A Day to Hate Hong Kong
Lets start off with the 30th. After coming off from a day that just went all "wrong" it was a pleasant surprise to wake up to some sun light. I've been waiting for a chance like this so I can finally get back to the pool. I have to admit I've been trying to work on my abs recently and it seems to be working, but I need to hit up the full body workout. After my swim I hurried to get into my suit so that I can do my usual Tuesday night sales seminar. When I got down there I found out May forgot to call me to tell me there was no seminar. Great, I was sweating in my new suit, but that's okay... I look good. Since I was out in Mong Kok anyways I figured I would go inquire about my cell phone. This is where things get really ugly.
First off, I would recommend everyone to stay away from the store "Veto" out in Mong Kok. They people are fairly lazy you can feel it as soon as you walk in. They try to be friendly though so it can be forgiveable. I was told that my "warranty" for my phone does not cover the replacement of parts. When I didn't understand this concept (what good is my warranty if my phone breaks after 3 months of moderate usage?) I tried to get one of the sales associates to clarify the terms of the warranty. He passed the job onto either the boss or the manager. Lets just say someone who was noticable older than the rest probably around his late 30s. The guy tried to explain it to me stating things like
"This isn't like Canada or the USA, this is how it works in Hong Kong" he was so rude and impaitent about it. Actually the conversation lasted about 3 minutes and he cut it off saying "If you don't understand this then I'm done talking, don't waste my breath I need a drink of water". I've never had a guy walk away from me like that before, I asked to have my phone back but they need to get it back from the repairman. The attitude here just kills me. This is a cultural difference, and I can't even complain to get this guy fired; they just don't care enough here. I was prepared to introduce Carman to this place to get a phone as well and they don't realize they lost two customers.
I was stewing for awhile and headed home to North Point. I gave Gloria who was heading out to Mong Kok for dinner with one of her co-workers. She apparently had an argument with her teamlead and needed to vent as well. I hadn't gotten out of the MTR yet so I turned around at North Point to head back to Mong Kok. Dinner was kind of a disappointment. I played badminton with the people we had dinner with and they are nice people. One of them lived in Canada for about 8 months to go to school but he was one of those stereotypical Hong Kong people who just spent all his time playing. I could tell from the Rolex watch that he has some money anyways. We choose a restaurant in Mong Kok that came out to be more than I would've liked but in that situtation there's not much you can say, I had come out specifically for dinner so I couldn't exactly back away. How was the dinner? Not good, even Gloria made a comment that the pasta I make is better.
My biggest problem tonight is my phone. I need a phone in Hong Kong, but it looks like I might have to buy a new one.
A New Class - The House Wives
Today is one of those days in which nothing really seemed to go right.
I taught a new class this morning, one of the most difficult I have ever tried to teach. Actually I wasn't told which location I was suppose to go to and one of my bosses had to meet me at the MTR station to lead me to the new school. We are getting along well actually since he likes to learn English from me. The previous teacher finally contacted me that morning to tell me where he had left off in the class. Of course the information was wrong which I soon found out.
Stepping into the class I came face to face with 13 house wives out to learn English. Maybe I'm easily embarassed in front of girls, but there is something that makes me nervous when I am facing a class full of females. Biggest challenge this time around, is I am teaching business English and they really know very little English. They are use to a chinese instructor who can speak both Cantonese and English fluently.
The circulation is poor in the front and I was sweating right away standing up there. The worst thing happened was one lady got pissed off and within the first 10 minutes stood up and left. That was a bit unnerving I've never had that happen before, but later on I found out she gets pissed off easily and apparently she uses a hearing aid. I was a bit confused at first because she sat just two seats away from me, except she kept asking me to speak up. The people in the back rows could already hear me clearly. Some how I managed to make it through the day, speaking 90% Cantonese. My vocabulary was stretched to its limit today, exposing just how weak I was. The class was helpful though, and somewhat playful. The common questions people have for me are, "where do you come from?", "how old are you?", "do you have a girl friend?" There was some laughter after the last question. Apparently the lady who was asking me has a 13 year old daughter. They were forgiving this time, but clearly next time I need to be more prepared. I'm somewhat at a loss because describing business English completely in Chinese is very hard for me.
