Little Guitars

Back in 1994 I decided to study abroad. In researching the opportunities, I narrowed the locations down to Nanjing, China and Seville, Spain. Since I eventually chose Spain and Seville left such a profound impact on me, I almost forgot that I had considered China until we decided to move here. But at the time, I MUST HAVE spent many hours weighing my options, because, well, did you read the My Prerogative post? I remember that I almost chose China because, as a Marketing and International Business major, I thought it would look better on a resume than Spain. Fortunately, my Int'l Bus. professor whom I respected and admired, Joseph O'Donoghue, advised me not to think about my resume but about the experience I wanted to have.

And the experience I had was extraordinary and lives in me in many ways still. Sure, I would have probably had a memorable study abroad experience in China if I chose it, but Seville became my soul place. Here's one of the many reasons why. I was the only one awake in my apartment one night at about 2 a.m., which was typical. Seville is a lively place with a noise level and a nightlife unrivaled perhaps only by... Hong Kong. But it was a quiet night and out of nowhere I heard music. I could tell it wasn't a passing car radio but live music. I looked out my living room window that faced the street, five floors down, and I saw a group of majestically costumed men toting guitars and singing in the direction of my building. They were serenading the woman in the apartment next door. After a couple of songs, she threw down a rose and they cheered, and I stood there wondering if what I witnessed was real. Nobody else was awake so I had to wait until the next day to tell the story. I asked around and I found out that there are many such groups of these traditional folk singers in Seville, referred to as La Tuna. I got to see many more during the celebration of the Immaculate Conception in December. They melodically made their way through the streets surrounding the cathedral among hundreds of other revellers. Spaniards don't need much of a reason to revel. I was hooked.

When Paul and I revisited Seville in 2004, we saw a group practicing inside a bar. They may be commonplace there, but to me, seeing a bunch of old-time troubadors singing their romantic ballads with beers and cigarettes in hand is an experience to behold. They might make a grander impression when your first encounter is a solitary dreamlike one at 2 a.m. in a country where you seem to breathe differently.

So here we are in Hong Kong, with quite a mix of cultures on display, but still, the last thing I expected to see on our way home Saturday night was La Tuna.

This past weekend there was a huge rugby tournament here called The Sevens. Saturday afternoon, we saw some men on the street who looked like they could be part of a La Tuna group, but I didn't think they were genuine because we also saw costumed gladiators and cops and cowgirls, as some people apparently dress up for The Sevens. Then when we thought we were ending our night, we walked past a bar and there they were, in true Spanish style, smoking, drinking, singing, and wooing the women in their presence. We just had to stop in.

This move is a potential career opportunity for Paul, but I thankfully know that we don't - and shouldn't - make decisions based on what looks good on a resume. We came here ultimately because somebody asked, "Do you want to go to Hong Kong?" And because a long time ago, we met each other and might have each sensed that we could both say yes to such improbable questions. I do, in fact, thank my husband for letting me hitch a ride on an opportunity I had once hoped for in my own career, if only I hadn't since passed through a couple of other careers.

When Paul called me at work back in late October to tell me his employers might consider him for an assignment abroad, my heart leaped a little. That idea was why I was an international business major to begin with. If I listened to the little voices inside, I would have realized sooner that I was really only interested in the international part, not so much the business. My eighth grade music teacher, Mr. Fiorenza, quoted a song called "James," by Billy Joel, in my yearbook. "Do what's good for you or you're not good for anybody." He happened to be my English teacher later in high school. His second yearbook inscription read, "Same quote still applies." So, I guess my self-doubt is sometimes as visible as if I had detailed it on a resume, or in a high school essay... or on a blog.

Oddly, I may be able to make a decision such as, should we move to Hong Kong, relatively easily. But once I get there, I sometimes get bogged down in details like, "If we choose the one bedroom with no closets in the cool building, where will we put a broom?" So I think of our La Tuna sighting as a very good omen. Yes, I did characteristically question myself on the apartment decision for another couple of days, and then I just gave in.

And sometimes you give in... and you hear music.

