Coming home… to Hong Kong. March 24, 2008

I guess you know you’re settled when you feel so at home after coming back from a vacation. I’ve often have a feeling of absolute relief when getting in a cab at the airport. No matter how wonderful the vacation has been, getting in that cab and knowing exactly where you’re going, knowing you’re 20-30 minutes from your home, feels really good. I remember this feeling while living in Boston, and then San Francisco, and today I celebrate it for the first time in Hong Kong. I’m back from a fabulous vacation and I feel like i’ve been gone for ages. Probably due to the fact that I didn’t stay put in any one place while on this vacation. I’m so ready to get back to work, and that even feels good. 

 I’ve missed Hong Kong. I’ve missed the organized chaos that I’ve grown used to, I’ve missed being comfortable crossing my streets (I had difficulties in both Sydney AND certainly in Ho Chi Minh), i’ve missed understanding the currency, and i’ve missed my comfy apartment. It feels so good to come home thousands of miles from home.

Holiday in Australia March 23, 2008

I am probably the worse blogger ever. I have really not been in the habit and I will try to kick my own rear into gear. Right now I’m writing from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on my return to Hong Kong after my first holiday. I spent over a week in Australia, equally between Sydney and Port Douglas. Sydney was great because I got to see Marcy and Chris, as well as meet some colleagues in the office. Sydney is a truly lovely city, and in some ways, it reminded me a little of Boston. I did find Sydney incredibly expensive but with the best espresso ever. We also had the opportunity to spend a day in Hunter Valley, and did some wine tasting (Napa Valley, better watch your back…) and spent the evening with becky’s friend Sharon in Woi Woi. In Woi Woi, I had the opportunity to get a taste of the local culture by getting into a poker game at a club. I won’t embarass my self publically too much, but I should note that I had been drinking quite a bit of wine all day, and since I didn’t have club-appropriate clubs, I was wearing Sharon’s clothing, including her 3-sizes too big shoes.

After Sydney, we flew to Cairns and then got the shuttle to Port Douglas. Port Dougie in the northeast (in Queensland) is amazing. We did a few day trips, one to the great barrier reef and one to the rainforest. I also had the opportunity to pet a koala and feed kangaroos and wallabies. the Great Barrier Reef is amazing in how incredibly long it is, and while I did see a lot of fish, I can’t say the snorkeling was any better than some other snorkeling i’ve done. However, that isn’t taking anything away from the reef. The coral is amazing and when you put it in perspective and realize just how big the reef is, it’s inspiring. I definitely wish I had a few more days to spend in Port Douglas and would return there in a heart beat. We couldn’t go swimming at the beaches as it’s stinger season, so the timing wasn’t great.

Tonight I arrived in Ho Chi Minh city, and unfortunately all the museums were already closed so I wasn’t able to learn more about the “American War” (what we American’s call the “Vietnam War”), but I hope to definitely return here. I did get to go to the Ben Thanh market, and do a little shopping. I also had Pho Bo at one of the outdoor restaurants next to the markets, and vietnamese iced coffee. What a difference in cost from Australia. For less than $2USD, I had a bottle of water, bowl of delicious noodles, and an iced coffee. In Australia, often my bottled water was more expensive… Ho Chi Minh seems so alive, and vibrant, but I can’t report much as I don’t have too much time here. I certainly look forward to returning.

The bad news of the trip is that I did lose my camera in Port Douglas at the Daintree Ice Cream Company (where one can enjoy many exotic flavors of ice cream). The good news is that the good people of the Daintree got the camera back to Becky, as I had already left to fly to vietnam. So for now there are no pics to share, and there will not be any pics of Scooter-abundant Ho chi minh, but I will post as soon as I can.

Although my vacation is nearly over, I am happy to return home to Hong Kong. It’s good to go home…

“hiking” hong kong style January 21, 2008

So a few of us joined a large group to go to Lamma Island to spend the day hiking. Lamma Island is a small island a 30 minute ferry ride from HK island. We had a lunch and then boarded the ferry. We were lucky to have absolute gorgeous weather, and a nice clear day. I had actually been to Lamma on Thursday night for dinner, and it was FREEZING as it was in the evening. It was quite fun then because of the Chinese wine (35% alcohol – ooh friday was painful), but Sunday was even better. Once we arrived, we walked oh maybe 10 minutes until we came to the little town. there we had an hour “break” before going on the hike. There we ate snacks (coconut cakes, meat sticks) and shopped. Then we started to work towards the hiking trail, maybe another 10 minutes before we came to the best place on the island for dofu fah (a tofu dessert). Of course the group stopped to eat (again) before getting on the trail. At this point I really believed that hiking lamma was just code for non-stop eating. Once on te trail, the views were lovely with views of the water, hills, and the beach. We stopped at a herb garden and continued on to the end. Even though it was quite a short hike, we all fell asleep on the ferry ride back. Such a nice day.