I went for my appointment today at the immigration office. Also a failure, apparently I forgot to request my parent's Marriage Certificate and it was not included in the care package. They need this for sure so they could not process my request today. I've rebooked my appointment again for the 9th of Sept. Hopefully I can convince my parents to send it via courier. This simply has been a painful experience trying to get my Hong Kong ID. But, I need it badly so that I can legally work here.
Back at work I had a new student who has been skipping classes. Actually several of my students seem to have disappeared, but a core group still exists and they are quite devoted to learning English from me. The students have opened up to me a lot and have presented several possibilities to me. I have one student from mainland who has also been in Hong Kong about 3 months now. She is very keen on learning English and has been looking into electronic dictionaries. I too have started to look into them since I need the help. The problem though is the good ones can be expensive. My student asked me to accompany her today to test out a new machine (
the VLearning 7600) before she decided to buy it. The machine is pretty amazing, able to read out loud plenty of English words and being able to think and translate whole sentences. The majority of the translations are pretty good as well. They are not perfect, and sound funny in an offical capacity but most of the time you can guess the meaning. The question is, is this good enough, as a translator I am impressed that for the majority of sentences the translations are fairly close. But it seems you can not learn to speak languages from it. I might consider buying something like it though since the translations are fairly good and I have a need to have a dictionary around. My classes don't exactly pay enough to justify it though.
They treated me out for dinner afterwards and we talked shop regarding computers. There is the possibility that one of them wants me to do some network design work for her work place. This is hopefully where social networking pays off. Design work can be a big boast for my line of work and the pay must be a lot better than what I am getting now. Hopefully I can capitalize on my new found social network to improve my lifestyle in Hong Kong. At the same time, I hope I can give back to them so that they can improve their English.
The most important thing I did yesterday was pick up the original documents I need for my Hong Kong ID card for my appointment on Monday. I met up with Carman for lunch and she showed me around her University. I took a funny picture of the registration lineup beside a "Toilet" sign.
Back to Pacific Place, so far my favourite environment because it reminds me of Canada. There are a lot of foreigners here, and the girls dress nicer in my opinion. We ended up a bit late for the movie but actually in Hong Kong it is completely okay. The seats are reserved before hand, like a concert, so even if you are late the day of the movie you still have your choosen seats.
The theatre was pretty good, I didn't find the sound as good as Silver City in Toronto but the seats were more comfortable. Tim Burton's remake on the
classic Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory was amusing and entertaining. There is something a little distracting though about all the new effects; it just doesn't seem the same as the old classic. The upgraded oompa-loompa songs were a little strange to get use to and Johnny Depp's eerie likeness to Michael Jackson was a bit unnerving. I wonder if the sarcasm is lost on the younger generation. Overall I think this is a good renter.
On our way back to Wan Chai we heard music drifting through the streets. There were lights and people dressed formally surrounding the DKNY store near Three Pacific Place. It peaked our curiousity so we wandered over to check it out. Apparently they were hosting a fashion show inside, for VIPs only. There were a few pretty ladies around so I lingered a bit and then we went to find something to eat.
My first time having hotpot in Hong Kong. It was pretty good I must say, the place was quite nice (Lee Garden hot pot I think the name was out in Wan Chai). We spotted a person whom we kept trying to guess if s/he was a guy or a girl. We were split 50/50 for a while and Ada went over to do some investigating. She walked by the table and heard the person speak and determined it really was a girl. I started to laugh, for the last two days I mentioned a blog entry that
Karen posted in which she mentions the guy-girl game. Hong Kong certainly has a lot of guys that look like girls and girls that look like guys. I often find myself asking in the clothing stores if these clothes are for guys or for girls. Pink is okay on guys, but after Hong Kong ... I'm really starting to hate pink on guys.
Moving Along
Today has been relatively peaceful. There has been quite a few things to do the last few days so I have been busy, but it feels much better because it isn't anything exciting (no new major problems).
