The new normal - Hong Kong

With new daily infections in the low-single digits all week, there seems to be a newfound optimism in Hong Kong—probably most evident this weekend in shopping neighborhoods around the city that were packed with near-pre-coronavirus size crowds.

Sogo in Causeway Bay, 25 April 2020

I'm not going to lie: it felt weird to be out among hordes of shoppers again on Saturday. Even though 99 percent of people out and about are wearing masks, anytime someone coughs or sneezes, I feel myself twitch a little and look around for the perpetrator. Because even though the city feels like it's almost in the clear... we've been here before, in mid- to late-March and then, boom, 800 new cases returning from overseas. I guess we can be optimistic, cautiously.

This past week I recorded the first episode of a podcast I'm hoping to launch next week. In my head I'm calling it "Danica Lo & Company" with the podcast logo art reading: "Danica Lo & Co.". I love listening to long-winded conversational podcasts between people who know each other well and I had this thought a few weeks ago that (1) I miss my friends, (2) My friends are spread all over the world and most of them are in home lockdown right now and (3) My friends are pretty spectacular human beings, some of the best thinkers and voices in their industries who may fly just under the radar (we're Gen X, flying under the radar is our thing, I guess), and I think the world needs to hear their ideas. So yeah, I recorded one episode this week, I think it went well, it took a heckuva long time to edit (much harder to edit a podcast than it is to edit a video for YouTube, surprisingly!), and now I can't wait to schedule more conversations. It's a great excuse to talk to my friends longform, 90s-phone-call style. I'm really loving it, maybe podcasting will be my new hobby.