I didn't have my camera with me. These pictures are actually from Seville, 1994, to give you the idea. I did take some photos Saturday with my phone - a phrase many thought I would never utter - but I have to transfer them to a memory card so I can get them on my computer.

Don't Look Back

So I'm back - sorry.

Back on SI when we go to one of our favorite restaurants, Brioso, there is typically a long list of specials that are not printed on any menu and only expressed verbally through heavy accents and loud background noise.

My game plan through this process is to just wipe anything that isn't going to make the cut directly out of my mind. Even if the option is 90% of the perfect meal I will completely drop it from memory if I know I'm not going to order it. Lisa will ask "what did the fish come with?", and I won't even remember that there was a fish if I had decided I wasn't going to order it. I remember the details of two or three options I will chose from and then make a decision. Lisa does not do this.

So two weeks ago when we went out and saw approximately eighteen apartments, we came back home exhausted and I said "O.K. it is one of these three...." Seemed simple enough, weigh the pros and cons of those three and either pick one or look at more places. Well as you've already read, this is not exactly the way it worked out. I was somehow expected to remember what was specifically wrong with each apartment I passed on ("was that the one with no bathroom or the one with the chalk outline on the floor?"). It has been a long two weeks but I'm glad to say it should be done. It is in the lawyer's hands now and we already have our back up picked if something doesn't work out.

I spend very little time in the apartment and could have been happy in any of our final selections. Seeing this is about a two year run and then it's back to suburbia, I can honestly say I'm happy "we" (at the very last minute) went with the fun choice instead of the logical. With that said this weekend now brings the more difficult and important choice of picking a couch. I guess the real question is, seeing we went with the one bedroom, "do we need a couch bed?" (We'll need some comments to answer that.)

Outside of that it has not been a very eventful week. It is quite amazing how fast businesses come and go around here which is obvious even only being here three weeks. The other day Lisa noticed that Wagyu was building a lounge a few blocks away from where we are currently living. We were walking around earlier and decided to go see how construction was going. Well to our surprise they were already open, so we made a reservation for tonight. But we're not planning anything crazy tonight and are just going to order off the "regular" menu. I swear.

Blog ya' later.

PS: I didn't forget - the Doogie thing is dead.

Stairway to Heaven

I'm finally delivering photos for all those intrigued by the escalator, also known, on one sign anyway, as the "travelator." It runs down from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and up from 10 a.m. to 12 a.m. That's right, 12 a.m. We thought it was 1 a.m. the night we were out until 2, so we tried to beat the cut-off the next night to find out it stops at 12, not 1. Up the stairs we went.

When we first got here Paul couldn't stop wondering aloud, "How hard would it have been to build one going each way?" That was replaced by me asking, while panting, "Why does it need to stop?"

When it is time to switch from down to up (if that was your next question) a two-person team starts at the top and makes sure nobody is on that section and makes the switch. They do this one section at a time all the way down; they probably get to the bottom around 10:30. I've seen it in action. I hang around outside a lot.

I usually force myself to walk even when it's going my way, unless my feet have already given out. It's been my workout.

I took these in the late afternoon. It's much more crowded in the mornings and evenings.









By the way, you might be able to click on the photo to get a much larger one. It works that way on my computer.

Anything else you want to see? I'm taking requests.

What's the Frequency, Kenneth?

Believe it or not, we started to tire of the selection on cable so I tried hulu.com which I have heard I can watch TV shows on . It doesn't work. I tried actual networks like NBC that have certain shows available online. They don't work. I get a message saying that the program is not available in my region. I got one video to come through on something called surfthechannel, but it paused every three seconds to buffer and therefore was torturous to watch. Is it because of where I am? Is it because I'm on a wireless network? If anyone has advice on the matter, feel free to throw in a comment. We may have to buy a few favorite TV shows on DVD. I did bring some. We watched one last night and, good news: The Muppets look fabulous on the iMac. I didn't know Twiggy sang.

Meanwhile, Google knows where I am. If I go to the page, it automatically turns into google.com.hk. At first the page was in Chinese, but I could at least change that to English. I even tried googling google and I still get google hk. They know everything!