The other day I was happy to finally see sun outside. I gave Ada a called and asked her to bring her work out to meet me. She has an assignment due soon and after I saw her last report I was a bit fearful how this assignment would turn out without my help. Also I wanted her help. I don't know what the future will hold for me in terms of modelling, if I can actually do it or if I am being scammed at the moment. I recieved another warning recently through an
anonymous poster who pointed me to a
website. Possibly s/he was cast as well so we'll probably both find out in the next month what that means. I wanted Ada's help anyways to start collecting pictures. I took a lot of pictures in the past, of my friends and of events. I'm known to take pictures amongst my friends, luckily they've accepted it now and no longer threaten me when I take pictures. This time around I need lots of pictures of myself. Posing and finding the right lighting is really hard. We need to make due with my little point a shoot camera as well. People have asked recently about the weird pictures in my MSN, but I wonder are they really that bad?
Things I need to do:
1) Prepare for the next seminar. The structure is really not set and we had a meeting recently (when no one actually showed up for a seminar) and discussed the strategies involved. The sales team is suppose to contact me this week via e-mail and I will provide them an outline of what I plan to talk about.
2) Review for new classes. They've given me some new classes to teach at SME Education. All I know is that they speak very little English but these "house wives" want to do well on the TOEIC exam. This will be a hard course for me to teach as I'll be expected to try to explain many things in Chinese. Also this will be the first time I've taught a
TOEIC class. Good experience for me, but maybe not so good for the people I'll be learning off of.
3) Hong Kong ID card. It is coming along. Carman just arrived into HK and she contacted me already about meeting up. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll have the documents sitting in my hands and this will all be done with.
4) Moving out. It is finally upon me. My roommates and I had a talk. Since one is planning to move out it will pretty much be over for this apartment. I'm a little sad because it has only been 3 months for me, and I really have grown comfortable with this apartment. I can understand the reasons for moving though, as I've already talked about many of the problems that have afflicted my roommate. I may still end up moving in with her though (we're both not really fond of our other roommate).
Today was my first time at
Pacific Place. The mall is really nice, and of course full of high end name brand fashion. I also had an eye full of very pretty women who were quite well dressed (for Hong Kong); this style suits me more. We bought tickets for tomorrow night's showing of
Charlie and Tthe Chocolate Factory. Time for me to see how the classic has been redone on the big screen.
Just a short little note on
Google's new "talk". The IM program is really plain. There is nothing to it and
Jabber protocol doesn't really excite me. The VOIP works well, but I can't tell if it is worst or better than skype at this point in time. I'll keep it installed for now, but there doesn't seem to be much of a use for it. There is a
short review on
Ars.
Back in Hong Kong
Even though my bed in Hong Kong isn't very good, there is a sense of security coming "home". I have a lot to reflect on from this past trip but before anything else happens I need to do laundry. So first thing I did this morning, was get on my computer. The second thing was to bring my things down to be washed, and also to do a bit of grocery shopping. I've been lucky since my roommate hasn't really complained about me using up her space in the fridge. Well recently she hasn't been around, which worries me, but my life has been busy each day so I haven't thought about it that much. After I got back inside I assisted Ada with her school work. She sent me her report last night for a quick review and I tore it apart. I felt bad doing it though, but somethings needed to be said.
Ernie gave me a call as well. I guess he's been trying to call me out but since my phone has been broken, and since I've been away in GuangZhou I haven't been able to recieve his calls. Not that I was avoiding him. I went to meet him at the 7 11 because I needed to fill up money on my PayGo account. Just my luck I bought a $200 refill card that didn't work. I inquired at 7 11 and they asked me to call the hotline to find out. Haha, not enough money to make an outgoing call. So we walked over to
Smartone at Fortress Hill and found out that 7 11 buys up the old refill cards and they have since changed the system. They gave me a new card and I was up and running. Ernie treated me out to eat and we hung out and I filled him in quickly about my recent adventures. Then back to pick up my clothes, just my luck again there was some sort of weird dye on my new
Lacoste polo. I took it back to the cleaner just when I left to go to
SME Education. She said it was probably because of my jeans, except I've washed those jeans dozens of times with my other white clothes. The dye is pretty stable on those jeans now. She said she'll take a look to see if she can clean it off for me. I hate to lose such a new expensive shirt.
