Where is the Justice?

You are at a job. You will probably be there for six hours (or more). Your only source of food is the kind they choose to order. You realize that clients love ordering cheap, convenient grub. This only leaves three possible options;

1) McDonald's
2)Pizza Hut
3) KFC
4) MSG packed, oil slicked, fried Chinese concoction one finds hard to call food.

You have already been scrutinized for your weight countless times. Your agency gets mad at you for eating food like such. So you don't eat the food the client has offered. You order a coffee, black please, no sugar. Then the client undoubtedly thinks you are just another anorexic model. You are now hungry and frustrated until you get home, have a sensible supper, and wait for that phone call from your agency saying you had a coffee break when you we're supposed to be in front of the camera (you had your coffee while everyone was stuffing their face).

Cheque, please.

Animated Locks.

Harper's Bazaar

Mommy's E-mail Number One;

Hi babeee,

So Patrick got a paycheque and what does he buy?

Video games and a giant bong. You should see this thing. He doesn't have school today, so his friends come over last night. They all go out and Patrick comes home with this big lime-green bong that has 3 "chambers" and it looks like a piece of laboratory equipment. He has this HUGE smile on his face and says… "Mom! Look what I got! Only $75 !!!" I'm sitting in the kitchen eating soup. So they all pull up a chair and start loading this thing. Then they all go outside and light up. They come back in with huge goofy grins and proceed to eat all the food I have in the house. I even have to make them spaghetti & meatballs before they starve to death. Poor Sabian's going crazy cuz there are these 3 big guys in the living room and they all smell funny.

Ahhh, I love my life.

Mummy xoxo

One Way Ticket, Please.

Dear Hong Kong,

You are crowded. You are smelly. You are polluted. You hang horrific slabs of red meat and hang yellow baby chickens from the neck. Your people do not know how to walk in the streets (haven't they lived here their whole lives? haven't they had enough practice?). Your sidewalks are too narrow for your over-populated city. Your people do not know how to wait in lines. Your people do not know how to use the MTR efficiently. You have too many McDonald's, and not enough Starbucks. The tap water is not drinkable, and when it is, it tastes like shit. Your sense of style seems like it has been frozen since the late 90's. The only reasonably nice clothes are the one's that I (and 90% of the population) could never afford. You insist on constructing skyscrapers at 9 AM right outside of my window- every morning (even on Saturdays). Your elevators are insanely slow. You pay pennies for editorials (even less than everywhere else). You are extremely loud and frustrating. You have too many tempting bakeries, at ridiculously low prices (you tease). You have the scariest thunderstorms (along with cyclones and typhoons) I have ever encountered. You have made me miss fall, and replaced it with humid, sticky afternoons.

But don't worry, Hong Kong, you also have many redeeming qualities. You have the best nightlife district I have ever laid eyes on (and I have seen one too many). You have more culture than any other country in the world. You have the most amazing skyline, drawing locals and tourists alike. You have beautiful, fresh, juicy exotic fruits for 3 dollars a dozen. You are the master of imported goods (especially those international grocery stores that could put any Whole Foods to shame). You have enchanting cobble stone streets lined with red paper lanterns, where the smell of incense wafts between tea shops and tiny flower shops. You are 100% prepared for any kind of tropical weather monstrosities coming our way. You have beautiful temples scattered around a city filled with luxury department stores. Your alcohol is cheap, along with your Lucky Strikes and Marlboros. Your currency makes me think I am spending too much money, when really, I'm hardly spending anything. Your traditional coffee wakes me up for eight hours straight. Elgin street makes me want to stay with you forever. Your wonderful escalators in Central (how nice of you to not make us trek up and up in our six inch heels). Your fantasticly organized and dirt cheap subway system - and your epic ''Octopus Card''. Your 24/7 convenience stores on every corner. Your sleep-friendly work (and casting) hours.

I guess you're alright in my books, after all, Hong Kong.

Holga

Can I keep him?

Wynn-ing Macau and Mid Autumn Dragons.

Last week was the mid-autumn lantern festival. Me and Elliott went to Causeway Bay and experienced Chinese culture first hand. We saw beautifully crafted paper lanterns of all shapes and sizes. Intricate light patterns were hung from tree to tree, thousands of ornaments and traditional red good luck charms strung around the park. Art students stood proudly in front of their paper creations, hundreds of people eating cotton candy and buying souvenirs for their wide-eyed children. We heard of a 70 foot dragon parade somewhere not too far away, and we followed the bright signs and laughter along the side streets of the city until we found somewhere to stand on our tip-toes to watch the eagerly awaited performance. Handing out hefty glasses of red wine for five bucks a pop, we were free to stroll wherever we pleased as long as we gave a 30 dollar deposit for the wine glass. We then saw a gigantic dragon made out of clay. They had stuck over 7,000 incense sticks all along the body, and there were over a hundred strong men supporting it. Whenever they would spin the head or the tail around in some form of strange dance routine, the incense sticks would flare up and they would duck in fear of getting burned (many of them did). It's sad to think that the Chinese have such culture, and that us Canadians only have Canada day (which never is that great in the first place). They all celebrate things we find strange, but they celebrate so strongly and in such unison that a foreigner cannot help but be slightly jealous. No one judges, no one compares one another - these festivals and celebrations are enjoyed as one group.

