| MY HONG KONG LIFE... SO FAR So as I finish my third week here I thought I'd take some time and blog about my experience so far, particularly since i have some free time on my hands with the typhoon warning at a 8 which means no more work go home at 3PM... And as I look outside, there is no rain but everything is closed. Supposed to go to dinner in Kowloon and I suspect they'll be closed but Jay says otherwise so... I'm getting ahead of myself, I should start from the beginning. I'm using Jay Jung's laptop by the way (he's here for a few days and staying with me but I'll get to that). and i warn you this may be longwinded and all over the place... The farewell... So the farewell dinner/drinks night before was a bad idea. But it was good seeing everyone. Went home at whenever with a few great friends who packed as I uhhh napped... Woke up to my sister's wrath and did some quick finishing up of packing. Said goodbye to my roomies and headed to jersey. Quick shower at sister's place as she folded the laundry i had thrown into one of my suitcases (did I mention I have the best sister ever). Then gave the gifts I bought for sister, simon hyung and ryan (pic of ryan in hawaii outfit on my b-i-l site) and off to airport where the nice people at continental tell me my huge immigrant bags are too heavy. I buy new bag and reallocate. end up with 3 checked bags and 2 carry ons. Say goodbye to family and I'm off! 3 hour delay... But business class is so nice. I don't think I could survive a 16 hour trip otherwise. The arrival... Go through immigration/customs, get bags and wander the airport for Tanya. Glad I found her since I may not have been able to find my place without her. When we go outside, I say the weather isn't so bad. After 10 steps I am sweating through my shirt.. it's hot here, and humid. Get to my apartment and my place does not look much like what the website showed. It's a small studio but it has all the essentials except they forget to tell me i have to turn on a switch to get hot water. I figured with it being china and the summer, no one would have hot water... My first hot shower was on my 7th day, kinda religious... and on the 7th day he had hot water... Anyways said bye to Tanya and went to bed... at 5AM... Week 1 I had originally planned to go to work on Wed, but my new group head was only there Monday before a 3 week hiatus so he asked me to come in. I get into work at 8AM, nobody there to let me in until 8:45 but I got a lot of reading on hong kong done. Things start later in Hong Kong... And I find that the group head started his hiatus early... sweet. The first week is full of jetlag. But got to meet all the work people who are very nice and will be fun working with them. Went out for drinks on wednesday as a welcome thing but by 8:30, couldn't stop yawning. Yes, I pulled a Soon... Commute is easy and costs less that a NY subway ride via cab. Would walk but would sweat through all my clothes. Didn't do much the first week. There's a 7-11 across the street and a small noodle shop behind it that I go to. I teach the lady how to say numbers in English, and she laughs at me for not speaking chinese... it's a nice relationship... Did meet Tanya's friend Tina, and also met up with Ed and Winnie. Had a awesome dinner with Ed and Winnie on Friday (chinese food is so good lah) and then met up with Tanya and Tina to go to a bar in TST. Tanya and I decided to play a game on who could order the weirdest drink for the other... I drank something with wasabi vodka and then another that was house soju (what the hell is house soju??) mixed with gin and vodka. But I got tanya good with some weird drink with bacardi 151 that they lit on fire... yes she got drunk, she a lightweight. Then we went to a club called Prive. Her friend Tina has nice connections. Usually, the clubs here are for members only, or reserved tables, or really hot chicks. oh and there were some english premier league team there but didn't recognize them. jetlag kickd in so I left early, but i was delighted with the prospect that my clubbing now would be all asian parties.. Saturday was literally laundry day, spent the whole day doing laundry... Sunday went out to Macau so that I could get my visa validated. Macau is the las vegas of asia, will definitely do a proper trip there. Then bought a cell phone and got an octopus card so it was a productive day. Jeez I'm already getting tired of typing, ok less detail.. Week 2 My one week grace period was over so I got acquainted with actual work. Got to go out for dinner/drinks a few times though and saw an apt. Was going to take it but decided I shouldn't take the first one I see. Didn't go out Friday as the weekend would be busy. Saturday, went to a tailor and got a bunch of work clothes. The tailor is supposed to be great and the prices are awesome compared to NY. Was there for like 3 hours choosing fabrics/colors/patterns for suits and shirts. Wish my sister was there since I am no good with this type of thing. Then back to Hong Kong island for apt hunting. Tanya gave me an agent's number and Tina joined me. Saw 10 places and was surprised I saw so many decent ones. Decided on one and will be signing on Monday. In Midlevels, one bedroom full furnished. And much cheaper than that first one I saw. Can't wait to move in so I can start being fully Hong Kongese. Sunday went out to Ed and Winnie's for some home cooked dinner. Their place is FANTASTIC. great complex and their apt is huge. Met some of their friends and had some of Winnie's excellent cooking. Also watched the top 100 80s songs on VH1 at their place. #1, Bon Jovi "Livin on a Prayer".... Week 3 Work is getting really started but it's still not too bad. I have my fitting at the tailors, pay first month rent, and apply for hong kong resident id. Everything is so organized and efficient. Took me like 30 mins to go through the application process for resident id. It would take like two hours to renew my license at the dmv. This week is the arrival of Mary, another familiar face. Also I find out that Walsh, his friend John and Jay will be visiting. And that Jay will be staying with me. Meet up with them on Wednesday for drinks. Proceed to have a very good time. Went to some bar/club where it was models night. Meet some of Mary's friends, and I get some dude's number, I'm assuming he is friends with Mary... I checked my phone the next morning and saw a number I didn't recognize and i started remembering... Anyways, we come back to my place where apparently Jay wanders out of my room in a drunken stupor. He suddenly snaps out of it but doesn't remember where my room is. So in a tshirt and boxers with no shoes, he goes to the lobby, behind the guard desk and looks for my name and room #... somehow he finds it and gets to my room. I was sleeping through all this... And now this typhoon that brings little rain and little wind so far. Maybe asian people are just a bunch of pansies... So now I'm off to dinner with the visitors. tune in next time... Coming up... The big move, finding a barber, and more... |
