Permanent Resident

"A person not of Chinese nationality who has entered Hong Kong with a valid travel document, has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than 7 years and has taken Hong Kong as his/her place of permanent residence before or after the establishment of the HKSAR"

With what feels like a blink of the eye; seven amazing years have passed by (actually more, I've just been too busy to apply). It's scary that some of the moments have blurred together, or having been totally forgotten, I only have high-level memories. In any case, I finally have something to show for it all; Hong Kong Permanent Residency!

The clause for keeping PR is as follows: "If the person has been absent from Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than 36 months since he/she ceased to have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong."

First day of work

Quiet - lots of interesting projects, big data, data mining, first impressions, great culture. Welcome pack included two books. First observations, I will most likely put on weight with the open pantry and open fridge.

Train to work - quite inefficient - almost as long as Quarry bay - need to figure out a more efficient way to work. Bus? Ding Ding?

Update: Bus

Currently Reading: "Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service"

Santa Claus is coming to town: Santacon 2015

There is always an excitement in the air around December. It could be attributed to the long year finally coming to an end, or the slightly cooler weather, but there is no mistaking the festive season and the buzz that Christmas generates. Wreaths and tinsel adorn retailer shop fronts while classical and remixed renditions of Christmas carols blend in with the car horns and chatter of the Hong Kong cacophony.

It's 11:45 on a Saturday morning and two men walk through Soho, Hong Kong. Young children stare, confused. Parents stare, disgusted. Locals stare, bemused. The two men are dressed in red faux velvet with white fur trimmings with matching hats both carrying cans of open beer. Both dressed as Santa Claus and despite the absurdity of the scene are on course to meet another hundred or so people similarly dressed. It's that time of the year again, Santacon.

What started in San Francisco has quickly become a global sensation (or nuisance, depending who you are). The Hong Kong leg, just so happens to be organised by two friends, Americans, no less. An annual pub crawl where participants dress up as Santa Claus. The typical route has seen an army of red and white move to various bars around Hong Kong. 2015  was a change in direction and the removal of the TST leg has not been popular with all participants. 

Regardless, the end point is always the same. Traffic on Lockhart Road has been blocked by a sea of red and white spilling out into the Wan Chai evening.

Chinese Visa for Australian Passport

Having recently renewed my passport it was time to apply for a new visa into China. I had always used my local travel agent CTS for China Visas and had read somewhere that it you had the time and patience it would be significantly cheaper to apply for a Chinese Visa in person. The process is straight forward enough, go to the China Visa office in Wanchai (see here for details). Bring the following:

1). An up to date passport
2). A photocopy of the passport page
3). A copy of your airline tickets/schedule into China
4). A copy of your accommodation/hotel itinerary
5). A photocopy of your Hong Kong ID
6). A pen
7). A photograph of yourself

Fill out the latest form and prepare to wait. The process for regular Visa applications takes four working days (you submit your application form on Monday and it's ready for pickup by Thursday). The upside for Australian passports is that it only costs 800 HKD for a multi-entry Visa that lasts a year.

A weekend in

Finally, a weekend with no visitors, or no reason to go out. Hong Kong can be a demanding city. 

Managed to do a stack of reading, finally started watching Game of Thrones, a lot of massage therapy with my new Yoga Tune of massage balls, made a cream of mushroom soup and even got to the Asia Yoga Conference to listen to a talk with David Swenson.

Currently reading "Essentialism: The disciplined Pursuit of Less" by Greg McKeown 

'Sometimes'

The bubble has burst - My impression of Hong Kong being filled with debaucherous marrow where true love only exists between the hours of midnight and 6 am has finally been repudiated. Sure, I know married couples in Hong Kong, but, like the yeti or big foot finding true love IN HONG KONG is something that I have not witnessed. Call it sardonic, but up until now I have been unconvinced. In any case, I've been invited to my first Hong Kong wedding! The disclaimer being that the couple are both from Australia, but the real flesh of the story is that they met in Levels (one of Hong Kong's most popular nightclubs).

Funnily enough, I met the bride out one night and have honestly only seen her between the hours of midnight and 6 am. To say that I was surprised (and honoured) to be invited to their special day would be an understatement. My biggest concern? Which table I would be seated on? I could count the number of people I knew on one hand so the real excitement would be whether I ended up on random "Chinese Uncles" table or "Random LKF dude" table. The answer, I would soon find out would be "Table 27". A table consisting of Alcoholic Anonymous members and the very epitome of wonton, reckless abandon; affectionately known to the bride as "the fun table".

Despite my initial apprehension it turns out there were quite a few familiar faces. On table 27 was Tinder Girl. The MC of the event was an old Engineering classmate from USYD. In attendance was my parent's friend's daughter from Sydney. Plus a slew of random Australians and LKF-denizens. The world is sometimes a very small place.