Sorry but I have to run. Uncle Buck is on the movie channel!

My Prerogative

I cannot be given choices. I have enough trouble with baked, mashed or French fries. So where have I been for the last couple of days? Inside my own head trying to decide where to live.

The rundown:
Our temporary apartment is in a neighborhood called the Mid-Levels. Hong Kong, as I mentioned, is one hilly place. So the area gets its name from being midway between the Peak and Central. The Peak is the high point (geographically and symbolically) where those with unlimited resources live. Central is closer to the water where most of the office buildings are as well as many shops and restaurants. Central is the North end of HK Island while you progress south through Mid-Levels to the Peak. The is a conceptual problem for somebody like me who sees north as up. But I'm over that. Paul works in Central and it's currently a twenty minute walk from here in Mid-Levels to his building with the aid of the escalator that we live a few steps from. It would take longer if we lived farther east or west and had to first walk to the escalator. There are southern and eastern areas of the island that are supposedly greener and more residential, but you have to commute a bit if you work in Central. He works in the Cheung Kong Center. (It's visible in the picture I posted)

Going west from Central, you pass through Sheung Wan and Pok Fu Lam to Kennedy Town at the western end. Going east, there's Admiralty, Wan Chai and Happy Valley and Causeway Bay.

This site has a very good interactive map.
http://www.hoteltravel.com/hongkong/maps.htm

Or go to
www.maps.google.com
type in Hong Kong and click to zoom in as far as you want.

Now that the geography lesson is complete, the fact is that ex-patriots live in every area of the island and many even live across Victoria Harbor in Kowloon. Mid-Levels is filled with expats. Everybody speaks English in the shops and restaurants in nearby Soho. There are almost as many Italian restaurants, from mediocre chains to upscale, as there are on Staten Island! We ate Chinese food in a restaurant exactly once since we've lived here.

So our real estate agent started by showing us options in Mid-Levels. Most are towering structures crammed next to other towering structures. You may have a view of the mountain when you move in, only to have it obscured by a new tower in a few months. The flats in our price range were typically in older buildings. Some were renovated, some not. Rooms are much smaller here in general, but older buildings tend to make better use of square footage and the rooms are a little bigger. Renovated or newer flats have better bathrooms and kitchens but the bedroom may barely fit a queen size bed. The elusiveness of an affordable as well as new or renovated flat of a generous size was not encouraging.

I also saw apartments west of Central in Sheung Wan. The flats were an improvement and the location was convenient, but when we further explored the area, it just didn't feel right. It's a more 'traditional' Chinese area. In other words, every store you pass sells pungent dried fish, dried fish parts, dried herbs, dried creatures great and small, and I don't know if the identifiable items were more or less scary than the unidentifiable items. We saw something that looked like a black wool scarf. Do I want to know what that was?

I then saw apartments east of Central in Wan Chai and Happy Valley. Happy Valley seemed like a suitable location and the flats were nice enough, but you pay a little more there just for a view of the Happy Valley Racetrack. Eh, maybe if we were into horse racing. The nicest, newest flats were in two buildings in Wan Chai. One opened in December 2007 and the other July 2007.

The first mental hurdle: Wan Chai

Wan Chai used to be Hong Kong's red light district. It particularly gained infamy during the Vietnam War when U.S. soldiers were stationed here on leave. Today, it is more like the current Times Square of New York, frenetic and grittier than, say, the Upper West Side, but ultimately cleansed of its former ways. Oh, don't get me wrong - there's still a stretch of girly bars contained on one street, Lockheart, and a girl can supposedly make a living around there, but from what we have heard, the entertainment is still relatively tame. It seems as if these places are almost relics. They are mixed right in with regular bars and business establishments. And Lockheart St. is several blocks away from the buildings we were contemplating. Paul consulted coworkers who said that we had nothing to worry about. HK is a generally safe place all around. Wan Chai is the oldest district and could be considered the 'heart' of HK. It is actually known for its nightlife, the legal type as well. It is a convenient location with a lot of personality and a greater mix of locals and expats. And strangely, it has many, many home furnishing shops. A lot of the buildings are aged, but the government, in the form of The Urban Renewal Authority, has stepped in to tear them down and build back up. There are signs everywhere of construction under this authority. There is an immense new exhibition and convention center and many upscale restaurants along the water.

