Kevin Lau

It’s impossible to confuse me as a non-Asian. But as I’ve learned, it’s easy to confuse me as a non-Chinese. First time I went for some comforting man hands, the masseuse ask my momma if I was Chinese. Apparently the dime sized eyes aren’t considered substantial evidence. But what could misguided this thick country accented comforting man hands to confuse me as non-Chinese, or more politically correct, a non-local?

Could it simply be my demeanor, or is it something more. Is it my horrible brand of Chinese, or is it the way I pronounce my “Z’s”? ( They say “Ee-Zet” over here.) Well as I’ve learned it’s actually a combination of demeanor, language and physical appearance. My cuz jose said people can obviously tell I’m not a local. Through my use of language, and from my skin color. I don’t mean the difference between white, black and yellow. I’m talking about the effects of the Californian sun. I’m much darker than people here, probably 5 shades of pigmentation darker than the rest. So I guess it is a color thing after all.

Haven’t played tennis in two weeks. Starting to really crave it at this point. Right now I’ll play with anyone, even a 6 year old girl as long as she has a pulse. She doesn’t even have to move, just pretend she’s playing with me.

- Been really needing an injection of testosterone in my social life this week. I’ve only been hanging out with old ladies, old men, soccer moms or 19 year old girls. I feel my penis is starting to fall off leaving me with just two balls. TMI… I know.

- Went to get my driver’s license last week. Since my driver’s license from back home only says “Kevin Lau” and my name here is “Kevin Lau Kai Wing”, I have to swear in or something saying that really is me. Odd stuff.

- Finally opened a bank account. They made me change my signature since my old “KLau” was too simple. Now I have to sign as “LauKW”. Guess it works, since I am in Asia.

I make ten times the amount a well paid person in China makes. I’ve had to say that to myself many times to understand the difference between my income and the locals. Well in Hong Kong, I make four times the average person. It’s an idea that is very hard to grasp.

Struggling the past couple years back in the states even at a decent income, I’ve come to see how far in debt we are back home. People here are barely in debt, even though they make much less money. So what is my point? I really don’t know, I still haven’t truly understood the difference in class and incomes. The only thing I know is I need to learn to be more sensitive with some of the locals. Once told a masseuse how much I will make, he told me how much he made. I really didn’t know how to respond. I make ten times he does. It’s very strange.

Finally had a full day of rest. Went to the doctor in the morning and took a needle to the butt. Haven’t had a needle to the butt in years. While it seems like years since I’ve blogged, it’s only been about a week and I need a recollection to sort out what happened the past week.

- Mike Cha arrived, he got to eat the eggplant. He liked it

- Went to Macau, place is f-ing crazy, so many f-ing casinos

- Went to Shanghai, had a fairly good impression. But the difference between the haves and the have nots is extremely huge. It was strange because I am considered the extreme upper class there. Basically imagine dining at Morton’s Steak every night as a regular meal.

- However the cheap local food is really damn good. Beer is so cheap, it’s like 3 RMB for a huge bottle.

- Really looking forward to meeting Thanh and Neil’s friends, hopefully I’ve learned enough about Hong Kong and Shanghai where I can actually show them around.

With enough material to fill a week’s worth of blog, I have returned. However I’ve become sick for the second time this year. First caught an American virus, now I got some sort of yellow fever or something. Though sounding totally different, both plagues seem to give me the same symptoms. Your typical running nose, stuffy head all that good stuff. Guess there isn’t a racist flu.

If a coke addict needs cocaine, then mexican food is my cocaine. Luckily El Taco Loco in the Soho district was able to supply my needs. Surprisingly it was tolerable and not bad. However the tacos aren’t spicy enough. Not for a native So Cal fool. So what’s up with the firecracking? Well as I’m typing this, fire crackers are going off outside. It’s actually banned in Hong Kong but I live in the New Territories and it’s like the Inland Empire for Southern Cal. People don’t give a fuck.

Super bowl is on a Monday over here. Woke up at 5:30 to head to a bar about an hour into the city. Made it in time for kick off. A bunch of Americans there.

- Apparently Expats, white guys and English speaking people are known to be a bit of a player with good game. Guess there are always exceptions.

- Also I can see why the locals find American obnoxious and arrogant. After the game in a subway, a bunch of young kids, about 20 were loud and obnoxious and arrogant. Sends a bad message.

- I finally found Mexican food. Will be trying it this week.

- Excited to see Mike Cha this week. Gonna introduce him to Yanjing and some chinese egg plant.