Arrived in Hong Kong, jetlagged and roasted..

The past month has been rather insane, what with a conference in Delhi, evacuating from Cambridge, MA, family holiday obligations, and some early January writing deadlines. But fortunately I have survived it all and arrived in Hong Kong relatively unscathed except for the worst case of jetlag I've had in years. Usually I sleep through the night even on the first day after a trans-pacific flight, but no luck this time - can anybody recommend any super-early-morning breakfast places or all-night noodle joints in the Pokfulam/Kennedy Town area?

Many thanks to my friends and colleagues who work with me on Global Voices for the very funny goodbye "roast" that they unveiled to me by e-mail right before I left the U.S. on Saturday. It came as a complete surprise and I was really touched. I tend to forget that most people on this planet still think it's a big deal when you pick up and move from one continent to another - and somehow for this reason I tend to dismiss and discount any tendency on my own part to feel phased by the effort of moving halfway round the world on my own, once again.

I'm sharing the "roast" slideshow below because it's very funny and creative and shows what a cool bunch of people our Global Voices team is, and why I love them. But first, a bit of explanation as it starts out with a very inside joke: about two years ago some bloggers called me a "kitten eating evil cyborg" because I failed to invite them and their friends to a certain conference. It turned into a running joke with my friends and colleagues who still make cracks about me eating kittens from time to time. What some of my friends and colleague probably forgot is that I have just moved to a part of the world where kitten-eating can be a very serious allegation. So just in case the local animal rights groups or SARS-prevention health inspectors around here get any wrong ideas: I HAVE NEVER ACTUALLY EATEN KITTENS AND HAVE NO PLANS TO DO SO!!

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As my future students and colleagues may deduce from parts of the slideshow, the people I work with think that I'm a type-A personality. I wonder how they ever arrived at that conclusion...   

As I settle in to my new job and new life in Hong Kong, I'm looking forward to blogging more regularly again. My life over the past half year or so has had zero routine and way too much insanity on too many fronts. I can't remember exactly where or when he posted it, but my friend Roland Soong once wrote that it's difficult to blog regularly when your life feels out of joint and disconnected. "Out of joint and disconnected" has been one of the few unifying themes in my life for the past six months and I am thrilled to have brought that chapter to a close, finally.

Comments

[GZ Expat]

Welcome (back) to Asia...and southern China.

[Maurina]

I missed the "deadline" for handing in the messages (poor/nonexistent internet connection).

However, I hope it is not too late to say: "BON VOYAGE REBECCA"! :)

[Therese]

Welcome to Hong Kong! I hope you adjust more quickly to the temperatures than I did, not that it should be difficult being on the beautiful HKU campus. :)

I don't know of any late night eateries in the Pokfulam/Kennedy Town area, but I'll direct those who do to this thread. If you're ever Kowloon-side at night, though, I have a list a mile long of good late night eats.

[Graham]

Back in Asia.... ach... a wee bit jealous. Dunno about noodles, but if it's cha xiu bao you're after this may help:

http://chaxiubao.typepad.com/

All the best for HK, will be in touch if I'm passing through.