Per Pope's Request...A Typical Day In Hong Kong

Hello to you all! Happy Wednesday; I hope you're having a great week. Not too much to report here except that I'm continuing the job search and am increasingly spending time with new friends. I do miss my old friends, believe me, I think of you all often.

I recently received a request from a fellow blogger friend to photo document a typical day in Hong Kong. Because I love hearing from you all and listening to your blog advice, I was happy to fulfill the request. The request even involved specifics like "brushing your teeth," etc. I thought this was a great idea and could be fun, so I documented each step of my day yesterday. Here is a photo documentary of a typical Tuesday:

Sleepy, truly just woke up. Tried to make this photo as small as possible :)

Brushing my teeth...This experience is SO different when you do it in Hong Kong ;)

 Agonizingly small ironing board debate: made for tiny apartments or made for tiny Asians?
It's just an awkward height for tall people.
Anywho...
Dressed in workout clothes and doing some morning chores: an augmented and scrambled version of Jersey Shore's GTL. Preparing for the gym, tanning, laundry....and working on a few job e-mails!

Gearing up for a run!

Snapped this on my way out the door. This is my sweet doorman, who does not speak a word of English. We seem to get along well with waves, hand gestures and smiles. He was slightly taken aback that I wanted to photograph him. He is wonderful. 

Just outside my apartment building on Wo On Lane is one of the many temples that exists in Hong Kong. The temple always smells of incense and usually has a worshiper at its entrance. A coffee shop and several bars surround the temple. Temples are very much a part of everyday life here. (Notice the dude on his blackberry to the right)

Various icons and coils of incense fill the temple. Sometimes you'll see little bowls of food that people have left beside the temple.

Contraband material: After stopping at 7-Eleven to buy some water, I arrived at the gym, where I force myself to run and take a steam. I was scolded for taking this picture--cameras are not allowed here.

After taking care of my morning errands, it was time to embark on the fun stuff of the day: shopping. My sister is turning 10 on October 4, so the goal of the day was to venture over to the authentic shopping district and buy some fun Chinese gifts for her. Since I was documenting the day, I included a few photos of the sites while on my walk. This is another temple I passed. I have posted photos of it before, but here it is again. It is quite large and beautiful. Everyone is quiet here except the fortune tellers. One of the fortune tellers speaks English. One day I may venture in and ask for my fortune...but fortune cookies are enough for me right now.

Doors of the temple. 

The main drag of the antique shopping district: Hollywood Road. If you keep going far enough, you'll reach some great (and LESS expensive) shopping markets. The more centrally located shops are fine antique furniture stores and art galleries. I wish I were in the market for a 300-year-old urn, but I'm just not...and I don't think Carolyn wants that for her birthday.

You know you've arrived (at the markets) when you see things like this: Communist cards, LeBron James Cards, vintage pin-up cards, etc. You can find plenty of Communist paraphernalia here in Hong Kong. They like to sell Obama and Mao knick-knacks together. I wish I could speak Cantonese so I could understand their reasoning for this. (Don't worry Carolyn, this is NOT what you're getting for your birthday)

I liked these items. Porcelain bowls, chopsticks and spoons. I love using Chinese spoons!

Tweety. I'm not really sure why he was hanging here, on the side of the road.
I like looking at the scrolls behind him; the craftsmanship on the paintings can be really beautiful. The styles range from simple and minimalist to very ornate and painterly.

You see these medicinal tea shops around town. Locals seem to frequent them, as there is often a line of people at the window. This particular tea shop had English translations on the menu. Close-up below:

Turtle shell tea, anyone? As an aside, I learned later that jelly, which comes from chicken's feet (and is a common ingredient in beauty products), is the best conditioner a girl can use for her hair. I'll let you know when I (knowingly) try it... 

On my way to the post office with the day's loot! Carolyn, your birthday package is on it's way. I had no idea, but shipping here is shockingly affordable! I shipped this to Virginia using Hong Kong's fastest shipping option for about $7 USD. Ok, EDIT: that's not true, Rob just corrected me. It was $17.50 USD. Still okay, but not that great.

