10 highlights of my 2019 year

My favorite of a number of beautiful sunsets I viewed 

a number of different parts of the world in 2019

 

 Puppet Ponyo posing in front of a particularly awesome

section of my favorite cave visited last year

There's no denying it: 2019 was not a good year for Hong Kong.  And in view of my love for the Big Lychee and wish that it be free of political repression as well as my having done such as inhaled tear gas not just for the first time ever last year but on six different occasions (including one where it had quite the frightening effect on me), 2019 wasn't all that generally great a year for me too.   

But even though the year most definitely had its share of low points, it actually did also have a number of personal highlights.  So, considering that it's now the third day of the third month of a new year, I reckon it's high time that I spent some time looking back fondly at some of the better parts of 2019 for me; this not least because I do actually like re-reading my "10 highlights" posts from previous years (i.e., 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 and all the way back to 2006, the year I began blogging). :)

1) Best boat ride: Unlike 2015, I didn't go on a cruise last year.  Living as I do in Hong Kong though, I did take a good number of ferry rides (across Victoria Harbour, and to and from different Outlying Islands).  And on my still-not-yet-completely-chronicled May visit to Japan, I went on two very different boat rides.  If it hadn't rained the day that I went to Geibekei, I'm sure I would have enjoyed the boat ride through that gorgeous gorge much more.  As it was though, it was the day that I was in Matsushima where the weather gods smiled at me.  So it's the boat ride across Matsushima Bay that's bathed with warm memories and feels particularly blessed to my mind.       

2) Best book: Back in 2005, Keigo Higashino wrote a crime novel that was translated into English in 2011 and given the title of The Devotion of Suspect X.  Looking for something to distract me from the ongoing troubles in Hong Kong one day in late 2019, I finally got to reading it and was so wowed by it that I've since bought and read four more works by the Japanese writer and probably will end up reading every one of his works that there are English language translations of!  More than incidentally, I've found myself immediately re-reading every one of Higashino's books after finishing them.  And I reckon it's a good measure of how wonderful The Devotion of Suspect X is that I've now reread it not one but twice and found it so very moving as well as interesting each time!    

3) Best cave: I didn't actually plan for it to happen but I ended up spending time in a surprising number of caves in 2019.  Ironically, the least impressive is probably the only one whose visit I've blogged about to date.  Hopefully in the not too distant future, I'll not only finish posting about my May Japan trip but also feel able to blog about my October Japan trip, during which I spend a couple hours or so exploring the thoroughly impressive Akiyoshido, Japan's largest and longest limestone cave!

4) Best concert: I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing my favorite violinist, Ning Feng, perform live not once but twice last year: with the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in December.  But nothing beats the privilege of having been there for Alice Sara Ott's piano recital in November: one that felt thoroughly magical thanks to the considerable talent of a young woman I'd love to be able see return to Hong Kong for another concert but also know may not since she sadly has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.  

5) Best exhibition: I often hear complaints from expats that Hong Kong lacks a world class museum.  Even if that may be the case, they actually often do have very worthwhile special exhibitions.  And such was the case to my mind with regards to the Hong Kong Museum of History's Gilded Glory: Chaozhou Woodcarving, a special exhibition that spotlighted the impressive school of woodcarving of a people that, half way through the exhibition, I got to realizing may be known as Chaozhou in Mandarin/Putonghua but are referred to as Chiuchow by the Cantonese and Teochew to the Hokkiens and the Teochews themselves!

6) Best hike: Thanks to the extradition bill protests (which I first took part in last April but kicked off in earnest in June), I went on way fewer hikes in 2019 than in any other year that I've been in Hong Kong.  Happily though, I did get back to doing so in the final month of last year and enjoyed a pretty good one last Christmas.  Still my favorite excursion into the Hong Kong countryside was way earlier in the year.  More precisely, my best hiking memories of 2019 are from the Sai Kung Peninsula one I went on back in January of last year with three friends, two of whom were visiting from the USA for the first time since they had left Hong Kong more than a year previously.

7) Best literary event: Although I love reading books, I'm not one to join book clubs or attend book talks or readings. But thanks to gentle prodding (and complimentary tickets) from a friend, I attended two Hong Kong International Literary Festival events last November; one of which featured an appearance by a writer I've long admired.  And so much did I enjoy "Japan and Autumn Light: A Talk with Pico Iyer", which featured mesmerizing reading of excerpts by the celebrated author of one of his recent books along with a conversation between him and Financial Times arts critic Ken Smith, that I ended up buying a copy of that tome -- and enjoy reading it I did too!

   

8) Best meal: My most popular post to date is of an omakase sushi lunch I had at the Hong Kong outpost of Sushi Saito last year.  If truth be told though, I don't think it's even my favorite omakase sushi meal of 2019 -- since I actually enjoyed a number of omakase sushi dinners at what's still my favorite regular sushi-ya, Uehara, more.  And while I really do love sushi and rate the food at Sushi Saito and Uehara super highly, my favorite meal of 2019 was at a place with a truly great combination of fun atmosphere as well as delicious food, and came with the bonus of my meeting the two Youtubers who introduced me to the wonders of their favorite izakaya (Bakawarai, over in Kichijoji, Japan) as well as being part of an epic night out with a good friend who really knows how to have -- and show me -- a good time!   

9) Best protest event I've taken part in: If only all protest marches could be like Hong Kong's anti-extradition bill march of June 16th, 2019.  Okay, yes, it took close to six hours for me to complete the route but it was absolutely mega (as in have an estimated 2 million participants!) and peaceful, with -- if memory serves me right -- zero police officers in sight.  And should it not be clear: it was perfectly legal, was issued a letter of no objection by the authorities, and didn't feature any tear gas attacks by the police.  Will we ever be able to see its like again in Hong Kong?  Time will tell but one reason why people are continuing to protest is because we want to have the right to stage and take part such an event again whenever the need arises. 

10) Best sunset: I love viewing sunsets.  I also love sunrises -- but since I don't like rising super early as much as I do viewing sunrises, I often miss seeing those!  In all honesty, I can't remember having seen a single sunrise in 2019 but I did get to view a number of cool sunsets -- and in more than one part of the world too.  Ironically, my favorite sunset turned out to be the one I viewed during a particularly low point in my visit to my least favorite of the places I visited in 2019.  If nothing else though, I'd say this: sunsets in Phuket really can be beautiful; and I'm glad I got to see one of them during what probably will be my one and only visit to that super touristy part of Thailand!