After I filled up my card I got a call from Paul, the casting manager at D8. Actually to tell you the truth I didn't understand most of what he said in Chinese. What I did understand was they choose 4 girls and 4 guys out of the general casting for something; possibly further work or another casting. I was selected as one of the 4 guys so he wanted to congradulate me. He said they had some photo shoots coming up that I can possibly take part in, but wanted to know my status with my HK ID. That is coming along, I had just correct my interview day with the Right of Abode office (it is on the 29th now) so I told him probably by the end of the month I would have something. Also he wanted to know if I would be staying in Hong Kong, which is my current plan. He said some other things but I understood I probably won't be working until September and that he'll contact me later about things. This is good news anyways, Alvin gave me a bit of information about what to expect and so far it seems pretty legit.
SME Education was good. My class has a tendency to come in late, so I spend a lot of time chatting. I think generally they've taken a liking to me. There was another student in class today who is from mainland China. She actually is very keen on learning English and asked me how much I charge to tutor. This is a great chance for me to start actually so I told her I've been thinking about it and would contact her later about it. I stayed after class nearly an hour to answer questions and to teach phonetics. Looks like I'm slowly building up my fan base which is good for me.
I went to see if my phone has been fixed but it looks like they just started. I wish I had my Samsung phone so that I could use the speaker capability when D8 calls. I can then record the conversations. I dragged Ada out to meet up with me after work to go eat so we can talk over our problems. She had some difficulties recently which for some reason happens when we are apart. I think we found our good luck charms.
I'm glad to be back in Hong Kong, and I need to continue to plan for my future. So far it is looking up.
GuangZhou Day 3 - Last Day
I don't know what it is about the bed I have, both the bed and the pillow is quite stiff, but I don't feel as if I have rested well. I always feel like falling back to sleep in that room. I woke up again when Lou Yan dropped by. She waited for me to wake up a bit more and shower than I packed my things and I checked out. Her mother promised to make me dumplings for breakfast/lunch, because she found out I love dumplings. I really do love dumplings but I didn't expect 21 dumplings. We took bus 52 back out to the train station (about an hour's ride) then transfered again to bus 33. I'm really starting to hate the buses in GuangZhou. There's not much of a choice though, GuangZhou is just too big a city. Lou Yan is not much of a traveller so she's not aware how to plan accordingly. She has helped me with a few things but I think I have given her an opportunity to improve on many things.
The good thing about my travels is that I'm getting better at unfamilar settings. GuangZhou still uses Cantonese and my Cantonese has been able to get me by. Once on the GZ MTR I'm fine, I was teaching Lou Yan how to use it. The transfer point between line 1 and line 2 is a bit strange compared to Hong Kong, more like Toronto where you need to walk up or down another level. But I think it is considerably faster than the bus since the streets are really chaotic in GuangZhou. I remember a story about a Chinese family trying to cross Hwy 401 in Toronto. I believe they were pushing a shopping cart home full of groceries. I couldn't believe people would try that back then, but I totally understand now; they must have been from GuangZhou. People risk their babies crossing the road, Bikers are all over the place, anywhere a pedestrian can walk a motorcycle can ride. Actually I've been fighting a kind of superiority complex, but it really is hard for me in GuangZhou. In such a chaotic city with no apparent values, I need to cling strongly to my own. On the bus I was offering my seat to women and the elderly. I have seen others do it (which impressed me, since it is rare for me to see it in Hong Kong or even in Toronto these days on the bus) and Lou Yan mentioned how different it made me. When I finished a meal I thanked her parents. When I left in the morning, knowing I would return to Hong Kong, I made a point to say good bye to both of her parents and to thank them for their hospitality. These are simple values that don't seem strange to me, but drew comments.
I have a major disappointment though, GuangZhou does not have a city mug for Starbucks. They had some cheap city cup which is more like a standard plastic cup with some paper insert. I was a bit frustrated spending most of my days shut away in my room, or sitting on the bus. I didn't get to see the city at all except for the last 2 hours that I was there. There is a huge shopping mall though, but no time to find presents for my friends. In the last hour I needed to make a decision, where to eat. We ended up at KFC and it was suppose to be a quick meal but it ended up taking longer than I thought because we had an adorable child sitting beside us.