I also had a pleasant saturday, with an early morning dim sum with colleagues from the office, along with some colleagues that were in from Japan. Great fun.

Here’s some pics from teh hike. Hopefuly will have pics from dim sum and other events soon. http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/rachelmadams2005/LammaIsland20108

BlogWars January 7, 2008

So, I guess i need to write the blog again. My friends Marcy and Chris just arrived to Sydney and they started their sydney blog, so now there is fierce competition. Sydney vs Hong Kong competitions too i’m sure. It starts with the blog, and it ends in an HK-Australia stand-off!

So late days at work, but all is good. Things are just really busy right now. I got wind that my belongings from the states are in Hong Kong but no actual word on where they are or when they’ll be with me. Oh, I will remain patient!

Plans for the week include a happy hour on thursday with work (and oh it begins), happy hour on friday with expat group (and oh it continues), hopefully the goldfish and flower markets on Saturday (I need a large potted plant and pet gold fish for my 2008 feng shui). I also need to find a compass so I know where to place my newfound pet fish and plant for maximum good luck. Chinese New Year and the year of the rat are just around the corner and i’m really NOT prepared. I need all the luck I can get apparently this year. I got a fantastic gift during our Secret Santa which is a 2008 Chinese feng shui and horoscope guide. Pictures of the event are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/rachelmadams2005/CCSServiceAndOpsSecretSantaAndDimSum

The big news is that Laurel booked her trip to HK in late february! Yay – my first official guest, although Willie is threatening to beat her to it and show up in January. We’ll see! And I’m in the process of booking my first vacation to SYDNEY to see Chris, Marcy and my friend Becky who is there for a weekend!. Couldn’t be happier. The return flight has an overnight layover in Ho Chi Minh City so I can see a little of Vietnam while i’m at it.

That’s all in the way of an update for now. Hopefully within few weeks I will be more furnished and will have a few pots and pans. For now, all I got is chopsticks and feng shui… (or the beginnings of an amateur attempt).

one more sunday – absolutely required December 9, 2007

i’m beat. my feet are killing me. my eyes are sleepy. i’m happy to say this is not due to a hangover but general seeing people, events, and running around. i really need another weekend, or just another sunday.

Hong Kong is nothing if it’s not social. In the last 48 hours, I’ve bounced from event to event, meeting new people all the way. I’ve ate some really good food, including a gorgeous meal at the Panorama, Rennaisance Hotel, Kowloon. I had an excellent “trim and tasty” (not sure how “trim”) brunch this morning with a great group of people (i’m getting much better at meeting strangers!!), and enjoyed some organic wine and hummus later this afternoon. Most exciting is I’m meeting some really nice, great, interesting people and Hong Kong is a so much fun!

I met some really special folks but today I also met a woman from San Francisco that is considering moving here. She lives in Burlingame, and has a very large apartment with a dog there. She’s a bit in freak out mode after hearing what her colleague pays and seeing his place. I did my best to convince her that there are options and did a lot of the pep talk that folks gave me (Primarily KV – if you’re reading this!). Anyway, I hope she does it. Once I landed here, all my doubts subsided and I know this was the right thing. Now, it’s not for everyone, but it’s for a lot. I hope she does it

One random thought before logging off.. why every place one goes such a “small world”? Hong Kong is NOT small, but yet I met a woman today (local-gone-ex-pat-come-back-again) who is best friends with one a coworkers’ wife. so random. this is a city of 7.5 million. and they are both from HK! love it.

Updated pics with comments:

Dim sum (from last week):
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/rachelmadams2005/MyFirstHKDimSumAndNearbyHKBuildings
These are my colleagues and team! They gave me a warm welcome by taking me for Dim Sum at a wonderful spot – City Hall Maxim’s place. It was quite grand, and this is one of the only places left in Hong Kong where they serve dim sum from the trolleys. Quite sad indeed. Highlights included the chicken feet of course. However, I did have some other tasty treats -mostly on the sweeter side. The Hong Kongers surely love their sweets!

View of the HK Island Skyline from Kowloon (from last night):
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/rachelmadams2005/KowloonOverlookingHongKongHarbor
This is the view of HK Island from Kowloon. I had a great dinner with Eldon and Patricia at the Panorama Restaurant in the Rennaisance Hotel right on victoria harbor. This was unreal. The view of the city is amazing and grand. The food was excellent and i had CALIFORNIA wine. You guys do not know how lucky you have it!!

Ladies Dinner and after hour festivities (from last week):
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/rachelmadams2005/HonkersDecember2007
Great girls! Had a great time and realized that these events aren’t scary at all. I also learned the true meeting of a cracker. For any UK readers I have, yes, I mean the christmas cracker! Katie was thrilled to learn our version of the cracker.

