Take Your Pick

Very excited about flying home on Friday.

I was asked by the airline - Air New Zealand - what type of meal I'd like. I had the choice from:

Standard Meal, Children's Meal, Asian Vegetarian, Diabetic Meal, Fruit Platter, Gluten Free Meal, High Fibre, Hindu Meal, Kosher Meal, Low Calorie, Low Fat/Cholesterol, Low Protein, Low Purine, Low Sodium, Moslem Meal, Lactose Free, Oriental Meal, Raw Veegtarian, Seafood Meal, Vegetarian (Lacto-Ovo), Vegetarian (Vegan).

Or my personal favourite:

Bland Meal

Business People Say The Stupidest Things

I know everyone loved Students Say The Stupidest Things so here are some classics for you. I had a conversation with one of my candidates about where they had been in England.

Candidate: I went to Birmingham. To sightsee.
Phil: Where else did you go?
Candidate: To Shakespeare's house.
Phil: Ah, my University was near there.
Candidate: In Stanford-Upon-Von-Avon?

And my favourite answer-phone message:

"I'm not in my desk right now"

I Saw Saw 4

Not as disgusting. Not as horrible. Not as gross.

Not as good.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A Semi-England?

There're many things I haven't mastered here yet:

my stomach hasn't mastered the food
my skin hasn't mastered the pollution
my ears haven't mastered the noise...

But I made it! One whole month here.

I was thinking today that maybe coming here wasn't such a bad thing in a very roundabout way. Reverse culture shock worried me; feeling daunted at the prospect of returning to England and back to Western civilisation. I've made it quite clear on here that I follow the news back home and it's very depressing to read. But Hong Kong is similar to the West in so many ways - brands, attitudes - that maybe I'm experiencing the reverse culture shock now. Hopefully, I'll have no problems next week. Interesting theory I thought. If it's true I should copyright it:

that if you are worried about reverse culture shock, go somewhere similar first to get it out of the way, for an easy entry back to your motherland

And yes I know my blogging SUCKED this month. If only it was turning January and it could be my New Year's Resolution. Well, it can be my Winter's Resolution.

I Saw Saw 3

In preparation for Saw 4, I watched Saw 3 today.

Disgusting, horrible, gross.

I loved it.

*Already released, a little premature for Halloween but better early than never.

Isolation

Normally, isolation has a negative feeling but it can also be a good thing. Sometimes space and distance is just what you need.

The map below shows all of Hong Kong (check out the scale - it's a tiny place!). I live in Tsuen Wan, which is just north of Kowloon in the New Territories. (For interest, my office is in Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island, around about the "K").



Only I don't live in Tsuen Wan. I'm to the West and along the coast (more Sham Tseng). The second map shows a close up of Tsuen Wan district, with the town on the far right, which is where I take the train from. The hotel is located at the end of the bridge, as you could guess from my photos. The view from my window is towards Tsuen Wan, along that stretch of harbour.


To walk to the nearest town is about 40 minutes and that is not always convenient. With no supermarkets or newsagents nearby, I have to plan ahead. I can order supermarket home delivery (although it has to be over £35ish) or pizza delivery so I'll never starve, but it's not the same as a conbini on every street in Tokyo.

There really is nothing around me. The area is between two towns and this is the first residential building up and running. Perhaps over the next few years this stretch of coast will develop and the towns will merge. For now, I have glorious views of the coast, the bridges and the constant stream of boats passing through. It's beautiful and the air is clean.

It's been hazy most days so today wasn't much different. I didn't want to travel too far (I might see the Buddha tomorrow) so I went for a walk in the opposite direction, towards Mainland China, just to explore. As mentioned, visibility wasn't great but made some decent ghostly "The Fog"-style photos:

The whole way along the coast are beaches, divided by rocks and natural mounds. They are quite secluded and you can have your own private beach as most are empty. However, they are not completely hidden away from the main road, contrary to this guy's thoughts (and to my surprise!):

It doesn't matter where I am or where I go, there's always something funny to report!

It's a fairly long commute to the city and living closer to work would be more convenient for a number of reasons (shopping, social life, commuting time). By the coast is quiet, relaxed and pollution-free. The trade-off is a tricky one, and it's something that I'll be considering.

It's (N)ova!!

I was 4 days out, and it's technically not dead yet, but for all intents and purposes, Nova has gone!! I'm not sure whether I should feel elated, but right now I'm over the moon. You can read a bit about it here and tomorrow I'll write up a longer explanation of how it went down.

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Quick update about Nova's almost-certain demise. There's been much speculation so I've refrained from commenting but now things have hit rock bottom. Japanese staff haven't been paid still for last month and instructors were supposed to be paid last Monday. Sunday night a fax went out apologising that there would be a delay and Friday (yesterday) everyone would be paid. And to please be patient.

