Back to the Twin Cities

a few more numbers?

• 18 hours travel



• 13 hours time difference



• 33C temperature drop...

I took off from Hong Kong at 8am...and landed in Minneapolis at 10:30am, same day!

It is nice and sunny here... a bit chilly though (-13C); the lake nearby is frozen.

I am super impatient to see the boys and Denzil (they are still at school/work)! Thanks for following this blog, that was fun to write it!

10 hours

It's pouring rain in Hong Kong, unusual for this season. Hong Kong people don't stop talking about the weather forecast: a cold front should hit Hong Kong tomorrow or on Thursday. Not sure how "cold" that may be though. I am mentally getting ready to hit another cold front: -18C in Minneapolis.

24 hours

I've been counting in days since I arrived in Hong Kong... and switched to counting in hours since yesterday morning! 24 hours and I'll be in the plane, heading to Tokyo then Minneapolis. A few more meetings and one "dimsun" dinner to go.
Hong Kong is all about connection: yesterday on my way to the Star Ferry to go from Central to TST, I met a nice Indian lady I had met on Saturday's party - typical.

Hong Kong keeps growing: horizontally. This land was still under the sea 2 years ago when we lived here.

the new pier at Central (pier 7)

more birds

from my hotel bedroom, wild in Hong Kong centre...

Sunday in Hong Kong (2)

As Domestic workers don't work on Sundays, I had dinner with Ariyul, her sister and her cousin, all working in Hong Kong.

Sunday in Hong Kong

Jordan, Woosung Street, where today's training the trainers took place.

Christmas tree under HSBC tower.

Central: Domestic Helpers gather for Sunday, their free day.

Birds are amazing in Hong Kong: right in the heart of the city, an impressive falcon.

Hong Kong (2)

I was just wondering what makes Hong Kong so special: the little shops everywhere, the Star Ferry linking the two parts of the city, the pace of the city... But I realised what makes Hong Kong truly special: yesterday night I was invited to a friend's birthday party. I met her years ago when I organised money lessons to migrant workers. When I arrived at her party, I met friends I knew from the flamenco, including a French friend. That's what makes Hong Kong so special: people's relationship circles are connected and you always meet someone who knows someone you already know.

Hong Kong

I am staying at the Helena May, a Women's club who offers very cheap but beautiful rooms for women only. The building is a century old, a rare thing in Hong Kong, and is very British.

Hong Kong has Christmas decorations everywhere. On the photo: ponsietta and Chinese flowers

changing world

Tshumriprir,
Goodbye! I left Cambodia again tonight. I did my first purchase of my trip: "Cambodian for beginners - second edition (so they are other language enthusiastic learners out there) with 3 CDs". This was my 6th trip to Cambodia and probably not the last one so I thought I could learn a few more words than "hello", "bye" and "thank you".

The trip was smooth. It was pitch dark most of the time as Cambodia has hardly any public lights then we quickly crossed Vietnam West-East and flew over the China Sea. But at some point, below us were dozens and dozens of scattered lights, some bright, some hazy under the thin layer of clouds; it just looked like a planetarium with big, bright bulbs instead of stars. I guessed they were fishing boats; this was unexpected and beautiful.

Nearer to Hong Kong, on our descent, I could clearly see all the cargo tankers.
The Hong Kong airport was on Friday night mood: it was 10:30 when I went through the immigration and unlike Cambodia, where 10:30 is way past bedtime, it was buzzing here: business men in suit and tie coming back for the weekend, Mainland Chinese in heavy coats and thick jumpers, Western tourists in sleeveless T-shirts and shorts, probably coming from Thailand or other South East Asian countries. But the queues moved quickly and in an organised way, with non stop Christmas music in background. Nothing to do with the slow, chaotic and dusty streets of Phnom Penh. Even my hotel was still lively when I arrived: there had just been a Christmas party and nice Chinese ladies with long dresses were coming out when I walked in. Christmas decorations are omnipresent and it even smells Christmas tree! Very strange when it is 20C outside!

Coming back to Hong Kong is always strange. First because I can't help saying "coming back" and not going there. It is not quite home, but so familiar; a bit like a base camp. I bought a new phone card at the airport, so I am fully equipped to be "local" and join the fast-pace race of busy HK people starting tomorrow morning!

Phnom Penh streets (taken from the tuctuc)

another world: Airport express train in Hong Kong with the latest stock exchange quotations...

