It’s now the time of the year when:

• I have to be more regular with having my legs waxed so I don’t need to wear pants all the time;
• My hair can fluctuate from Richard Simmons to Morticia and back again in the space of 15 minutes;
• Sweat appears when I step outside and breathing is a little more difficult than usual;
• There is a torrential downpour once every 23 minutes that lasts for six minutes and then it is all over;
• I have to familiarize myself with terms such as Amber Rain Warning, black rain, T8 and so on. This is linked to when I can leave work early due to the weather;
• When the amahs leave the house, they generally have a wet face washer with them cooling their necks;
• The elderly locals have wet tea towels hanging down the inside of their shirts with the top of it rolled into their collars;
• I take extra water hiking for me and the dog and she is hosed to cool down as soon as we get home again;
• Venturing out is carefully planned to minimize the time between air-conditioned venues
  I wonder why in winter, I bothered to complain about the cold;
• Air-conditioning drone is the constant white noise in everyone’s hermetically sealed apartments. We rebel and leave the door open so the dog and cat can relax outside while we’re at work;
• Tempers seem to shorten in line with the length of skirt that the western women are prepared to wear. It is not often that a HK local exposes their legs no matter how warm it gets. Amahs typically wear jeans all year as if it is part of a uniform;
• Snails appear out of nowhere with shells at least the size of my fist;
• Dogs get ridiculous haircuts and I find myself wondering if they can feel embarrassment or they just don’t care or if it’s not even something that crosses their minds;
• I wonder why I think this much about the way animals think – perhaps it’s because it’s so hot…

* Thanks to Glenn Frey for the title to this post. Heat in the song refers to the police and the film clip from the Beverly Hills Cop can be found here. I’ve heard the fourth in the series is going to be released in 2010.