Insomia

The thing about getting old is that you learn something new all the time. One moment everything is business as usual. The next, things aren't operating in exactly the same way. It's a constant audit. What's changed? What's no longer working?

My new thing is, that I've noticed my circadian rhythm has become extremely sensitive to any perturbations. I don't know if it's because over the last few years my schedule is pretty robust. Go to bed somewhere between 22:00-23:00, wake up somewhere between 05:30-7:00. Any shift to this schedule and my body clock goes haywire. I've had it a few times, where either I've stayed up too late. I.e. gone to bed at 3 am or 4 am and despite being extremely tired, what results is a handful of days of insomnia where I just can't get to sleep. Or more commonly, moving across timezones due to travel resulting in jet lag.

The return flight from Johannesburg to Hong Kong, we woke up at 3:30 am, in Cape Town, caught the 6:00 am flight to Johannesburg. Slept most of that two hour flight, woke up in OR Tambo International airport at 8:00, collected luggage and sat at gate waiting for 11:00 am flight back to Hong Kong, only to barely sleep on the flight and arrive in Hong Kong at 6:00, the following day. My body was confused, minimal sleep over the last 24 hours, and I had arrived back the following day. What ensued was 3 days of jet lag and insomnia. 

The insomnia was compounded by a few things, including a newly discovered tooth problem. Another tooth problem, you say? Well yes, this time, it wasn't the same tooth, but the molar directly opposite the tooth I had just had Root Canal Treatment (RCT) on. 

Mortality strikes you in many ways, this time in the form of a second RCT in the space of a month. I don't know if it's the cost, or the knowing that your teeth have failed which bothers me more. For future reference, the cost of a root canal is approximately 8,000 HKD, or 1K USD. The silver lining is, I now spend more time on dental hygiene and teeth that I had previously.

It's a bag!

There may be a point in time when people look back at the "blind box" culture and try to pin point its origin story. I'm not somebody unfamiliar with this concept, having been deep in collectibles. Basketball cards, football cards, Magic cards. However as of writing, the blind box has become ever-present in society. 

Up until opening this tin, the information was asymmetric. Now it's not. It's a blue!

Cape Town

Time to pack away the safari boots and break out the party heels. Those were the words on the invite. Feeling pretty recharged after a trip out in the wilderness, we arrived into Cape Town for the second leg of the trip. It was also during this time when the announcement of expecting was socialised. Lots of well wishes and genuine happiness, although at this point in time it was starting to become quite obvious.

Friday was welcome drinks at  Kloof Street. It was a particularly windy evening. Most people had flown in from all corners around the world and some had self preservation in mind for the Saturday evening. Saturday was a planned Lion's head hike, skipped this adventure determined to get in a 34 km run, the Cape is beautiful, but also unbelievably windy. Now I understand why the Cape Town marathon was canceled. The birthday celebration in Cliffton was amazing, great food, speeches, laughs and dancing until the early morning.

The rest of the trip was Cape Adventures, lunch at Harbour House. Vintage car museum andd Franshoek winelands outings, following by lunch at Le Petit Colombe. What a trip!

Tunda Tula - Timbavati

Africa, has long been on my bucket list. Despite this, Africa has always fallen into the "maybe later" bucket. I've heard mixed reviews, with one person previously recounting "It's a lot of sitting around waiting for animals to show up". I figured it be something I could always do at a later stage in life. However, when a close friend announced that he would be celebrating his birthday in Africa this would be the excuse or opportunity to go over to the continent I've explored the least. It would also be first time for me to meet a lot of the kids and for the group to meet the significant other.

The birthday boy was super generous and sponsored the Safari leg of the trip, and to be honest, I would not in my wildest dreams been able to afford this experience or two, more importantly imagine it to be such a magical a trip. There's a couple of components that made the trip so amazing. One the setup, close knit group of friends, with respective young families all experiencing Africa as a collective. Secondly, the camp was such a luxurious setup. Thirdly, the animals and safari game drives were awesome.

We started off meeting at the airport in Johannesburg to catch a charter plane to Kruger, on the 2nd of December. That in itself was such a unforgettable experience. Imagine a private plane with all of your close friends and their kids. After what felt like a 2 hour flight of dried fruit and biltong we arrived at a small airport in Kruger. Another 45 minute car ride and we had arrived in Tunda Tula, Timbavati a private camp in Kruger National Park.

Each day was structured as follows. 4:00 am wake up, quick tea and coffee before setting off in the Toyota Landcruisers at 4:30. Drive around, trying to spot animals. Wrap up around 7:30 am to be ready for breakfast at 8:00 am by the river. The breakfasts were the highlight. Kudo meatballs, beans, stews, fresh fruit, eggs, sausages, bacon, juices, dried fruit, the works. Salivating thinking about it. We would then return to camp for the hottest period of the day, which would be relaxing, catching up on sleep and socialising. Lunch was served from 12:00-1:00 pm with massages on site. During the day it was free-time, most people by the pool, or catching up on missed sleep. The group would then reconvene at 4:00 pm for afternoon tea (first day they served pavlova!), following by an evening game drive from 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm to finish with sunset drinks before retiring to the lodge for dinner. One day we were for a safari walk, which was nice just to stretch the legs. Weather was a lot cooler than I expected, we were told we had come during off season and it was a little cooler and the lush greenery made for a different type of animal spotting.

Managed to see the big five of Africa: Lions, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and the buffalo. Even spotted the super rare, wild dogs, honey badger and the ugly five: Warthog, vulture, hyena, wildebeest and stork. My favourite were the giraffes and zebras. We also spotted hippos, crocodiles and dung beetles. One lucky group even managed to see a cheetah. 