I get attached to things quickly. Mid-Levels already started to feel like home. So, we scrutinized Wan Chai a few times before we (I) was ready to give up on Mid-Levels. Soon after that decision was made, I've become a little sick of that escalator, and I look forward to moving and seeing some Chinese people.

Ugh, there's more.

Background information: You may think we need no more than a one-bedroom flat, but rooms are so small that additional bedrooms would be needed to fit the bedroom furniture that doesn't fit in the bedroom once the bed occupies it. Though, most of our furniture is expendable; we intentionally brought things that we wouldn't be heartbroken to part with.

We saw flats in Wan Chai in two buildings, J Residence and Zenith, both brand new. Here are the sites. Something funny to note is that neither site's location map has Lockheart St. on it.

http://www.jresidence.com.hk/

http://www.thezenith.hk/

I am so sick of myself and hearing my own wheels turning that I don't even feel like pouring out the details of the comparisons between the two. As quickly as possible... we decided we liked J Residence, bid on a two-bedroom flat, were strung along for a few days, then the landlord upped the price which was already beyond our comfort, so we had to let it go. There are one-bedrooms there also but after we decided on a two-bedroom it seemed like we couldn't turn back and sacrifice the extra space. Then we looked at a three-bedroom in Zenith where the rent was more affordable and made a bid on the Friday of Easter weekend. The agent said we would sign the lease the following Wednesday. Then I thought and thought and thought. For some reason, I couldn't let J Residence go. Paul said he would be content with either place, though we would definitely have to get rid of furniture if we went to a one-bedroom in J.R. Both buildings had similar desirable features like a pool, a balcony, a gym. Both are new and attractive. But one had more space and the other had a pull on us.

I wavered endlessly. Then I did what anyone would do in that situation; I called my Daddy. I explained the situation and he told me to look at the big picture. I did. Then I stayed up for a few more hours thinking. Then I got in bed and continued thinking. Then I woke up when Paul was going to work on Tuesday because we had to tell the agent that morning if we were backing out of the Zenith. I told Paul we should stick with Zenith. Then he went to work . Then I called him 90 minutes later and said, "J Residence."

So we looked at what was available yesterday and we chose a place in J Residence. So far, it hasn't fallen through. And I will question my decision for about two more months. I always wonder what I have given up to live with the choice I made. In economics (remember when I was a business major?) it's called the opportunity cost. My little brain can't handle the idea that, ultimately, either place would have been the right decision.

Now, what should I have for lunch?

Holiday

I didn't even force Paul to write, I swear! Who knew he is more long-winded than I am. I just struggled my way out of the closet he locked me in while he was writing. I'm joking - there are no closets in Hong Kong.

Happy Easter.

My Easter outfit was a pair of corduroys and a black sweater. It was that or jeans and maybe a beige sweater. It's true; I have been rotating the same three pairs of pants and about six shirts for three weeks as our clothes sit in storage until we move. I might have packed differently if I foresaw the situation. It was barely thirty degrees at home when we left. I don't even have a short sleeve shirt.

To celebrate, we went to a brunch buffet at a place called Cafe Deco. It's not too far from the center of town, except that the journey is straight up, on the Peak. We took a taxi there and our ears were popping. It was a pretty nice place and very family friendly. Paul's coworker suggested it because that's where she was going since she has family visiting, including four nieces and nephews between the ages of three and ten. That's not a hint that family should visit, even with young kids. Yes, it is.

There was unlimited champagne with brunch, so we had more champagne than we've ever had all at once, though two glasses would probably qualify as the most champagne we've ever had at once.

We walked around outside after brunch. The Peak is in every guidebook as something you should see, or the view from the Peak anyway. On a clear day, it is supposed to be very impressive. Today was rather gray, but it is refreshing to be far above all the noise and activity. We took the famous Peak Tram back down to Central, again a vertical journey. There were hoards of tourists going either way. Like all tourist destinations worldwide, we were happy we did it, but I don't expect to do it again for any reason. Except when you all come visit. Yes, you.

