Trent's Turn

I haven't had too much to say until now - I've been too busy doing a man's job. You know buying the groceries, doing the washing, setting up the house ;-)

After almost 4 weeks in Honkers, it's starting to feel like home (at least for the next couple of years anyway). To bring you all up to speed, we've moved out of our Serviced Apartment in Causeway Bay and into our 2 bedroom unit in Kennedy Town (which is at the western end of Hong Kong island). Also, it looks like I've found a job (although I haven't signed a contract yet).

The unit is pretty cool. As I type, I can see a vast flotilla of ships and ferries moving around the harbour. It's an impressive site and it's no wonder they say this is the busiest harbour in the world. Our unit is in a block of 3 x >50 story buildings, constituting "The Merton" urban renewal development in Kennedy Town (previously an industrial area). The buildings are only a couple of years old and the facilities here are impressive: lounge, reading room (newspapers and magazines supplied), piano room, karaoke room, aerobics room, yoga room and a reasonable gym (although the dumbbells only go up to 50 pound).

We were previously going to try and find a place in the Mid-levels or in Soho (SOuth of HOllywood road) with all of the other gweilos (what the local Cantonese call us westerners) but it was pretty hard to go past Kennedy Town. Soho and Lan Kwai Fong is where all the western cafes, restaurants and pubs are, hence why they're popular places for gweilos to live (it's also where we'll most probably take you for a night out, if you happen make it here). Soho's been designated a historical area, so the buildings are quite old and not nearly as tall as other parts of Honkers (which means there's almost no units available). The Mid-levels is also popular because it's up on the side of Victoria peake (so views tend to be better) and adjacent to Soho and Lan Kwai Fong. The popularity also means it's ridiculously expensive (if our place was in the Mid-levels, it would probably cost an extra $AUS2-3k/month!!!).

To close out this post, I thought I'd tell you a little about my new job.

Leaving Australia, I didn't really have a firm idea of what I wanted to do in Honkers (I was too busy trying to pack up to give it serious thought) but over the last 4 weeks I managed to firm up my preferences. There's a massive number of Banking and Finance jobs going over here but unless you have previous experience in that industry it's pretty much a closed door. Also complicating the job front is that many jobs require you to be billingual, usually English and Cantonese but can also include Mandarin, Japanese and Putonghua - this tends to narrow the jobs down to Western, non-banking companies (which use English for business). After establishing these 2 barriers, I was fairly certain I wanted to have a crack working for a western IT consultancy as a project manager, where I could partake in many projects and obtain a good cross-section of experience before returning to Australia.

In the end it was rather simple to find a job. All the westerners already here are too happy to offer suggestions for finding work (mainly because they were all in the same position when they arrived), providing names of recruiters, sending your resume around their network and inviting you to local business events - we were even invited to an Australian Chamber of Commerce networking session (which was quite useful but somewhat strange too).

One of the recruiters that I had contacted when I first arrived, Robert Walters, called me in for an interview. I must have said something right because they then put me forward for an interview with Getronics as an Infrastructure Project Manager. The interview was quite informal and consisted mainly about my boss-to-be giving me some background on IT in Hong Kong. Coincidentally, the Manager for Greater China was in the office, so he also came by to give his approval. Later that day, I got their offer and the only thing left was to negotiate terms.

I can't say I had heard anything about Getronics before I came to Hong Kong but the story goes that they're a multi-national company our of the Netherlands. You might be more familiar with one of their aquisitions from the lates 90s, Wang computers. There's some more info in Wikipedia if you're interested.

Anyway, that's probably enough from me for now.

Cheers!

Our new home!!

Well we've done it, we've become Hong Kongians/Hong Kongers/HK'ers/Honkies, people who call Hong Kong home!! We moved into our new place this weekend, we've assembled Ikea furniture, bought electricals, coordinated deliveries, service people and connecting people, and on Sunday night we have a home of sorts!! Our bed is on the floor because Ikea was out of legs until Feb (we're hoping early), our suitcase almost fits under the spare bed, we've mastered (almost) the washing machine, and deciphered lots of chinese (rather badly given our lunch today!) But at the end of a big weekend we're feeling good. Photo's of our bedroom's view, as its too small to actually get a photo of the room.... apartment in general (and Trent of course), and the view off our balcony - now tell me, have I been terrible to Trent in taking him away from his Coogee view??? Even he thinks its pretty good!!

Love to all!!

Here's to the weekend!

We've been using our weekends to explore our new home (as you do) and we thought we'd share some visual insights into what we've seen. Hope you enjoy!

By the way this is the view from our current apartment window (we thought "Holy Mary pray for us" was a little ironic.....) This is a school yard, with heavy construction going on around it! They also go to school on Saturdays!!

Inside the Ma Mo Temple in the Mid Levels, they burn these incense coils which take about a month to burn completely - we both came out smelling like we'd been smoking for years...... But apparently a great way to communicate with the dead, so one to keep in mind.... ;-)

The temple is at the bottom of the second photo, nestled gently between skyscrapers... The other endearing thing we've noticed, is Hong Kongians are incredibly gifted for finding just the right place and space to put things (space we take for granted, something that is truly a luxury here!) I couldn't resist the TV antennas, not sure how many apartments or lives are served by these, but I think there are possibly a couple more spaces for any newbies joining these buildings!!

