mama mia! here i go again.....

Last night I saw a movie that's still playing on my mind.

Sharkwater, as the name would suggest, is about sharks, how they live and how they're being finned to the point of population collapse. This is both sad and, from an ecological standpoint, dangerous.

HK is the main trading point for fins, and within a short walk of my new pad I could buy fins openly from one of the many stores that line the streets here. And a bird's nest or two to go with. Nothing illegal about it here.

Part of the film focused on the activities of Sea Shepherd, a direct action charity that puts itself and its boats on the line to stop illegal fishing globally. Earlier this year they chased a Japanese whaling boat around the pacific and successfully stopped its catch. This film showed some heart breaking footage of them pulling up long lines (60 MILES OF LONG LINES) that were illegally catching fish (including shark) off the coast of Costa Rica.

Needless to say, this extreme action has struck a chord with GP's more extreme personality traits, and this morning finds me signing up as a supporter of theirs, and looking into becoming a crew member....

I believe in miracles....

Moving home is a majorly stressful life event.

I am in the process.

This time last week I was packing up my old flat, under the supervision of one Mr Miracle, a HK removals guy recommended by a good friend of mine.

Turns out the name is well earned. Mr Miracle turned up, moved all my furniture single handed (I had assumed it was Mr Miracle and his team of Miracle Workers, but no), and, as we rattled down the road in his clapped out van, me clutching onto my peace lily, he whipped out a set of testimonials from happy patients he's treated.

In one of the more bizarre dual careers I've come across, it turns out Mr Miracle is both a removals guy and a faith healer.

Turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese...

One of the crueler pass times that expats get up to is laughing at the standard of English of the locals.

As someone who can speak rusty French and German, and had to give up on Cantonese when I got my tones horribly confused and said "cock" rather than "nine" to a group of bemused business men (you think in the context of a lift I would have got away with it, but they can be unforgiving about this sort of thing...) I am generally pretty tolerant of anyone's attempt to speak English, as I don't think I've earned the right to have a giggle or criticize.

However, browsing the furniture ads (moving house means I've got to shift a lot of furniture quickly) I was surprised and a little disgusted to find someone proudly offering a "SOFA CUM BED".

Should you want it, you do have to trek to Lantau to collect :-)