I am so far behind in blogging it is ridiculous. I have a long list of blog topics, including a new idea for You Tube video that will have you laughing forever. Sorry for being so silent. As I write this Tess is on the sofa (recently re-covered in Shenzhen thanks to the lovely & talented Tess – and the sofas look GREAT) with Sebastian, reading him another chapter of The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. I had all sorts of grand plans of what I’d write about tonight and then Tess wrote about our friend Sandi. The other stuff will just have to wait.

All that Tess wrote is true. I remember that night ten years ago when the three of us first met at the wine tasting dinner. Sandi (well actually the hosts, but Sandi provided all the details) introduced us to a red wine called Lemberger. This is a very heavy red wine ~ about the heaviest that they come and makes a Barolo taste like water. If you want heavier red, well, you have to switch to a port in most cases. We received a complimentary bottle of Lemberger that night that still sits on our shelf. I mentioned to Sandi some time ago that I still had the bottle and she replied with, "What? It will have gone bad!" Perhaps not but I better try it soon just in case. Sandi is the one who taught me how to make a martini. The first one she rated an 8.5 and the second one (a few weeks later – not the same day!) she rated an 8.6. I was pretty proud of myself. That kind of score from Sandi is huge. Sandi has some of the best lines and funniest stories, too. Maybe she deserves a category of her own on the blog?

In the last few weeks the Hong Kong air, thanks to southerly winds coming off the South China Sea, has been spectacular. The winds have kept the pollution in China, not let it drift down into Hong Kong. Looking out from any building in Hong Kong, one can see details never before seen on distant islands. I heard a story this week that someone from their office building window actually saw Macau! (Very unusual.) At left is a picture I took near Magazine Gap, a road that leads to The Peak. The tall building about 1/3 in from the left is IFC 2: once drawn by Sebastian. I work in IFC 1, part of the same complex but half the size and just out of site behind some other buildings. I started my new job on June 1, (the morning after my 11th anniversary of landing in HK) and a major perk is the view from my 32nd floor office. Believe it or not, I actually have a corner office that looks north and west across the harbour. No complaints, it is a beautiful view, and accompanying this post are some of the sunset pictures I took at the end of my first day. I also remember some of my first days in Hong Kong, eleven years ago, walking past a huge circular hole in the ground. Each day the huge circular column grew bigger and bigger while I marvelled at its size. The column now holds the elevator shafts of my building.

I am really tired for some reason, just like Jasper pictured above. Very unusual things happening to me… for example, my coffee consumption has dropped to almost nil. Yes, I know, that might be the cause of the fatigue… caffeine withdrawal. Anyway, after eight days in the job in Hong Kong, the travel starts this week: Singapore, Tokyo and Australia the following week. Wish me luck!