Arrival in Hong Kong

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Where to start? I’ve been here for about 3 days now and it feels like weeks. I remember similar feelings when I arrived in India and started uni in Leeds so I imagine soon when I’m more settled in time will rush by.

I’ll start by saying my flight was rubbish. I tried to watch L.A. Confidential. The headphones tried to deafen with all the gunshots and special effects at full volume whilst simultaneously trying to teach me how to lip read and guess what people were saying. After trying hopelessly to follow it all I tried in vain to sleep for 8 hours or so, and succeeded for about 1. Not in the greatest state when we landed. Apparently it was about half 1 in the afternoon, I was rather lost in it all. We all had time to buy our Octupus cards (like Oyster cards but far superior, you can use them in shops and stuff). Had a nice time in the terminal speaking to other CityU students who had just arrived and waited for the shuttle bus to take us to the residence. Then we stepped outside.

The word culture shock is thrown about regularly when you’re going to move to a place like HK. After hours of reading books, including the lonely planet practically cover to cover, and practicing chop sticks etc. I thought I was prepared. However nothing could prepare me for the climate shock that was awaiting me when I stepped out of the airport terminal. It’s been a great summer in England, but stepping outside made me redefine the word “hot” in my head. True heat can’t be escaped simply by sitting in the shade. You can’t really run away from it in unless you step into an air conditioned building (which by the way is an utterly blissful feeling). I’m trying to avoid clichés, but it is like being in a sauna everywhere you go. It’s so humid, you can almost feel the heat sticking to your skin and clothes before it moves deeper and starts trying to cook your internal organs. By the time I had loaded by luggage onto the coach I was sweating all over; it felt disgusting. I think India did eventually become this hot, if not hotter, but I originally went out in January when it was cooler and had time to acclimatize. Right now until mid September is the hottest it gets in HK. Temperatures will normally peak from 30-35 and NEVER drop between 25 C. Thankfully the coach had A/C when I got on.

Driving from the airport to Kowloon and the hall of residence took me by surprise a bit. Every picture you see of Hong Kong involves the impressive skyline from a distance and the sleek, glamorous skyscrapers on Hong Kong Island. However in the New Territories and Kowloon you see that the majority of them are in fact old concrete tower blocks which are quite often dirty and run down on the outside. They’re not attractive by themselves, although when you see them collectively from a distance it still looks impressive. I had the chance to speak to some other exchange students on the way in and I felt nerves and excitement building inside of me. I’d been eyeing up a year abroad ever since I applied to Leeds and have been working towards HK for over 6 months now, I still can’t really believe it’s finally here.

Upon arrival at the residence we did all the necessary checking before I hauled my luggage across the courtyard and up to my room. The layout is very simple. 2 beds and 2 desks separated by about 2 feet down the middle of the room with 2 very large cupboards by the door. Then there’s a link to the bathroom, which is shared with another double room next door. The shower is excellent, very powerful with hot water, which I never use. There’s an aircon unit in each room which is pay as you go for students. For the first 2 days I had it on 24/7 but now I’ve bought a fan as I don’t have to pay the electricity bill and turn the aircon on for an hour or so before I go to bed and a spell when I get up. I arrived to find one of the beds taken and some mess on the floor and one of the desks, although that reassured me more than anything else that I didn’t have to be super tidy. I’m on the 3rd floor and have a lovely view of….another building. Thankfully the halls are not like the ugly concrete buildings I described, but I could have got luckier to say the least. We’re at the top of a hill and were my room on the other side I’d have an excellent view of the Kowloon skyline, which I can see if I go into my common room. It’s also apparently possible for me to go onto the roof of my hall, where the laundry is and overlook this sight, but I tried this morning and all the doors were alarmed. Anyhow, I can’t complain about the view from my 3rd floor window because every time I walk towards the campus I get the chance to walk over Cornwall Street on a bridge and look down upon the world below and the skyline of Kowloon, with the hills in the background. Upon arrival I didn’t have the chance to unpack as we were heading down to the campus for more paperwork and to look around. I was completely unable to cope with the heat and for a while I felt like I’d made one of the worst decisions of my life. No worries, as you read this you’ll see that I’m now thinking entirely the opposite.

