New Camera

Saturday 9/30/06
I've been wanting to get a small camera that I can carry around with me to have when a photo op presents itself. So today we went back to the camera store where I got the camera for John last April (that's an entire other story if you haven't already heard it). I got advise on a camera from our photo expert, Sue & got the one she suggested. It cost about the same as she said her's did from a photo store in NYC. So no bargains, but I'd rather have a place I can go back to if I have problems. It isn't too far from our house & when I reminded him about having purchased a camera before from him, he did knock something off the price. John got a few things as well, so everyone was happy.
My point in all of this is that I'm hoping to now be able to post photos to the blog. I think John's camera created photo files that were too large for the blog to handle. So I think it worked. This is a photo looking down out of the bedroom window. That's a church, I'm not sure what denomination, but I'll find out. The b-ball court is the girl's school next door & then the playground (our busstop home is at the playground). The other morning I had the windows open & could hear the choir & organ from the church. It was really nice. Weather is still pretty hot, but a few nice days with lower humidity.
This should be a good weekend as tomorrow is a holiday - Oct. 1 is National Day (it's like our 4th of July). There are flag raising ceremonies & fireworks over the harbor. Monday everything is closed & John gave us all the day off. We are hoping for good weather so we can finally go hiking.
Last night we went out for pizza & beer. It's my 2nd try of pizza here & I'm not too impressed. It isn't like Fuel Pizza in Davidson. The crust is kind of flaky & not that nice thin chewy crust I like. Guess I"ll have to start making my own. John is off getting a massage. He is testing out a local place. It's only about $30 for an hours, so if it's good, well you know where we'll be spending some time!! They are big on reflexology (foot massage & healing). There are places on your feet that connect up to parts of your body - like the top of the big toe is for your brain (something like that). So they are supposed to be able to help fix parts of your body by massaging certain places on your feet. Whatever - it's a foot massage so it's all good!!

Sunday 9/24/06: work, toilets, transportation, cell phones

Sunday Sept. 24, 2006
Hong Kong

Working in HK:
This week was spent mainly working for Cadmus. They put in very long hours here, not just the American’s at the office, but the locals as well. It is not unusual for people to stay until 11pm. The locals work very long hours here, not just those working for Cadmus. Most come in to work between 8:30 & 9:30 and standard leaving time is around 6:30 to 7:30. Also, most business are open at least on Saturday mornings until 1pm. Some people just work every other Saturday, but working on Saturday is standard. Sunday is a big day shopping & outings for the locals.
They love the outdoors & the parks. There are city parks, like what you’d expect and country parks, which I think are much larger & have hiking trails. HK is covered with mountains, so the hiking can be pretty challenging. We had planned to go hiking today, but it is raining. Oh well, may have to settle for shopping & a movie. Maybe I’ll invite the others over to our apartment for bowling. I’ve still not had a chance to use the bowling alley we have (a little 2 lane alley). They charge $5 for a half hour – not bad.

If you want to take a look at a good web site about HK check out
www.discoverhongkong.com/eng
It has lots of information & photos. I particularly like the Walks found under the Touring section. I printed several of them out & the next nice day I have off, I’m off & walking……
Another site is:
www.afcd.gov/hk/english
This is sponsored by the Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department & has info on the country park & other places. I’m not sure 2 years is going to be enough time for me to explore all of this!

John had to rush off to India on Thursday afternoon to check out a printer. We are swamped right now with a project for Target. You’ll see our efforts in stores in 2007. We are arranging for the printing of the labels, tags & UPC labels that will go on something they are calling Global Bazaar. There will be products manufactured all over the world, not just Asia. I have a new appreciation for the labeling that goes on products. Who would have guessed so much work would go into a tag that just gets thrown away. Seems a bit ridiculous, but it pays the bills. Guess that is why I’m in nursing…
It is fun to see what John does & I know he appreciates having me there, it’s a lot easier to ask me to run out & get coffee or sandwiches or make copies of things. I won’t get mad & threaten to quit, not yet at least. I worked all day Saturday & a friend said that she guesses sleeping with the boss isn’t really working out for me if I end up working that many hours – the folks at the office thought that was pretty funny (thanks Neenee).
So I’ve spent Friday & Saturday night at home, which was actually nice. I watched TV & did some ironing on Friday (this tiny washing machine leaves the clothes extremely wrinkled, even by my standards which if you know me at all are pretty low). I’m thinking of taking the laundry out. I found a place that does dry cleaning much less than John was getting it done for at the apartment’s service (a pair of pants with the apartment service was about $5.75, the place I found is $1.80). Guess it is the convenience of being able to take it in the building & having it at the front desk the next day. My little lady takes 3 days & it’s a good healthy walk down & then back up a very long flight of stairs connecting our street to the one below. A good cardio workout to do errands around here. So anyway, I’m going to see what they charge for laundry & might just splurge especially if I’m going to be working so many hours.
Yesterday we had lunch at a Spanish/Mediterranean restaurant that was good. I ordered Mexican Taro with Avocado & Chicken – it turned out to be a avocado & chicken wrap with chick peas & some other beans in it. It was really good.

Public Bathrooms:
Bathrooms in many restaurants are a trip. I think several restaurants share the bathrooms (space issues), so you leave the restaurant out of the back door, usually next to the kitchen & sometimes walk down a little alleyway the bathroom. They all seem to have regular toilets, but some give you a choice of western toilets or eastern holes. The holes are more common at public toilets. It is in a stall & there is a hole (good size) with porcelain surrounding it with a ridged area for you feet (so you don’t slip in I guess). I guess if you are really accomplished you can stand & hit the mark, but personally I’m still at the squatting stage. I think maybe you are supposed to squat, because the nicer ones have hand rails on either side of the wall that make it relatively comfortable to squat. Some places (usually public) the toilet paper is outside of the stalls on the counter or on a hook, so you have to be sure to take it before you go in. I was at one restaurant that had a shared toilet & the toilet paper at the register with the keys so when you pay you can get your supplies if necessary. Of course I didn’t realize this until I returned the key, but I’ve learned to carry tissues with me in my bag – I’m learning to be a prepared traveler.
I’m sure that is WAY more information than many of you wanted to know, but that is daily life & I promised to share it.