And the most important part... PICTURES!!!

That little guy was tasty.

And sorry if my hair disappoints the frizz seekers. My secret: I have been rubbing hand lotion into it. It smells nice too. More impressive is the city behind me.

I Hope You Got Fat

Before I begin today's blog I just want to start with a warning that there could possibly be plot spoilers for the 2002 thriller TRAPPED staring Charlize Theron AND Kevin Bacon! There's no plan to go there but it may be difficult to stay away.

So far we have been living out of the same three suitcases we left with. Our air shipment did arrive within two weeks as promised however we had no room in our current apartment to fit the boxes and we found out it was up to us to move everything (including all 8 cases of wine) to our permanent apartment once we get one, so we are keeping everything in storage until then. I won't go into details on the issues of trying to get a place as I'm sure Lisa will have a very generous blog (rant) dedicated solely to the experience once we move.

With that said, I have been in desperate need of a pair of jeans and seeing as Hong Kong is one of the largest consumer shopping areas in the world it should have been an easy task. However two major issues arose. One is that in the plethora of malls out here almost all of them are filled with the most high end stores on earth - Luis Vuitton and Gucci are no problem, but finding a GAP is impossible (really there isn't one or anything like it). However we were able to find a place with some "lower end" stores like Ralph Lauren and Armani and possibly find a pair of jeans under $700.00.

This is when the "bigger" issue arose. The largest size jeans anyone carries is a 36 W. I don't know if it is fortunate or not that this is my size (I'd like to be smaller but at least I made the cut) but many places we went in did not break a 30 in pants. Eventually I found a pair of overpriced denim and it worked out fine but if any of my portly friends are planning a visit (I won't name names, but you know who you are) I would suggest you pack an extra pair or two of pants. If any incidents happened with your clothes, you would have the benefit of water proof trousers, but face facts - most people are going to realize your wearing a shower curtain.

Always living on the edge and right after I was confronted with the fact that I'm mere centimeters away from being too fat to live in this country in socially acceptable outfits, we stopped and made dinner reservations on our walk home. In a very cool looking place, with dining right on the street, called Wagyu. We stumbled upon this place one day and had a very good brunch there and got a look at the dinner menu which appeared much more interesting than most we have seen and reasonably priced for the type of place.

For those of you that don't know, Wagyu is a Japanese beef that is known for its special marbling and is rumored to actually melt at room temperature. The place is mainly Australian inspired but this of course is their signature dish and is priced accordingly.

We were only able to get a very late reservation which was fine by us and we walked back that night. Of course once we got there the reasonably priced, interesting choices went out the window and we both wanted to try the insanely priced steak. Sharing was not an option and Lisa went for the small cut fillet mignon while I went for the larger (I'm sure moo moo's are going to be fashion by summer).

Well with a pretty good bottle of pinot noir the steak did not disappoint. One of the best either of us have ever had. I'd love to say we are going to go back to try some of the other items that originally caught our eye on the menu, but they offer several different cuts of the Wagyu beef and I can't see myself satisfied until I've tried every part of that bovine. I'm even looking forward to the hoof and snout hot dog (just kidding - I mean that they have one - I would seriously be open to trying it).

The sure sign of a good steak dinner is when your heart hurts just a little, so I tried putting out the fire with an ice cream sunday and then some beers in the bar ridden section of Lan Kwai Fong. But before I get into that maybe I can offer a little personal helpful traveling advice when dining in other countries.

I am by no means claiming to be a serious world traveler, however I have been to a fair amount of non-native English speaking countries. Hong Kong has been quite simple so far as we have not ventured too far from the beaten path and English is prevalent everywhere. But I'm sure that will change as we begin to explore some more. Most travel books suggest you try and learn a few local words for food you may want to order off a menu if you end up in a place that does not offer a translation. While this is good advice, may I also suggest you learn some words you may want to avoid on a menu. Things like raw, feet and necks comes to mind. In their local language whether it be Spanish, Italian or Cantonese, they always seem to sound quite delicious and when put together almost irresistible. They usually pop up when you are at your hungriest and seem like the best deal on the menu, usually between $3 and $7 a bucket. Adventurous is great but it's nice to know what's coming.

