Triscribe

Category: Hong Kong

  • Vertigo

    Today, lots of people, lots of heights and depths.

    Exchange Square
    Today was Dragon Boat Festival day, which is actually a public holiday. Thousands of house maids were out and about like it were a Sunday. We went to Exchange Square, location of the HK Stock Exchange, to get to the bus terminal for the trip to Stanley, where one of the regional races were held.

    Bus ride
    We took bus #260, which is the Stanley double-decker express bus. We went up and down the rollercoaster of highways on the northern side, then went through the Aberdeen Tunnel to the southern side, ending up outside Ocean Park. Then through winding roads similar to that in the northeast coast of Oahu, we went along winding coastal roads, narrowly avoiding oncoming vehicles and pedestrians. A quick stop at Deep Water Bay deposits a horde of people going to the beach, and then we were soon at Stanley Market.

    Stanley Market
    Stanley Market is usually a riot of stalls. Add thousands of dragon boat spectators, and you get general chaos. We bought a dozen magnets, and haggled them down by about 5 bucks. We ate at DeliFrance, a chain of French-themed cafes. The noodle dishes were sort of ok, but the apple turnover was nice and super flaky.

    Dragon Boat Races
    The Stanley version of the races was one part tradition, one part community festival, and one part goofball antics. The traditional part was the actual races, and the consuming of massive quantities of jung, or rice tamales to use a cultural mixed metaphor. The community part is where a lot of people get to hang out together and interact in the race. The goofball part is where the teams often choose to race in wacky outfits. One team had pirate outfits; another in wedding attire; a third team had plastic wigs. A weight loss company was giving out free samples of their tea. A gin company was giving out these hand fans that were a big hit.

    IFC Center
    We walked through the International Financial Center mall. The neatest thing is the theater ticket centre, where you can use an Octopus card to buy movie tickets. Really need. We then took the Star Ferry back home.

    Haircut
    When we got back, I decided that I desparately needed a haircut. We waited downstairs at the barber shop for about 45 minutes, when P- started being impatient. I took that to mean that she wanted to leave, and we left. It turned out that the haircutter was actually looking for us. We went back down, and she took care of the haircut. She did it all manually, without those cutter attachments or anything. Pretty good job.

    Mong Kok
    We took the MTR train to Mong Kok, the neighborhood next to the former neighborhood. It has changed a lot since the last time I was here. The ladies’ market was a riot of stalls filled with every possible bit of junk and clothing you can imagine. However, that was supplemented by a mass of malls, shining electronics emporiums, and restaurants.

    In search of a Hakka restaurant
    One of the guide books pointed to a restaurant called Chuen Cheung Kui in the area. When we got there, it was an electronics store instead. We later found out that they are really in Causeway Bay.

    Langham Place
    This mall is unlike any other mall that we’ve seen. It’s vertical, having 14 levels. It has 5 storey escalators that whisk you skyward. They have a main stage on the 12th floor that had a jazz/soul guitarist named Pius Chan. At the very top levels, called OZone, there are a collection of restaurants in a Vegas style setup.

    Ming Ya Fe
    We had dinner at this 1930’s Shanghai themed restaurant/bar. They did a good job of immersing the guests in that time. We picked the set menu, because it seemed to have a good value. The dishes included: cold drunken chicken appertiser, sharks fin soup, shanghai soup dumplings, beef and broccoli, lobster tail in chili sauce, and two slices of cake: berry cheesecake and coffee cheesecake. There was also a singing duo that was taking requests. Very satisfying – recommended.

  • My own Amazing Race ….

    Back in Sydney, yesterday flew the red eye from Taipei to Sydney for a quick project meeting.  Sometimes, in this line of work, f-2-f is the way to go as virtual working doesn’t work so effectively.  Back at staying in Sheraton on the Park and enjoying Sydney much.  People are just so nice, pleasant and down to earth to talk to, even over work issues.

    Ordered in room service, prime tenderloin, apple pie and cinnamon ice cream.  Catching up on my personal projects on the side, watching TV (I don’t have at home), and just chilling not dealing with all the work issues.

    Flying back tomorrow morning to Taipei, then on Friday I’ll be flying to HK and hook up with FC and P-.  I’m confirmed.