Transportation:
The taxis are wonderful & there are so many of them. I’m not exaggerating when I say that at least 75% of the vehicles on the road are taxis. I don’t know how any of them make any money. They are relatively cheap. To get to the office it costs around $3 or $4. It’s about a 10 to 15 minute ride. They pretty much know the main places we need to go & I always carry a map with me so I can point out my destination just in case. The building we live in has 24 hours guard service at the front door, so if we are taking the taxi from home, we just tell the guard where we are going & he tells the driver. So we are not missing having a car. I wouldn’t want to try to drive here anyway, the roads are so twisted & convoluted I’d be lost in no time.
I’m enjoying the buses. Talk about inexpensive – to get to work on the bus is between 50 & 75 cents depending on which bus you get. I found a great web site (actually it is on the discoverhongknog site I mentioned earlier) where you enter your origination & destination locations & they tell you which bus to take. It’s great. I love sitting on the top floor (most are double-decker) in the front seat by the outside window. This row has less leg room, so most people don’t like to sit there. You get a great view of the trip & I’ve seen lots of places I want to go back to. On the way to work I pass the zoological & botanical gardens, US Consulate, Hong Kong Park, the peak tram, & a few malls. From getting on the bus to getting off generally takes less than 15 minutes (this is during rush hour). Then it is a 2-minute walk to the office. Our stop is towards the beginning of the line, so it isn’t usually very crowded. I got John to start taking it last week & he said it was better than the taxi, because in the morning it is really hard to find free taxis. The busses run very frequently during rush hour. Coming home it takes a different route I think because it can’t make it up the hill to our road. I get off at the bottom of our building (there is a lower entrance on the street below us). It’s very convenient.
We use lots of elevators over here (with all of these high rises) & I have noticed that they are very intelligently programmed. There always seems to be one at the lower floor & the other at the top floor. If you press the elevator to go up from the bottom floor, I’ve noticed the one at the top starts coming down. That way I guess they can cover all the floors more quickly. The one you took to go up then goes on up to the top. At least I think that is how I’ve noticed it working. Makes sense.

Cell Phones & ear phones:
I think everyone here has an attachment coming out of their ear. If you think people use cell phones a lot in the US, it is nothing compared to here. Walking down the sidewalk more people are on cell phones than are not. If they aren’t on their phones then they have ear phones in listening to music I imagine. Cell phones are going off constantly everywhere you are. The cell phone tones tend to be some trendy Asian music or rap. I don’t think I’ve heard a regular ring since I’ve been here.
I need one of my kids here to help me with my cell phone. I have the basics down, but I can’t figure out how to retrieve a message or record my message for callers. I’ve even read the instruction book cover to cover. It tells me how to do every other thing with messages except how to listen to them. I think this must be like getting out of the mall, you should just know how, it should be obvious. If I could figure out where we got the phone I’d go back, but that was the 2nd day I was here & I don’t have a clue where we were. So, if you happen to call my cell phone, you will get a message in Chinese & don’t bother leaving me a message because I can’t get to it!! Just a bit of frustration…..

It’s 12:30pm here now, so I think I’ll head out & do something fun. Raining harder now, so the walk is out, but at least I’ve done the research so the next nice day – we’re gonna be ready!!!

Work Work Work

Monday - I went to the bagel place, but was disappointed. It was better than the grocery store, but not that nice tough chewy crust you expect in a real bagel.
Went out for dinner with the sales group. John was supposed to meet us, but something came up & he couldn't. This was in a hotel, 9th floor I think. Pretty fancy & looking out over the harbor. I had a Thai yellow curry with veggies & it was very good. Not hot like I expected from curry. The Thai Cadmus rep was there (Meanawhat is his name) & he suggested this dish. The meat was duck & it was sliced very thin & mixed with the veggies in a curry sauce, like soup almost. I guess there is green, yellow & red curry. Not sure what the spicy level is of each, but I'm learning. Meanawhat & I shared a dessert with mango cheesecake & grapefruit ice cream - pretty strange tasting.

Tues - worked late & came home & cooked dinner. John had to go out with some people. I ironed some clothes & watched a movie. The little washer/drier machine leaves the clothes very wrinkled. If I keep working so much, I might have take the laundry out. It is pretty cheap.

Wednesday - things are pretty hectic at work, so I've been going in for nearly full days. I'm making sure not to miss my morning workout though, boy do I need it. I found a scale in the gym & let's just say - I need to exercise & stop going out to eat so much!!
I'm beginning to understand the operation at Cadmus. It seems like everything is a rush to get out. Two of the people from Charlotte are going home next week for a 10 day vacation, so we're a little worried because there really isn't anyone to pick up the load. I've been learning some of what needs to be done, but not enough. I'm sure we'll make it through.
I did get my visa for India, so that is all set. After the first time at the Indian Consulate, it wasn't bad. I had to go back on Monday between 9:30 & 12:00 to actually pay for the visa & give them my passport. I guess the first visit was so that they could have a few days to make sure I was OK to enter the country. Once they get the passport, then you come back again that evening between 5 & 5:30 to pick it up. It was packed then, but the line moved very quickly.
The Cadmus rep from Thailand was here this week & went back yesterday. I was worried about him because of the military coup that happened there yesterday. John spoke with him today & he said everything was fine. He got rushed out of the airport because the prime minister was expected back from his trip & the military was entering the airport to "greet" him. Our friend said the PM wasn't too popular, so people were not that upset. I guess his brother got the day off today since he works for the government. It is kind of interesting to have such a close connection to something like that.
I did go out tonight to explore the lower part of the neighborhood. The building in on a hill, so the upper entrance & the lower entrance are 10 floors apart. We don't usually use the lower one. I wanted to see where the road curves around. I guess I was kind of stupid & started out from the lower entrance. It was a good 30 minute uphill walk to get back around to the upper one, but I discovered some new restaurants, a Russian one.
Nothing exciting planned for the near future. Just enjoying a new home. I'm getting to talk to family pretty regularly, so that is nice. Thanks to everyone who's sent emails, it's nice to feel like I'm in touch with the US. Brooks & Jesse seem to be doing great. Patti seems to be taking good care of our house in the US. Makes me sound like such a jet setter - my homes in HK, NC & NY!!
Cheers & peace - beck

