the headset. Click. "Hi". "Hi, there", the voice sounded female. Progressive. "Is this god?". "Sure is". "Do you know if there's a woolly mammoth here at Burning Man?". "Yes, is the big fluro blob with the trunk in the air.".

I paused, that was one of the first art sculptures I'd seen. It had been there all a long, and yet I had spent the entire afternoon cycling around looking for something that was always there. Then it clicked, this was the gift from outside of the playa. Chasing to impress, to prove, to validate. Instead of just being.

"Anything else I can help you with?". "No. I'm good, there's another guy that's just pulled up who wants to talk to you."

Another burn, I've come out understanding the areas I need to improve, the areas I need to foster, and the areas I need to let go.

Reno Roadtripping

I still can't believe I visited Canada without trying Tim Hortons. One of the many missed opportunities I will rue. There's exactly five people who have made their way from Hong Kong to Vancouver who will continue onto Reno, eventually into Black Rock City. We take the 7:20 pm flight from Vancouver, to Reno via San Francisco. The legs are short, but given the jet lag, the trip feels long. We arrived into Reno and check into the hotel just after midnight. It's a long day but we still find time to play the tables. Two cities, two casinos.

We start mid morning and the owner of the truck and the trailer meet up in the hotel car park. The trailer brings back memories from the last Burn. Technically I didn't stay in the trailer, but I did have to drive it back last time we were out here. This trip would be the same, I would drive it in and be responsible for driving it back out. The truck is a little different this year. By different, I mean older. Real old.

It takes me a while to get used to this car. The gear box is not intuitive, there's a cassette player and the indicators do not auto-cancel. There's no indicator of what gear you're in, or any indication of what is happening. It's all coming back to me, the trailer is heavy and responds with latency. I check myself and re-learn driving on the other side of the road. We find the nearest Walmart and load up on supplies, one of my favourite parts of the trip, strolling the isles of an American supermarket.

We leave the carpark at 2 pm and start off on the journey - I check everything, the dash is fine. I always forget how the pedal hand break works. Pressed means off? Right? We drive along the highway, the car is slow, I floor it and it barely responds. Cruising at a pedestrian rate of 50 mph I comment that I'm flooring the accelerator and that the car feels sluggish, "It's like I'm driving through cement!". Not five minutes out of Walmart and from the passenger seat I hear a laugh followed by "I think he was pointing at our car". Immediately I see grey smoke billowing out of the left hand side of the bonnet. I pull over on the highway to the shoulder. The car is spewing out smoke and there's oil dripping from under the hood. That's not good. We contact the car owner, he's 90 minutes away. We wait by the side of the road and attempt to open the hood.

It's at this point in time it dawns on me. Pressed means on. I google this. Yep, it's official, I've been driving the last couple of miles with the hand break on. I sheepishly admit this two the other two people. Ugh, how stupid of me! We sit by the side of the road and eventually pop the hood, the car has overheated. I have successfully perpetuated the stereotype that Asians are bad drivers by blowing up a truck. We pass time by sucking in roadside pollution, spending time trying to open the hood, followed by spending time trying to close the hood (this car really is old). This proactiveness all stops the minute a sofa flies off the back of a passing truck and lands 10 metres and rolls along the highway. The two of us look at each other and silently acknowledge that we just missed on being struck by a rogue sofa and sit back down on the barrier by the side of the road. Highway patrol come and visit us, finally at 4 pm, the owners return with a new truck. There's two kids in the back, we're being lent their personal car.

Take 2. We leave Reno and restart our road trip just after 4:00 pm. The drive is boring, for two and a half hours it's mostly straight road, there are two turns, two left turns (we actually missed the first turn). We lose cellular reception as we make the final turn into Black Rock City, arriving at 6:40 pm. Unfortunately we have hit traffic, we reach the first stage to pick up the vehicle pass at 9 pm. We meet the greeters at 10:00 pm. We have arrived. Burning Man 2019. We finally reach our camp Entheos. 4F. My second burn.

Vancouver

This one falls under the wedding invitation category "I'm surprised I was invited". There's been a handful of these invitations over my life, ultimately my decision to attend has been based purely on convenience. Although this should not be the case, anybody who has been kind enough to extend an invitation to me I should be making an effort to attend. That being said, travel is usually the biggest deterrent, and I can count the number of weddings that I've missed just due to travel requirements. The couple, I had met here in Hong Kong, super social, super active, super successful. My friendship with them is purely by association.

Enough about that, long story short. I decide to attend. My reasoning is as follows:

1. As I get older, social circles grow smaller. So, if I've been invited to a wedding, I'm going to try to make an effort; 
2. It's in Canada. Canada is far. But I've also never been to Canada; 
3. Some of my favourite people are going to be attending the wedding; 
4. I have to be on the West Coast the following weekend. 

Naturally, those may, or may not be ranked in some order.

It's a 14 hour flight. Back to point number 2, Canada is far. My first impressions are, that Vancouver feels a lot like Australia. There are also a lot of old people at the airport. After checking into the hotel, my first stop is a Vietnamese Restaurant. Don't ask me why, somebody told me Vietnamese food was good in Canada. Stop number two, Gorilla Surplus, a military supply store. I procure combat boots for the following week in Black Rock City. It's at this point in time, I'm given a lesson in navigating a city without UBER. I'm in the middle of nowhere on a major highway, with no ride. I walk for 30 minutes until I find a taxi rank and retreat back to safety, my hotel. Mental note, get the phone number of a taxi company.

