Tags
Asia, Batu Caves, Book Alley, Colonialism, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hermann Hesse, Hong Kong, IndoSiam Rare Books, Jacob Zeitlin, Kuala Lumpur, Los Angeles International New Music Festival, Malaysia, Ngiam Tong Boon, Raffles Hotel, Singapore, Singapore Sling, The Gentleman in the Parlour, Vietnam, W. Somerset Maugham, Yves Azamar
A puppet shop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
I do not bring back from a journey quite the same self that I took. W. Somerset Maugham The Gentleman in the Parlour
I can now easily locate my fascination with Asia when I remember certain events and people of my childhood. I’ve already written about Harry Woo of Hong Kong, who worked for my parents, reading to me in Chinese while pointing to his calligraphy. My first memory of a world outside of my family is of being taken to Chinatown for dinner in Los Angeles. I doubt I’ve ever forgotten the blue silk dress and lavish blue mascara of the server. And my pediatrician’s nurse was Japanese and the kindest soul on earth to me whenever I was a sick child.
At least I now recognize that these memories help me piece together those now far away moments of Asian awakenings, creating a map of my life and the new decisions that shape its events.