Second weekend - nothing special

Not a terribly exciting weekend. Saturday I stayed around the apartment and cleaned (now that is something new & different). Nice because it is so small it doesn't take much to clean. John got back from Thailand & we just hung out. We went into work for a few hours (no days off here). The Cadmus crew went to an Italian place near our apartment. It was really good & I tried a new beer - Boddington. It's English & very good even though it comes in a can.

Sunday we went into the office, but the computers were not working because the building had cut the power off Saturday afternoon. I didn't feel like hanging out
so I headed back to my least favorite store so far - Ikea. At least this time I knew what to expect. Had to get another quilt & some picture frames.

Sundays in Hong Kong are wild!! It is the only day people have off (most work at least a half day on Saturday) so the streets are packed. All you people who asked me if the streets are swarming with people, now I know what you mean. The subway was packed & the sidewalk was almost impassable. Since I'm average size here, I was able to push my way through without much difficulty.

Before going to Ikea, I went to a new grocery store (same chain as the one I found the other day, but different location - City Super). It was amazing. Just think of the nicest grocery store you've ever been to, then multiply it by 5. They had part of the store for stationary & office items & gifts. All this fun stuff from Japan. I had a great time. The variety of foods are just too much. I had a vegetable curry filled donut with corn flakes on the outside. Not great, but no too bad. After enjoying this place, I was ready for Ikea. I knew what I wanted & where it was. I still got confused & the place was packed (its Sunday in HK), so it was hard to get around, but I managed much better this time. I still don't like it though (sorry Sue).
When I got back to the office the computer was working so we worked until about 4:30. We reserved the bowling alley at our apartment for everyone, but then they decided they didn't want to do that. So we all went out for dinner again near our apartment, about 5 restaurants down from last night's place. This is about 15 minutes from the apartment, a road with loads of restaurants. It's along the escalator. It was fun - I'm not sure what type of food it was. I had a veggie & pasta dish. Then home & now it is about bed time. One exciting thing tonight is that I might have found a bagel place. Next door to the restaurant was a bakery & "Bagel Factory". They were out of bagels, but they assured me they had NY style bagels & they boil them before cooking. So I'm going back tomorrow at 8:30 to test it out. If I find good bagels, I'm not sure what I'll have to search for next.

The Mall Twilight Zone........

We let the guy who is leaving today choose the restaurant last night & we ended up at Dan Ryan's Chicago Grill. Yes, burgers & fries. They did have good salads, so I went with grilled chicken ceasar - yum. So the dinner was pretty uneventful, but fun. Nice people to get to know from the office.
The adventure was after dinner. Two of the people went off to go to the night market. Dave still had some items to purchase before going home & Jim was going to take him. Kristin & Steve had to go back to the office (these folks all work hard). So I just wanted to go home. The restaurant is in one of the malls & we got there via MTR, but there isn't an MTR station near our apartment. So Jim told me I should just take a taxi & I said I'd find my way out of the MTR station (which is right below the mall). I checked out the map in the station & knew if I went out the front entrance to the mall I'd be on a the major street that is on the bus route & even would be on the right side of the street for heading home (this is a very important thing in cities).
So I ventured back up into the mall which is 5 levels. It was around 10:30. I was on what I thought was the ground floor & followed the exit sign. I actually follow several, but each time it was an emergency exit or staff only exit & who knows where they would lead. I went up & down the elevator about 5 times searching for the main entrance. No indication where it was. I tried to ask someone, but no English. I ended up in the parking lot twice, but couldn't see way out from there & I didn't want to get run over. One thing here is they are not very considerate of pedestrians when they are someplace they shouldn't be.
I finally saw a couple walking & asked them. He laughed & pointed down the hall & said to just turn left at the end. Sure enough HUGE entranceway, the one I was looking for. I guess it was just too obvious to have a sign. I felt pretty stupid. It came right out to the busstop that I wanted. Waited a few minutes & caught the bus home. I like them much better than the taxis. I always try to get on the top level front street, it's pretty exciting.
Had a great night sleep & John returns today from Thailand. I think it'll be a quiet evening at home as I'm sure he'll be worn out. I have to come up with something fun to do tomorrow!!

WV in HK at El Cid

Just something I forgot to mention about about the dinner on Thursday night at the Spanish place that just struck me as such a funny mixture of cultures. The restaurant had 2 Asian men dressed in Spanish clothing playing guitars at the tables. Pretty typical of Spanish restaurants. Usually they play Spanish music or romantic tunes. They came to the table next to us & played the couple there "Take me home country road". It just struck me as so funny and surreal. Seemed like it could have been in a Will Ferrell or Jack Black movie. I just thought it was amusing enough to share. If you don't know the song (mom & dad) it is kind of a country song & goes "take me home country road, to the place I belong, West Virginia, mountain momma, take me home, country road......" It's about the WV mountains.

Sunny Friday - Splenda Success!!