Anyway back to LKF. It seems like most other countries have an area like this that attracts tourists and college kids alike. Just several blocks of bars that you are free to walk in and out of with your drinks and the streets are closed to traffic and packed with people. We have both outgrown these types of areas to a degree but it was minutes from the restaurant and we were just grabbing a drink or two before going home so we decided to relive the experience once again. Honing in on some skills from my youth I noticed a small taco stand that had super cheap bottle beers. As long as you can live with the pathetic look you get from the people behind the counter, now that you're almost 40 and not ordering any food but clearly just grabbing a drink for five bucks less then you're going to pay in one of the 65 packed bars, you're good to go (besides I need to start saving for my next steak). We walked around the blocks for a while listening to all the American standards blaring from the bars and made fun of the drunk kids with almost no jealousy.

Due to the late dinner reservation, time went by quickly and for the first time since arriving we were out past 1 am. It wasn't a school night so this was no big deal except for the fact that the escalator stops running at 1:00. So we had to take the long upward hike home with a slight sway in our steps, with the humidity pulling an all-nighter. Hopefully the long walk will help keep me in pants for a little while longer.

I could go on forever (mostly b/c I decided to write this while Lisa got ready, but the shower hasn't started yet) but we're headed out tonight with camera in hand to add a little color to these updates.

I think what Vinny, Wanda and I really learned is that it's well worth swallowing some pride if it in the end it gives you a chance to swallow some extra Japanese beef.....

Blog ya' later.

I Can See For Miles and Miles

So how is everybody doing? This is the other half of the senddeninos blog team. After almost three weeks here there is quite a bit I could already start to write about but I'll keep the first posting relatively simple and save some observations for future postings (I do have a four day weekend and nothing planned).

I'd like to start by clearing up some items mentioned in previous postings that may have been taken the wrong way. First of all I was not that surprised or shocked that Lisa was starting a "blog" (is that how it's spelled?) and I will indeed participate in postings - this one is proof. Of course they may be much less often as that work thing tends to get in the way, but I'm sure you're thankful that the more talented author is at the keyboard most of the week.

The second thing I'd like to clarify is the availability of quality television. It is true that the complete package of English channels consists of 2 Nature, 1 Discovery, 2 Movie, 1 Sports, CNN and a Pot Luck station. However I think earlier postings may have erroneously made this sound like a negative outcome in our move while nothing could be further from the truth.

For example I was able to catch the 168 point Nuggets game last week. While the very next day I came home clicked on the the TV and saw the Spurs playing. After a few minutes I noticed David Robinson running the court in his prime and I just left the living room with the 1992 All Star Game on (there were like 8 hall of famer's in that game). So while it may take a minute to know if I'm in the present or past, there are no complaints here.

It is also true the movies seem to be revolving around 2000 and 2001 and concentrating on certain celebrities. But if you recall with all of the milleneum hype and planning an overseas wedding at that time we missed a serious amount of cinema and it's nice to finally catch up. And whether or not you would like to admit it if you honestly answer answered the age old question "If you were stuck on an island with any three celebrities, who would they be?" 98% of the people would pick Kevin Bacon, Charlize Theron and Morgan Freeman (at the very least to do the voice over).

The final thing I'd like to clear up is this myth of incredibly hot, humid and rainy weather. It has been in the low to mid 70's since we arrived and there has not been a drop of rain. I'm sure just like visitors to NYC always hear they are going to get mugged and nothing ever happens, these type 8 typhoons and black rain warnings are just a load of hoopla. It's true the humidity has been rising but lets face facts, I look good with big hair.