Anyhow, after many trips to the university I have to say I’m impressed with it. People have plenty of good things to say about the standard of teaching, assessment and work required (good for me that is, if you were actually hoping I’d have hard work to do on my year abroad, you’re very much mistaken). It’s all very compact, with most teaching rooms in the academic building that is 9 stories high and covers a large area. There’s a bank in there for students to open accounts with, which I have done (have to wait a week for activation though), a swimming pool for students and staff alike to use, a canteen, a very nice restaurant and more. There are a couple of other buildings used for admin and some teaching but they’re very close by. It’s just 5 minutes walk down the hill from the residence to the campus, and 10-15 minutes up the hill to get back. You can take a short cut through the air conditioned Festival Walk, one of Hong Kong’s numerous shopping centres. These shopping centres can’t be compared to anything you find in the UK. They’re perfectly maintained with shiny floors and escalators and rails. Everywhere there are paid helpers to help you find your way around. Festival Walk itself is about 8 floors high, with more shops than I can count. There’s even an ice rink at the side. You simply don’t get anything that big back home and this is just one of many shopping centres that you’ll find all around both Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. I’ve heard of one in Mong Kok (an area in Kowloon) that is 13 stories high and has an escalator which it takes 2 minutes to go up. If ever you have some time to kill in Hong Kong, it’s so easy to pass it in these places.

After our first trip to the campus we went Hong Kong’s IKEA to kit ourselves with bedding, coat hangers and all sorts of other necessities that it would be very boring for me to list. There we met all the other exchange students and I started to enjoy myself. There’s a great mix of nationalities and personalities. I’ve met people from Australia, India, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, U.S.A., Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and even Lithuania off the top of my head. There are quite a few other Brits out here too so we all get along quite well. Because everybody has made the choice to come out here largely on their own everybody is quite open. Starting conversation is easy and I’ve even met some foreigners who follow English football enough to have heard of Reading, a sure way to get into my good books. We had a lovely walk from IKEA to another part of town in the night. With the heat, night time is when Hong Kong really comes alive. It’s still around 25C but there’s not the intensity of the sun and it’s much more pleasant. Once at our destination we got hotpot together, something everybody who ever comes to Hong Kong has to try. In the middle of the table there is a pot of boiling water, and everybody goes up to a big table that has loads of raw sea food and meat, some vegetables and a lot of stuff where you honestly don’t have a clue what it is. You take what you want, because it’s all you can eat, and put it into the hotpot in the middle and take the food out again as it cooks. It’s a bit difficult filtering through and finding your own food with chopsticks so in the end you just pick up what you can. There were so many things in there that looked alien to me, plenty of seafood and I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that I ate things such as snake or something that night, although dog is mainland China alone so I didn’t have any of that. Whatever I ate, I liked the majority of it and my stomach handled it fine. After quickly dropping our stuff back at the residence we went out to a bar. After 2 drinks I realized how exhausted I was after the flight and everything that went with it and promptly returned to sleep for about 13 hours straight until 1.30pm the next day.

Since then it’s only got better. I owe Swine Flu a massive favour. After a couple of reported cases on campus the majority of the orientation week was cancelled so I’ve had time to explore HK, and CityU, at my own pace. If there was any important information they would have told us anyway. Tuesday was spent settling down in my room and recovering, partly because at the time I was scared of the heat outside. That night we went to the night market on Temple Street. It was exactly as I imagined it, bustling with energy and neon lights. There were plenty of counterfeits. I got myself some Ralph Lauren polo shirts, a Quartz watch and much more. All genuine I’m sure. The shopping centres I spoke of earlier will most likely have western prices; these markets are where to come if you want a real bargain. Just the energy and business of the place makes it a more worthwhile visit.

