|
1.
Leaving Lamma - a Moving Experience
 Summer
on Lamma: the walls full of leaving sales, the yearly large exodus of
people leaving, not just temporarily to escape the summer heat, but
permanently, returning home overseas or moving to a new country. June &
July are probably the main months of the year for leaving Lamma, especially
for the teacher population.
I've been looking for people willing to write a
few lines about their own departure: farewell notes to their friends,
best/worst memories of their time here, experiences with moving companies,
anything related to "Leaving Lamma". Quite a few have returned, one of them
leaving/coming back three times, he admitted. For the ones not returning,
there's always the Lamma-zine to read and stay in touch with those they
left behind...
This feature has two Story Sponsors,
the first time the Lamma-zine has ever accepted this new form of
sponsorship: many thanks to Links
Relocations and the
GreenHouse for Sale! First, a very interesting interview with
Frazer who moved with Links to Sydney. The questions and answers apply to
any big international move and can help you to choose your own removal
company.
I've commissioned stories by Doggy, Roberta, Frazer and Ran,
all ex-Lammaites by now:
|
 Doggy - Laudable Lamma Luminary, Lamma Fun Day founder &
organiser:
I guess everyone on this
list knows already, but Deb, Me, Kaia and Finn are leaving Hong
Kong in three weeks time. Amelia is too, and to try to make
sure we all get a chance to catch up with you all before we scoot we
have organised a leaving party. This is a two week's notice to
try and make sure you can plan ahead and make it over to Lamma to
party with us.
Saturday 3rd July from
8pm
at the Concerto Inn on Hung Shing Ye
beach on Lamma
Live bands NUDE and
GAROUPA playing
There will be snacks and
a pay as you go bar, trying to get some cheap drinks, but so far know
jugs of beer will have a 10% discount.
We'd like to get
everyone to come down as early as possible, so that all citysiders can
be there and partying with us for a while before having to skeddadle
for the last ferry.
|
 Doggy wrote the following farewell piece for the
Lamma-zine on the plane BACK to HK to teach some summer classes.
Last time I saw him just recently, when
he was handing over the Lamma Fun Day organisation duties to the new
committee which I have joined this year.
Cartoon by
Emily!
Doggy Leaving Message:
It’s not that easy to
leave Lamma, and it is.
It’s hard because you’ve
got to get past all the people on the path who want to chat, and say
goodbye, and ask you what your plans are, and say you shouldn’t be
going.
It’s easy because you
just have to get on the boat.
It’s also easy because
I’ve lived here non-stop for eight years and really feel like I need to
be doing something else, seeing something else, working out whether I
can live anywhere else.
It’s really hard because
I’ve lived here non-stop for eight years and have never had anything
but a good life here – which makes me wonder why I would want to do
anything else or go anywhere else, particularly when that anything is
going to live in Glasgow. Whenever I say that to anyone they
usually look at me oddly, as if to say ‘why the fuck would you want to
give up living here to go somewhere cold, wet and miserable’.
Indeed many do actually say that, while still looking at me oddly.
Many too have said, ‘Poor Debbie’, which is about right as I’m making
her go to the cold dark place. |
|
But one of the easy bits
is that I’m going back with something really good to do for a year, and
we’ve only ever looked at it as a year… and after that year…
My relationship with
Lamma has changed a lot over my time here. I arrived as one of
those backpacker ravers you’d see annoying the deadheads in Yung Shue
Wan Main Street by
dancing inside and out of the Banyan Tree on a Sunday afternoon still
'avin' it large
from Saturday and keen to persuade everyone to love each other.
As I
think a lot of people did, I slowly graduated into being more of a
normal sentient being – getting hammered all night in the Deli Lamma
dancing on the tables and scraping the top of the cistern instead. I
managed to tumble nob-first into the Lamma pushchair set which opened a
whole new crowd of people and a whole new way of getting pissed –
hanging about in the afternoon with lots of other parent types,
ignoring what the nippers are up to as we swig the tins safe in the
knowledge that no-one has to drive home. |
 Seems it all has to
revolve around getting hammered. Surely I must have had a sober life as
well? Or no, maybe that’s what the cityside is for.
One of the big things
about Lamma has always been the chance to get to know and get mixed up
with a lot of very different people – has always been easy to do here,
mostly in pubs, but helped along by things like the Fun Day and the
Writer’s Forum… |
|
 And of
course online at the My Lamma Forum, where I got the pleasure of being
called a fucking whinging hippy, which must be another
persona I slipped into without realising it because I’m sure I arrived
as a cynical sarcy bastard.