Thursday night:
I have to start with last night actually as that is where I got the idea for my adventure today. I was going to stay in & have some pasta & veggies & go to the health club, BUT Jim called me about 6pm (not sure if I talked about Jim. He is staying with us & works for Cadmus, just started. His job is to coordinate international operations & he's spent a lot of time here, so knows the city well AND he likes good restaurants) to invite me to go to dinner with 2 Chinese women who will be starting at Cadmus next week & Elizabeth (from Charlotte office). He said they had a reservation at a Spanish restaurant in Kowloon (across the harbor). I just COULDN'T refuse. I met them at the office & we took the MTR (subway) over to Kowloon. Kowloon is more the upscale shopping area, so lots of bright lights and beautiful people. We walked along a main street, then took a turn up a smaller street & then another turn up a dark dirty alleyway. Jim assured us he wasn't lost. At the top of the alley we came upon a pedestrian walk filled with wonderful restaurants (at least they looked wonderful). Very busy with people & smells of food & a cacophony of languages (not sure that makes sense, but I couldn't resist using the word). We were going to El Cid, Spanish cuisine. Ruby & her husband, Dante & Sophia were already there. They had ordered for the table (that is very common here). We had tappas, which for those who don't know are appetizers. Lots & lots of appetizers. It is my kind of meal because you get to taste a bunch of different things & it doesn't really feel like you eaten a big meal. Nothing really strange or unusual, just delicious. My favorite was the beef with veggies in a spicy tomato sauce. I have to say the sangria was most delightful as well!! Our Chinese guests spoke excellent English, so it was a very informative meal. I learned that there is a very large upscale grocery store at the end of the escalator (I think I talked about that before) that is known for having western foods. I had a new destination to explore in my search for Splenda, etc.....

Friday morning: (I'll be loading photos of today this weekend, so check the webshots page)
I actually saw the sun rise today (I've been waking up around 5:45), so now I know where East is. By the way, I slept great under my new THIN quilt! I headed out with my camera around 9 to take advantage of the sun, while it lasts. I took photos of the neighborhood & my ride down the escalator. Just out of curiosity I counted how many escalators there are from our road (15). I think there are one or 2 more above our road & then when you get to the end of the "official" escalator you have to take at least one more to get to ground level. It's a fun journey.
My destination was City Super, the grocery store that Sophia had told me about. It is in a mall - not like US malls - very upscale. They even have a people dressed in suits who stand by the map of the mall & answer you questions & give directions. They don't even wait for you to ask them, they offer assistance if you look confused or lost. It is very nice. So he pointed me in the direction of City Super, but said it doesn't open until 10:30 (they just get a late start here). It was 9:45, so I just wandered around the mall. Found a McDonald's - of course. I didn't buy anything, but here is what was on their menu (besides the regular stuff) mango frappe, citron honey frappe, strawberry & banana juice, chicken pineapple sandwich, smoked salmon sandwich, crayfish and egg mayo sandwich. I'll never be critical of MickyD's food again!! I did stop by a bakery & get some treats for the folks at the office. Sesame cookies, ginger cookies & these peanut ball cookies (the inside tastes like a Mary Jane candy).
City Super opened it's doors at exactly 10:30 (they are just amazingly punctual, the guy opening the doors actually ran to the 2nd door to make sure it was opened before the clock struck 10:31 - you got to love it). This store was amazing - if you've ever been to Harris Teeter by Southpark in Charlotte, well this has them beat hands down. Besides having a bakery, meat counter, deli, they also have a tea counter where you can sample & buy bulk teas. There was too much to even describe. Some of the prepared foods you could buy included baked pumpkin with skin, black olive & rosemary; there were lots of lamb dishes, and even tuna pasta baked (tuna noodle casserole - who would have guessed - I'm going to need to give that a try one of these times).
Well City Super lived up to it's reputation. They had Splenda - the large bag even, this was almost as exciting as when I found the camera for John during our trip in April. They had Hershey's syrup AND Fluff. I can't even buy Fluff in Charlotte, BUT they have it in Hong Kong! It isn't the large container, but they have it. This is going to be a destination for those homesick days that I know will be coming. Why does food make you feel so good & comforted?
I heard a woman asked the clerk where the dark chocolate peanut butter is. I asked her what that was & she said "dark chocolate mixed with peanut butter in a jar." Oh my goodness, I'm NEVER going to lose any weight! Fortunately they were out of it. The bakery was amazing. They even had to household items I was not able to get at Ikea - toothbrush holders, soap dishes, plastic drinking cup, and a metal dish for a double boiler. I'm all set now & if not, I know where I can go without having to deal with Ikea. I'm a happy camper.
I went to the bottom of the mall to get the MTR. This is one of the stations where the airport express train leaves from. There is a long line of airline check in counters where you can check your luggage right there at the train station. What a great concept. I got to work just about noon & of course just in time for lunch. Dave is going back to Charlotte tomorrow, so some of the staff (Chinese) took him out for dim sum for lunch. I couldn't turn down dim sum being ordered by locals, so I forced myself to eat yet another meal out. I thought my new wardrobe was going to be a few sizes smaller, but I'm beginning to think it's going to go the other way. Just have to enjoy this stuff as a newcomer, I know I'll get over it & start my getting in shape phase, but right now I'm thoroughly enjoying the try everything, especially food phase.
Of course the dim sum was great. Nothing strange. Beef, pork, shrimp, squid, rice with shaved abalone on top (dad you will appreciate that). It was interesting that when we sat down they filled up 2 tea pots, one with tea & the other with hot water. Ming (she works with us) poured the hot water into her tea cup, then opened her chop sticks & put them in her soup bowl. She then poured the hot water from the tea cup into the soup bowl & over the spoon & chopsticks, washing all of the utensils before using them. I followed her lead. I spilled most of my water on the table, but I think got my utensils sufficiently clean. Then you pour the water into a large bowl on the lazy susan in the middle of the table & they take it away.
The highlight of the meal was dessert. Usually we haven't had dessert at the meals so far. Dave kept saying he was waiting for dessert & it was worth waiting for. There were 2 things. One was a sort of cold soup (I think it was evaporated milk maybe, just slightly sweet) with mangos, citrus shavings & large tapioca - very good. The other was more like a custard with big chunks of wonderfully sweet fresh mango all through it. This was amazing, it might be almost as good as mango & sticky rice that I had in Bangkok.
So now I'm back at the office & they don't really have anything for me to do right now which is fine so that I can do this. I don't really want to go home because we are all (the Americans) supposed to go see the city light show at 8pm from right near the office. I'm sure that will be the topic of my next entry, then there is always dinner.....
Cheers & hope you are enjoying this. It's fun to know I'm getting to share my adventures with everyone without having to send out a million emails & wonder what I told whom. I guess I'll search the internet & see how we get to the Great Wall. It was funny last night because I asked Ruby about going to the Great Wall & she said she's never been, but she could tell me about Disney World Orlando, she's been there 4 times. Isn't that always the way......