I was late, to catch the bus home. Lou Yan insisted to see me off, except she was wearing high heels. I told her she did not need to since I could run; but she insisted. It was very kind of her, but I was late and I missed the bus. The lady at the station said I could wait around for the next bus to see if there was space, so I did just that. Luckily there was space and I'm writing this entry in a text file on my trip back into Hong Kong. The border crossing went smooth and my Hong Kong duration has been extended another 90 days. My phone is out of money so I'll need to top it off, aand I have quite a bit of work to prepare for tomorrow but even without seeing all the sights that I wanted I still enjoyed me trip. There are things to learn everywhere I go. I came back in one piece and I'm thankful for that.
Labels: China
GuangZhou Day 2
Woke up tired. Lou Yan came and brought breakfast. We played around until about 1:30 and then left a bit later. I saw a good view of GuangZhou today, from the bus. The traffic is rough here, and dangerous. I can't figure out the system, as far as I know you just do whatever works. We stopped by a McDonalds which is a pretty safe spot. The menu is so cheap about $20 RMB for a crispy chicken combo, and an extra $2 RMB for a supersize. It is a bit strange though,they have people willing to take orders directly from the tables. Additionally there is a security guard that hangs around. I heard that in most McDonalds in GuangZhou this is the case.
We headed over to Central Mountain University and dropped by a few shops. Some of the "official" looking shops actually blatenly sell fake goods. I saw a pair of "Conwerse" shoes for sale and other similar fake brands. There are several familar looking shoes with different company names, a pair of shoes that look like the typical Converse goes for about $30 RMB. Pretty cheap. Fake t-shirts are about $25 RMB, much cheaper than the fake t-shirts in Hong Kong which can run about $60-$70 HKD. The material I saw in Hong Kong is a little thicker, maybe better to the touch but at the price of $25 RMB you can't complain. Some of the typical cell phones are avilable here but there are quite a few clones as well. "Konka" has many designs similar to Nokia for example. They seem cheaper in construction which suits the environment, GuangZhou, I feel, can not compare to the wealth of Hong Kong. I stepped into a Lenovo shop to look around. I don't think it was quite complete but the majority of the computers I could not recognize as IBMs except for the LCDs.
The culture shock was a major annoyance today. I was a little annoyed that I spent so much time on the bus as well instead of seeing the city. I can't blame Lou Yan though because she has only really been there for a month. Even after a month in Hong Kong I really did not know much of the city. I've seen some absolutely crazy actions though, bikers that drive the opposite direction of traffic. Bikers who cut across pedestrian walk ways to cross over to the other side of the road. Also the traffic lights don't mean anything here. I've seen so many cars run red lights, and people jay walk like it is going out of style. The air is really bad here, you can notice the difference right away.
I insisted that we see the subway and to my surprise it is very similar to Hong Kong's subway system. The doorways resemble most of the KCR light rail doorways. There is some sort of card that people can buy here that resembles the Octopus card, except it seems to be rarely used here. Most people are content stuffing dollars into the bus slot. At $2 RMB the buses are really cheap here, except there are no transfers and you have to bus about everywhere since GuangZhou is so large. The GZ MTR is very comfortable which is a well needed change from all the buses today. We headed to the train station and saw there was a ton of people outside of the train station. I think I saw a few migrant workers just wandering about but I didn't really find any big group of them. I was very aware of my belongings though, not giving anyone a chance to stand too closely to me without my eye on them. We headed back to the factory where Lou Yan's mother made some delicious dumplings for dinner. Aside from the bus rides it was still a good day. My trip to GuangZhou has been a real eye opener.
The power just cut out because of a fuse here. This is the second time today that I had to use my flashlight. I'm lucky that I brought my maglite along.
