West Lake Culture of Romance

上有天堂,下有苏杭 There is heaven above, and Su-Hang below… and it is here in Hangzhou, China, where I returned after a three-year absence. Truth be told, this was the heaven I needed after the past three years. Eight days of quarantine bliss, where the only voices I had to deal with were my own.  A perfect recipe to re-enter a country where I had spent…

The Edge of Autumn

“A pathway into autumn… I like this. It’s how I envision the fall.” She turns and flashes me this image. It is one in a series of autumn shots around Kamyk nad Vltavou in Czechia, taken on my last hike in October.  She leans back into the pillow, continues to flip through the photos, and stops when she comes to a poem I had…

The Ghosts of Tai O

Stepping out onto the verandah, a strong feeling of déjà vu sweeps over me. I breathe in the early morning air of the sleepy fishing village of Tai O, the sound of the water inviting me out to explore. The purity of silence only a pre-dawn sky can provide, accompanies me as I walk down a path toward the shore of the South China…

Hong Kong Democracy: The Umbrella Revolution

Upon first glance, the sight of demonstrations in Hong Kong is enough to take the breath away: another crystallizing moment in the territory’s rich history.  It is a beautiful thing to see; young and old united for a cause…especially one important as democracy and freedom. Yet like Hong Kong history, the protests are just one of many layers of complexity. There is a very…

Hong Kong: The Pulse of Life

There are days where no matter how I get out of bed, every side is the wrong side. Days where the dreary drone of jumbled words fill the mind and accompanies me as I sleep walk through the day.  A day, regardless of what my calendar tells me, is a week of  full of Monday mornings. Since returning to Hong Kong last week, my typical day has been…

Positive Envy

There is an old saying I think about every now and then: “the grass is always greener on the other side.” Not so much for its meaning of someone desiring something they believe would improve his or her life, yet in reality would not.  Instead, it is because I think about where I am now, and the possibilities of what could be. To dream…

Let The Show Begin…

“She sang as if she knew me in all my dark despair, and then she looked right through me as if I wasn’t there…” The eyes, resting on you and only you…and as much as you try to convince yourself you are dreaming, slowly you are drawn into the spectacle taking place before you. To be drawn into a spectacle…into a dream, that is…

A Hong Kong Life To Be Thankful For…

For me, it is the memory of crawling out of bed for the pre-dawn hunt, returning home to the aroma of love via my mom’s baking and preparation of a meal that could last a lifetime…  All together it makes Thanksgiving my favorite holiday of the year. Strange thing is, I have not had such experiences in almost two decades as work and logistics…

The Hallelujah Mountains of Hunan

Sitting in my comfortable chair with a nice cup of coffee in my hand, I can’t help but wonder “what lies around the corner?” Curiosity cannot help but push us towards this unknown.  It may be a quick look or it may be the beginning of a long, new adventure…  The one thing I am sure of, we cannot help but take a look….

The Simple Things…

The year was 1397AD, and Gao Rui-fu was walking through the streets of Xi’an, China.  Having just returned the day before from a long trek along the fabled Silk Road, he was in search of something in his hometown, yet unsure what this “something” was. He passed his favorite bookstore, pausing by the new titles, thinking perhaps it was opening the page of some…