Sam (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} samgrrrl) wrote,@ 2007-10-17 15:45:00 |
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NY -> SG -> HK
So! And we come to this.
I don't have a lot of time to write everything down, and I figure you don't have a lot of time to read everything anyway, so that works out well. Let's just give you the Cliff's Notes, roughly chronological.
Packing up our New York apartment for storage and shipping was a bitch. That week and a half is pretty much a blur in my mind. We have way too much crap.
Even though we've been gone from New York about a month, we've only been in Hong Kong for two weeks. We spent two weeks in Singapore waiting for my HK work visa to come through, then moved to Hong Kong.
Singapore was a lot of fun, as usual. Living on the company dime? Totally awesome. I highly recommend it.
On the flip side, living in three hotels in three weeks really sucked.
Fortunately, we managed to get an apartment within a week of arriving in Hong Kong. It's tiny, but really well located. In Central, on Hong Kong Island. Which is a little like living near Union Square in Manhattan.
I have no oven :( Apparently nobody bakes in Hong Kong.
The first time we came to Central, Adan asked if it was short for White person central, because there are SO MANY expats in this area.
I'm really sick of retail staff and salespeople giving me dirty looks when I say I don't speak Cantonese. It's like they think I'm lying - "You're Chinese and you claim you can't speak Cantonese? What a poser!"
My mom's really excited that I'm just a few hours away by plane, and within the same time zone, of course. Also, I have to screw my courage to the sticking-place and talk to her about the Singapore wedding already. Pretty much everything she's mentioned about her plans for it makes me miserably unhappy. I managed to convince myself for a bit that I could just not care about it, leave it all in her hands and just show up since she's paying for it anyway. But the more I think about it, the more miserable I get, so I guess we need to talk about it soon, before it's too late.
Unlike my office building in New York, there isn't a Starbucks in the Hong Kong office building. They're building one, though, and it's supposed to be done this week! It's like they knew I was coming.
Amusing HK thing - men dressed in business suits, carrying briefcases, sporting gravity-defying anime hair.
People are rude in HK. And this coming from someone who spent 9 years in New York City.
People are also incredibly efficient. We had dinner the other day and brought our check to the front cashier counter to pay, where the one cashier on duty was processing checks, money, and change for three people simultaneously. Not one after another - all at the same time. In two different languages. It was quite impressive.
HK steps are really steep and really bitty. When walking down stairs, there's a constant struggle of "Will there be enough space on the next step for my large foot, or will this be the time I end up sliding down a steep flight of stairs on my ass?"
There's some really awesome food in Hong Kong, but possibly not for the typical American palate. You've got to like Chinese flavors, and/or be adventurous, to really get the most out of a Hong Kong food experience.
The only thing about Hong Kong that's more expensive than New York is housing. Everything else is equivalent or cheaper. So since work is paying for our apartment, we're doing well!
Public transportation is dirt cheap. My daily commute costs me $0.70 round-trip if I take the subway, and $2 each way by cab. And the water ferry to Kowloon costs about $0.30 each way.
I miss you all. And everyone is still welcome to visit! We have a large sofa that's easily sleepable in the living room, so there's that :)
Work's been trying to convince me to stay for longer than six months - although we'd definitely need to at least take April off to come back to New York and get married and all.
Speaking of which, we'll be back in New York in November. We're stopping over in London for three days on our way from HK to NY, then we'll be in NYC from November 3 to November 11. Looking for a place to stay, so let us know if you can put up with us on your floor for two or three days :)
So! And we come to this.
I don't have a lot of time to write everything down, and I figure you don't have a lot of time to read everything anyway, so that works out well. Let's just give you the Cliff's Notes, roughly chronological.
Packing up our New York apartment for storage and shipping was a bitch. That week and a half is pretty much a blur in my mind. We have way too much crap.
Even though we've been gone from New York about a month, we've only been in Hong Kong for two weeks. We spent two weeks in Singapore waiting for my HK work visa to come through, then moved to Hong Kong.
Singapore was a lot of fun, as usual. Living on the company dime? Totally awesome. I highly recommend it.
On the flip side, living in three hotels in three weeks really sucked.
Fortunately, we managed to get an apartment within a week of arriving in Hong Kong. It's tiny, but really well located. In Central, on Hong Kong Island. Which is a little like living near Union Square in Manhattan.
I have no oven :( Apparently nobody bakes in Hong Kong.
The first time we came to Central, Adan asked if it was short for White person central, because there are SO MANY expats in this area.
I'm really sick of retail staff and salespeople giving me dirty looks when I say I don't speak Cantonese. It's like they think I'm lying - "You're Chinese and you claim you can't speak Cantonese? What a poser!"
My mom's really excited that I'm just a few hours away by plane, and within the same time zone, of course. Also, I have to screw my courage to the sticking-place and talk to her about the Singapore wedding already. Pretty much everything she's mentioned about her plans for it makes me miserably unhappy. I managed to convince myself for a bit that I could just not care about it, leave it all in her hands and just show up since she's paying for it anyway. But the more I think about it, the more miserable I get, so I guess we need to talk about it soon, before it's too late.
Unlike my office building in New York, there isn't a Starbucks in the Hong Kong office building. They're building one, though, and it's supposed to be done this week! It's like they knew I was coming.
Amusing HK thing - men dressed in business suits, carrying briefcases, sporting gravity-defying anime hair.
People are rude in HK. And this coming from someone who spent 9 years in New York City.
People are also incredibly efficient. We had dinner the other day and brought our check to the front cashier counter to pay, where the one cashier on duty was processing checks, money, and change for three people simultaneously. Not one after another - all at the same time. In two different languages. It was quite impressive.
HK steps are really steep and really bitty. When walking down stairs, there's a constant struggle of "Will there be enough space on the next step for my large foot, or will this be the time I end up sliding down a steep flight of stairs on my ass?"
There's some really awesome food in Hong Kong, but possibly not for the typical American palate. You've got to like Chinese flavors, and/or be adventurous, to really get the most out of a Hong Kong food experience.
The only thing about Hong Kong that's more expensive than New York is housing. Everything else is equivalent or cheaper. So since work is paying for our apartment, we're doing well!
Public transportation is dirt cheap. My daily commute costs me $0.70 round-trip if I take the subway, and $2 each way by cab. And the water ferry to Kowloon costs about $0.30 each way.
I miss you all. And everyone is still welcome to visit! We have a large sofa that's easily sleepable in the living room, so there's that :)
Work's been trying to convince me to stay for longer than six months - although we'd definitely need to at least take April off to come back to New York and get married and all.
Speaking of which, we'll be back in New York in November. We're stopping over in London for three days on our way from HK to NY, then we'll be in NYC from November 3 to November 11. Looking for a place to stay, so let us know if you can put up with us on your floor for two or three days :)