Soho (I think it’s considered soho??) street markets on Sunday: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/rachelmadams2005/SoHoMarkets
After brunch today I wandered around the street markets. New friend in the picture – Melody. Melody is here from Taiwan and I’ve run into her twice now – at the ladies dinner and brunch!
To be honest, i dont’ know if these side streets are still considered soho, but if not, then i guess they are central or sheung wan. who knows and i doubt you guys care!
 

another weekend, another update. December 2, 2007

I’m not sure there’s a ton to write about but I’m trying to get into a habit here so here’s the latest. Since my last writing, I had chaos erupt over some banking issues. If you’re planning to ever move outside the country, make sure you take your cash with you and do not expect the bank to wire it to you. Bank of America will NOT wire my money to me since I cannot go into a branch. It’s a big pile of crap, so every day I take out my ATM limit and pay mucho fees. By next Friday I need to have enough to finish paying for my apartment deposit, but things seem to be on track there. There were two days of total stress and major freak outs but that is behind me now. I had an overdose on lychee martinis Friday night so I think I need to stay away from the sugar. Saw another movie today – this one in Cantonese (english subtitled), and filmed in hong kong. It’s called “Mad Detective” and it was pretty good. The main character cuts off his ear during the first five minutes and there were a lot of groans in the theater. I’m not sure if I mentioned this before but Hong Kong cinemas really put the volume up on the audio. It’s LOUD. I also got my nails done today. It’s a lot more expensive for a gel manicure here and it took almost 2 hours. I found a reasonably priced place in Causeway bay so I guess I’ll continue to go back there. My nails do look nice

Here’s some new pics:

From today in Causeway Bay. These pics are a little boring but maybe you can get a feel for the Christmas decorating and busyness of Causeway Bay – this is on a Sunday afternoon: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/rachelmadams2005/HongKongTimeSquareCausewayBay

 My apartment! These are from the realtor website so I’ll post better pics once i’m moved in and it’s furnished: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/rachelmadams2005/Apartment

 I’m doing a few “expat” events this week so hopefully will make some friends.

That’s all for now! xxoo patch

I found an apartment! and other news from hk. November 27, 2007

Things continue to go well and as planned. I looked at four apartments last night. All apartments were in Sheung Wan, which is where my serviced apartment is, and I guess I’m becoming a little comfortable here. Only one was acceptable, really. The largest one which was the most promising and the one I wanted to see, was pretty much a dump. It was depressing. It’s hard to see a place that needs major painting and overhaul and just trust that it will happen. The second was smaller but seemed cleaner and in better overall shape. The last two were fine square footage wise, but the layouts were terrible. The bedrooms literally were teeny weeny boxes, barely big enough for a twin, and more suitable for a crib. I saw one of the apartments in the dark as there was no power.

Today I got an email from another realtor to see a place last minute. I was 30 minutes late, getting lost in Sheung Wan. Somehow Bonham Strand turns into Bonham Strand west (my destination), but certainly not in a straight line or logical path. I walked around aimlessly with blisters thumping for over 30 minutes, and right when I was about to give up, I saw a road sign with the promising “W”. I cannot believe the realtor waited for me. First words out of his mouth were “I told you I’d pick you up”. I walked into the apartment and fell in love. I loved it. It’s a low rise, which isn’t preferred in HK due to the noise closer to the ground, and it’s a walk up but the apt was on the second floor. These are both considered negatives, but I couldn’t help but feel that this sits better with me. I was really somewhat turned off by all the highrises, and I just feel as though this is a bit more “me”. And it’s just a 5 apartment building – one apartment per floor. Everything is brand new. it looks like it’s never been lived in. it’s big (!) – 700 square feet which is huge for a single person in HK. I guess. That’s what I’m told. Anyway, to make a very long story short – I GOT IT! I negotiated the best that I could, and stated my few demands – (i.e, will move in 12/20 and won’t pay more than 1/2 months rent, lower rent a bit, etc). The realtor insisted i see one more place (he had my spot lined up for a client later in the evening, and I think was trying to get both deals) but for a few different reasons, that didn’t happen. I’m signing the lease tomorrow!  It was only the 5th place i looked at, and I am truly happy. It is a little more than I wanted to end up spending, but it’s a bit lower than my upper limit. There’s some weird arrangement with me and the landlord and the water meter, but i’ll save that for another time. I hope that there will be some interesting stories related to that, but at the same time, fingers crossed that there aren’t.

