Hanging in Hongy

Yeah, yeah. I know it's been a long time since my last post. I was pretty good there for a while, adding new stuff every few days. But, since I've been here in Hong Kong for a few weeks, I have less stuff to say.

I have rented a Service Apartment, in the Causeway Bay area on Hong Kong Island. This area is known as the shopping mecca (well, all of HK is a shopping mall), and is popular with local youth. There are a gazillion restaurants and stores within walking distance of the place I am staying in. It's interesting (to me) that despite the wide variety of restaurants in the area, I always seem to end up eating Japanese food. I think I am going to turn into a salmon pretty soon, with all the sashimi I've been eating.

Last week, I managed to catch a cold. I suppose that is not that surprising, considering the throngs of people all over the city during New Years. It was not a bad cold, but it did slow me down a little. I was lethargic, and pretty lazy. I stayed indoors most of the time watching movies.

Over the last 10 days or so, I've been sorting and sifting through the 10,000+ images I've shot since I left Canada. It's a tough job to weed out the mediocre images and choose the best. It's time consuming and boring, really. But I am glad I've done it. I've had to upgrade my skills using the editing software on my computer. I am using Adobe Lightroom 2.1, and it's a very deep, impressive software. It's taken me a while to get the hang of it, but I quite like it. I spend most of the day working on images now, and will be updating my online portfolios in the next week or so. Here are some sample images that show some of my recent work of a guy in Bangkok named Tommi.






















I've applied for my Visitor's Visa for China this week. China has not relaxed their restrictions enough, though. The best I could get was a double-entry 6 month Visa. It allows me to enter the country twice, but for a maximum of 30 days. It's not very good, but it's a start. I have not chosen a date that I will go to China yet. I may stay here in Hong Kong another month and then go in April. I have to make a decision soon, I guess.

Food and Shelter

It's now Sunday night, and I am settled in to my new place. I have rented an apartment in the Causeway Bay area of Hong Kong for a month. More on this later in the post.

As you know, it's been Chinese New Year while I have been here. Originally, I thought that it would be a cool thing to be here during CNY. I was quite wrong. Back home in Vancouver, it seemed like it was a lot of fun. But here in Hong Kong, it's not at all what I was expecting. For most Chinese people (or Asians I guess), CNY is about family. And food. Or eating food with your family. Most Asian festivals are all about shopping, but not CNY. During New Years, the city just shuts down. Stores remain closed for days and days. People just go from one relatives house to another, observing customs.


I've spoken with a few friends about their experiences during CNY visits with their relatives. Most of them just dread the process, and really don't look forward to New Years at all. Every year, they are hit with the same barrage of questions from nosy relatives. If they were still in school, it was all about the grades, what they planned to study in University, and how much better their cousins were doing, compared to them. If they were working, it was all about how much money they were making, when they were going to be made Partner (or whatever), and how much better their cousins are doing, compared to them. And then of course, the questions about girlfriends and marriage come up - which is a very stressful series of questions for my friends. A whole lot of lying goes on at Chinese New Years.


I had the opportunity to share a few meals with John and his Father. I cannot believe the amount of food we ate over two days. John was very glad that I came along to help them eat all the food. He called me a "stomach for hire". Each meal was suitable for about twice as many people. It was very good food (I had abalone for the first time), but it was just so much!

As mentioned, I've rented an apartment in Hong Kong. This is a "serviced apartment" which is sort of a mix of hotel and apartment. I get occasional maid service, and there is a small kitchenette, and it has typical hotel facilities. It's amazing how the apartments are measured here. When I was looking at some suites, the Agent would tell me "this is 600 square feet" or something like that. But it was pretty clear that the place was A LOT smaller than he claimed. But I've learned that they use a different measuring method here. I think they call it "developers measurement" or some such. They take into account the common hallway, the stairwells and elevators. A 600sf place is really more like 300sf.

I do like the small suite I am in. It's just a studio apartment, but the developers made great use of the space. The kitchen and wardrobe are hidden behind sliding walls, and the TV flips from the ceiling. I have 5 remote controls. I just wish it didn't cost so much. It's cheaper than a hotel, but much more than rents in Vancouver.