Rob had been looking for a place to get a hair cut, and as we walked past this barber shop, he decided time was nigh and walked in. Here he is pre-cut. Did you know that they washed his hair 3 times before cutting it? Neither of us could figure that out. Rob had to wash it a 4th time after the haircut, as he is not used to the amount of hair gel men commonly use in Hong Kong. I wish he would let me post a picture. His hair really does look great!

Pope (my creative, design genius friend), this pic is for you. This little shop next to the barber had tons of cool leggings I thought you'd like. Generally speaking, everyone in Hong Kong seems to take pride in his or her appearance, as most people are fashionable and very well groomed.

After exploring the Western side of Hong Kong proper, I was pooped and went home to take a nap. I don't usually take naps here, but I did on Tuesday from 4 to 6:30 p.m.. Sorry--didn't photograph that. By the time I awoke, it was time for dinner. Rob and I met up and went to the video rental store around the corner and rented a movie. We also grabbed food for dinner.

Here is a picture of my TV--this is what the cable TV system looks like in Hong Kong. It's called NowTV. The Learning Channel here is really great. It's a combination of Discovery Chanel, Travel Channel and Food Network :)

Here I am about to eat red curry chicken with sauteed onions.

After dinner and a movie, I was exhausted again and fell fast asleep. Zzzzzzz

A few photos

Good Evening to the Eastern world, Good Morning to the Western world....it's always 5 o'clock somewhere!
Today's post will not be very long, as I am working on a longer one that will be posted in the next few days.

My friend Anne, whom I met on a junk boat trip, recently sent me some photos. So that you all could see what we do on these boat rides, I thought I would post a few of them:

Liz (about to be sunburned), Anne and Thayer. Anne went to UNC and graduated a few years before I did. She and her husband recently transferred to Hong Kong from New York. Thayer is from Boston.

A fisherman, as you might see while sailing on the south side of Hong Kong Island, near Aberdeen.

Rob and I standing on the side of the boat, about to jump into the water.

SPLASH!

Our junk boat for the day. A junk boat is basically a large boat that anyone can charter. Usually between 15 and 30 people rent it for the day. When you board everyone decides on a destination. This particular day we left from the south side of Hong Kong Island and sailed to a small fishing village for lunch. Must watch out where you stop to swim! Certain areas can be quite polluted.

Where we had lunch.

Lunch! Yum. I try to use chopsticks, and I feel like a baby flinging food everywhere. I must work on my manners!

The coast

Swimming around. Frog legs.

An In

It's not a job, but it's an in--financial communications and consulting freelancing. Today I met with a woman who asked me to do some writing for her company when they have overflow work. It's not a full-time job, but it is enough to keep me going in Hong Kong while I keep looking. Woop.

Closing Thoughts

It's night time here in Hong Kong, and I keep thinking about the movie "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," which I saw this evening. I wish I could wait to review it in the morning when my mind is sharper, but I can't--it was great! I am especially impressed with the movie because it is a sequel, and from my experience, sequels don't usually live up to the original form (with the exception of Thomas Crown Affair and Look Who's Talking). Shia LaBeouf does a stand-up job. I feel like he as an actor could become what Tom Hanks and Michael J. Fox were in the 80s--good, young actors that you like personally and professionally and you want to see succeed. The cinematography was cool, as it was unique and modern but also reminiscent of the first film. The story had depth but also did not forget to include delightfully cheesy glamourisms like a drop-in by Graydon Carter and hot shot Wall Street egos. If you were living in a cave during the Summer of 2008, the story will provide a super glossed over but similar-to-reality overview of what happened to the world that summer. It may be a stretch or it may be nostalgia, but I felt like I was seeing New York as it was during my first job search after graduating from college in 2008. I'd see the movie again.

The Sun Never Sets When You're Running in Hong Kong...Lesson of the Day #1

If you follow this blog, I think you know that I love the gym I have been going to in Hong Kong. I am only a quasi-member at this point because I haven't decided if I want to pony up and pay the high fees to join, but it's a sleek, trendy gym that makes you want to go work out. It's called Pure Fitness, and most of the international companies around here offer discounted memberships to their employees. Like at most gyms, it is filled with fit business professionals at peak hours, and at off-peak hours it is filled with mommies-to-be and all sorts of other creatures like (and unlike) myself. Today, for example, I decided to go for a run around lunchtime. I hopped on a treadmill next to an Asian girl who was running and who looked to be about my age. Call me a rube, but I thought I had already experienced most of my "lost in translation" moments while at the gym. Welp, I was wrong. As I embarked on my treadmill jaunt, I quickly learned that it is quite en vogue at my gym to wear full-on, black-out shades while you workout. Sister on the treadmill beside me was not only sporting shades bigger than those you might find on Park Avenue, she was reading! I was really impressed that she could run so well in the dark. I was even more impressed that she could run for 45 minutes without sweating or even touching her large sunglasses. She must have really good natural eye sight, as it's already pretty shady inside. I thought I had seen a lot...but no.

