Julie Mahendran

Well, it's my last week in Hong Kong and I don't think I've ever been so busy. I've been crossing a few more sights off my list and visiting with all my new friends before I go- not to mention trying to figure out how all my belongings will fit back into my luggage!

And it all started with a jam session I hosted at Peel Fresco, a venue that was first mentioned in one of my early blogs. They have a weekly Sunday evening jam, and I thought it would be a great way to kick off my final week in Hong…

Just got back to Hong Kong from a visit to Singapore and I'm wishing that my blog would write itself. Alas, it won't! I'm a little tired after trying to keep up with my 3 wee cousins for the past few days, but it was great to catch up with relatives that I hadn't seen in a long time.

The weather in Singapore made me appreciate how lucky I was with the weather in Beijing, which was nice and sunny. Singapore was basically overcast and raining the whole time- not the biggest incentive to get out there and…

Absolutely! What a finale to my visit in Beijing. It was a whirlwind 2 days, but I will attempt to give you some of the highlights that I remember from the fountain of information supplied by Mark, my trusty tour guide.

First let me say that as I was told beforehand, Beijing is an absolutely massive city- with 18 million inhabitants it seems dense yet sprawling at the same time. Our first stop on day 1 (at the un-musicianly hour of 7:30 a.m.) was Tiananmen Square.

This huge area can hold up to half a…

Why it's in Hong Kong of course! And I went to pay it a visit today. We haven't had a lot of sunny days lately, so when I knew this one was coming up I decided it would be the perfect time to take the scenic Ngong Ping 360 cable car over a scenic stretch of Lantau Island to the site of the Po Lin Monastery and the Big Buddha, as it is commonly known. (It's official name is the Tian Tan Buddha.)

First, this is what I faced getting there- yes, more lines. Oh, the things I do for the sake of my blog!

As we…

So what, you ask, in my opinion is the most overrated tourist spot that I've seen so far in Hong Kong? The Peak.

But before I elaborate, allow me to apologize for another week sans blog- this one I will attribute to the cold that I was fighting all last week, and the endless episodes of Dexter that I watched while drinking lemon water and resting up on my futon. When I'm getting paid to sing, if I feel a tickle in my throat I think it behooves me to give it my full attention- which is what I did. I…

This blog finds me writing in the wake of one of the most severe typhoons to hit Hong Kong in recent years. I wasn't all that familiar with the term typhoon until I came here, apparently with good reason- it is the name for a mature tropical cyclone in the northwestern part of the Pacific, however in the eastern north Pacific they are known as hurricanes. Same thing, different name! So now you know (if you didn't already)...

Unfortunately I don't really have any sexy details to share about typhoon…

As I approach the mid-point of my stint in Hong Kong, I'm starting to feel like I'm not a complete outsider anymore. But there are still lots of new experiences to be had, and I have a few to tell you about this week.

There's an eatery in my neighborhood with kind of a western pub-slash-family-restaurant vibe to it that I've gotten into visiting at least once a week- Angelo's. Part of it is knowing that there will be someone who speaks a bit of English behind the counter and can answer questions about…

Okay, after a week's break I'm back on the blog train again! You'll have to forgive me, a certain special someone surprised me with a birthday visit so I got a bit distracted. But that's not the only good news- I also had the chance to visit with another familiar face from Toronto and another vocalist as well, Janaia Farrell.  It has been a surreal couple of weeks as we all explored Hong Kong and it's neighbouring island country (albeit a tiny one), Macau. I will be sending pics from Macau to my mailing…

Hong Kong is certainly not small, but in some ways this former British colony is still like a mini-UK. I spent a year living and working in London many years ago, and I've started having flashbacks in certain situations- not the least of which is as a pedestrian trying to remember which way to look before crossing the street. As in London, some crosswalks kindly have directions printed on the street such as "look right"- which is the direction you generally want to look in a country where people drive on…

I'm living in a university dorm! Or rather an apartment about the size of one, which is apparently the norm here in Hong Kong- where space is at a super-premium. As lovely as the space and luxury of the Four Seasons was, this is what I came here for- to experience local Hong Kong life. And as painful as it was to get some kind of wireless internet service for my computer in my new home, I'm just happy to be up and running.

Here was my first impression of the apartment:

Lots of windows, which is cool...

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