Daily Routine

It's Friday night, here in Hong Kong. I am nesting comfortably in my little Serviced Apartment. Living in Hong Kong is not as exciting as I once imagined. I suppose that once you change from traveler/tourist mode to that of a resident, things become different.

I have settled into a routine here. Every morning, I get up (usually about 8 am), splash some water on my face and hair, put some jeans and a t-shirt on, and then go down to Starbucks. They know me very well at the local shop. The lead Barista, Wilma, mockingly scolds me if I am 'late'. Wilma tells me that her father named her after the character in The Flintstones. She has a sister named Betty. I don't even bother placing an order. As soon as she sees me enter the shop, they draw my Venti Americano. I guess I am a regular. Once, she wrote my name on the cup, along with a little heart.

After I get my mega coffee, I head back to the apartment, and begin my morning online. I check email/junk mail. I respond to whatever I need to, and then dig in to job sites. Every morning, I scour all the local and international sites for new postings. There are less and less postings all the time. Essentially, there are none in Hong Kong. All I am seeing are for jobs in other countries. At this point, I am applying for them. Who knows?

After a morning of job hunting, I either go to the gym or to Yoga. Most days it is Yoga. I found a great studio, not far from my apartment. They are one of the few studios that do Hot Yoga, which I prefer. Sadly though, the price is quite expensive. The monthly rate is about 3x what I was paying in Vancouver. But the upside is that I quite like the classes. There is a wide cross section of teachers, from all over the world, and most of them make the class quite enjoyable. I was used to "Bikrams Yoga" in Vancouver, but I am now learning all sorts of new postures (that I am barely able to perform), so my practice is growing. I also like that the teachers usually play music in the studios. Music helps me to relax, so it makes sense.

After Yoga, I head back home to work on some photos. I've made some major updates to my 'boys' website (link to the right), with several new guys added. I am now preparing to update my 'travel/art' site with many of the stuff I shot during my travels. I am also planning to do a re-design of both sites to make them more current.

At night, I try to meet up with friends for dinner, or a movie. It's not every night, but fairly frequent. I know a lot of people here, really. Most of them are encouraging me to find work here and stay in HK. It's just not that simple.

Sooner or later, I will have to leave Hong Kong, if I don't find work here. My Visa expires in the middle of April, and the lease on my apartment is up at the end of March. If I end up leaving Hong Kong, I will most likely head north into China, since I have a visa that allows me to. The job market in China is only slightly better than here in HK. The other places I am considering going to are Thailand and Malaysia. I am not sure the work climate is any better - but I do like those countries a lot.


This photo was shot yesterday, when I went to a small HK Island village called Shek O. It is a picturesque little town with lots of colourful houses and several beaches. This photo was shot by my friend Woody (retouching by me).