I’m going to miss
Lamma life a fuck of a lot, particularly my friends here. I
know far more people here than I do in Glasgow now.
I’ll
never say that I will never be back - who knows? I’ve
already managed to come back after having a leaving party and getting
on a plane, so it could well happen again. I’ve seen enough people
definitely leave only to come back a year or two later.
There’s a lot to bring
us back – warm climate, the beach, easy living – general Lamma
life, but there’s a lot that needs to be tried out in the UK too.
Goodbye Lamma.
It’s been a great place to be, great place for Kaia and Finn to spend
the beginning of their lives, great place for me to meet Debbie and
start all that shaggin' and
reproducing act. Great place to have made friends I’ll have for the
rest of my life.
See ya everybody. Mind
and don’t sink the place.
|
Roberta - ex-Lammaite:
Dreaming of Lamma Life:
My husband and I arrived on Lamma in
1991 and lived on the island for 8 years until 1999, when we thought it
was time for a change and had got tired of the pollution, the
crowds, and the noise of Hong Kong. We moved to San Francisco with our
bevy of Lamma cats and have been here now for 5 years. At first, life
in the US seemed grand - so clean, so spacious, so quiet! Now,
however, we find ourselves dreaming of Lamma life once again and are
considering moving back.
What is it that keeps calling us back?
It's many things - the utter simplicity of Lamma life, our
friends (many of whom are still there), being in Asia and all that that
means, and oh so many other small but important things. Like being able
to walk to the shops instead of driving everywhere. Like hearing the
ear-splitting sound of cicadas on a sultry summer night, or the
chorus of bullfrogs as you stroll past on your way to the beach.
And there's something about living in
Hong Kong itself that also draws us back, being so near to China and
the energy of the whole region. Yes, life here in the US is very
comfortable, but it's a heavy, deadened sort of comfort, one
that comes from having too much, and yet always wanting more. Hong Kong
may be polluted, dirty, noisy, and crowded, but it's got one thing that
the US just ain't got - it's ALIVE! |
|
Email interview between Ingmar
Jense of Links
Relocations (Tel: 2866 6794) and Frazer McGilvray who used their moving services to relocate to
Sydney earlier this year (Farewell
Ho Down party)
1. Had
you heard of Links Relocations before you planned to move? If not, how
did you go about sourcing a relocations company?
We had seen an ad for Links somewhere,
but didn’t know a great deal about them. We just called up the usual
relocation companies of Crown, Santa Fe, Allied Pickfords and added
Links in for a quote as well.
2. What did you look
for in a relocations company and how did Links Relocations fulfill
those needs?
Price was important, but one of the main
things was how they said they were going to pack things. We have
artwork that is framed glass on glass, and there was a variety of
different ways that the different companies said they would pack it. In
the end it came down to price between Links and one other, and Links
came through on the day as they were able to reduce the price without
compromising on the quality of the packing by offering a deal on the
insurance premium, not the cubic foot charge. Some companies just quote
really high in the first place to make it look like they are dropping
their price quite a bit if you ask them to. Maybe they get a lot of
mid-levels expat moves that big companies are paying for. |
3. How important is
personal service to giving you peace of mind when you move?
We had good personal service prior to
leaving Hong Kong from Links, and would like to thank Shannon for that.
He was very attentive to detail and very co-operative. He is aware of
the stresses people are under packing up a household full of belongings
and this showed. Post move however, there seems to be other people
dealing with your shipment that you have no relation with, and that is
not so helpful. One person door to door would be a much better idea.
4. Would you recommend
Links Relocations to friends?
I would recommend Links as they are
competitive, and have an excellent team of packers, and it is them who
are responsible for getting your stuff from A to B undamaged. DO take
insurance, as even though we only had 2 items damaged out of 133 boxes
(which we thought was very low, and down to the excellent packers), it
was still worth the cover. Also, make sure you ad up the value of your
house accurately (especially electronics), you would be surprised how
much it can add up to. |
|
5. Moving from Lamma
presents certain logistical issues- how well did Links Relocations
arrange the VV drivers, Gai Dong and storage?
We didn’t have to arrange a thing. 9
guys appeared outside the house at 9am and came into the house like a
whirlwind. The supervisor was great, telling his men what to pack, (and
what not to pack as we hadn’t got all the stuff we were taking with us
on the plane sorted out properly yet!) and 6 hours later, we had an
empty, dusty shell of a Lamma flat.