Job Search Continues and Proof that the Stinger Still Lives

Hello,

I hope you all are enjoying this Sunday in September. I hear the weather is beautiful on the east coast. It's nice here in Hong Kong, which allowed for a fun junk boat cruise yesterday with some new friends. One of the girls is from Raleigh and graduated from UNC in 2002. The others transferred from various positions in New York and range in age from 24 to 30. Great crowd--we seemed to have quite a bit in common! The only high pressure on my radar these days is being caused by the job search. While I am having fun meeting people and talking to people about "what I want to do," what I really want is a job. Today I spent a full day sending e-mails and contacting various career Web sites. I have been after  it for about a month, with limited success. I think it will take finding the right person at the right time--and the best way to find that is to meet A LOT of people. So, Mom and Dad, I'm working on it. I still have until November 17, so I've got some time. Anyway, Rob has posted lots of photos, so I hope you'll check them out! I did borrow one photo of his so that you can see my new suit :). I wore it for my first (informational) interview at a media company. I like this suit and am hoping to get some good mileage out of it! Hopefully pounding the pavement will pay off this week!

Getting Ready for my first interview in my new suit!

Also, Beau and friends, you may remember that while in Richmond, just before I left to come to Hong Kong, we had a family dinner where everyone tried to order the old-fashioned drink called a Stinger. The search was brought on after a discussion about cocktail trends with my lovely grandmother, Mimi. Much to our dismay, we could not find a bartender in Richmond who knew how to make the Mad Men-era drink. Anyway, to all of you who were part of this discussion at dinner and thereafter, please check out this menu from a hole in the wall in Wan Chai called Pizza Bar:

The Stinger still lives in a small, smoke-filled joint in Wan Chai

Quick Hello

Hello,

Thought I'd make today's post a quickie. I'm at the library trying to catch up with you folks, network for jobs and brush up on my, uh, accounting knowledge. I hijacked Rob's ipod and am listening to a mix of Band of Horses, Cold War Kids "Audience", Avett Brothers "November Blue," Cut Copy, and Chromeo. I love Chromeo's song "Way Too Much," even though he's better for the gym than for the library. I hope everyone is happy and healthy this morning. WRITE ME E-MAILS! (please).

Lizardly love.

Liz

It's a small world after all

A few days ago I found myself on a junk boat talking to a group of Welsh, Irish, Americans, Canadians, Brazilians and Chinese. Someone had chartered the boat for the day and had invited "friends" by word-of-mouth. Because Rob and I are friends one of the girls who was officially invited (she's awesome and actually from Richmond), we were invited too. It is a foreign feeling when you go are on a 60-foot long boat for the day, sailing the South China Sea and know one other person. We decided to dive into conversation with a group of people from around the world. Having no idea what any of us had in common, the conversations were interesting. One of the brief conversations we stumbled upon was somehow about various Disney Worlds around the world. One Australian guy seemed to have a few things to say about Disneyland Tokyo, some were taken by Disneyworld in Florida, others seemed keen on Disney Land Hong Kong or California. One aficionado even knew which ride was the exact same around the world. She briefly slipped into the conversation that the infamous "it's a small world after all" ride was the same at each theme park. It's funny that all of us, who hailed from various places around the world, could find a small world out of a ride called It's a small world. As I thought about this silly idea that day, I had no idea how quickly my seemingly vast world would become even smaller.

Back in June, just before I left New York, Rob and my friends threw an Asian-themed bon voyage party for me (thanks guys!). After an evening spent dining on dumplings and sailing up and down the Hudson River we decided to have a night cap at a funky little martini bar called Bongo. I thought it was a small world that night when I was approached by a girl my age who was wearing the same ginkgo-printed dress that I was wearing. Luck would have it that both of us were moving to Hong Kong in the next few weeks. She was being transferred by Morgan Stanley. We soon parted ways to get back to our friends, and as we were caught up in our respective events, we didn't exchange much contact information.