Two favourite moments. Watching a termite explosion and watching all the birds prey on the termites. And watching a leopard eat a antelope in a tree while a hyena waited patiently below. The animals were really the icing on the cake, I really enjoyed just hanging out with friends, getting to know their kids and relaxing in the wilderness.

Johannesburg

MBL, mandatory block leave! Not too many things that are as exciting in the corporate world. Perhaps starting a new job, a promotion, an acknowledgement, or resignation from a job, but somewhere in between sits the MBL. 2 weeks away from the office where you are not allowed to do any work (theoretically). So handover has been complete, out of office notification has been set, and now we forget about work for 2 weeks, well maybe less, I have a feeling that 12 days in I'll start thinking about what awaits me. Until then though, we're off to South Africa!

Arrived in Johannesburg after a 12 hour flight. Body clock is a little out of what, departed Hong Kong just after midnight on Sunday (Saturday night), and arrived in South Africa at 6 am, on Sunday. From all accounts, nobody really has much good to say about Johannesburg. "It's dangerous", "there's nothing to do there", "don't leave the hotel" are the common tropes about the capital. Arriving in South Africa on the Sunday we had two days of acclimatisation before the main event started. We had originally looked at potentially tacking on a side trip ahead of Safari, but decided to spend time in Johannesburg. Day one, we did not leave the hotel. How about those Woolworth's dried royal apricots?

Day two, decided to lace up the shoes and go for a run around Zoo Lake and the Zoo. The sun rises early here, around 5 am. Initial thoughts of this area, everybody is so friendly. Lots of hellos and waves on my morning run. Ended up linking up with a Johannesburg run club and trailed them for 2 kms before finishing up a nice 9 km run. The afternoon was spent with Tumi our tour guide as he gave us a tour around Johannesburg and a history lesson of South Africa. Visited the poorest areas, as well as the richest areas and visited Soweto and Mandela's house. Also know as the most famous street in the world, Vilakazi Street is the only street in the world to have house two Nobel Peace Prize laureates, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Nandos for dinner. 

Nice little introductory to South Africa.

Family in town!

Very exciting to have visitors in town! It's been more than ten years since my mom and auntie visited the shores of Hong Kong. I think dad has been here a little more recently, but even then, that would have been when I was still living in Soho, which would have been at least eight years ago. The lead up to the visit was a little stressful as this was the first time taking advantage of my sister's family perks at work which meant, stand by tickets and continuously hawking the load of seats on each of the flight. That combined with the fact that this airline only has one flight per day meant that they did not know if they were going to fly up until the last moment. Weeks out, this flight had looked the most likely with availability, however as the day drew closer seat allocations slowly filled up. On the day of the flight, all seats had been sold, yet they decided to head to the airport and try their luck. Call it luck, but there were two no-shows. Success. Hong Kong here they come!

Unfortunately, we were short at work so couldn't take time off, but did manage to see them after work and on the weekend. This, in my opinion is the best time of the year to visit Hong Kong. Although upon arrival they were greeted with fairly chilly conditions, however the city warmed up after the six days. Lots of activities showing them all my favourite spots. Picked them up from the airport, and checked into the hotel, they weren't so hungry and watched me eat some Vietnamese food in Pacific Place. They had arrived with lots of goodies, lentils, faba beans, fruit and snacks. Day two, exploring TST, although admittedly, Hong Kong isn't terribly exciting if you're just walking around. You kind of need to know where to go. I met them after work in Jordan and we strolled Temple Street and the ladies market and ended up at Hing Kee for clay hotpot rice. One thing they would soon learn is that, all popular places in Hong Kong will have a queue.

Friday they went up to the Peak and met them after work at Kam's for goose dinner. "Too tough!" haha, followed by dessert. Saturday we met in Causeway Bay after my (half) hair cut, grabbed an egg tart from Bakehouse and walked through Victoria Park to Sister Wah for beef brisket noodles, followed by a post meal walk to the Eastern Corridor promenade for some harbour views before catching a tram to North Point. Walked down to Sau Kei Wan, caught sunset and took a boat to Lei Yue Mun for seafood dinner. Sunday, dim sum in Central, walk through Hong Kong park, afternoon tea at the Conrad and then dinner at Above and Beyond, walk along the Avenue of the Stars and Star Ferry back to Hong Kong island. Monday they explored Causeway Bay before heading off back to Sydney. Please visit more!

Japan effect

I had heard that due to the unprecedented surge in tourists that the Japanese politeness had slowly diminished. Happy to report that this is not the case, perhaps there's a slightly less patience. But the friendliness, politeness and conscientious mannerisms were still there. It's interesting to observe that even on the return trip back to Hong Kong, people on the flight appeared to be more considerate. Speaking quietly, giving way. It's a nice effect.

Four days in Tokyo. Not too much activity, the days were mostly eating. It's true what they say though, the popular places are busy. Expect to line up, and queues. The food and hospitality still amazing. I forget where I heard this but it goes along the lines of "Japan ruins everything. The minute they start to perfect a craft, it makes all other variations, products feel inferior", or something to that effect. Referring to the fact that everything in Japan is so beautifully crafted from the peanut butter sandwiches, to the egg sandwiches to the cup of coffee, an even the humble pancake. 

Don't think we had a bad meal. Kept saying, why has it taken us so long to visit Japan. Not a huge amount of day time activity as fatigue has settled in rendering our days to. Eat. Sleep. Eat. Rest. Sleep. Or something permutation of those activities. Went for a nice run around Tokyo Harbour and managed to even pop into the office.