HIV testing

On the way to lunch today we passed a little drug store (pharmacy) & in the window there was a sign that read "HIV Testing". I didn't get a chance to go in & check it out, but it looks like they sell it right in the drug store.
So much for that 3 days of intensive training to counsel everyone who gets HIV tested.
This needs to be investigated further. More on this later....

I never imagined Ikea would make me want to cry

Soooo, I've been trying to get to the Ikea store (home furnishings & such) since last Saturday, when I actually got there, but it didn't open for another 1.5 hours so I didn't wait. And I've been looking forward to this little adventure because I went to Ikea in Baltimore with Sue Lezon once & it was really fun. It is a Swedish-based store, so everything is modern & Scandinavian looking.
I went into work this morning so that I could hit the store in the afternoon & then just take a taxi home with my treasures. Ate Mexican for lunch which reminded me of all the times we had Mexican when I worked at the health department (H-Wacko & Giblet, if you are listening, I was thinking of you guys). I took the subway to Causeway Bay where the store is. Found the store, but stepped into a grocery superstore to see if I could find Splenda for John. I didn't find it, but they did have the brownie mix with the Hershey's syrup & Paul Newman's Balsamic Vinegrette dressing. When I entered the grocery I was right next to Ikea, but when I exited, well, I realize they have 2 entrances, because I didn't see Ikea anywhere. I ended up walking all the way around the block (of course I chose the wrong way to go) & by the time I got to Ikea I really had to urinate. So I went on it & it was sooooo confusing. There is an entrance, but not very clear where you go. The way the store is laid out, you go it a big circle. There are arrows painted on the floor to guide you along. So if you miss something towards the beginning, well you have to go all the way back through the entire store to get it. I just wanted the bathrooms I wandered & wandered until I finally found them. They have a thing here about having signs for stuff, but then suddenly there is no sign, so you have no clue where to go next. It gets frustrating. When I couldn't find the bathroom, I wanted to just sit down on the floor & cry - how silly is that?
After relieving myself I went back to the beginning & found a buggy (I didn't see these at first either - you have to go downstairs to get them). I found most of the stuff on my list, but it is strange the things I couldn't find. I want a big plastic cup for the bathroom - only glass cups. No single toothbrush holders or soap dishes, they only come in a set with a bunch of other stuff I don't need. No double boiler - how am I going to make hollandaise sauce????? it is just frustrating when you have no clue where you will find this stuff if you can't find it at a western stype store. Right now I'd even stoop to shopping at a Walmartt, so you know I'm desperate. It was funny, because they played very western music on the loudspeaker (stuff I normally like - Cat Stevens, etc...) & I found it so annoying. There were lots of Westerners at the store & for some odd reason that annoyed me too. I guess I was just in a very annoyable mood today.
Also, they don't sell top sheets here. Instead of blankets they use the down comforters like they use in Europe, which normally I love, but the ones John got are really heavy & I get WAY too hot at night. You would think with how cold John likes it in the room that would never happen, but I've been sleeping with just my bathrobe over me. I found a blanket & a thin comforter that I think is supposed to be a bed spread, but it'll have to do for now. It's funny because I've never used top sheets at home & now I'm upset because I can't buy one. Funny how things change. So hopefully I'll get a better night sleep with a lighter covering. It'll take time to adjust to everything.
I had 4 fairly heavy bags leaving Ikea & tried to hail a taxi on the small road in front of the store. After about 15 minutes & several empty taxis passing me, I guess that they are not allowed to stop there. The Chinese are very strict about following the rules. Everyone stands at the crossway & waits until the walk sign comes on, rarely will they cross before the sign even if there are no cars coming. Of course the cars will not stop for you if you aren't supposed to be crossing & they round the corner. I almost got taken out the other day. Back to today - I had to lug my bags around the corner (good thing I walked around the block earlier)to the hotel & there was an empty taxi there.
That was my day so far. I want to go take more photos of the neighborhood around here, but it is so gloomy & rainy, it isn't really worth it. Maybe later this week the sun will come out.

Shower

I have to comment on the showers here, because they seem to be very environmentally sensible. There is a photo of what I'm talking about on the webshots site http://community.webshots.com/user/jbhubbell
Anyway, there is a little control panel inside the shower & also a small tank. It's called an Instintaneous Hot Water Heater. So when you get into the shower you click on the conrol panel to turn it on, you have the water temp set to whatever you want & can easily put it up or down, using the control panel. It takes a few seconds & presto - you have a hot shower. When you're done, you just turn it off. Seems to make sense not to be heating a huge tank of hot water.
I thought it was interesting.

Survived typhoon & Indian experience

College:
Yesterday I decided to withdraw from the graduate classes I was trying to take online. It just wasn't working out for me. Just too many things I'd rather be doing than reading about nursing theory & research. Figured I'm only going to be here for a few years & I know the time will fly by. I was having a terrible time focusing on the school work & just getting further & further behind. So I feel much better now & don't feel guilty spending time writing on my blog, which I'm considering my journal. I also want to get to research the places we are going to visit & have time to do some volunteer work. Sometimes we just need to cut our losses. When I told Jesse I was withdrawing, he say I was setting a bad example for he & Brooks. I had to remind him that I already have 2 degrees & at 50, I've paid my dues. That shut him up! The worst part is not being able to be on facebook any more - it was fun keeping up with the college set. My kids might be glad I can't check up on them quite so closely.

