Everything in real time

There used to be a saying in Hong Kong which went along the lines of "Everything in real time". It was a saying popularised by Rob, which referred often to last-minute, impromptu trips around Asia. Legend has it that Rob once did 14 trips to Taipei in a single calendar year, most of them decided "in real time", ie. On a Friday afternoon during work, deciding that he would rather not spend the weekend in Hong Kong would proceed to the airport, sometimes without an advance purchase of a flight or a hotel. With passport in hand and "figure it out". Rob left Hong Kong in 2015, and with it the saying of "everything in real time". 

Fast forward September 2024, and Rob happens to be back in Hong Kong for business. It's on the Tuesday and I get a message "Taipei this weekend?" - four days notice, not quite real time, but definitely on a whim. After much deliberation, I managed to find a couple of cheap flights on points and a reasonable rate for a Taipei hotel for one evening.

Not quite the same gusto of yesteryear, but 24 hours in Taipei was really good. Plus a special guest.

Christmas

I really wish I had more photos of this four day trip. It was such a good trip, and all I have are hazy memories. Here's what I remember. I arrived back in Sydney on the 23rd of December. We had a room booked in the city, as it was one of, if not my closest friend's (not a) wedding reception. The (not a) wedding dinner was held at the Eight, and it was so good to see everybody, the USYD group, to UTS group. We ended up at a cocktail bar and bar crawled until around 2 am before wrapping the evening up with a kebab.

T'was the night before Christmas. 25th, another friend "I didn't want to steal his thunder, but I'm engaged".  More excellent news. Headed down to Sutherland for the Ng Christmas Dinner. So good seeing all the relos, who for the first time were introduced to "the girl" who managed to show up looking like a "drowned rat". Nervous times meeting the family, for me? No, for her? No, maybe for the family. I got a Spurtle for Christmas.

Christmas Day, another lunch in Blakehurst and dinner in Earlwood. Boxing day, breakfast with Mon, followed by Yumcha with the Chans. A very wholesome weekend, feeling full of love.

 

Bangkok

Despite spending majority of the year overseas I find myself closing out the year with a fair amount of annual leave. Unfortunately, work policy has once again changed, with the carry-over leave amount being reduced back to 5 days. 

So here I am, in December, with 12 days of 'use-it-or-lose-it' leave. It also feels like that the "Work from Home" initiative is slowly losing its legitimacy. So with that being said, I decide to spend the remaining 3 weeks in Bangkok and Sydney. 

All, in all, I've spent over 7 months outside of Hong Kong in 2023.