Next stop the Peak Tram - for anyone who's been to HK, you'll know Victoria Peak is the highest point on the island, and its a great spot to see HK, and get caught in a few tourist traps (especially if you've come on a tour as we found out...) The tram is a really spectacular was to experience it!

Aberdeen is on the water. We did a cruise on the harbour to see the fishermen - they are/were a crucial part of HK society, however, they've been in slow decline for some time now, as the next generation leaves to make more money in the offices (it certainly isn't part of wealthy HK), but I thought it was beautiful, and it seems a shame if it does go

Hong Kong is exceptionally good at moving zillions of people around each day through its public transport systems. But the quaintest form has to the trams! These things look like little toasters on a single axle, but they're bloody cheap (HK$2 = AU$0.33) and will take you all over HK island. There's a flexibility to road rules, and moving amongst this many people - its refreshing because its a lot of give and take without any agro, but its also frustrating because nothing moves the way you hoped (especially if you're in a rush, or just want to be home)

Two final places, the first is sort after, stupidly expensive in every possible way, and something like the Gold Coast on steroids - its known as Repulse Bay and is on the 'other' side of the island, has beaches (not in the aussie sense) and is somewhat more green. But check the size of these buildings!!!!

The second is a much slummier side of HK - its Kowloon, the place where westerners go to bargain for tailored suits and all things Chinese, but its also where locals live without most trappings. We battled crowds we haven't seen on the island, we survived the salesmen "copy watch?" "handbag?" every couple of metres, but we hadn't expected to see such a difference in the wealth of most people. Apartments were tiny even from the outside, they were grotty and depressing - we understood now why the agent hadn't bothered with this side, but it was a good reminder of just how much we have.


The final picture is HK traffic on a Sunday - many people work 6 day weeks, so Sunday is the day off to go and enjoy yourself! Being on foot most of the time has its advantages!!

Well here's the real story....

It's been a week, a weekend and a day since we arrived in HK, and we've seen lots!

We got in safely last Friday, a rather long and interesting cab ride to the apartment - this place is absolutely huge - we've never seen so many high-rises - I know that sounds stupid given all the photos you see of this place, but you can't imagine how many they can build - everywhere!! I think we expected HK island to be built up but not all the outlying areas too.

However, in saying that, there is actually a lot of parks and green space. We went to Victoria Peak last Saturday which is the highest peak on the island (554m) but given the island is only about 2km wide (so I've been told) at the widest spot so its fairly steep!! And apparently the island has approximately 100km of walking tracks through national park - not bad for an island this size hey!! Our apartment can be described as.... small, but its quite nicely decorated, the location isn't as disgusting as we were told, and the food is noodles/rice and meat, and maybe a sprig of bok choy if you're particularly lucky!! But its fun.

Trent has been fulfilling his role as 'kept man' exceptionally well! I can't help but feel incredibly lucky that he decided to come with me, but even more grateful that he has adapted as easily as he has - he's helped me so much!!

We went to the races Wednesday night, a very Chinese experience - the Hong Kongians are very into their racing & gambling, but we went to meet the other expats. Most were good people, so hopefully we'll have a couple of nice ones who'll take us under their wing and help us out as we go!!

From a work side, I spent a reasonable amount of time with Liz on Monday last week, she flew out Tuesday arvo for 3 days in Singapore..... she never stops apparently!! Was really good to see her again! I'm sharing an office with Anne-Marie, Irish gal who's been travelling the world, EY NY; EY Japan and now EY HK..... and she's great, lots of fun!! The office is tiny, so its taking a bit to get use to, so its bloody lucky she's nice!! Between the two of them and their respective halves (who we met last night) we're feeling cared for!

We spent Friday and Saturday morning looking at apartments, and have been lucky - we've found one we really like - the area isn't where we thought we'd end up but its not far away and is easy to get around from. We forgot to take photos but will include them once we move in (fingers crossed we get the paperwork tomorrow and can make things roll along!) Its in a place called Kennedy Town, we overlook the harbour, although we face north (the aussie equivalent of facing South, but its bloody hot here, so we're not as fussed!). Its on the 30th floor, 2 bedrooms (both can just fit a bed and wardrobe, and thats pretty much it!) but its got big windows and did I mention the view? Its a new place, but HK gives you a new appreciation for the space we have in Oz, Trent & I can't fit in the bathroom at the same time, maybe if one stood in the bath/shower then the other could, and the kitchen isn't much different! However, the block also comes with great facilities, near full size gym, pool, yoga room, billards room, piano room, karaoke room (can't wait to try this one out...hehehe!)

Its the little things that are different, you have an Octopus card which you charge up, and pay for all transport, it lets me enter the EY building, you can shop with it, but it took 3 days to get a set of drawers for my desk because the secretary that has to approve it is unavailable..... some things like the way they move people around the city, or cope with a typhoon if phenomenal, but I have to a Partner sign off to get an Amex card, even though its still my personal liability.... At worse its downtown Sydney on a really busy Sunday, on most given mornings before 8.30, its quite pleasant. The people are friendly, but we can't understand a lot of what's going on around us. Its different but we're enjoying our experience so far!

Keep you posted