There was lots of haggling and bartering. I’m still learning and I was no doubt ripped off a couple of times. I think a prime example of what to expect actually occurred on Wednesday, not Tuesday, when I was buying sunglasses. It was in a shop as opposed to a market stall so the quality was higher. I asked the value of a pair I was interested in, and they me there was a special half price deal for HK$700 (about £65). I said I could never match that, so it instantly dropped to HK$350. When I suggested HK$200 (£18 or so) they still accepted it in a flash so I reckon I could have got it down to HK$100 or so, when they originally told me HK$700 was half price. I was worried I’d insult them if I went in too low, but I won’t be taking that mentality in the future. If I insult somebody by undervaluing their work, the Del Boys on the street trying to rip me off can apologize for me.

We also got a very cheap meal on Tuesday night, as is standard. You can eat out for less than £3 so we do it most of the time. I got roast duck for HK$31, about £2.80. Word of advice though, nothing is complimentary in Hong Kong. If somebody brings you tea with your dinner, you’ll pay for it if you drink it. More outrageously, if you’re sitting in a bar with a drink and they bring you bowls of nuts you didn’t order, DO NOT EAT THEM. They charged us HK$18 a bowl! Generally food is very cheap though, especially in the canteens at the residence and at the campus. I’m getting used to using chop sticks and I’m trying all sorts of different foods. I’ll soon be sick of noodles and rice but for now I’m loving it. A typical Hong Kong meal is dim sum, which are lots of different small things all put in the middle of the table to share. You get lots of dumplings, although these dumplings are nothing like the “dumplings” I’m familiar with at home. They’re soggy and a bit like bread. Their standards vary, I had some great ones on HK Island but I had some awful ones at CityU. What’s certain is that they always have something good inside them.

I’d say one of my highlights has been my trip to Hong Kong Island on Wednesday. It’s exactly how you picture Hong Kong; clean, tidy, smooth, perfectly maintained and surrounded by magnificent skyscrapers, all showing off Hong Kong’s economic power and strength. All the massive shopping centres are linked by air conditioned tunnels so that capitalists can wander in a never ending shopping paradise for hours. You can go up the Bank of China Tower to the 43rd floor for free and the views are breathtaking, with the harbour in full view and the busy life below moving in a restless manner as ever. Later that night we went back to the promenade on Kowloon where you can look directly across at the Hong Kong skyline. It’s one of the most incredible man made sights I’ve ever seen, with only the likes of Udaipur in India and the Taj Mahal matching it from my experiences. At 8pm there’s a lights show synchronized between all the skyscrapers with music player back on Kowloon. It’s not really necessary; it made me feel like I was at Disneyland or somewhere similar. The skyline by itself offers enough without tacky music and a few lasers. I haven’t been up Victoria Peak yet but I’m expecting amazing views when I eventually go up.

Other than that most activities have been normal enough. I’m settling in very well and learning to live with the heat - I’ve even played football in it. That was a very long half hour; we were all dead on our feet by the time we threw the towel in. I feel settled in already, and I can’t believe I have a year here. My housemate moved in yesterday as I was writing this and he seems easy to get along with. I’d be surprised if there’s any sort of trouble, we don’t really see each other that much.

That’s all for now. Don’t expect every entry to be this long, although there’s plenty more I could have put in here such as the deadly efficient metro service that I’ll miss so much when I next get the London Underground, the typical social life of exchange students, or how the hysteria surrounding Swine Flu in the UK doesn’t even come close to what you see in Hong Kong. I’m sure it will all come out in time but I imagine that 90% of people who read this entry have already fallen off by now so I can’t make it any longer.

Speak to you all soon. Rob.

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Photos

View from residence
Every time I walk into the campus I look at this

Temple Street
The night market I went to on Tuesday night, Kowloon

Cheap food
Duck costing less that £3

View from Kowloon Peninsula
No photo could do it justice.

Comments

[Pete McKenzie]

Legend
More now!

[Ruth Hazel Hamborg]

Great blog.
I really feel as if I know what it's like out there Rob. So pleased that you've settled in easily.