133 boxes were stacked up outside, all
numbered, detailed with which room it came from and what was inside.
These were all on a master list that was checked out of the house, and
into the new one weeks later. Once the boxes were outside the flat, our
day was done. I felt sorry for the guy whose job it was to carry the
boxes from the second floor downstairs! The VVs were shuttling the
boxes to the pier where the kaido was sitting waiting.
Most impressive for me was the way they
dealt with the painting. The supervisor measured it, called the
dimensions to a workshop and a wooden crate was made especially for it,
and this was brought over on the kaido. Special attention was also paid
to packing the guitars which I really appreciated. |
6. Were you happy with
the network partner chosen for your relocation in Australia?
OSS were very good, letting us know when
our shipment arrived, when we could expect it, and how much the customs
and quarantine charges were. For those golfers moving to Australia,
even though you remember to clean the club heads of dirt, don’t forget
your shoes! I was charges $200 for the privilege of quarantine steam
cleaning the soles of my golf shoes.
A container turned up in our driveway on
the allocated morning, and 2 blokes unloaded the boxes which were
checked off against the list made in Hong Kong, and once they were all
in the house, they started to unpack, assembling beds etc., which was
great.
Overall, I would say Links did a good
job. There were hiccups, but nothing that wasn’t dealt with promptly
and professionally. Everything got here safely, not a hint of mould,
mildew, nothing after 7 weeks in a crate in warehouses and on a ship.
Thanks. |
|
 Ran - ex-Lammaite, moved to Tung Chung a few
months ago with Delian, from
his Blog,
click on May 26:
As some may know,
there is a sweating typist about to move apartments. He will leave the
sultry confines of Lamma, the cicadas screaming, the mozzies breeding,
the lush green leaves laced with ash, for the dizzying heights of Tung
Chung. Yup, 51st floor, here we come-
"Tell us more about it, Bob!"
"Guests will stay
at the lovely penthouse suite of the Tung Chung Crescent Gardens!" (cue
applause) "These 3 year old buildings give a bright view off Lantau
Island, which boasts Hong Kong's new and improved airport!"
"But why, Bob? Why?"
"Because our
contestants have won the right to use a kitchen designed for people
over 4 feet tall! Guests of the Tung Chung Crescent Gardens will enjoy
a refrigerator that holds over 3 cubic feet of food, a stovetop range
that has more than two propane burners, ample counterspace, and the
newest and most luxurious oven!" |
Ran:
Eulogy to Lamma Ding Dong:
Put yourself in Sheung Wan, in a 300
sqft serviced apartment, 6 duffle-bags, one computer books and CDs, and
add to that two traumatised cats who shit themselves after a 27-hour
flight.
After renting the place on the 11th
floor, go and live among the shark-fins and dried scallops, the garbage
and the jack-hammers, the exhaust and the wall-to-wall suits. Live
there for two weeks, where AM is PM, where up is down and where
breakfast is dumplings cooked on a Teflon hotplate.
OK? Got it? Good. Think about it long
enough to be there: two tourists who just moved to HK.
Now take a ferry ride to a place
called Lamma, a place you read about from an icy Montreal February,
a place that seemed to have music and bars, jungle and piñebo. Take
that boat ride, a ride that makes your ringing ears ring, your eyes
wide, as Central drifts away like smog in the morning. Ride the waves.
Hunt the wake for garbage. Hold hands, as the peak and its high-rises
and villas grow smaller. Hold hands, as you point to the Yung Shue Wan
pier exclaiming, “Look at that! See, see? I told you there were
three smokestacks.” |
|
Find a place with
a view of the water, an ubiquitous apartment that boasts 700 sqft, and
slowly discover the beauty of waking to birds in the morning, the
cicadas, the sun rising as clouds mix overhead. Find that roof and
sit a while, have a barbecue, drink some wine, stare at the fishing
boat stretching through the beach for yet another run. “I wonder what’s
left,” I mutter as I see the nets pulled over and over the same length
it netted over just yesterday.
Wake before sunrise and make that
coffee. Read that email. Brush those teeth. And with your freshly
ironed shirt still warm, walk down to the pier. Get on that boat, hold
that coffee and newspaper, greet the same old 7:40 faces, either
with a “Morning,” or with a play of the eyes.