Dinner downtown, followed by a stroll through Gastown before ending up on the craps table. My interactions with her are always so incongruent, I imagine it's what it's like to date somebody who's bipolar, or Kanye West. Saturday, explored Granville Island Market during the day before a leisurely boat ride back to the hotel.

There's a large group of people who have made the journey from Hong Kong to Vancouver and we occupy the rear corner of the venue. The ceremony itself was beautiful. Lovely speeches, a sensuous first dance and it's always a riot with this lot. Shout out to the band and the perfectly curated playlist.

Sunday, I'm still jet-lagged and have not slept well this entire trip. I check out of the hotel and explore Stanley Park. I can see why people rave about Vancouver.

Beirut

Having grown up in the Western Suburbs of Sydney, I spent a lot of my adolescences along the Canterbury-Bankstown line. Bankstown, Punchbowl, Lakemba, Belmore, Campsie, Canterbury, an ethnic melting pot of immigrant families. Thinking back to my high school days our group was the very definition of multiculturalism, Indians, Koreans, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesians, Filipinos, Cambodians, Burmese, Fijians, Greek, Iranians, Samoans, Lebanese, many more. The list reads like the Olympic Village roll call. Being exposed to the different people, led to exposure to the different cultures.

When you think of an Australian "Lebo", you can't help but imagine the stereotypical character. "Yallah" this, "Habibbi" that, terrible haircut, loud sports car. However growing up with so many Lebanese friends, I remember the gregariousness, the brashness, the humour, the unfiltered presence. So when Lebanon was floated as a possible destination for a bachelor's party. I was immediately on board.

The logistics of traveling from Hong Kong to Beirut is not an easy feat. Firstly, you need to take a 9-hour flight to Doha, followed by an interconnecting 3-hour flight from Doha to Beirut. However, once you arrive you can't help but fall in love with the city. A sun-kissed city, with constant civil war reminders. Serving amazing food and equally welcoming people. Bumped into the odd Australian Lebanese expat whilst exploring the city. Such a great four days abroad.

I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to travel to the Middle East. I'm also grateful that my group of friends make me laugh so much, the quickness, observational aptitude and general good vibes.

I also managed to check off one of my bucket list items, devouring an authentic Lebanese Kebab in the early hours of the evening after a night out drinking.

Tokyo

A deliberate visit to Tokyo with the purpose of syncing up with a friend who happened to be passing through Japan. Turns out another mate also was in Tokyo the same weekend, so it made the trip even more worth while. Still haven't figured out the best way to travel to Japan, again it was the red eye in Haneda, which given the proximity to the centre of Tokyo and Akasaka made traveling much less of a pain than a trip into Narita. That being said, disappointment would soon subside upon hearing the news that Tomita of Ramen Head fame had opened up a Narita Branch. I'll have to make the journey to Narita at some point.

Leisurely trip with a good mix of eating, sleeping and hanging out. Actually, I retract that, I ate way too much. The first day was the most productive: Managed to check out the new Fish Markets and caught the tail end of the tuna auctions, wandered Team Lab, sampled a colleague's favourite ramen joint, dinner with friends, dessert degustation, baseball batting cages, 1 Oak followed by some late night Ichiran. The second day, was mostly eating.

Currently reading: "When Breath Becomes Air"

Moving scenes

Sunday, if you are to believe reports saw an even more united stance against the Hong Kong Government. Some sources report up to 2 million people marched on Sunday with the protest no longer about the extradition bill, but the youth of Hong Kong protesting about the future of the administrative region and the bleak future for those who call it home. Unfortunately it also saw the death of a 35 year old protestor who tragically fell to his death.

Incredible scenes here in Hong Kong. It's one of the first times I've felt moved living in Hong Kong. There's a sense of fragility and unity that makes me proud to be in this country. The most powerful scenes have come after Sunday. Peaceful protests, people helping out strangers with water, homage to Leung, cleaning up the mess. It's truly moving to see the resolve and consideration of the people who are putting up a fight. Also, the trending music on Spotify for Hong Kong proves to be an appropriate soundtrack.

"I won't be silenced You can't keep me quiet Won't tremble when you try it All I know is I won't go speechless" - Noami Scott

Another one

4 pm, 6 employees stand and leave the office. It's quite the movement and draws attention from around the office. The crew, contains a spread of key personnel from the company, not enough for key-man risk, but definitely enough to leave a gap. It's the second trip with colleagues. A motley crew of travellers with a weekend trip away the target.

Our flight is delayed an hour at Hong Kong International Airport, and the knock-on-effect is followed by a meaty 40 minute immigration line in Taoyuan Airport. We clear customs, find our driver and check into our hotel by 11 pm. An ex-colleague (Yan the man) meets us, 20 minutes later, his flight was almost 1 hour after ours'. 7 hours door to door, which is counter to the initial reason why we selected Taipei. In any case, we hit Tonghua Night Market for 30 minutes of frenetic eating followed by a couple of drinks around the area. Coincidentally bump into Kyall, it's a small world.

Current reading "More Money Than God"