New job: The Resignation

The 2022 compensation has hit the bank account. For some, it's a sizeable amount, for others' less so, for me, I'm grateful for it, but feel it could higher (which camp does that leave me in?). Everybody pretends to be unhappy with their number, even if it's adequate, you can never let off that you're happy. It's a strange song and dance that people play during this time of the year. It is the perceived lack of appreciation, or not feeling valued. It's tough managing employees, but the final nail in the coffin is the reduction in force (RIF) for my team members. It makes the decision, and the conversation a lot easier.

After a great weekend in Ho Chi Minh City, I'm back in Hong Kong. It's the weekend of Hong Kong Sevens and Creamfields. I opt out of both, this is the weekend I planned to hand in my resignation and notice. I'm nervous, but not as nervous as previous times.

I call my boss on the Sunday, no answer. I leave a message, it's very obvious: "Yo, how's the weekend, got a sec for a chat?". He will later admit that when he saw this message he knew what was coming. There's disappointment, perhaps this is something that needs to be displayed, there's the "is there anything we can do?" conversation. It wraps up, it feels easier than previous resignations. Now the final challenge, negotiation of my gardening leave. My start date is 10th July, my goal is to maximise time off between now and then without burning any bridges.

She's back in town, it's nice having her in Hong Kong, even nicer that she can provide HR guidance during this time, maybe that's why it has been easier.

Freebies

There are a handful of franchises/chains that get me excited to travel. Some of these include: KFC (in Australia), Donut King, Oportos, In and out, Chick-fil-A, Krispy Kreme and Cinnabon; this is by no means a comprehensive list and I'm sure if I spent more time I could easily build on this list. 

In any case, the exciting news that warrants a post is that Cinnabon has finally opened in Causeway Bay, which is exactly 15 minutes walk from my apartment. I've walked past this store and seen the "Coming soon" sign, the slow renovation and finally, the grand opening. 

The sugar rushes to my head as the euphoria subsides.

The (first) Jab

At the time of writing, the Hong Kong public have access to two vaccine options: Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinovac vaccines are both available. Dedicated vaccination centres have been setup to administer one or the other, with more available centres providing the BioNTech (based purely on my lazy eyeball of the centre descriptions).

Arrived for my appointment at 5 pm. Majority of the people are expats, 15 minutes of briefing. "Do you know which vaccine you are receiving?". Jab. 15 minutes in waiting area to ensure no adverse reactions. Treated myself to some Assam Laksa post jab. Finding myself really tired by 9 pm. I ended up having one of the best sleeps in a while.

Blood Donation + Watford

Turns out Climbing Mount Kinabalu has been identified as a risk when donating blood in Hong Kong. The risk is that Malaria may be present and the blood may be contaminated. Have I had Malaria for the last 6 months? What about all those Gin and Tonics I've had between then and now?

This is the first time I've donated blood. My ex colleague convinced me to donate blood with the promise of waffles. The interesting thing is that majority of the donors are the Causeway Bay Donation Centre were all helpers. I wonder what attracts helpers to want to donate? Is it because a lot of them having Nursing or Medical backgrounds?

Js!

Absolutely Rental (Part 2)

A few months ago I received a message from my real estate agent, it was sent on behalf of my landlord. The message stated that my lease would be ending in October and that the landlord would allow me to extend my contract. The catch being, that a rate rise of 10% would be incurred. I told them I would consider the offer and let them know my decision by the end of September.

My current apartment is great, the location, the finishings for the price was good value. However, there were little things that annoyed me: the en-suite, the lack of storage, the small-ish kitchen and I was starting to get a bit bored of the neighbourhood. I decided that I would explore the market and see 'what else was out there'. I contacted my reliable agents from two years ago and embarked on what would be my second most testing experience with Hong Kong property.

Forty viewings in, I was reminded of the nightmarish Hong Kong rental market. Despite expanding my search to Causeway Bay and Wan Chai the extra districts proved to be fruitless. It was my last viewing that convinced me to stay at my current apartment. I was scheduled to see an apartment after work. The landlord was currently staying in the apartment and an appointment had to be made. I arranged a viewing with the agent at 7 pm.

Having escaped work early we managed to get to the apartment early at 6:50, we proceeded upstairs and found the front door ajar. How odd. The agent knocked on the door, "hello?". No answer, again we knocked and as we pushed the door open the landlord greeted us at the door. She was wearing nothing but a robe (that she was busily tying up) and a sheepish look on her face. "Uh, hi" she said, "welcome, come in". We walked in and immediately down the corridor to the left was the bedroom, I stuck my head in and saw a stark naked guy on the bed, he was frantically putting clothes on. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on here.

Shocked, I pretended to ask questions about the apartment. "So how do you find the size of the kitchen?" (Who shows somebody around an apartment in a satin robe?). "You mentioned that this place is completely furnished? Including the sofa, and erh, the bed?" (The very bed where that naked dude was lying?). "Twenty Two thousand per month?" (I need to get out of here!). "Let me think about it, and get back to you" (Screw this!). Upon leaving I messaged my agent and told him I would accept the new terms and conditions. Looks like I'll be here for at least another 12 months!

The Hong Kong Sevens

Hong Kong Sevens - An excuse to get dressed up and consume copious amounts of liquor. Oh, and of course watch some seven-a-side Rugby...

Dance Flashmob

You can't teach an old dog new tricks. It's so true, the older you get, the harder it is to pick new things up. Sure there's those activities that simply lend themselves for adoption, Bingo, lawn bowls, Tai Chi, but seriously, they're not really new tricks. So at the tender age of 29 I take my first lesson in dance. I can genuinely say that I have issues learning how to dance especially in the contemporary format. It's a strange outer body experience dancing in front of a mirror watching the instructor, then watching yourself and your non-compliant body. Smooth, beautiful dancing. Rigid, disobedient moving. Learning to dance at this age is a strange phenomenon as you will your body to do things that is just completely foreign. Actually, it's probably more because I'm unco-ordinated but it has taken me two rehersal sessions to get the 4-5 second dance routine memorised.

You might ask why am I even going to dance school? Why? The answer is simple, to realise my dreams and feature as an extra in a Pop Music Video! That's right! Backup dancer, me! It's laughable but an enjoyable day with the highlight being apart of a mini flash mob in the middle of Hong Kong. We crossed one of the busiest roads in Hong Kong on a Sunday morning, only to break out into a choreographed dance routine.

9 am to 7 pm, those are work hours and for a lot of the film and stage crew this was work. All the filming, break time and retakes were an eye-opener to the industry. The chores of shooting and re-shooting, from different perspectives, with different lighting, and most importantly, different angles. It was a long day featuring three main shoots:

1). Flash mob Dance Routine outside Sogo on Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay.
2). Street scene, random dancing on a side street.
3). Club scene - typical Hip Hop club video, models, bottles and of course plenty of smoke.

No animals were harmed in the filming of this clip although the agenda for such a music clip is to promote the the upcoming 2012 movie, Supercapitalist. Watch this space, I'll try to find a cut of the final music video.

Artjamming