And that’s how I was, how you found me
when, not two weeks ago.
Now that I’m off, off to a place
where the guillotine of the ferry schedule never falls, I laugh at
my old kitchen and my open-mouthed misanthropes who lived endlessly
with open-mouthed squawking downstairs. “Shitty neighbours? Let
me tell you about shitty neighbours.”
Gone are the days of making due with
nipple-height refrigerators, no more stooping to chop onions, and
enough already with the lukewarm single tap kitchen sink. Fokedat. |
 Like a pot of new tea on a Lazy
Susan, it tastes good at first, feels a little bitter next, and leaves
you a little empty last.
And truly, not to leave the analogy
incomplete, it always leaves you with a want, “I need to take a piss…”
So that was the
lover's lament.
And here's where
you're now:
Yesyes, very good, I know - 51st
floor in Tung Chung, waaaaaay out on Lantau, where it's so far. On
the other hand, what it is that makes the new digs so fresh is that it
feel open -in a way the Lamma roof did - but the Lamma apartment did
not.
Open kitchen to open dining room to
open living room to windowed view of a mountain and hundreds of
little apartments below. I like that at night I can watch the traffic,
noiselessly run far and wide; meditative, like staring at fish through
glass. The walls are cream, the floor is white, the bathroom has marble
and a tub. |
Finally, another word (or 2 or 3...) from our two
Story Sponsors:
|
 Links was
founded in 1996 in direct response to a growing desire within the Hong
Kong business community for a relocation services provider to deliver
personalized services tailor-made to suit the individual requirements
of corporate clients and their Transferees.
Our growth has been rapid and our acceptance within the business and
expatriate communities we
serve has been widespread and continues to grow each year. In 2002 we
established
offices in both Shanghai and Beijing with the intention
of meeting new demands for innovation and to provide the
same
dedicated and
personalized
focus in
meeting the
 various
relocation requirements within these cities.
With our Beijing office opening in 2003 and new offices scheduled for
Singapore, Shenzhen and Dalian in 2004, Links Relocations has the
capability of providing a local, regional and global relocation
solution.
 Links
Relocations currently provides relocation services to over 250
multinational companies in Hong Kong, China and Singapore. In 2003, we
relocated over 1,100 families globally and have provided destination
services for nearly 800 inbound transferees.
As
we continue to expand as a company, we ensure our investment in people,
technology, equipment and facilities also expands in line with our
growth. The core reason behind our success is our ability to maintain
our integrity in the level of service delivered and dedication to the
personalization of the moving experience. |
 "GreenHouse"
For Sale:
Unique and idyllic
island hideaway
Rare gem in Hong
Kong…detached peaceful and secluded house yet with easy access to the
city from its own pontoon, via Aberdeen. Must be seen! For more
information and appointments to view:
Email
greenhouselamma@yahoo.co.uk or Tel. 9103 8995, Stephen.
Click for more photos &
info!
Own pontoon. Large terrace. West-facing aspect.
Refurbished in 1999. Suits couple best. All
owners, including ourselves (50% bank value) have obtained
mortgages.
 Magical holiday house for weekends - escape the
stresses of HK in half an hour. Can live full time - easy commute as
long as you like boats.
Ambience: peaceful and serene. I defy anyone to
visit and not come away with a greater feeling of peace...
relaxation... de-stressing.
|
|
Like every month, the two best contributors
in each issue will receive either a fine bottle of wine or a free
meal in a local restaurant! Congratulations to our two winners this
time: Lisa ("Alternative Cabaret" cover story) and Samson
the Mighty Tai Peng-uin (silly wind turbine story)! 
for sponsoring the Lamma-zine website!
• Dragonboats off-season:
He put up
some of the most despicable and disgusting postings ever seen in the
short, and, at-one-time, happy history of Lamma.com.hk, and then,
in a sad attempt to disguise his tawdry bile, he tried to turn his role
in that very same thread from dastardly insult thrower into that
of angelic community fundraiser. He is a churlish chameleon,
he is a doltish charlatan and he wears very bad braces. His sorry
attempts at making allies and worming his way up the site administrators
well-worn arse have to have earned Guy Miller the title of “Lamma’s
brown nose sycophant for July!"
Look what I found the other day on the internet while
Googling for "intext:Bobsy". It seems to be a very popular term for
girls, pop groups, a VW car model and even several race cars! But the
link below was my favourite as it's so fitting: on the
