Moving day

This apartment hunt has dragged me to all the nooks and crannies of Central Hong Kong. It has been an adventure that has led me down urine spilled alleyways, up the stairwells of nameless walk-up properties and countless journeys on the Mid-levels escalator. The upside is that I now have a familiarity with Hong Kong and the various stairwells, streets, buildings and shortcuts in and around Central.

My conversations have, for the most part followed a typical schematic. It started off with "Have you found a job?", eventually moving to "Have you found an apartment?" to finally "How's your new place?". It's funny, but you would think that after sleeping on a couch for such a long time I would have moved out immediately. This has not been the case. Despite having the keys in my possession for over a week I still haven't moved into my new place. The truth is that I have been waiting for the delivery of my mattress so I have a place to sleep (as opposed to a pile of clothes), but also deep down I know that I'm having stouts of separation anxiety. Anxiety derived from having to say goodbye to my friends and the living room that has been nothing short of hospitable over the last seven months. I take a look at the room that has housed me and say goodbye to the friends that I have seen almost every waking hour. There's a sadness and an appropriate slowness as I collect my belongings and leave.

I quickly snap out of this melancholic daze as it dawns on me that my apartment is not even a 10 minute walk away.  I enter my new apartment block and take the lift up to the eleventh floor. I approach the door which has a lightly brushed oak finish, to be honest, I hardly recognise it, it's been some time since I was last here. I turn the key, there's no click, no chambers moving, I turn it the other way, still nothing. This leads to some frenetic jiggling. My bag slides from my shoulder and I use two hands to work the key into the keyhole. Just as I'm about to prop my leg up against the door frame the door opens. A head sticks out from inside "Can, I, erh, help you?". A reasonable question. Especially considering that I'm bent over with my key in their door. "This isn't Apartment C is it?" I ask. "Nope, C's that one." indicating to the adjacent door. That explains everything, "... Hi, I'm your new neighbour!".

In other news, my housemate this week found out that his company MF Global after 250 years has filed for bankruptcy. It's alarming that a company whose roots date back further than the discovery of Australia can be taken down in the space of a year. The 8th largest Bankruptcy in history and the first US casualty of the European Sovereign Debt Crisis. So as the the Greeks head into referendum and the world slowly falls apart I look forward to nothing more than sleeping in my own bed.

A spanner in the proverbial works

Unimpeded views of one of the most famous skylines in the world. Close to the escalator. Swimming pool, basketball court and onsite Karaoke room. Enough room to swing a cat, a large jungle cat. As you may have guessed I am not talking about my new apartment but the in fact the three bedroom apartment sourced by my two mates. The irony is, they were shown this place 1 week after I signed my contract, it's like a cruel prank played by the Hong Kong Rental Gods. Yet another instance where I am faced with a dilemma, stick with the new one bedroom or go along for ride and live in the Mansion.

So I draw up a table, "Pros" on one side "Cons" on the others. Cheaper rent, pro of a shared household. Complete privacy, pro of living alone. Living with two very close friends, pro of a shared household. Feeling like a recluse, con of living alone. Need to buy furnishings, con of living alone. They won't move out until January, pro of living alone. Not having to worry about how I get home, pro of a shared household. Ability to walk around the house naked, I mean freedom, pro of living alone.

The repercussions of prematurely ejecting from my contract would be to forfeit my two months deposit. Which will probably will offset any savings made by sharing rent/bills. It's a tough decision. However, since they don't have plans to move out until January 2012 I have decided that for the next few months, I'll experience and enjoy my time being that naked recluse.

Bierfest 2011

Exhibiting the same traits of many imitation products that roll out from the countless Chinese Factories it's similiar, behaves and feels the same but just lacks the tact and quality of the genuine article. The steins aren't quite the right size, nor is the fact that it's actually in October. Oktoberfest, Hong Kong style!

Leased

Congratulations, they say. It's almost preposterous to think that I have seen over one hundred properties (84 single and 26 triple living arrangements). This isn't the first place that I've made an offer for, but it is the first place that the landlord has come back agreeing to my offer. One bedroom, unfurnished, open kitchen, oven, bright , modern and relatively central. I've met with the landlords, they don't speak much English, I don't speak much Cantonese. The contract, I sign. The deposit, 2 months rent for a two year contract with a one year break clause. Even then I still had hesitations, it's by no means my ideal apartment, I don't think I'll ever find that. But this little shoebox of a property will probably be as close as I can get with my budget and patience threshold. Congratulations, indeed.

