a. Day 1; 2/10/03. (Date is Asian style--day/month/year). Well. I arrived! The flight from SF to HK was smooth, quiet, and long. The service on the flight was great, and the CP flight attendants were beautiful. The 747 had video screens at every seat, but I did not watch much of anything. We were served dinner about an hour into the flight, and then I tried to sleep as much as possible. I had brought my own pillow and so I was able to sleep about 5 or 6 hours. I finally awoke for good with about 2 1/2 hours to go when breakfast was served. Out the window I saw the northern coast of Taiwan, and as we landed in HK dawn was upon us. I was starting the new day in a new continent!
I got thru customs and immigration very quickly. At 6:20 AM the airport was very quiet and there were no lines at all. By 6:40 I had purchased my 3 day MTR pass with RT airport express (together called an Octopus card) and was on the airport express headed for Central Station. The airport express is a fast and quiet train that takes you quickly into town, stopping at 3 different MTR stations for easy transfer. At the Central MTR station I transferred to the Island Line of the MTR, and met my flat mate at Tai Koo at about 7:30 AM. 10 minutes later I was in my new home on the 26th floor of a high rise just above the MTR stop.
As I planned my trip I knew that I would be based in HK because the CP AirPass required me to always transit thru HK. I also knew that I did not really want to live out of a suitcase for 4 or 5 months. So I decided to try to find a room to rent in an apartment instead of a hotel room. I looked on the internet in the classified sections of the South China Morning Post, and also on the AsiaXpat website. I found perhaps 20 "roomate wanted" ads, and sent them each an email telling them who I was and what my plan was. I received about 5 or 6 positive replies, and finally decided on this apartment in Tai Koo Shing.
My flatmate/landlord, L, is a young lawyer from Shanghai, who studied law in Australia. She had been working in HK for a couple years but then went back to Sydney for 6 months to wait for the SARS problem to dissipate. In early September she had come to HK to find an apartment, and she had just moved-back from Sydney 10 days before I arrived. She did not want a permanent roomate, but just a temporary cash flow boost, and so my need for a temporary home was a good fit. For $4000 HK per month (about $500 US) I had my own room in a very nice 2 bedroom apartment in a very good location.
L went off to work and I unpacked. We agreed to meet for lunch near her office, and so after I cleaned-up I went down to the MTR. The HK MTR is one of the marvels of the modern world. Clean, quiet, comfortable, it is what every subway system should be. Even for a newcomer like myself, it was very easy to find my way. L and I met at the appointed place and had lunch at a cafeteria style restaurant with separate lines for Chinese style, Vietnamese style, and Japanese style food. I had Vietnamese style. In HK the standard lunch time for office workers is 1:00 PM, and so the restaurants are very crowded during this time. But the service was fast and so we were able to get our food and a table without any problem
Later I take the MTR back to Central station. I am meeting M for lunch at Maxim's at City Hall, which is a well known dim sum restaurant. M1, a Yale business school grad, runs a consulting and training firm in HK, specializing in helping client companies develop top performing teams of employees. M invites me to come to the HK Yacht Club on Sunday evening to watch the fireworks competition. After lunch I walk around some more, eventually finding the Hong Kong Tourist Board on Jubilee Street. I get some of the usual tourist info flyers, etc., one of which announces the fireworks competition among teams from several countries.
I then head back to the MTR and find myself in another mall, Landmark Mall, where I stop at a Starbucks for a cup of coffee. A kind older man allows me to share his table, and we share conversation about his former days as a local contractor. Now retired, Francis Chung (not sure of the spelling) has the same complaints of subcontractors as my contractor clients in Miami. It seems that many business problems are universal.
That evening I meet MA for dinner. MA and I had been trading email messages for about 3 years. She is from Taiwan and works in the wholesale diamond business. We meet at the Tsim Shat Tsui MTR on the Kowloon side. This is my first trip to TST. For some reason it feels a little scary. I have read so much about TST--the people, the shops, the scams. We have dinner at a very nice place on a street I could not ever find on my own again. MA was widowed a few years earlier when her husband was in a car accident in China. She now works to support her two children. I think I will call her "amazing grace". For dessert MA orders yams which are coated with a syrup. The yams and syrup are hot, but when they are brought to the table the waitress dunks the yams into ice water which hardens the syrup. The result is a crunchy sweet coating over warm sweet yams. Very nice!
When I get back to Tai Koo I meet I on the elevator, who lives with her friend A in the building. We strike up a conversation and agree to meet for breakfast in the morning.
After the ferry I walked thru town to the next MTR station to the east. It seems that each station has its own shopping mall. I am later told that this is not actually true, but so far my experience has been limited to those that do. Shops and shoppers are everywhere. It seems like Xmas in the states, but it's only a Thursday afternoon in early October! Many of the buildings and malls are connected by walkways, either elevated or subways, so shoppers can avoid the heat and traffic of the street. How logical. How considerate.
Eventually I make my way back to Tai Koo and the CityPlaza Mall that is now my new home. I do some window shopping, and inquire at Fortress, an electronics store, about cellphones. They had a large selection on display. HK uses the GSM system which can be used in several other Asian countries as well as in Europe and USA. I find the Pacific Coffee shop where I get a cup and sit down at the free internet access they offer for customers (this is generally available at all Pacific Coffee locations). I check my email, and reply to some work related ones.
I had spoken to some other HK friends who had suggested that I shop for a cellphone in the Causeway Bay area. Not having much else to do, and wanting to resolve the cellphone issue quickly, I head back to the MTR. 15 minutes later I am exiting the Causeway Bay MTR station to a street full of neon lights and people. Wow! The lights are so bright and numerous it is almost like daylight! There are cellphone shops everywhere, perhaps 4 or 5 every block. I walk into a few, ask questions, but find that the prices and selection at Fortress are quite competitive. And, I feel more secure dealing with a merchant that is both established and convenient to where I live.
I then head back up to the apartment. I am feeling a bit tired, but I am determined to stay awake until normal bedtime of sometime after 10:00 PM. L arrives back at about 8:00 and we head down to the mall to get some food for dinner. She takes me to the Jusco Supermarket (part of the Jusco department store) where I am again amazed at the selection and the crowds. The supermarket has its own food court area, with several food stations that make food to go upon your order. At one station I point to the sample display of a veggie, shrimp and rice combo and a couple minutes later I receive the freshly prepared meal. L picks-up some food to cook and we head back up to the apartment to eat. After dinner L sets-up my laptop for internet access on her broadband connection. For some reason I feel more relaxed now that I am "connected" to the world!
Later, as I turn out the light and lean back on my pillows (mine plus the one that L provided), I still find it amazing that I am about to spend my first night on the other side of the world. In the space of just a few hours I have gone from just another American walking thru a mall in California to an explorer beginning a personal exploration of Asia and the world. I feel empowered, grateful, and tired. Sleep comes within minutes.
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