Anyway now that we have that straightened out I can get on to something new. Since most of my days so far have been spent in the office I can let you in on little bit of what the rat race has been like so far. On the improved side, I walk and take a series of escalators to work in about 15 minutes. The escalators are hard to describe and we'll try to get some pictures to help explain. So no more traffic, missed buses, boats or trains. I am now still working in an operations position but have also joined the business unit and will be taking on clients of my own. I'm not sure how I feel about that but this whole experience is a big role of the dice so I'm up for anything. It's just odd that a company as big as the one I work for just makes split decisions like that. Besides this blog will become much more interesting if I take down a multi billion dollar company.

With the dual role I actually have two desks. One on the 58th floor and a nicer one (with the business unit of course) on the 68th floor. The building is one of the taller ones on the island and the views are pretty amazing. I'm basically parallel with the peaks of the island and look down on most of the rest seeing clear across the bay to Kowloon.

Of course as I was mentioning this one of the reps that had a chance to visit our Jersey City office last year and could not believe the views there. The Statue of Liberty, the NYC skyline, the bridges, and there was a flyby that week, etc. He seemed very unimpressed with everything that was amazing me here and likewise I really only ever looked out the window in JC to check out what the weather was like. So I guess the lesson is to try and appreciate what you have or at the very least lift of up your head and take a look around once in a while.

Maybe I'll make that my thing and end each one of my entries with a little life lesson ala Doogie..... Oh, actually I think that's coming on right now so I've got to run... Blog ya' later.

Trip Through Your Wires

Back in late 2004, we bought the one and only model iMac that was incapable of converting voltage between 100 and 240. I investigated the matter when we decided we were moving here, drew the conclusion on my own, sadly came to terms with it, and went to the Apple store to make a purchase of a new one that would work here. I explained my situation and I perplexed the so-called geniuses. I had to show them one of their own online documents to prove it. Then there was debate over whether a new machine would work here. There would have been less doubt with a laptop, but I wanted the size and function of the desktop. The happy part is that we sold the old one for half the price of a new one.

Here in HK we found a store selling electrical things (really not a store but a stall on the street crammed between other stalls selling any variety of things) and bought an outlet adapter. What a relief that I plugged it in, turned it on, and everything works. 24 hours of loading music that I couldn't play would have broken my heart.

You start to realize how much you rely on instant information when you lack it. We arrived March 2 and the computer followed on March 13, part of our air shipment. They have a wireless network at the temporary apartment, but I couldn't connect the first day that I tried. The next day an IT person came and played around with the router, ended up replacing it, and here we are.

In the meantime, I did track down a public library to use the internet. I know a thing or two about libraries and the charming sorts that come for the free internet: I became one of them. It was sort of a bizarre experience, so in the following days, I ended up getting my fix from a local chain of cafes called Mix that offers free internet. But that had to stop because I quickly became addicted to their smoothies.

I guess we'll be down for a short time again when we move because we'll have to subscribe to a provider once we do.

We also got our mobile phones the same day the computer arrived. They are very cool phones that do a lot of things that our old phones didn't do. Now we have to make some friends so that somebody calls us besides one another.

Paul is free from work tomorrow for the Easter holiday, so our mission is to start taking photos. Then maybe the next post will be more entertaining than this one.

Welcome to the Jungle

I mean this in many ways.

Concrete jungle, yeah, sure. But I'm talking humidity. It's early spring here, just like home, but a little warmer with the temperature typically in the mid 70's. The humidity is about 75 - 85% most days so far. What does this mean for us?

Has anyone ever seen a long blond afro? I joked about it before we left, but it's truer than I feared. Paul was going to get a haircut yesterday but his Chinese horoscope said it was a bad day for a haircut, so he postponed it until today. O.K. he actually just had to work late, but the horoscope really did say that.

And this is only spring. We have read about the rainy summers here, also know as typhoon season. If a storm is approaching there are signals posted with a #8 being the worst of winds, and a black warning is the equivalent for rain. Schools and businesses could close.

And this relates to an observation we made in our first days here. Scaffolding is bamboo. No matter how tall the building - and there are endless amount of super tall buildings going up or getting face lifts - the scaffolding is a complex maze of bamboo poles connected with plastic tape. The ends are not even tapered to the ground; some have sharp points and everything rests on the point. I know photos would enhance this description, of the bamboo and my hair both... soon, I promise. But I will quote Fodor's on the typhoon warnings regarding when to visit Hong Kong.