Work:
Yesterday I started working for Cadmus (John's company). I'm just helping out to free some of the people up to do more important things. It was nice to get to be around some other people (other reason I wasn't enjoying the online learning - no social contact & you know I crave social contact). Anyway, there are 5 people there from the US office & several Chinese. So it is nice to make some friends. I'm part-time, so I can come & go as I please (being the boss' wife doesn't hurt either). I worked on a very unexciting spread sheet today. Learned some stuff about Excel that I didn't know before, so that was good. Not sure if is was as much fun as Brooks' internship with Cadmus this summer where he got to organize a closet for the marketing department!!

India:
John will be traveling to India in a few weeks, so he gave me the task of getting a visa. He left this morning (Wed) for Thailand, so I'm on my own. I checked online & found out where it is located, which is between home & the office. So I ventured out yesterday on the bus to try to find it. When I realized where it was, the bus had already stopped & the next stop was too far to go back. We had a level 1 typhoon hoisting (that's what they call it, guess there is a flag somewhere). I am discovering with the buses that you really need to know where you are going & where you need to get off. It you wait until you see the place you want, it is too late. They don't stop every block. So I missed the embassy yesterday and just went on into the office.
So today, after hanging around home to great another Cadmus person who is staying here (saving on hotel expenses), I ventured out again. Today was level 3 typhoon hoisting, so the rain was coming down pretty hard. I watched it a good part of the morning from my window - lots of lightening & thunder & rain & clouds. It was great, the buildings kept coming in & out of view through the clouds. I didn't notice too much wind, but at 31 floors above the ground, I guess I wouldn't. Because it was raining so hard, I decided to just take a taxi. I found the embassy on the 26 floor of one of the buildings - it wasn't easy to find. OK, so this was the noisiest place I've been in a very long time - it gave me a headache. I guess Indians have a reputation for yelling a lot & it is true. It wasn't a very big office & there were 3 windows & each one had people yelling. Only one guy was actually angry. I think because they were all speaking English & none were native English speakers, they feel like they have to yell to be understood. I didn't like it. I'm not so sure I'm going to like India.
So I went to one window & the man had to tell me several times what I needed. He was way worse than the people you get on the phone for customer service. Finally he shoved 2 papers at me & said to fill them out & have a copy of my passport. I did this & went back & he directed me to a different window. I waited in a line of about 7 people. One of them was a woman from the US, I think she said Kentucky. Anyway, I picked her brain on how this all works. She's lived here for 6 years, so was very helpful. She said I had to have a copy of my passport & 2 photos (which I had, fortunately) and EXACT change. She said they are usually very strict about having the exact amount of cash. I figured I was there, so I'd just give it a try (I didn't have a passport copy & didn't know what the cost would be). I was the last in line & the woman ended up being very nice. When I handed her the passport, she just gave me a look & said you should have brought a copy, then took it & copied it for me (nice). Then she didn't ask for exact amount either - I lucked out. I guess I just looked dumb enough. I was told to come back on Monday before noon (they only do visa stuff from 9:30am to noon. I would need to bring another HK$315 exactly in cash. The amount I paid today (HK$275, about $30US) was for faxing. She explained the would issue the visa on Monday morning, but then I couldn't pick it up until Monday between 5 & 5:30pm. Interesting!

Typhoon:
This sounds very exotic, but I think it is just another name for hurricane, but not as severe. Apparently they go from level 1 - 10 (10 being the worst). All of the buildings have a placard as you enter that posts the level for the day. Today they read "Typhoon level 3 hoisted today". It didn't really seem to bad at level 3, just lots & lots of rain.
This is definitely the rainy season. I think it's rained everyday since I've been here & I've hardly seen blue sky at all. I don't mind after a fairly rainless summer in NC. It is interesting how they handle the rain here. Everyone carries umbrellas with them & every store or building you go into has an umbrella rack at the entrance with long narrow plastic bags to put your wet umbrella into if you don't want to leave it in the rack. Nice touch. The office buildings & apartment buildings have someone at the entrance with a mop & squeegee to wipe up the water that gets tracked in. They wipe it up immediately. I wonder if they have special people who only work when it rains & it is their job to wipe up the water. At our apartment building it was the front door attendant, but at the office buildings it looked like a janitor type person doing it. They keep everything very clean.

Communication:
I think it is very interesting that I spoke with more family today, than I probably do in an average week or maybe month at home. I had a conference call with my parents & sister (my sister-in-law & nephew were visiting my parents so I got to talk to them too), talked to Jesse, Brooks & Sue Lezon (another sister-in-law). This was all in about an hour this morning (for me, night for them). My boys wanted to get credit card info, so they could make some purchases.
Hope Brooks does better than the first time he bought some sporting equipment online when he first left home 4 years ago for prep-school. I'll never forget it. John read an email from the company with the invoice for something like $600 for soccer cleats, shorts & socks, and he was rather upset about Brooks spending so much. I took a look at it & immediately knew what had happened (because he'd told me about the purchase & said he gotten cleats, 3 pairs of different shorts & a pair of socks). Well, instead of getting 1 pair of each of the shorts, he'd ordered 11 pairs of the black ones. I called him & said he'd only intended to order one pair. I told him in the future to look at the $ amount & when it says one pair of shorts is $260 - there might be a mistake!!! Luckily the woman at the help desk had kids also & was very understanding & redid the order.

Good night from me. Good morning to you all!!

