Travel Book Review ~ EXPAT Opinionated Memories of Forty Years in Hong Kong by Wendy McTavish

This is the first book I picked up when I decided my next trip was going to be a quickie to Hongkers. I have a thing for travel memoirs that haven't gone through the mill of a mainstream publishing house, I find such books are often much more direct and honest. Expat by Wendy McTavish is a great example. The author and her hubby left a safe but predictiable life in Roma, central Queensland, for a wild Hong Kong in the 1960s. Arriving with barely any contacts or money they built themselves lives and businesses outside of the usual 'colonial' expat scene, led the wild life and eventually started a family. The book follows their ups and downs over forty years. It is a down to earth, funny and honest memoir. And it is self effacing to say the least: "If, however you have viewed me as a spoiled bitch or silly cow then read on because you will see that I get my comeuppance and you can smile quietly to yourself." 

My favourite passage from the book is their first glimpse of Hong Kong. Imagine arriving by ship in Hong Kong Harbour on your first trip away from country Queensland in your early twenties 1960s...

We seem to be in a sea of small lights, shining out of the early haze at odd intervals. As dawn broke we were entraced to find ourselves surrounded by junks of all sizes and ages. their ragged sails the red of dried blood, their timbers creaking and groaning in the wind. Families in black pyjamas could be seen working the sails and nets, and, as the day advanced, children scampered across the decks in risky fashion. We could not have asked for a more graphic reminder that we were indeed in a foreign country and one that, in its Oriental character, bore absolutely no resemblance to anything familiar.

Glimpses of green hillsides came into view. Then we were sailing through Lei yue Mun. Aiiyah!! Suddenly the metropolis of Hong Kong assaulted us in all its glory: even then taller and more impressive than any city back home; falling in layers down Victoria Road and spreading, in sometimes ramshackle fashion, over Kowloon on the opposite side of a spectacular harbour. On its waters were craft of every conceivable description: sampans bravely threatened ocean liners, barges and junks, lighters and pleasure craft, yachts and the odd speed boat. Naval vessels, police boats, rusty old freighters, walla wallas and Star Ferries jostled one another like matrons attending a department store's summer sale. How could we fit into this organised?

I will also always remember Wendy's recipe for sweet and sour pork, first cooked as a young wife in Roma:

Roll pieces of pork in flour (Should have been cornflour I discovered years later). Fry these, adding a mess of capsicums and onions while the pork is still raw. Big mistake! (Try to get differnent coloured capsicums to distract the victims from the taste). After all is a nasty grey colour add some tomato sauce and really overdo the vinegar. Before the meat has time to cook pour the lot over soggy rice. Serve when two Apex committee members call to ask your husband to stand for president.

I must admit the book made me green with envy: not only did Wendy and Peter get to party in Hongkers in the 60's and 70's, they also got to meet my literary hero, Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22, Wendy was even mentioned in one of his non-fiction books. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it has a soft spot in my heart.

Details: EXPAT Opinionated Memories of Forty Years in Hong Kong by Wendy McTavish, 2005. Taipan Press. We have a copy in stock at the time of writing. Also at the time of writing there are copies available via the author's blog:: http://wendymctavish.wordpress.com/