Jill and I needed something to do to get our minds off the performance of our basketball teams, so over the past couple of days we've been able to do a dry run to the office (we're working a floor away from each other in the same building), check out the Mid Levels neighborhood (which is where we're thinking we want to live), and found a place where we'll be able to get groceries and other miscellaneous items we may need.
Until we find a permanent home, we're staying at the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Sha Tin, which is about a 45 min commute to our office. Sha Tin is located in the New Territories which is North of Kowloon (where our office is). We have to take 3 different trains to get to the office, so that will be interesting. What is nice is the fact that the hotel is literally next door to the train stop. This past Friday was a holiday in Hong Kong, so we figured it would be a good day to acclimate ourselves to the train system. I was thinking that since it was a holiday the train wouldn't be too crowded...I was wrong...this was the train at around noon on a Holiday....
There are so many people in this city! Getting used to the volume of people here will be a big adjustment. I am nervous to see what the train looks like on a normal day.
Anyway, we found our office with no problem, then we took the ferry across the water to Hong Kong Island to check out the Mid Levels neighborhood. It's a pretty awesome area with a ton of restaurants and bars - every kind of food you can imagine. Italian, Argentinian Steakhouses, Burger joints (actual restaurants - not just fast food), Thai food - you name it.
We rode the escalators up to the top (the neighborhood sits on a big hill and there's a system of escalators that run constantly) and grabbed lunch at a little Thai place. Then we checked out Lan Kwai Fong, which is a popular little nightlife district. It was the middle of the afternoon, so nothing was going on, but I am sure I'll be having a lot of fun there.
On Saturday we wanted to figure out where we could get a few groceries to have in our room, and we found a place called New Town Plaza that is just two stops from our hotel. I was picturing something like a little strip mall, but this place is a massive shopping mall....with a grocery store in it. After wandering around the mall for a while, we went to the City Super grocery and picked up a few things. We headed back to the hotel and we both crashed for a few hours...we're both still pretty jet lagged...
We were planning on heading back into the city to check-out Lan Kwai Fong, but it was raining pretty hard and we were both still pretty tired, so we grabbed dinner at the hotel restaurant (we had Peking duck-awesome), and got drinks at the bar afterward. The entertainment was a piano player and singer...the music at first wasn't so hot, but as the night progressed the music improved drastically-they were doing some Creedence, some Air Supply, and they even played the song Jill and I danced to at our wedding...AHHHHH HOW CUTE.
Today we headed back to Mid Levels to get a gauge of what a commute from there would look like. We found some buildings that our realtor suggested (we're meeting with them next Saturday) and got a good idea of what we think we're looking for.
Jill is heading to Tokyo for work tomorrow, so I'm holding down the fort in Hong Kong til Thursday...I hope I don't get lost.
Til next time
Luke and Jill
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