My first Impressions of Hong Kong

Sorry no photos, I can't seem to post them, but you can see photos of NY & our apartment by going to
http://community.webshots.com/user/jbhubbell
This is going to be long since I've not written anything since arriving. Take your time......

Our flight from Albany, NY to Chicago to San Fran to Taipei to Hong Kong was long, but uneventful. Watched DaVinci Code & Mission Impossible 3 on the plane. Got some sleep. Left NY Monday (9/4) afternoon & arrived in Hong Kong Wednesday morning around 10am. Took the airport express train from the airport & it was clean, efficient and fairly cheap ($12). Good first impression - a point for Asia. They seem to have done a lot here to modernize, much is new and works well. Everything so far seems to run on time.

The apartment looks great. John did a wonderful job picking out furniture, etc... Everything is small & no closests (I'm glad Patti made me cut WAY down on my clothes). John went in to work & stayed home & unpacked & took a much needed nap.

Thursday, Sept 7
I finished unpacking and did some exploring around the neighborhood. Found the apartment complex health club which I'm hoping to make good use of. It includes an indoor pool, squash court, workout room (bikes, elipticals, free weights, treadmills & some lifting stations), a dance room (?), and a 2 lane bowling alley. We should be able to find something to do. John left me a short list to start getting me used to how to do things. Go get a few groceries, get my photo for my residence visa, take the laundry down.

Laundry:
Laundry goes to the desk downstairs & they take it out & it's back the next day all cleaned & folded (how wonderful is that). There is a washing machine in the apartment, but John said he tried using it to wash some towels & they never got dry. I decided to give it a try. It is in the kitchen which is not airconditioned & closed off by a door. It is very small - can fit about one set of sheets in it at a time. I put in a load (some underwear & shirts) & read the instruction manual (it's totally different than what we are used to). Well, it took the wash cycle almost 2 hours to run through & took over 2 hours to get the stuff "almost" dry. I understand John's frustration with this. The clothes come out really wrinkled. One point for the US for more efficient clothes washing. But of course getting someone else to do your laundry isn't too bad either & it isn't very expensive.

Grocery shopping:
The grocery store is a 7 minute walk from the apartment. Not bad. The aisles are very narrow & the carts are tiny. I guess you just go every few days, so it doesn't matter. They have a pretty good selection, but of course it took me a few hours to find everything I wanted & to figure out what lots of it was. They have Paul Newman's salad dressing (hooray), but the selection of lettuce isn't too great. There are some really weird looking meats & fish. There is something called dark chicken & the whole chicken is black (I'm not going there) & there are some really strange varieties of eggs. Tiny little quail eggs, duck eggs (some look like they are rolled in black stuff & others in toasted coconut or something). There is a bakery with fresh breads & samples (not Harris Teeter, but not too bad). The store is on 2 floors, so you need to make sure you get what you want on the first floor before going to the checkout on the 2nd floor. To say the least, I got plenty of exercise going up & down the stairs. The selection is very international which is fun. The pre-packaged bread you get about 4 to 12 slices per package. The bags of rice are HUGE. The variety of potato chips is amazing - flavors I don't even know exist, but there was Lays salt & vinegar, so I felt at home. It was an adventure to be sure.

Thurs night John & I went & got me a cell phone. We went to a shop a few blocks down from our apartment in the Soho district (we are in mid-levels district). Got the phone, it took a while, but we were successful. I didn't get anything fancy even though they had some pretty interesting phones. Some so small they can hang from you neck on a cord (about the size of your pinky). I know I'd loose something that small. It is a camera phone, so hopefully I will be ready if any interesting subjects come up on my journeys. We went to a German restaurant for dinner. There is about any type of restaurant you could want here. Good beer!! The Soho district is known for it's night life & it is always hopping. The bars were packed with people from all over (or so they looked). It is like something out of a movie. Just can't describe it - very exciting & fun.

Friday:
Did some more wandering around & staightening up. Of course there were things I forgot to get at the grocery. I think I walked back & forth about 3 times to the store for various items. Met John at work (in the Wan Chai district), got there by taxi. Taxi's are very cheap (about $4 to go to his work & takes about 15 - 20 minutes). The apartment building has people at the door 24/7 so they call the taxi for you. They take very good care of us. One of the Cadmus people was leaving on Saturday, so the group was doing a farewell dinner for him. There are 5 Cadmus people here right now, not including John. We went to a Janpanese restaurant that John & I discovered when we were here before in April. John has been back several times, it is his favorite so far. The waitress knows him well. He had reserved the hibatchi table where you sit in front of the grill. Not like US hibatchi where they make jokes & put on a show, they just cook. The waitress knows just what John likes to have when he comes with a group, so we didn't even have to order. The highlight of the meal is the shrimp. They are HUGE (probably 6 inches long or more) & they use just about all of it. He cuts off the head & cleans the body & cooks that with some yummy sauce. Then he cuts the neck or brain out of the head & cooks that up. It didn't' taste bad, but had a weird texture. All the time he is cooking the heads. He keeps pressing them & turning them. They must cook about 20 minutes. Finally they go onto the plates, very flat & very well cooked. The tentacles are still attached & it is very crunchy. This is the highlight of the meal as the cameras come out & everyone gets photos of eating shrimp heads with the tentacles sticking out. Of course by this time there have been several glasses of beer consumed which might add to the amusement. The menu also included sushi, eel, beef with straw mushrooms inside, veggies, green tea ice cream. I know there were other things. It was nice because we had a bunch of stuff & you had a sampling of lots of things.
After dinner a few of the group went to the watch & hand bag man that John has gotten to know. I guess the deals were not too good that night, but they still managed to buy some stuff. Most of the fun is in the bargaining I guess (I don't really like doing that, but fortunately John is good at it).