With the exception of a few expat friends of friends, Rob and I knew almost no one when we arrived in Hong Kong. In an effort to meet more people, Rob and I decided to go to a cocktail party last night that was hosted by the UVa Club Hong Kong for alumni and those interested in attending Darden Business School. You probably have guessed where this is going, but I had no idea that when Rob and I walked into the Hong Kong Club we would be staring straight at J.S., our long-lost friend in the ginkgo dress. Turns out, yes, indeed, it is a VERY small world. Rob and I decided to invite her to dinner with us after the event. Soon after dinner, J.S. invited us on her friend's junk boat ride this Saturday. I can't wait to sail and see more of the South China Sea! Oh, what a ride this small world is!
__________

...will write back soon. Miss you all tons! Send e-mails!!!

Love,

Liz

Greetings

Hello friends,

It has been awhile, and I decided I'd say hello. Hope you've been doing well. It seems as though Fall is in full swing back on the east coast. The pictures I've seen involve turtle necks...really? Already? I do love love turtle necks, but I don't think I'll see any here for awhile. It's hot right now.

I took a brief hiatus from blog writing this past  week.Rob and I have been busy here meeting new friends, working on the job search and exploring some of Hong Kong's surrounding islands. We went on a hike this weekend on the island called Lantau. We took a ferry over to a largely expat area for families that was reminiscent of the film "Pleasantville." The community's actual name is Discovery Bay, and it is like a suburban living community/mall on a beautiful tropical island. One of our older ex-pat friends who once lived there calls it "DB-Dogs n' Babies." It's a very nice, safe-feeling place. Two of the first things you notice upon stepping off the ferry there are leashes and strollers. Discovery Bay may, in fact, be code for Dogs and Babies. Anyway, it was a very nice community full of golf carts and smiles. We began our hike there. After meeting several other expats from the US, Canada, Australia and Mainland China we began our 2-hour, GRUELING journey up to the peak of Lantau and crossing over to the other, more natural side. It was gorgeous. Rob's blog has pictures posted of the hike. I have been running a lot here, and I feel like I'm in pretty good shape, but that hike kicked my hiney. All's good that ends at a beach, and that is what we did. We ascended, descended, and then went for a swim. Then we ate burgers on the beach. Yum. 8 hours later, Rob and I dragged ourselves back to Hong Kong proper. Big Day.

On Tuesday, Rob and I hopped on a public bus and rode down to the southern side of Hong Kong Island to see the much-talked-about markets there...in an area called Stanley. The bus ride was INCREDIBLE. I felt like I was motoring along the coast of Southern Europe. I even thought about Grace Kelly and how she must have felt driving along the coast of Monaco. While I cannot believe I just admitted that, the views truly were amazing. Steep cliffs lead your eyes down into crisp blue waters and then back up to hazy mountains in the distance. Beautiful homes, small fishing boats and huge cargo ships dot the scenery. Lush, tropical trees and vines cover everything. Once we arrived, Rob and I had lunch--pizza & salad--and explored the markets. Notables from the market were high thread-count sheets and cashmere sweaters. (Wow-writing that makes me feel like a grown up). I didn't buy any because I don't have a job, and I just couldn't justify buying linens without a job--and seriously, what 24 year old goes out to buy linens??!?! I'm scaring myself except that the linens were beautiful, and I will go back one day and buy, even if it's as a wedding present for Lindsay Doswell.

Anywho, apparently I need to run. Rob's "sling box" arrived at his home in Irvington, which means that we can now watch his parent's American TV, any channel, any time from our laptops in Hong Kong. He's watching MTV Real World right now. Yay! I can now watch the TV shows I thought I'd said goodbye to for a very long time. The world just got a LOT smaller.

Talk to you all soon. Lots of Love.