Following these festivities was a national holiday. What better way to spend it than spending the day in Macau? We departed from Sheung Wan fairly late in the afternoon, but since the ferry only takes one hour, we weren't in much of a hurry. We bought our tickets for 20 dollars, and we soon arrived in the Vegas of Asia. I had never been to any type of casino, let alone a place with so many of them tucked onto one tiny island, so I was extremely overwhelmed. Wondering how we were going to get to the main strip, we soon realized that this would be no issue whatsoever; every casino wants your company. Lined up was dozens of free casino shuttles, begging us to come aboard and spend our money at their establishment. What casino did we want to lose money to? Eventually we decided on the Wynn, apparently a sister to the Wynn Las Vegas, and one of the glitziest casinos in Macau. Once arrived, I was flabbergasted by the copious amounts of gold and glamor these places had to offer. Replicas of castles ornate with lush burgundy carpets, sky-high ceilings and beautiful chandeliers grazing thick, creamy drapes. This place was gigantic. Elliott soon informed me about casino tricks - they serve you free alcohol on the slots (because they make most of their money from those devil machines). They don't serve you alcohol in the playing areas where you might possibly make some cash, like the poker tables. These people will do anything to make you stay in their casino, so help them we might choose to wander somewhere else and spend money there. Free tea, free sandwiches, catering available 24/7, no windows anywhere so you completely lose track of where you are and what budget you might of came with. It reminded me of a Disney World for adults. I played a slot machine and won three times as much as I put in (even though we lost it back to the casino later on). We played a couple machines and then decided that we didn't want to eat in the hotel, and that we were going to take a stroll along the beautiful streets of Macau. Let me tell you, Macau is absolutely phenomenal. It is the most beautiful mix of Portuguese architecture with Chinese influence. The buildings are all such attractive shades of pastel yellows, greens, pinks, with gorgeous white trimming. The chapels are out of this world. It felt like we were in an Easter colored dream, on a very strange egg hunt. It was a mix of Switzerland, Parisian side streets, and Chinese food stalls.The smell of traditional Portuguese egg tarts, the old Portuguese couples holding hands and devouring them. We then went to a much needed Portuguese dinner. Sharing a bottle of wine, Elliott had the rack of lamb and I had the sole topped with a seafood bake. Amazing! We then headed back to the Wynn, after poking our heads into other competitors (there was no contest - the Wynn was the place to go). Elliott went to play poker, and I went to enjoy the free wine at the slots (I only pretended to play so they would give me the free wine, hehe). After a couple hours, we realize that we had lost much money and that we should think about heading home for the night, since the ferry runs 24/7. We couldn't take out any more money, as my bank account limit had been reached for the day. Oh shit. I obviously start to freak out, not wanting to sleep on the streets of glitzy Macau. Elliott's mom, thankfully, helped us pay for a hotel room in the Wynn by phoning the hotel. Thank God! We get our room keys and realize that we are staying in the fanciest hotel room in the fanciest hotel on the whole island. I cannot even explain how fantastic this room was. I started crying when I saw it, and immediately started jumping on the bed with the complimentary silk bathrobe. We had the BEST BED I HAVE EVER SLEPT IN. They are so good that they even sell them in the hotel lobby. Everything was electronic, everything was gold, everything was too much to ever ask for. I didn't want to leave the next morning. I was so upset. We then had lunch in the hotel lobby (I had the salade nicoise and elliott had the house club) and we departed the island of broken dreams.

Things in Hong Kong are quite slow. It's been quiet, and I haven't worked since last week. I have a job on Thursday, but that's all that I know of. I dyed my hair brown after the agency requested that I got it done. I was going to go to Aveda, but they told me they knew someone who was amazing and that didn't cost as much. After four hours of trying different shades, they guy charged me a whopping 300 bucks for something I could have done myself. I was complaining, but now I understand what he was doing. he had put semi-permanent brown over my white hair, and now it's getting more beautiful every time I wash it. Right now it's a beautiful dark blonde/light brown shade, with highlights somehow...I approve! It will also just keep getting lighter the more I wash it. Me and Elliott have been making friends and going out too much. I keep hurting myself - last week I fell down and cut my head open and it was bleeding all over the place (I am fine!!!). Then another night I graciously fell on my knees, and then my elbows, and then my chin (I love the agency's support on this one; ''oh my god....is it on your face??'' ''no there is no obvious marks, but thanks, I'm fine!'').

Every morning, every day.