Since then, more people have been evicted from their Nova-rented apartments and over 200 schools have closed - some more suddenly than others, including mine (Musashi Kosugi). Which means teachers are quitting, not enough classes for students, students wanting their money back but not being able to get any, and the news hitting the International media; this last point is effectively the death of Nova because there will be no interest in prospective teachers.

Friday came and went and, surprise surprise, no pay.

Mass walkouts, schedules/schools closing without notice and no pay in sight.

My prediction: Saturday and Sunday will see a crumble, with schools one-by-one locking up. Nova will be gone Monday morning.

And to the teachers/titled instructors who have stuck this out and remained loyal to the company... you are idiots. I'm sorry to those still-working teachers who read this but you all knew it was coming. Where is Nova's loyalty to you?!

It still strikes me as insane that a company of that size and scale can decide not to pay its staff. It strikes me as more insane that people will continue to work.

The Name Game

My job in a nutshell: Find people who want a new job. Meet them and discuss CV. Find jobs for people in the database. Write resume. Send resume. Set-up interview. And so on...

The point of this entry is, I meet a lot of people. Which means a lot of names. Where the Japanese are very phonetic (Tanaka, Nakamura etc), Chinese names are shorter and more twisty, with less vowels and more syllables. Usually one syllable surnames, with more q's and x's and it's common for them to have a Western first name.

Today I met a lady. Her name was Min Ge.

No joke.

Take Your Pic

If anyone wants any pictures from my blog, send me an email with a link to that picture* and I'll print them out and bring them to England. I have all the photos on my computer but won't be bringing it with me. Have a look through and if there are any you want, just let me know.

By the way, this isn't a big-headed brainwave where I think you all want photos of me, but some people have asked in the past, so now is the ideal time.

*or date of blog entry, description etc

Looking Ahead

Some things to be positive about:

Keiko's coming this weekend.
I'm going to England/France in November.
I booked my flight to Japan for Christmas.

What more could I want?

Big Screen Little Screen

So I did see Michael Clayton. The movie, not the person. It was decent enough, with some solid dialogue and performances but it was vacuous and long in all the wrong places. And clearly not a true "movie". It would be fine on TV, however, there was nothing to signify its value to be on the big screen.

This has become something of a requirement to me when I see a movie. Does it truly belong in an auditorium? That's not an easy question to answer, and I don't think there can be one definition, for example, an action movie may be better placed on a large screen with louder sound than a drama, but that is for entertainment value. Something like Brokeback is worthy of cinema, whereas The Queen has just as much impact (if not more) on the Box.

Any suggestions?

Dear Diary

I thought I would just mention how I feel about my blog, just in case I haven't made it explicitly clear. There are times when I don't have anything interesting to say, or the motivation fails me but, when I start again, it becomes an obsession.

I don't write half as many things as I think about including, but I do spend a large chunk of each day just dreaming up witty sentences (which never come to light) and topics.

I HEART MY BLOG

Image Of The Week #63

(taken on Lido Beach - 14th October, 2007)

This beach is a two minute walk from my hotel. The further bridge leads to the airport.

Every Cloud Has A Silver Screen

Losing my social life isn't really that apparent as of yet because of the extra two hours a day commuting. I do get to use iPhil more as well as finish some books I'd started months ago, but there was the odd evening where I finished slightly earlier and needed something to fill the time.

Fortunately, the cinema situation here is better than Japan, both in availability and price. There are two cinemas near my office and another branch by my home station (although not so convenient). So far I have seen Resident Evil 3 (pretty cool, lack of plot, awesome translation of some game sequences) and a Chinese movie: Lust, Caution. By Ang Lee, the director of Brokeback Mountain, I was expecting terrific things, but actually it was very flat, apart from its rather graphic sex scenes. And it was long. 2 hours 40 mins long. Reading subtitles that long isn't advisable, but it sure beats dubbing.

Tomorrow I might see Michael Clayton, the new George Clooney flick. Not sure about it, but at £3 a ticket, you can't go wrong! Actually, different days, times, and venues equate to a wide range of prices. It's quite complex:


Making up for last year's appalling turn-out and a general re-discovery of the moving image, I hope to go once a week here. There's usually two or three new releases, so expect a poll in the next few weeks.

How's The Glass Looking?

While I could be quite content staying in this hotel, there is a whole other world out there to explore. I haven't updated much because, to be completely honest, I haven't been particularly happy since arriving in Hong Kong.

The general atmosphere is not a pleasant one for me. The pollution and dirtiness is shocking at times, as is the uncivilised and rude behaviour of the citizens I see everyday. There seems to be little community spirit or respect for others. To back this up, it's common for people to stand side-by-side on escalators and not moving to let others past, spit in public and I even saw a man grope a girl on the street. The food is pretty foul, and tap water undrinkable (tastes like potatoes straight from the soil) and we've all had dodgy stomaches. One of my coworkers even had food poisoning from chicken in a restaurant. Foul indeed. Pun wholeheartedly intended.