Other than the apartment, there isn’t a ton more in the way of news. Today was day two of work and I really like the office and the people. everyone is so nice and the tea selection in the kitchen is something to certainly write home (or blog) about! the job is great too

i can live here. i can do this. November 23, 2007

so far this move has been a little too easy. the movers came and did a great job, although they did pack my backpack with all my important papers including my visa and passport and i didn’t notice it missing until they were just about gone. i will take some blame there though. but everything else was just too easy. becky, my darling friend, offered to take me to sfo so that was a huge lifesaver. then there were no airline delays. no issues getting through immigration. no issues with customs. i was even able to man-handle my 2 very large pieces of luggage. no issues getting into my little apartment (stress on the word “little”), i have internet, and i have 50 cent cans of beer. what more can a girl want? so here’s the highlights of my day, and even though it’s only 5:15 pm, it will wrap up. i’m exhausted
9:30 am, arrived to Hong Kong. took a taxi to the apartment in sheung wan, central. the cab driver questioned quite bluntly why my suitcases were so heavy and why did i need so much stuff. i explained the move and commented on the lovely weather. i got no response in return.
10:00ish – check in apartment. it’s cute, and totally livable. the closet space/area for clothing is a bit tight. i mean maybe if i had more than 3 hangers. i can buy hangers but I know that I’m moving like a million out here. the stove.. well at first i thought it was a scale.
10:30ish, after shower. Walked around sheung wan the majority of the day. I saw lots of dried stuff, ginseng, and birds. the birds were a highlight. i almost want a bird living here. they are pretty cute until they get the flu. had lunch at this packed place. it was spacious and didn’t seem too overwhelming at first and they had a menu on the wall that was also in english, so i went for it. i was the only white person in there, without a doubt. i got the stewed pork and sweet corn with rice, and a honey tea drink. the total cost was about $3 usd. i’m going back tomorrow. i’m going to be a regular there. yeah i can live here. i can do this. i sat down and ate and within minutes the place was out of control packed. so many people and then some guy just sat down with me. didn’t ask, didn’t smile, didn’t do anything. just sat down and ate. that’s cool. i can live with that too. no need to be polite when you’re hungry and people are lining up out the door. i think i also realized at that point that it probably wasn’t a good idea to have a relaxing-read-my-tourist-book-at-lunch type of lunch, so ate fast and left. went to the man mo temple, which was quite nice, and i want to go back to have my fortune read. the guy that does the fortunes in english already had a client so i skipped today.
walked down Cat street, i think it’s called that. and up ladder street, and then considered finding the office, but thought better of that. went to the grocery store to pick up a few items (water, laughing cow cheese, oranges, 50 cent tsiang taos, and lots of probiotic products – i can live here. i can do this).
here are some pics from my first day. Unfortunately my battery died in the man mo temple so the pics are cut short. and i didn’t get any pics of the birds or my date at lunch, but next time.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/rachelmadams2005/HongKongDay1SheungWanManMoTempleOtherStuff

p.s. in case anyone random ever reads this and you are interested in knowing the restaurant, i think it was called Cafe de Coral or something like that. i’ll find out

a day of darkness November 23, 2007

here’s a post i wrote from the plane.

flying west to asia on a red eye is an interesting experience. i didn’t know what to expect. it’s been pitch black for the last 11 hours (3 hours to go) and I expect the sun will just be rising when we land in taipai. they served us dinner within an hour of getting on the plane (1 am-ish). and to all those wondering, it wasn’t thanksgiving dinner. it was along the lines of braised chicken with bokchoy and rice. I’m sure I slept a good 7 hours but it’s hard to know since it was total blackness waking up. the flight is packed (!) and I had the middle seat.  my guardian angel smiled down at me and placed me with a couple that wanted to be next to each other, so window seat I got. and since I don’t have perfect karma (i’ll work on that buddha), I got stuck with the 18 month old behind me who is kicking my seat and cries a lot. I am probably completely off but I think we’re flying over japan now, I see land and buildings. crazy, i’m nearly there and I completely skipped thursday. It’s friday morning! time to eat breaky as my friends and family get ready to eat your turkey and pies. welcome to my asia

 Listening to: Radiohead, In Rainbows (and the crying baby)
Reading: The perks of being a wallflower, chbosky

Last days of good-byes. November 10, 2007

My big plan was to start a blog when I moved to Hong Kong. At the very least, I could share photos with my friends and family, and perhaps some thoughts here and there. I’m not much of a writer so I doubt this will be a very interesting read, but who knows, maybe someone will find something amusing and come back for more.

I’m less than 2 weeks to go before my big move, and I still feel like I have a million things to do. In all actuality, I just have a million pieces of junk (collected through the years) to get rid of. Everything else (what would seem to be the hard stuff when you move 7000 miles away) is complete. I got the visa. I have an airline ticket. I have a place to live.. for 30 days. I feel good about things, but I still have crap EVERYWHERE!

This is my second to last Friday night in San Francisco, and I’m going to relax and think about Hong Kong. Maybe when I get to Hong Kong, all I will do is think about San Francisco. The two cities certainly have a connection, and I will miss my friends and this beautiful city oh so much. I’m working on getting as much in of her as I can.

New experiences await and hopefully some interesting reads.

xxoo, rachel