Human Rights Day

It is a bank holiday here in Cambodia (Human Rights Day) but there was as much traffic as usual on the road this morning: bikes, motorbikes, tuc-tuc, big cars. There are no small cars: there are many dusty "Camry Toyota" which are used as intercity minibuses (you can fit 10 people in them, no problem!), or huge brand new cars for the richest. Else: bikes or motorbikes (you can 2 or 3 on them, plus any possible cargo, chickens or car spare part included).
The Enfants du Mekong Centre was open today, buzzing with activities, including a financial education training this morning with a group of 15 second year students (I was just observing).

I will be heading towards Hong Kong tomorrow night.

a few more pictures

Phnom Penh roofs

Phnom Penh roofs

buildings

a kitchen corner in a courtyard

more pictures

the new Enfants du Mekong centre

the hotel courtyard

Phnom Penh downtown

Tshumripsur! (Hello in Khmer)It was funny to listen to Christmas songs in Vietnamese this morning during breakfast (especially Jingle Bells!). Finally a few pictures: the first ones were taken on the way from the airport to the city centre from the "tuc tuc", or local taxi. The nice white building is the new Enfants du Mekong training centre. And there are a few snapshots of the hotel courtyard where meals are served.

sophie

Good meeting and training today! The day started with a breakfast with baguette- a habit left by the French!
It is hot and dusty here, especially after the rides on 'motodop', the motorbike taxis.

At the end of the day, I chatted with two nice students and they told me Sophie is a Cambodian name - pronounced Sop-Hee: and it means very active :)

Hopefully I'll post pictures tomorrow! Stay tune!

In Phnom Penh

I left Hong Kong this morning (Monday) under the rain and a chilly temperature (+20 C) and am now in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (28 C, sunny).
I have two training this afternoon: how to write a business plan, for university students in the Enfants du Mekong charity. The charity has just moved to a brand new building with lots of classrooms - very different from the old centre where I taught trainers last March.
I'll try to post pictures tomorrow!

Stuck in Hong Kong

It was the inauguration of the East Asia Games in Hong Kong last night (Saturday) and there were fireworks over the Harbour, between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon part of Hong Kong. I could catch a glimpse from the taxi in TST (Tsim Sha Tsui). Nice start! Things have gone off plan afterwards… In Singapore, I could not get a visa for China in time so this morning, I couldn’t take the ferry to Zhongshan. I went to the ferry terminal on Nathan Road anyway (next to where Denzil’s office was!) to meet the factory CSR manager who organized the pilot training, Myriam (my HK colleague at whose house I am staying) and our two Mandarin speaking trainers. We had time to review the training and talk… and I feel even worse being stuck here and not going to the factory! The whole project is really exciting: we are going to run a financial literacy training (how to control spending, understand a pay slip, write goals, save for them and budget) for migrant workers (coming from other Chinese provinces) in a factory near Guangzhou. It is really encouraging that companies are willing to sponsor that kind of training for their workers and give them the tools and knowledge to better manage their money and get a better life.
So… for now, I am stuck in the Pacific Coffee, struggling with an unstable WiFi connection, and catching up with late work! It is winter here in Hong Kong: everybody is wearing jackets: 18 degrees (Celsius) and sunny!
No pictures today- I gave my camera to Myriam to capture the best moments of the training!

Leaving Singapore...

The conference ended on Friday late afternoon and was really interesting. I had dinner in Mosque Street (near the mosque) in a Chinese restaurant serving North-Eastern Chinese food ("DongBei" in Chinese).
It was pouring rain in Singapore on Saturday morning: a nice and warm equatorial rain; no wonder Singapore is so green! I saw two friends who used to live in Hong Kong and that was so great! Singapore is booming: there are cranes and new towers being built everywhere, mostly appartments. Near the airport which has four terminals now (for a city of 5 million people, it could sound excessive, but last year 10 million people visited Singapore!) - so, near the airport, a new casino is under construction, which has stirred lots of debates among Singaporians as many of them are reluctant to see their Singapore turn into a new Las Vegas or Macau.

One thing I love in Singapore is that it is truly international and everything is written in four languages... can you guess which ones?

Singapore

I didn't see much of Singapore as I spent these two days in a financial education conference. Very interesting! Good to meet people who run financial education programmes like me.
A few pictures around the hotel: Chinese temple, high rise buildings and older houses.

in Singapore

After a long long journey, I arrived this morning (1 am) at Singapore: 81 F/27 C. Nice temperature!

The plane flew over Alaska: here are a few pictures. I thought it would be night there as we are in December but no, it was all day light and white.

First stop in Seattle

I'm in Seattle for a couple of hours with free Wifi connection. From the airport, I have a beautiful view over the snow-capped Rocky Mountains.
Next flight: Seattle-Tokyo, 16 hours time difference if I count well.