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Published: October 4th 2007
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It's been a month and 4 days since the day I arrived all starry eyed to Hong Kong. And in this short space of time, I feel like a real local now.
Each morning and evening I whizz up/down the big escalator that is my commute to work. Evenings are usually spent either in the gym, going out, or in some rare cases staying in, but to be honest have not had time to do much of that. Especially with my flat-hunting-bank-account-opening-etc spree.
So updates! I have now moved into my little 28th floor flat overlooking a nice HK skyline. It even has a pool (the flat, not the skyline) but I have not yet figured out how to go to it, ridiculous I know. The thing is I already live in it, but it's still sort of empty, ie the only pieces of furniture I have are a mattress, a clothing rail, and ..... wait for it ..... an ASPIRIN COUCH. See pictures. It's a designer couch, you understand. I bought it last week. And who said comfort was important in a couch anyway??
So apart from the lack of furniture, all the logistics are sorted (apart from
Flat 1
View from the bedroom the new credit card which was destroyed in the post but that is another story). Ah yes and I need the internet in order to be able to update more often my life in HK!
A couple of weeks ago I went on a junk boat trip. No, not a boat full of junk, or junkies, but a huge speed boat type boat (though slower, and in some cases you can also get a beautiful wooden boat) that is very popular to get rented for day trips around Hong Kong. You can get 10-40 people on it, get a lot of food and drinks et Hop, you can go and travel around the numerous mini islands around Hong Kong with their beach coves and semi-wild nature. It's amazing, after a day like that, it really feels like being on holiday far far away. The day we went though it was very strange because a huuuuge cloud of "mist" had descended and lasted the whole day. Which is a bit bizarre for mist right? Well it's because it was not mist, but a huge cloud of pollution!! But in a strange way, it gave a really interesting gray glow to
Flat 2
The view!! the atmosphere, especially when dusk arrived and we sailed back to the harbour of Hong Kong, and all the neon lights would show behind this gray mask.. It was like being part of a science fiction movie. Yes I know, I see poetry even in such bad pollution, what can I say.
The week end before last was also very exciting because there was a Typhoon alert. Well not alert, but a level 1 signal, to say "This is a stand-by signal, indicating a tropical cyclone is centered within about 800 km of Hong Kong and may affect the territory". Of course I got very excited and started to look for special protection gear and a torch light, but turns out an alert of this level is nothing. It felt exactly like any old rainy day in London. Except it was warmer! But there are days when the signal level gets to "Level 8", and then people do not go to work etc, it's a real alert. The season for these are during the summer, and I missed the latest one which occured in the last days of August, so guess will need to wait till next summer to
The aspirin couch!!
No comment, right? It's just breath taking. experience this, and get my protective gear out again.
Another highlight of the past weeks was The Karaoke. Man, they know how to do this properly here. With a bunch of friends, we turned up in this place called "Red Box". Like the name indicates, the place is a big red corridor full of boxes, or rather mini living rooms, which you rent privately for the group. It's fantastic because you can sing without being heard by strangers, assuming you don't consider the other 11 people in your group being strangers, even if half of them you have only known for about 1 hour. We had 3 microphones in our room which meant that when you sing, you can only assume the one totally out of pitch really can not be you but the other two people. Obviously.
Now time for the top 10:
Top 10 things I love:
- the fact it's constantly warm, so nice to never need a jacket when outside, and it really gives a holiday feeling
- the pace of life, it's like a student time. There is always somewhere to go to, people to meet
- the easiness to meet new
Junk Boat
Imagine the sky is blue - envy us now? people. The expats obviously as they are here without too many roots and happy to come accross new faces. But also the Hong Konguese who are happy to meet us "gweilos" (Cantonese term meaning white ghost, which is what expats are called here)
- the availability of really cheesy music in many places
- the feeling this place is huge, and it will take years to explore everywhere
- the options to travel around - I have already a week end planned in Taiwan in December. And today a friend asked "Hey, fancy going to China tomorrow night for the evening?". Hard to beat that..
- the convenience: the work-gym-house-going-out-places are arranged in a very small radius
- the massage/beauty/spa options. Last week end I bought myself a whole year of massages..
- the food: you can eat a dish from nearly anywhere I reckon. There are urban myths of people eating at home twice a year, and I am starting to believe them
- the skyline. It's breathtaking every time. Nothing beats this feeling of opening the eyes in the morning and checking it out (especially for people who have no curtains yet in their empty flats).
5
Scifi
Science Fiction Hong Kong under a cloud of "special mist" things I don't like (could not come up with 10):
- the air conditioning. It's everywhere, it's strong and gives the sniffles
- the fact it's really hard to get into most clubs. Because everyone who is anyone is a private member of eveywhere. (most places run these crazy membership schemes that are super expensive)
- looking straight down out of my window at home, it's super scary
- I have not been able to find nice fresh fruit and vegetables - though I have not been to the markets yet, once I have a kitchen in operational order I will investigate
- the lack of sleep: how to fit it all in??
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