Saturday:
I went in to work with John & then to Ikea to get some things for the house. Problem was I got to Ikea at 9am & they don't open until 10:30am, oops. So I went to the Wellcome Superstore (Wellcome is the grocery store chain around town). It had a much larger selection of items, but since I was taking the train, I didn't get much. I did get bagels - not NY bagels at all. They reminded me of the bagels we got in NC before some "real" bagel stores came along. I guess I'll have to search out some real bagels. I managed to get some school work done since I was unsuccessful at Ikea. John & I tried to go to the bank to open a local account, but each time we've tried it pours rain.
Comment on the weather:
The weather here changes really quickly. I guess that is because we are so close to the ocean. It can be sunny in the morning, then have torrential rain for a few hours & fog so that I can't see a thing from the apartment window, then sunny again in a few hours. Have had several thunder storms since I've been here.

Sunday:
I joined the other Cadmus group & we visited the next island over (Lantau Island). We took the escalator to the ferry pier & took the ferry to the island. The escalator is an interesting thing. It is 800 meters long & is a series of escalators & walkways that go up from the Central district to Mid-levels. From midnight until 10am it runs down & from 10:20 until midnight it runs up (takes 20 minutes to change over). There are shops all along it & you can exit at every street. It is covered although not enclosed. It is a really great concept I think. When we got to the end of the escalator there is a sort of plaza that you walk through & then a mall that you go through. It was really interesting because all over the place there were towel & cardboard on the ground & Amahs (maids) sitting talking & playing cards & eating. The Amahs are mostly from Thailand & the Phillipines. They get Sunday off & they gather in certain places around the city. I guess they area at the end of the escalator & around the mall is a popular place. Next Sunday I'll take my camera. They were there at 10am when we left & still there at 6pm when we returned.
On Lantau Island is a monestary & the giant Budda. This is the largest sitting Budda in the world & he is impressive. Covered in bronze. I also learned that inside the building under the Budda is a museum & they have a relic of Budda. I guess when Budda died his body shattered into thousands of pieces (I can't remember the exact number even though it was written in the info about this). This temple to 2 relics. They say these are relics of Budda's neck bone. If you look at it closely it looks red. It is the size of a piece of rice & kept in a glass cabinet behind thick glass walls. We had a veggie lunch cooked by the monks at the monestary - I've had better. We took a bus to the other side of the island to a fishing village. There are so many varieties of fish & ways of preparing them it kind of makes you mind swim (although that could be from the smell of all that fish). I guess they call this the Venice of HK because the houses are built on stilts above the water (I've been to Venice & this isn't even close believe me).
I got home in time to make John a nice dinner for his birthday (it's actually 9/11, but he gets home pretty late from work). Had brownies for dessert. It was funny trying to find the brownie mix at the store. I looked all over the place & finally asked & it took 3 employees trying to figure out what I wanted. I asked for cake mix, brownie mix, I wrote it down & drew a picture of a cake & they had no clue. Finally a nice British woman said "Betty Crocker, she wants Betty Crocker". They all said "Ah, Better Crocker, right this way Madame." I guess you just have to know how to ask. Sure enough, they have Betty Crocker brownie mix - we were happy!!

Monday:
Today, I'm actually caught up. I managed to figure out how to check on the bus lines, so after working out (yeah) I hoped a bus to John's work. Got there without incident & it costs less than $1 & took me exactly 12 minutes. I lets off just 2 blocks from the office. We finally got to the bank & opened up an account. That was confusing, but finally got it all worked out. Had lunch at Delany's Irish Pub - pretty good food, but didn't have any beer since it was lunch time. I was going to hit Ikea, but forgot my list (grrrr). Tomorrow for sure! I took the bus home & the route home is a bit different. It takes the road that goes along the bottom of our building. I figured out where to get off & found there is a Wellcome store right across the street from our building. It is really small, but still nice & close for those quick needs or heavy items. That was a great discovery. Of course I still had to go to the other store because this one didn't have any salad dressing (of well, I need the exercise). One of the people who works downstairs came up to let me know about water service (to get a bubbler in the apartment) & she hung around & answered all of my questions about shopping & riding the bus & getting around. She was terrific. She lived in Edmundton for a few years so spoke english well. She said there is going to be a party for the apartment building on Oct 7 to celebrate the full moon. She wanted me to know so that I would be sure to come & get to meet some people.
It is hard to meet people. Mostly I just see who I think are the Ahma's around during the day. I spoke to a guy on the elevator last night & asked him about the health club (he had obviously just come from working out). He was nice, but didn't get a name or anything. I'm going to work part time at the office for John so that will be good, at least I'll be around other people & not feel too isolated.

I feel better now that I've completed this. I know it was a lot, but there is a lot to observe these first few weeks. I really like it here. It is a very clean & safe city. There are people all over the place all of the time cleaning & sweeping. On the way to the grocery store (the one that is 7 minutes away) I see at least 2 policemen or guards (I'm not sure exactly what they are, but in uniforms & look official). Between here & the store there is a girls school & a synagogue & of course many apartment buildings. The roads are so interesting. everything is built on a slope (mountain) so the roads wind around & go up like nothing I've seen before. It reminds me of the marble works game the boys had growing up, all twisty & turning. I feel like I'm in a Disney theme park or something. It is just so interesting how it is engineered. I can't imagine how they keep it all together or figure out what goes where. I would hate to try to drive here. I'm glad the buses & taxis are cheap. It's evening now (6:30pm) & the lights in the buildings are coming on. Since it is John's birthday,I'm going to see if he wants to go bowling downstairs. He hasn't been sleeping well, so he might be too tired. I might actually have to do some studying - ahhhh not school work!!!!
Love to all & sure miss everyone. Come visit, it is an experience. Save up your pennies. Hopefully by the time we get some visitors I'll be an expert at getting around & know the good spots.

Last days in USA

Aug 28 - Sept 4
Spent a great week in upstate NY with friends & some family. The weather was wonderful (for someone from the South) very cool nights & days in the 70's. Our boys both were there which was great.
(having problems uploading photos)