First and foremost I need to buy a bed, once that's sorted I'll be looking to move out. I have most definitely overstayed my welcome, but it's been an excellent time living with two very close friends. Plenty of fun times, plenty of TV series and plenty of sport. Still I can't imagine how it feels to come home to me, the guy sleeping in the living room. Since I have started working, I've been helping out with the bills, chipping in for  electricity, water, gas and the helper. Still, how do I even begin to repay these guys?

"Spend a little more on your bed and shoes, because that's what you spend the most time in" - Heng, quoting somebody.

Mainland

Sneaky weekend trip over to China for the weekend. 1200 HKD Express China Visa and a short coach ride over the border to Shenzhen for an evening of spas and massages, followed by a day wake boarding at the Dongguan Water Park. The thing I look forward to the most about traveling is sleeping in a proper bed.

Level 8

"What does that mean?" I ask, still half asleep. "It means it's too dangerous to go outside. There's no work or school today." my house mate says. "Really? Then why are you getting ready for work?" I quiz. "Just because Hong Kong is closed doesn't mean the rest of Asia is!" he shoots back. My first Typhoon Level 8.  I had heard all about Hong Kong's infamous Black Rain and Typhoon warnings but I was really curious to see what all the fuss was about.

Splashing water on my face, I lumber downstairs to the apartment foyer, I'm still wearing my PJs. I say good morning to the concierge and begin looking for any clues that might suggest today is no ordinary day. To my disappointment the glass doors aren't boarded up, there's no carnage outside, no Mary Poppins impersonators, no stash of non-perishable goods, not even a security guard to warn people about the perils outside. The sky is unusually darker, wait a minute, why is the concierge even in this early? Then I see it, the one difference. There, in the middle of the glass door is an A4 laminate sign confirming what I had heard earlier. Category 8 Typhoon.

So, back to my question. What does Level 8 Typhoon mean? Like with most things in society we rate weather conditions based on a scale. Rain in Hong Kong is done by colours (Black, Red and Amber) the typhoon system is a number between one and ten. One being good, ten being bad and eight being the level that deems it too dangerous to be outdoors. I stick my head the door. It feels a little breezier, perhaps even a little warmer than usual.

Deciding I had nothing better to do I head back upstairs, get dressed and head to work. People here in Hong Kong really take the whole "no work" thing seriously. It's like a ghost town. I peer down the street, there's not a single car and I cross the road without paying attention to the traffic lights. There's the odd person walking to work, majority of them are expats who are in walking distance to work. The atmospheric conditions aren't bad, the clouds are ominous and it's ridiculously dark but other than some wind it's fine. I guess the Hong Kong Government doesn't want to take any risks with Tropical Cyclone Nesat.

Work is just as quiet, only the traders, couple of the Middle Office and a few support guys sit in the office. I ask them why they've bothered to come into work. "I have nothing to do at home. I'd probably just sit in front of the PC, figure I might as well come in and do some work. Plus it's free lunch whenever there's a level 8".

Little Lion Man

Oddly enough, I still look forward to work each day, which means one of two things, either I'm enjoying work, or, I'm not really working. Both are questionable but I really hope it's the former, then again it has only been 7 weeks. Now, as each day passes, the tag of being the 'new guy' slowly disappears and I can no longer plead ignorance or use the excuse of unfamiliarity. I'm expected to know.

The work learning curve exponentially surges on and there has not been a day when I've not learnt something new. Despite becoming more attuned to the processes and the mounting responsibilities I still find juggling it all a major headache.

Previously, my old company was very liberal in getting things done, there was freedom and if something needed to be done, you as an individual could go out and make the changes. Now being apart of management, there's a lot more (I don't want to say it) bureaucracy and process control. I am slowly becoming more used to the procedure and learning to let go of the fact if there's something that needs to be done, I need to tell somebody to do it as opposed to getting my own hands dirty. Still, it feels strange when I look at my business card. That's me, that's what I do?

"Take all the courage you have left. Wasted on fixing all the problems you made in your head" - Mumford & Sons