Labels: China
I got up this morning and finished off my packing. Basically the stuff I needed to use in the morning I ended up packing. My backpack was pretty full actually, I have a tendency to over pack. I was debating about my notebook but just incase I had internet at night I wanted to bring it. Even if I didn't there's plenty of things I can do on my notebook to be productive; like writing my blog out in a text file which I am doing right now. I always end up cutting it close getting out the door and I rushed down the street to the bus stop. The bus was late and it was raining. I was a little wet, I brought my umbrella of course so it wasn't that bad. There was a lady waiting at the bus stop who gave me a sticker to put on my shirt. Somehow that showed I was part of the tour, there was only one other person so when the bus pulled up about 10 minutes late I found a comfortable seat and settled in. We were only the first stop though in HK and as we stopped at each pick up point the bus eventually filled up. I didn't check the ticket correctly and I ended up sitting in someone else's spot. They were from Austrilia (which I found out later) and were quite pleasant to chat with. We had stopped off at the border and I had gotten off. I filled out a form similar to the one that I filled out when I entered Hong Kong. I didn't check closely but apparently they stamped my departure from Hong Kong. We stopped again and this time I didn't fill out the card at customs and had to line back up and fill out a card. I was in such a rush because the Chinese bus tour drivers are really impaitent and I didn't want them leaving without me. I totally forgot I set my umbrella down until I was talking to the couple from Austrilia (actually one is Chinese from GuangZhou going back to see family) and I had to rush back inside to find it. I remember exactly where I set it down though, and had a bit of a problem explaining to the guard and customs officials why I had to cross back over again but I managed to get my umbrella with plenty of time to spare. The ride was quite long sitting at about 3 and 1/2 hours total. The view along the country side kind of reminded me of Ontario.since in Hong Kong I don't get to see many open spaces and trees.
When we pulled into entrance to Jinan University I was overwhelmed. I was standing infront of the gate and my online friend Lou Yan was there to great me with her classmate and her mother. The thing about China is the sense that things are big. I don't know if it is because I just spent the last 3 months in small Hong Kong, but I felt things were really big in GuangZhou. Things I noticed right away, the vehicles are all old, there are many people on motor bikes and normal bikes. We exchanged brief hellos, since I can't speak Mandarin, and decided quickly to go find a place to eat. Lou Yan's friend took us on a brief bus ride to a Chinese/Western chain style restaurant called "Kung Fu". I didn't think the meal I choose was very tasty actually. What was also surprising was the washroom there, it was a single shared washroom, with the sink actually on the outside. Inside was just a room with one of those toilets you squat over. This is the first time I've seen it. Just like real Chinese people Lou Yan's mother instructed her to pay for the meal, but I surprised her by speaking Cantonese to the cashier. Actually using Cantonese in GuangZhou is really iffy. There are so many people from different areas that the majority of the time I find Cantonese doesn't help so far. My ratio has been about 1 in 5 can speak Cantonese back at me that I talk to. Majority of the people around me are still shorter than me, so they share this similarity with Hong Kong. They kind of paniced when I mentioned the location of the hostel that I had picked out. They thought I had to go to the specific place. Actually since I never booked it, I was quite free to go anywhere and since Lou Yan had already done her research I decided to follow her. We ended up taking a taxi and about 3 different buses to get to Dong Sha Area.
Oh, I was in envy of Hong Kong's public transportation system. I'm not envious of GuangZhou's. The feeling on the bus is about the same as Toronto's TTC, except more dangerous. The streets just don't make sense, you see cars weaving in and out of lanes, along with buses, trucks, people on motor bikes and people on regular bikes. The bus makes sudden stops and moves quickly suddenly as well throwing many people around inside the bus. We finally made it and I am now staying in a hotel called "Xiao Hu Tian Hotel". The price is pretty cheap, cheaper than the hostel actually at $120 RMB a night for a small room. The room is fine for my needs though, it even includes a TV. The shower I don't have much of a choice, but I better try showering beside the toliet at some point. Might as well be at a hotel. All in all this saves me a bit more cash, which will probably go to Lou Yan's dinner tomorrow since it is her birthday. I brought some stamps I've been saving for her from Canada (and actually I picked up a few in Seattle). I put my stuff down, tested the air conditioner and we were off again because her mother was waiting downstairs. Her mother was cooking tonight and the location was the factory they work at.
Yes this is the first time I've been to a factory setting. This is a very basic one setup to make noodles. Needless to say I don't think I can look at Chinese made noodles the same way again. The conditions are rough, the workshop is very hot even more so than the outside. Summer time must be unbareable inside. Her mother cooks and her father works in the factory. It is a tough life, but this is very typical of many of the Chinese here it seems. Thier intention towards their daughter is good though they work hard so that their daughter can go through university. It is very stressful though when I think about it like that. To see your parents suffer so that you can live a good life, even though I know this is the goal of every parent.
