Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Conclusion of whirlwind trip to HK

I went to a KFC today. I was walking around town looking for some place to eat lunch. There's no lack of places but I had a sudden craving for KFC. I haven't been to one in the US in forever. Anyway, really need to learn to read Chinese. Or at least read it faster. It was difficult to figure out the menus posted in front on some of the places...

Went to a job site this morning. The guy came to get me in a car so I ended up getting a tour of Hong Kong as well since we had to drive all the way to HK Island. You definitely see a lot of more the city this way. I wish I had a bus map of the city and could take the bus around. It's definitely a nice way to see different neighbors. Most of the MTR is underground and you're stuck somewhere in the middle with no opportunities to look outside anyhow. Anyway, we went to an excavation for an apartment complex. It was very interesting. Definitely going to try to go visit sites as much as I can. I think it would be interesting to go see the site when the structural engineering part is happening as well.

I think I got a much better idea of the two companies and what I would be doing at each one. I wish I can recount all the details here but that's probably not appropriate. Anyway, never thought this decision would be so difficult. I really hope I'll make the "right" one. I seem to always make things difficult for myself. I've always thought that I would do a bunch of internships (which I did) and just pick one of them to stay long term. Whose idea was it to move all the way to Hong Kong anyway??

I walked around town for a while this afternoon. Visited Kowloon park where they have some very interesting ways of showing pollution in the city. They definitely used space creatively to make their point. One of the exhibits was about duplicate bus routes (bus routes that overlap each other). There was a maze made with bushes and different color signs that represent bus stops. You can choose to follow one of the bus signs and it will lead you around the maze. The middle of the max has an explanation about the release of CO2 and particulate pollution. The signs serve as both bus stops and type of pollutant.

I think I can get used to living in Hong Kong. Definitely need to learn more Chinese. There are plenty of people here who can't read either but it just makes life easier. Knowing Cantonese is so useful. I also need to figure out what the local brands are so that I don't have to spend exorbitant amounts of money on foreign brands. And where to get cheap stuff. There are mega malls filled with international brands, middle class malls with more local stuff, and then there are place with more affordable stuff. This last category can be split into many different levels (I think) and I need to figure out what those are. This applies to everything: food, clothes, household items, etc.

The biggest expense will be rent. Rent in HK is not cheap. I think it will be much better if I can find a roommate to share an apartment with. Cragislist is not popular with the locals but it might still work out. Transportation can be a big expense as well. The MTR charges by stop. The smaller stops are more affordable but it does get expensive when you want to travel longer distances. Local buses are cheaper but express ones are comparable to the MTR. Bus rates are fixed. Something to think about when looking for housing.

I hope the jetlag won't be too bad when I get back. It hasn't been very bad this trip, mostly because I was forced to do things like walk around the city. I was most tired in the late afternoon. But once I get past a certain hour at night, it's not too bad. I might be sitting around in class and in my apartment a lot when I get back so that might not be so good for the readjustment.

1 comment:

docey101 said...

welcome back, i'll check out the robot book, i haven't watched i,robot. your cousin said she wish you would stay in the us, and i asked her if she would stay (instead of study abroad) if you told her to, and she said "yes". LOL, kids are so cute!!!