Joshua International Online: September 2009

I spoke to GR and she said she'd seen you over the weekend, and how delightful you were and well, and lovely, and looking great and it was a lovely piece of news to get. I'm never endingly amazed at how together you are, Josh - well done.

These pics are us waiting for Ev's first bus ride to school. He's such a little pikkie I was worried he was going to freak out.

Instead he was cross it was a people mover, one of those seven seaters and not a proper bus, and it was white instead of purple and yellow (which is standard school bus colours for Hong Kong, and which he was set on). His delightful towelling outfit is the school's PE uniform, which he wears once a week. I had to go to work after this, but Ange wasn't that day, so went back to wait for the "bus" home after school, and when it arrived he was fast asleep in the seat, so obviously not too troubled. He's managed to get over this though, and now when he gets home Ange tells me he jumps off with a little "mgoisai" (thank you in Cantonese) and a wave to his mates.

Love from all of us, Dad.

For the last three years, Brett Free and Simon have organised a Sheung Sze Wan village party they've named Amazing Graze. And it is completely fantastic, a good good idea. The way it works is that teams of people "host" at one of their members' houses, for one hour slots, all around the village. Each couple/participant is given a schedule, which tells you where you have to go at each round - by way of a house number in the village. The whole thing kicks off at 5pm, and the hosting team provides drinks and snacks for their gang of visitors, during their allotted time. Every hour all the groups rotate to their next venue. So if you're hosting you have around forty people arriving at your house, a number of whom you won't know (if you're new in the village - this will be the majority), they'll have a little party for an hour, and then everyone will head off to their next venue, you included, but this time drinks and snacks will be provided for you, and so it continues. The first venues hosting are high up in the village (like us) and then progressively things move down to a big all-together bash in the parking lot at the end. It's a lovely lovely thing this, you meet a lot of people, people have a great time, those who feel like having a few too many (some of them many many too many) can do so, because no-one has to drive anywhere, and inevitably going home uphill is much safer than going downhill. The late afternoon, evening and night of the party were snorting hot and humid. However composed people were when they set out, they soon lost that, and took on that ultra-shiney-sheen more typical of the faces of your hard-dancing club accolite. I set out with a camera at about 10pm before things descended into the kind of fracas that people regret having captured on film the next day. I really like these pop art finishes, as you may have noticed in so many posts, but they are just perfect for the night look. Some of the pics I think have a slightly wild-happy-mad look to them. I love the one at the top of a couple that I met for the first time, Jon and Rachel, I think he's got the best smile ever, and she's so photogenic in her quaint elegant dress. She told me that she's a bit homesick for Ireland from where she comes, and they'd previously been living in London, which is so much closer to home. Hopefully Amazing Graze will have helped ease that, and she'll have met some people that she likes. I think the best one in terms of form is the next one down, which is of Simone and Fiona (who's called Poss, for some reason, "positive" perhaps - she certainly is a really lovely person) who were hosting a gang in the next couple of minutes and had nipped home to set up a bar with some (actually quite tasty) cocktails called sea-breezes. Simone is one of those people who you just feel warmed up by when you meet - and her daughter India is a friend of Aiden's, and we think someone who is really fun, kind, outgoing and good for him. Her dad, Steven, is the guy in the orange shirt laughing to the left, who is terrific, though in that moment, must have a dual personality I think, because he manages to be this way while still being a heavy in the investment banking world. The pic directly above is of Lorette, who is amazing. She's half Russian, and speaks (very capably) about seven languages. She's really tall, and quite imposing, with the longest, thickest hair I know, and I think posessed of a significant wit and intellect. She's also great fun to talk to - someone who for me is perfectly ironic. I took all the pics using an off-camera radio triggered flash, to avoid that nasty flat flash quick snap look, and give some depth to the pics instead. On the right are the ageless Cher and Carrie, down below, in a moonlight styled port is Brett Free who is the guy behind the whole thing. Despite the somewhat unconventional dress and the odd tat' he is a significant person in the Hong Kong Government, and I think a very good, community minded, authentic and contributing person. The whole thing really is a great event. It's at this whole thing that I had the conversation with the guy about the two shark attacks that I texted you about last weekend - so there is no telling who you'll meet and what they might have to share with you. I wondered why people don't organise in places like the one you live? It's really nothing more than a well organised neighbourhood party. I remember bashes like that where a street would be closed off when I first went to Cape Town in the late 80's - but that's suddenly 20 years ago. (You could have a village party too, just think about it? Pretty manageable to organise if you can do a bit of selling of the idea).