June through September are the cheapest months for one reason: they coincide with the hot, sticky, and very rainy typhoon season... If a big storm approaches, the airwaves crackle with information... This is serious business - bamboo scaffolding can come hurtling through the streets like spears...

Ah, good times ahead.

Second thing about the jungle: I never knew we would learn so much about nature here. After you walk around in this humidity for a few hours, you just want to throw yourself on the couch for awhile and watch TV. In our temporary residence, we have cable. This consists of a couple of international news channels, some Chinese language channels, two movie channels that show mostly awful movies, many of which Kevin Bacon happens to appear in, and three or four nature channels. We now know the feeding and mating habits of pandas, leopards, gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, raccoon dogs, jackals, elephants... and the former NY governor.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

For everybody who asked throughout January and February, "Are you packed yet," no, we weren't. But fortunately I started practicing unemployment ahead of schedule and I had ample time to procrastinate. There is no more appropriate opportunity to pull an all-nighter than the night before movers arrive to pack up your life. With last minute energy, we got it done, and I'm proud to say that the remains of the house were not left in a shambles (any more than when were living in it). Due to an unexpected and inexplicable iTunes mishap, I also loaded 110 CDs onto the iMac in a 24 hour period. I removed the last one as one of the movers said, "Can we pack this now?"

We sold the cars within days of leaving. No wheels for two years.

As for wings, the flight process went very smoothly. We stayed at the Hyatt in Jersey city for two nights since the bed and other important things were on their way to shipping containers. We had our last meal at Denino's Friday night. Is anybody surprised? (If only Ralph's was open) Then we got our last glimpse of NYC on the way to JKF in darkness early Saturday morning.

If you ever have the opportunity to fly business class on Cathay Pacific Airlines, I highly recommend it. First we enjoyed some pre-flight snacks in the lounge while resting on actual lounge chairs. This is all new to me as a previous lifetime coach passenger. So I may sound like an excited kid, and I was. Paul has flown in the fancy seats before thanks to his employer. On the last two flights we took together, we sat in the emergency exit row in which the seats do not recline. So I was dazzled to see privately contained seats that reclined into beds. The iPod never left the bag as there was a pretty good selection of digital music that you could listen to with Sony noise reduction headphones. We each watched American Gangster, Juno, and No Country for Old Men on our personal viewing screens. Tasty meals, snacks, wine. That was the easiest 15.5 hours of our lives. We could have endured a couple more.

The exhaustion set in once we hit the city. It's an easy train ride from the airport - one of those efficient things that makes you wonder why nothing is that simple in NYC. We are currently staying at a place called Hanlun Habitats. It's a serviced apartment, so it means I don't have to houseclean... yet. It's in a nice location and the people are very cordial. It is close to the area of Soho, so we quickly found restaurants. We just couldn't really stay awake through our meals for about a week. It still feels a little like vacation, even for the one of us who goes to work, because we're still exploring. I think we've mostly managed to switch day with night by now. It's a twelve hour difference (with the U.S. in daylight savings time).

Before I move on to the Hong Kong stuff, we just want to let people know that we're thankful for all the well wishes and send-off dinners and drinks and gatherings orchestrated by coworkers, friends, families. That's really why we couldn't get any packing done. We were weighed down by goodbye food.

Fords East

Are you listening... are you listening to me?
Can you hear me... can you hear me clearly?

Coming to you from twelve hours into the future, this is our blog from Hong Kong. I'm more of a pen and notebook kind of girl, but we already moved across the earth, so it can't hurt to try something else foreign. Though when I told Paul I was starting a blog, he said, "A BLOG?!" as if it were 1902 and I said we should buy one of those new horseless carriages.

This certainly won't take the place of individual emails, but it is an easy way to update people without writing the same thing repeatedly. We just hope somebody's actually interested. Hopefully some pictures and videos will follow - if I can figure out how to do that. Hey, what else have I got to do right now?

Happy Saint Patrick's Day.