    Then my June month looks like 2 HK trips, 1 London trip, 1 Singapore trip, going into early July, one KL trip.

    Whew….

  • Monday/Tuesday quick recap

    Someone had said that travel is accelerated living, and that it true, but also accelerated eating, and accelerated shopping. Here’s a outline which we’ll have to elaborate on later.

    Monday
    Star Ferry
    Harbour City
    Aji Ichiban
    Wellcome
    CityShop
    Korean Lunch
    Hard Rock
    Hotel
    Hong Kong History Museum
    Todai
    Temple Street Night Market
    Watched filming movie Ekin at market

    Tuesday
    Happy Garden Congee – Canton Road
    HMV
    Chop – Sheung Wan
    Mid Levels Escalator
    Peak Café
    Peak Tram
    Peak Galleria
    Tram
    Bus
    MTR
    Times Square
    Trams to Happy Valley
    Tram to Central

  • Rain, Rain, Rain

    Quick outline – more detail later:

    Central – MidLevels
    Catholic Cathedreal
    Hong Kong Zoological Park
    Sheung Wan Chop Alley
    Cafe de Coral – BBQ Pork Combo
    Star Ferry – HKTA Info Center
    HLS drink
    Promenade – Walk of HK Stars
    New World Centre – Burrberry in Sogo TST
    YC on the phone
    Wong Tai Sin
    Festival Walk – Glacier Ice Rink, Hello Kitty
    Laser Light Show in the Harbour
    Passed out

  • Walls and Walls of Malls

    We attempted an ambitious itinerary on Saturday.

    Star Ferry
    Weather: grey drizzle. Walked to the Star Ferry pier, took the lower level. It was HK$1.7 (that’s about US 25 cents) for a 7 minute ride similar to the Staten Island Ferry.

    Dim Sum at Maxim’s Palace City Hall
    City Hall is directly across from the Star Ferry pier on the HK side. We walked in, and proceeded to miss the sign for Maxim’s next to the stair. There’s another Maxim’s on the second floor that’s really for dinner; nobody was in there. The dim sum level was on the third floor with a huge room. Very good dim sum – especially with seafood. Waited for about 30 minutes, and then another 15 because we turned down a smoking table. Our ticket number was 0068, and they were in the forties. I have a goofball picture where I have the ticket turned around saying 8900 – very long wait! Ha chern and Ha gou was perfect; the dan tat (custard tarts) were fantastic. Recommended.

    HSBC
    Walked across the street through Statue Square to HSBC world headquarters. In New York, they are known just for their retail banking; in Hong Kong, they are one of the banks that actually print the money. On the ground floor, there was a photo display of pictures taken by HSBC staff members throughout the world – the first one was of Prospect Park in the fall. Two lion statues guard the bank from the harbour.

    Pacific Place and Queensway
    Bought: city atlas and coffee table book about Stanley. There was a hole in the plastic bag that we took away and the atlas fell out in the store. Thankfully, they were honest enough to give back the book. We got vials of this lemon C drink at grEAT supermarket in the basement of SOGO that counteracted the effects of hot/cold that we have been experiencing. Diet Coke is twice as expensive as regular ones, since they are imported from the UK. We picked up a couple of dog shirts from Cen.

    Back to the hotel, where we took a breather, and P got to check out the ring in daylight. Way cool bling.

    Chungking
    We made a quick circle through the ground floor of Chungking Mansions so that P could say that we did it, kind of against my better judgment. It still looks very much like how it did in the movie, having that untamed rough West in the East feel. P’s curiousity was satisfied, and we hightailed it out of there.

    Carnavaron Road
    We walked up Carnavaron Road to find 3, the SIM card dealer. Instead we found a gelato stand were we got mango and berry gelato. Trying to trace our way back, we found a Hui Lau Shan and got more layered mango and berry drinks. The Hui Lau Shan was actually better then the gelato, and half the price. The SIM card dealer happened to be across the street — we couldn’t see it from the angle we were travelling.

    We found a branch of the Todai sushi buffet place we went to in Hawaii, and made a reservation for Monday night (the place was booked solid today and Sunday).

