The Kowloon Diaries

Macau diary

We went to Macau at the weekend for the first time in ten years and were dismayed at what it has turned into. It used to be a quaint little getaway, where you step back in time from Hong Kong and get a taste of a more rural, European culture. The old parts are still there, but they're dwarfed by the huge new casinos. We couldn't believe the size of these places, couldn't believe that there are really so many millions of people willing to come here just to gamble. (I never win when I gamble, so I don't understand the allure.)

I thought it might be glamorous like Las Vegas, but it's not at all. Inside, the casinos are opulent in a predictable, cliched sort of way. We took an obligatory gondola ride on a fake Venetian canal, and a Filipino named Guiseppe sang Santa Lucia for us. It might have been amusing, if it weren't so expensive and we hadn’t had to queue for an hour for a fifteen minute ride.

Outside, around the Cotai Strip, it's just messy, with lots of construction sites and long stretches of wasteland. We stayed in the Regency where we also stayed ten years ago. I remembered it as a decent five star place, but now it's falling apart.

We were only there for two days which probably isn't enough time to form an opinion, but I didn't get the impression that all this casino money has filtered down to the local community. The schools are still run down, the local shops and streets are still shabby. The only difference is that before Macau used to be shabby in a charming way, now it looks like it's just waiting to be torn down.

The only thing I liked was the Grand Lisboa Casino. We didn't get a chance to go outside, but from the outside it's so bizarre I couldn’t stop staring at it.

Not Really

As I'm aware that tourists wander on to this blog from time to time looking for travel information on Hong Kong, I'm feeling obliged to offer the following advice: Don't come in June, July or August because it pisses with rain the whole time.

Look at these rainfall figures: June - 18.8 rainy days per month, July - 17.8, August -  17.4. You think you'll avoid it? You think you'll be lucky? Ask yourself: When are you ever?

The lost art of reading

An article from the LA Times in which the author is moaning about not being able to read with the distractions of technology. It gets more interesting when he talks about reading as an act of engagement with the world and other people. Reading is so often described as an escape, but it’s the opposite. He writes: ‘Reading is an act of contemplation, perhaps the only act in which we allow ourselves to merge with the consciousness of another human being.’

On bananas and Browning

Happy New Year. Yes I know it's almost March but it's taken me a while to catch up with 2009. Partly because of the usual obligations of this time of year - New Year, Chinese New Year, kids on holiday, Sam’s birthday, helper on vacation, parents in town, in-laws in town…But mostly because of the renovation work on my apartment block which has left us without electricity or water several times a week, and makes so much noise that it’s impossible to stay here, and has thrown up so much dust that me and Sam have been laid up with allergic reactions.

Anyway, at the end of Feb, I've arrived back at my blog. I haven't been big on resolutions this year. My only pledge is to eat a banana a day, because they're so incredibly healthy, and because it seemed like a resolution I may actually stick to. So far I have.

As for my great creative works, it's time to get the wheels turning again. I like to think that taking a rest has been a good thing, as this fallow period has allowed new ideas to develop. Now I can't wait to get back and fix the problems which seemed insurmountable before my break. No doubt it won't be so simple when I get started but at least I can enjoy the idea of my great novel. It reminds me of a poem by Browning about a frustrated author who is peeved because he doesn’t get the recognition he feels is rightly his. But in fact this author barely ever gets round to writing anything–he's only convinced that he could do better than the famous writers of the day. Browning is sarcastically sycophantic and says, great works conceived are better than lesser works executed. I’ll have to go and look it up…

Here it is. It's called Waring and the bit I'm thinking of is this:

I'd say, "to only have conceived,
"Planned your great works, apart from progress,
"Surpasses little works achieved!"

Well you have to read the whole thing to get the context. The rest of is about how the author disappears from London, and the narrator imagines him in a series of wonderful places around the world.

I should read more Browning too, possibly as another minor resolution. I have a book somewhere. After I have my banana I’ll look for it.

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

I attempted to read this because of all the hype, and then I gave up and because it was so stupid, cliched and predictable that I couldn't stand it. I don't like to not finish a book, but in this case I made an exception because life is simply too short to waste on utter nonsense. However, since then it has been on my mind and I have found myself at odd moments wondering what happens to the characters. Yes I know I said it was stupid and predictable, and yet … I'm drawn to it. This is really annoying. Now I'll have to go back and finish it.