Overdue Update

Hello everyone it’s been aeons since I have posted. I’ve been very lazy (but busy) and I need time to organize my thoughts. I came to Hong Kong after spending a very interesting week in Beijing, where Chinese officials were preparing for the arrival of the Olympics torch. A quick shout-out to all of you [...]

[127] A Dead Man’s Memoir – Mikhail Bulgakov

Russian Reading Challenge #4
A Dead Man’s Memoir is semi-autobiographical. The narrator, one mishap Sergei Maksudov, who has failed as a novelist and attempts to commits suicide (which turns out to be a farce), shadows Bulgakov’s life that was emblematic of the writer persecuted for his art. Almost all of Bulgakov’s work was censored by the [...]

The Flight

International Terminal. Online check-in is such a breeze. Drop off bags at Singapore Airlines Raffles Class counter and proceed to the gate.

SilverKris Lounge in International Terminal Concourse G.

SQ001, a Boeing 747-400, being serviced at Gate G95 before its 14-hour flight over the pond to Hong Kong.

The new Raffles Class seat features a flat-bed, a 15″ [...]

Stone Hitting Two Birds

This is going to be a short post, as it’s just hours away from my flight to Hong Kong. I have sneaked out to the bookstore for some last-minute shopping and reading ideas, in case the bookshop at the airport doesn’t stock what I want. (Usually it’s the case.) I’ve been trying to look for [...]

[126] The Journal of Dora Damage – Berlinda Starling

“Apart from the knavery–the villainous way the photographs had been so constructed to convey the worst imaginings between human beings—I was also rankled by their lack of honesty, for all their presentations to integrity. These were not images for anatomical study and pictorial accuracy: the printing alone would have cost more than Jack’s monthly wage, [...]

Friday Fill-Ins

It’s Friday Fill-Ins time everyone:

1. Contact may cause some friction.
2. The parties hereto do mutually agree to disagree!
3. Disney parks are kids’ dream come true but not my cup of tea. [I've been to the one in Los Angeles back in 1989.]
4. Pad Thai sounds really good right about now! [I'm starving after a [...]

Layered Roofs

The hotel kindly informed me that my room will afford the stunning view of the Forbidden City’s layered roofs, which is just a stone’s throw away. The official high-season for the Olympics Game (opening at 8 PM on Aug 8th) begins on May 1st. I’m lucky to have scored a courteous upgrade during this shoulder [...]

Stumped

How about a chance to play editor-in-chief? Fill in the blanks:
__________ would have been a much better book if ______________________

Okay, I’m completely stumped by this week’s question. I can recall recall two books of the which endings should be rewritten: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett and The Eygptologist by Arthur Phillips. After the traumatic encounter [...]

Truth

Hong Kong Book Centre on Des Voeux Road in Central
Local papers in Hong Kong have been raving about competitiveness of students’ English proficiency in schools that adopt English as the medium of instruction. While students in these schools might have more exposure to the language (i.e. textbooks, handouts, bulletin written in English), I always [...]

Challenge Update

I totally agree with Andi that The Journal of Dora Damage should garner more attention and dance all over critics’ radar. It’s very intriguing read that not only Dora binds these pornographies for the high society behind her husband’s back, but she also suffers from the scruple of doing so. For she has navigated into [...]