    Sham Shui Po
    Golden Computer Center in Sham Shui Po. If it plugs into something, it’s here. It’s a lot more cleaned up than before – very little in the way of illicit software packages; much more hardware. Bought a laptop security chain and a couple of chinese linux books for the people at work.

    We went back to the hotel, where I proceeded to pass out from jetlag, and P succeeded in making Skype calls.

    More rain and more action tomorrow, or whatever day it is right now.

  • Come Full Circle

    1 PM Thursday: general mayhem getting things packed; we leave.
    T-2.5 hours: After 3 trains, get the right A train to JFK
    T-1.5 hours: Get in time for CX check-in, wondering where is everybody. Apparently, everyone had already checked in 2 hours ago and were at the gate. But I had done on-line check-in, so it wasn’t a problem
    T-1 hour: P wants ice cream, so we make a stop – she gets a vanilla-chocolate swirl which was more like chocolate with a swish of white and syrup. I get an Immunity smoothy. She also picks up a few magazines.
    T-30 minutes: a family of 5 boards business class. Two of the kids are in this double stroller which looks a heck of a lot like a rickshaw.
    T-0: We take off on time. Channel 54 on the CX non-stop is wing-cam – a video camera feed from directly behind the front landing gear. Every plane should have one – I can watch it all day.
    T+1: Snack. Roasted peanuts, selection of drinks. My general policy is no alcohol in flight, because it gives me headaches and screws up my appreciation of the meal, but they had a selection of complementary scotches and sherry or wines.
    T+1.5: The in-flight entertainment system, StudioCX, had some bizarre news video from some British show about the origin of the words idiot, imbilcile, and moron (apparently “moron” was invented in New Jersey, and “idiot” originally meant a selfish person).
    T+3: “Lunch”, actually dinner. We opted with the beef with bok choy on white rice, smoked trout on apple celery salad, a square of “souffle” cheesecake, and Pepperidge Farms cookies. Very credible for airline food.
    T+4.5: Brokeback Mountain was playing (saw it in the theater with Pei so didn’t bother). Also, Disney’s Pocahantas was on. Pocahantas was the first movie I saw in a Hong Kong theatre – I thought it was very interesting at the time, because the Native American/English encounters depicted in the movie provided an indirect analogy to the British/Chinese situation. Of course, Lea Solonga is always a good reason to listen to a movie.
    T-6: Started a 6 hour game of Civilization IV. Finally had a decent score – in the 7100’s, aka Henry VIII.
    T-12: “Breakfast” was served – Abalone and clam Congee, fruit salad, blueberry muffin. The congee was fantastic, and actually had three slices of abalone. The best – even P was impressed.
    T-15: Landing at HKG. We were so sore that we were using the neck pillows that we brought as ring cushions to bring relief to our brokeback butts. Other than the seat comfort, Cathay Pacific shows what good in-flight service is all about.
    T-16: Crossed customs, got onto the Airport Express to Kowloon Station.
    T-17 (8:30 PM local time): Got on to a shuttle-bus to where we were staying.
    9:30 PM: checked in. I’m trying to convince P to go somewhere, anywhere. Instead, she just wants to shower and go to sleep
    10:00 PM: showered, trying to get the Internet working. Needs an account from downstairs.
    10:30 PM: The hotel staff shows up with the password. We get it working, only to learn that Skype is screened out. Drat, will have to get a SIM card for my phone.
    11:00 PM: Giving up on the romantic outdoor event and running out of the appointed 2 hour window, I settle for the harbor view from our room. I take out the ring and propose to P. And she says yes! Then she proceeds to put the ring on, and it’s too loose. But wait, she put it on her right hand. Switching to the left hand, the circle of platinium fits perfectly. Sigh of relief!
    11:30 PM-1 AM Saturday (1 PM EDT): We get stuff at 7-Eleven, walk up Nathan Road, made a left at Jordan Road, swing by the place my dad’s old apartment was, walked the length of the Temple Street Market, then caught the last MTR train back to Tsim Sha Tsui.

    Then, like Jack Bauer, we live happily ever after, until the next 24 hours.

  • On the road, jack….