Leaping Lizard

Time to Back Track and Cover a Few Things I've Missed

My brother commented that based on word count the highlights of my trip so far have been monkeys and dumplings. And he's right, except that word count skews what the actual highlights of my experience have been. Because of this I have decided to go back and rehash a few aspects of the experience that I have not yet focused on because I've been focusing on the details of my day, not the overall experience. Often I notice overarching cultural comparisons as I'm walking down the street, and I'll forget to type them out. Here are a few things I haven't covered. I hope it balances the word count.

Farewells in Richmond: Before I am too far removed from farewells in Richmond, I want to thank my family and close friends for such a warm send-off. I wouldn't have been able to make it over to Hong Kong without you all. Sara, I borrowed a photo from your Facebook to post. Miss you all tons.

At Dad's house, 8/13/10, a few days before blast off.

Being and not being a tourist: The first week in Hong Kong I spent half of the time sleeping/trying to sleep and the other half of the time being a tourist. I've told you all lots about the activities I've done, but I have not included many of the observations I've made while doing these activities, at the risk of feeling like an outsider to my own surroundings. I'm trying to meld in and adjust to the place I will be living for a while and tend to look for more similarities than differences between here and home. Sometimes it's hard to deny the differences, though. Anyway, I think it is safe to say that I now have a basket full of cultural observations. For instance, I was here 5 days before I saw one black person. If I see a fellow blond person walking down the street I stare, because it is not a common sight in this neck of the woods. When I see them I wonder if they speak with a British accent or an American accent. Most tend to have a British or Australian accent. I've begun to get used to all of the dark hair and petite people. The men and women are quite smaller in size than Westerners. Particularly the men. Everyone dresses well, though. An older expat friend told Rob that if you live here long enough you get so used to seeing working people in custom made clothes, that when you travel other places, off-the-rack clothes look like they fit strangely. I'm "off the rack" at this point, I guess :).

Another observation, the streets are VERY clean. Cleaner than any American city I've seen. It's remarkable because this is such a metropolitan city and has as many inhabitants as Manhattan. 7.5 million. A few years ago during the Avian flu scare, Hong Kong decided to clean out and clean up urban areas to avoid the spread of disease. The trend has stuck. This city is spotless. The metro, er MTR, is also spotless.

When you're walking along the windy streets on the small sidewalks, construction will be going on around you and there won't be much protection or guardrailing. Men will be dragging carts of glass on a dolly, up the same steep sidewalk on which you're walking. Look out. There is no real regulation or safety enforcement for these things. One is required to watch out for oneself. That's not to say that Hong Kong isn't a safe city; it's one of the safest in the world. There is little red tape or residual legal cushioning for your day-to-day actions. In fact, you could walk through the streets drinking two cocktails and you would not be breaking the law. At the same time, if a piece of glass slid off a cart and cut you, I'm not sure if you would be able to blame someone else for that. I'm basically living in a Communist country, and there's less red tape here than in the US. You're more responsible for yourself and seemingly more free to do what you want than in the US.

My last cultural observations pertain to quality of life here. The cost of living is pretty high but also skewed from how it is in the States. Apartments are expensive, even more expensive per square foot than in New York. The cost of food, however, varies greatly depending on where you go. It ranges from very cheap to very expensive by US standards. Same goes for clothing. I can have a beautiful suit made to order by a tailor (skirt, pants and jacket), using the finest wool and cashmere for $370, but then I can also venture into a flashy store and buy something similar that is much more expensive. On that same note, I could also find a suit that is not as well constructed without spending much money. In this city, though, quality seems to be important.

Domestic help--something I never considered having at my age in the States--is also quite inexpensive here. Every expat family we have met here have "helpers." If you don't have your own domestic helper, most apartment leases come with a maid service that cleans at least once a week, but often cleans every day. At the apartment where I live now, our land lady's "helper," comes to clean for two hours once a week. Even two hours feels like a lot of time to spend cleaning a 400 square foot apartment. In addition to cleaning and doing laundry and dishes, she will organize my closets, go to the grocery store, and even take things to the dry cleaners. She couldn't be any nicer or more helpful. It feels weird not doing the chores myself. I do feel bad, though, that by law helpers from the Philippines have a lower minimum wage than people from China/Hong Kong. I am not sure why that is.

Anyway, those are just a few observations that I have been thinking about. Thank you for sending me questions and comments. If you have any other questions or things you'd like for me to talk about please let me know! I always love hearing from you :)

CIAO!

Lizard