Still, there's something intriguing about this place. It does have some interesting sights and manneristics and I would like to understand more about how the system works.

It's difficult to give more of an explanation to how I feel because, although I've been here fifteen days, I've been working 12 hour days (including travel) for most of it, so I haven't had much free time. The shorter week at Nova did allow me to acclimatise to my surroundings, so time is definitely a factor that is going to figure heavily over the next month or two. I'm not a quitter and, besides, how crap would it look on my CV to leave so quickly.

I will attempt to keep the blog going, as it seems sad to finish so suddenly, but it's been difficult to find the enthusiasm. I don't want every entry or picture to be negative but I do want to be honest.

It's very easy to give a positive first impression of anything, and no-one would really ever question it. But to say a negative thing makes people combat it with a "give it time" type line. Imagine a child going to summer camp for the perfect analogy. But that is what I'll do; I will give it time. Please bear with me.

Mum sent an article from the JC by a tourist who seems infatuated with the city. Or is it territory? Country? I digress. They write a line which I think explains why my reaction has been so difficult to those who have visited Hong Kong:

Retail is king in Hong Kong; it has shopping malls in which you could lose an entire city. The stuff they sell is rubbish, mostly.

And there is where the difference lies. For tourists, the excitement shrowds the rubbish that lurks underneath. But for permanent residents, the rubbish is the base of what everything exciting has been built from. If you sit down, and take a big gulp, the glass looks half empty.

--
AMENDMENT

I re-read the above and it comes off much too negative. I hope to find at least aspects that I enjoy and will try and focus on these. And if my opinion changes, and I fall in love with the place, I will not proudly deny it. Maybe that would make for a more interesting read on here; to see the transition. But I don't know what will happen.

And then there's that word from the above quote; mostly.

Not entirely.

Mostly.

There is, as I wrote, "something intriguing about this place".
Time will tell.

I Can't See Clearly Now

I thought it was just always cloudy or hazy here, but in fact it's pollution and smog. According to the South China Morning Post (which is quite a good read), the API (Air Pollution Index) reached "life-threatening" levels for the first time ever last weekend. If you are old or suffer from breathing disorders it was recommended not to leave the house.

Good-o.

It's A Sign

Leaving the airport, something seemed vaguely familiar. HK uses British road signs and roundabouts. How nostalgic.

Well, not this one, but I thought it was funny.

I'm Alan Partridge

That view was, as you may have guessed, straight from my studio window. Jurassic park!

Looking for somewhere to stay semi-permanently was really difficult, especially when you can only go by a stranger's description. This was doubly more so as Hong Kong, as I've fast come to realise, is much the same as Bangkok where everyone wants to rip you off and each deal is negotiable. Scanning websites, apartments in the city were so depressingly bad; at best one of those apartments you stay in for a clubbing holiday in Kavos (been there, done that) and at worst, the hostel on Khao San Road (been there, blogged that).

Even worse was the idea of arriving in Hong Kong at 11PM, having to find the agent/key/place, which would be unfurnished and probably wouldn't even have a bed. The prices were sky-high (over £500 a month) on top of bills, internet, buying furniture/appliances etc and it got to the point on Monday 3rd September where I was considering not even going. Why would I want to live in a horrible dump, without air-con!, when I had a great place in Japan?

But then, I found something a couple of hundred searches and pages of Google later. Why not stay in a Serviced Hotel?!

So that's what I've done. The idea sounds both cool and impractical. There were a lot of pros and cons to consider. For example, it was great that the place would be furnished and I wouldn't have to worry about bills in an alien country but, to counter that, the room would always be impersonal and there would always be guests checking in and out in the lobby. However, the biggest pro was the idea that I could turn up late night and check-in to an air-conned, clean and fully furnished room. For being such a small portion of the overall time in HK, that was the selling point. Back of the net!

The hotel is beautiful, and there will be plenty of blog entries showing my room, and the facilities. The pool is great, and the 24 hour gym is awesome, considering I only have to go downstairs to use it. I don't want to write the name on here because the hotel is only a few months old - I think I'm the first one in this room! - so there aren't many websites, and mine will be quite high on Google. However, you can see the regular hotel website here and the studio apartments site here (you can also see the virtual room tour).

Some positives: there is a beach two minutes walk away, the gym and pool are great, there is a fully cooked buffet-style breakfast on the weekends if I choose to, the room is huge, no bills, free internet

Some negatives: you need to take the hotel shuttlebus to the train station. Additionally, my hotel is out in New Territories so it's an hour to and from work. Besides that, the hotel has been built in a quiet-ish area, so there are no shops around

So, location is not great during the week, but on the weekend it's a great getaway, with much cleaner air than on HK Island.

Kiss my face!

Image Of The Week #62

Day:

Night:
But what is it?...