    Just finished packing for a 2 day trip to HK for another set of meetings. Before that, had dinner with some Canadians, one Minnesotan and one Croatian at TGIFs. Talked about a lot of things like jobs, future, careers, exit plans, life in Taiwan, life after Taiwan, retirements, pensions and all the things “adults” worry about in life. Gee, I’m an adult now and before that I was thinking I could just play and run around the world, pretending I’m responsible and working.

    Funny how one gets to a certain age and “parental” topics come to the fore. I guess play time is over. Time to figure out how to live one’s life over the next 25 years because…. well, that’s what I’m working for now. 65, retirement, what’s it gonna be?

    Happy Easter everyone.

  • People

    Busy weekend this HK.  Rugby Sevens happening and folks flying in from all over the place.  Still, it was efficient from the airport where they commandeered another bus to shuttle the folks to their hotels as they ran out.  I suppose one of these days I should be less lazy and just take the MTR to Hong Kong Station then transfer to the Fortress Hill Station which then is a 3 minute walk to City Garden Hotel.

    After checking in, I took off for dinner at Times Square near the Causeway Bay MTR station. My coworkers and I ate at a Japanese place called Japanese Dining Sun which was quite nice (shop 1304, 13/F, Food Forum, Times Square, 1 matheson St, Causeway Bay, HK, +852-2506-1838).

    3 of my staff and I ate dinner and chatted about the changes at work and me trying to understand what it is that they are thinking, worried about and like to change.  Of course going direct to the source to the people actually doing the work is the best way but at the same time, it seems that my managers are the ones who should be doing this.  All the same, I find that managing people, not the daily day-to-day stuff is the most difficult of challenges.  No longer am I doing hands-on work but concern with staff welfare, problem solving, lots of delegation is what preoccupies my time.  Bottom line is one can’t overcommunicate enough, to help morale during times of great change and ease consciences.

    Now I’m on to the real work but I’ll try to wake up early to deal with it.  I think my days of working to 1 or 2am are coming to an end.

    Good luck and good night.

  • North Point!

    That would be Hong Kong and at the City Garden Hotel.  Just arrived this afternoon.  Surprising the trip from the airport to here took 1.5 hours by their shuttle bus.  There were 4 people ahead of me, me being the last stop but still… I think that was a bit long.  Anyways, didn’t matter, it was a nice sunny day and I felt I was doing the Gray Line city tour thing.  No hurries.

    Tired from all the work and more work next week and traveling to Singapore. 

    Came in early to get away from it all in a nice comfortable environment.  Hotel isn’t bad, but going through some renovations.  They apparently “lost” my reservation at the desk and took a little longer to check in.  Room is a bit small as compared to the Hotel Excelsior and the price not as cheap as was originally reserved for.  Will have to let my HK office sort that one out when I get back.

    Going to meet up with an BLS Alum here for dinner in an hour.  Then tomorrow, brunch and then a wedding ceremony HK style for one of the IT staff guys and then the dinner reception after that.

    I’ll enjoy while I can… it’s going to be a lot of work!

    All the best FC.

  • On and off

    It’s been a whirlwind tour of Asia-Pac via Cathay Pacific.  Last Thursday and Friday was in HongKong.  Seeing the office move to North Point while also in for some key meetings with my direct report.

    Then came back Saturday evening, then Sunday evening fly to Sydney for a Regional meeting.  It’s been great so far with BAT.  Learning lots, excellent and smart people, and having a great time on the company expenses.  I flew business class on Cathay and I do believe I will have hit my AA Gold/Plat Challenge with this trip… and I’ve got 2, maybe there more trips left next month to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and HK again.  It’s quite nice.

    Interesting thing at the airport though… waking up at 3:30am for a 6:25am flight and luckily I did because I found out that Australia requires US citizens to apply for visas to enter!!! So why are the Americans requiring Aussies to get visas?  So much for being friends and part of the “coalition of the willing”.  Crazy I tell you.  :O.  At least they make it easy and there’s an electronic visa application.  Cathay did it for me at the check-in counter and got it sorted out in 20 mins.  Whew.

    I never thought that I’d be back here in Sydney again since after 1994 I was here with my buddy Coops….. and here I am.  Just had dinner at Biondi beach at a place called Nicks.  Fantastic.  The BAT Aussie guys really taking care of us.

    So for now, enjoying it after a couple of lean years…. Life is an adventure. God is certainly giving me this.