Highs and lows

The past week has been hectic at work, as we were trying to put the magazine to bed. Meeting production deadlines have always been a tough job for writers and editors--well that's why there are production managers in any publishing firm I guess. Many freelance contributors are habitually late with their stuff, or they wait until the very last minute. It must be a psychic thing. Having done freelance myself I can say an impending deadline can produce a massive adrenaline rush that can result in some of the best work I've ever done.

Highs and lows of the last few days:
* Erap's conviction. Although this brought a lot of rejoicing it also made some people wonder why comparable or even bigger offenders aren't being prosecuted. Imelda Marcos, for example, is flourishing and enjoying a revival of her popularity and clout. We Pinoys really are a forgiving lot.

* Friends in need. A good friend that I used to work with was going through a tough time in her personal life and also at work. While I, like all our other friends, felt tremendous sympathy for her, I also wanted to shake her and tell her it wasn't the end of the world, that things usually turn out for the best, that she will look back a month, heck maybe even a week from now at the string of events that upset her, and laugh about it. But the older I get the more I realise that the best way to help friends sometimes is to just be there for them and not bludgeon them with too much unsolicited advice. She was in a glum uncommunicative mood but after dimsum and a bit of window shopping yesterday her mood lifted, she was laughing at the end of the day, and the shadows seemed to have gone away. At least for a time.

* Grey skies. This week the horrible haze is back. After weeks and weeks of impossibly blue skies, HK is Pollution Land again. The Observatory said a freak southesterly wind--which blew all the pollution back to Guangdong--created those perfect days. Come back, come back! As I texted friends yesterday, I'm not sure I want to live in a city that is under a perpetual soupy haze compounded of diesel emissions from local vehicles plus the nasty stuff from the factories across the border! When I first came to Hong Kong in 1997 the skies were so clear and blue. They say the last blue skies were in 2000. But I think of how cloudless and clear the skies over the Philippines are--oh yes, even over Metro Manila--and I could weep. Last year, when I was vacationing in France, I was perpetually astonished by how clear the skies were. You could see forever into the distance. My flat, and I've mentioned this many times before, overlooks Hong Kong's low hills and I used to rejoice at the green vistas that gave me. Well today, I can barely discern the green slopes through the haze.

* What is it with restaurants? Dim Sum restaurant in Happy Valley (63 Sing Wo Road) was always my go-to to impress visiting out of towners because while its offerings were rather pricey they were reliably excellent. But my recent visit left me disappointed; either it was an off day for the chef--although how you can go wrong when the menu hasn't changed in years--or they're now cutting quite a lot of corners, but the food was BLAH! The hau gau was not as strikingly fresh as in the past, when the prawns seemed to be just minutes from the sea. The siu mai was so-so, the tea wasn't as earthy-rich (it was puerh, or po lei), and the 3 other dishes were just forgettable. I paid HK$220 ($7.7=US$1). In another dimsum restaurant I would have paid half the bill and probably come away more satisfied with the quality.

...Well look at that! Almost 9 am. Gotta start on the work I brought home. At least I don't have to worry about cleaning the flat--I finally gave in and asked a parttime cleaning lady to do the necessary. In three hours the place will at least sparkle.

Have a great Sunday everyone!