My own father moved to Canada with very little in his pocket. I think maybe only $5-$20. He had so many jobs while he was studying through University. It was very tought for him, with barely enough time to sleep and barely enough money to make a meal. A decent meal was a blessing, can you imagine being so poor that you had to heat ketchup and water for your supper? He really had the drive to make it through Engineering at McGill, and it paid off. The more I spend time in Asia the more I appreciate what my parents have done for me. There are many things I've taken for granted in Canada and opportunities that my parents have provided me that I wasn't aware of before. I do have many regrets, but my failures help to make the person I am today as much as my successes.
The factory was an eye opener though. The people in the neighbourhood seem to enjoy their life, but for someone who has grown up in Canada it just seems so poor and dirty. I had a lot of difficulty talking to Lou Yan's father since they can't understand my Cantonese and my Mandarin is too poor to actually use in a conversation. After dinner, later that night, we headed to the grocery store on my way home. We picked up some distilled water, Pringles (hot & spicy), and a map of Guang Zhou. Lou Yan hung out with me in my room freeing our souls of burden until her parents came to pick her up. The hallway is still noisy and it is nearly 12 am. I don't know what the maids are doing outside but my only complaint about this place so far is the noise outside. For $120 RMB a night, I can live with it. Oh, don't buy Pringles from small Chinese supermarkets, they're not well taken care of, most of mine are broken inside.
Labels: China
I spent the morning cleaning, sweeping and mopping. The mop broke with one twist so I actually had to use my hand. That's find places in HK are really small anyways. I put together a basica shopping list and met up with Ada after she was done work at her school. She's been setting up for her book exhibition. We ended up at Justco $10 store and I bought some sponges and sort of a clothing storage bag that I can pack in my suitcase or take with me on trips. We walked across to the Wellcome and I bought a mop head and some dish washing detergent.
Next stop was to China Travel Tours Transportation Services, basically a travel agent, so that I can get my bus ticket. The deal is pretty good $170 HKD if I buy the return ticket as well (if not it is $100 HKD both ways). I knew my dates, the main problem is they want the location as well. I had looked up the location of a hostel previously. The price I was quoted was totally different than the price that was quoted to Ada when I had her call about the location. We got a rough location and tried to find a place that was close to the subway. We ended up selecting Jinan University as my drop off point and China Hotel as my pickup for my return on Sunday. The ticket was bought and Ada tried to help me find some information online about getting to the location. After she left I just cooked a basic meal for myself and started my packing. Everyone is getting me ready for GuangZhou. I know people will steal from me no matter how careful I am, and if anyways says anything about it, they'll get a beating. Some how it sounds like the whole city is made up of thieves. I guess it is better that I go in not trusting anyone.
I spent most of the morning looking up locations and hostel information. I talked to Arthur about it since he's the "local" from GuangZhou. Actually it has been about 15 years for him, so he put me in touch with his cousin who is there. I gave her the choice of two hostels which were listed under the international hostels site. She choose one away from the trainstation saying it was safer.
After that was settled I went to reschedule my Right of Abode appointment and also asked again about the need to bring in the original documents. I was told differently this time saying that they would accept certified/notarized documents. I rescheduled it temporary to the 25th of August. I probably need to reschedule it again but this gives me about a week to make the decision. I found out later that my mother plans to bring Carman the copies on Monday. Carman has been nice enough to bring the copies to me personally. She plans to leave Toronto on the 24th of August. I went right after to pick up my China visa which was stuck right to my passport.
I took the ferry across to TST again and headed to the Museum of Art. The exhibits were nice, and I found out I just missed a tour. The tour happens every Weds and Saturday, hopefully I can take it again the next Weds since Weds are free (just like the OAC). I went to teach my first class which was on Hospitality. The students were really shocked at the beginning, and a bit afraid. Afterwards since I tried to use Cantonese to explain the meaning of many different words they slowly got use to me. I think it will work out, and English conversational is much easier for me to teach. I met with Ada afterwards and we headed to McDonalds. She helped me plan out my trip a bit more. I've had way too much McDonalds recently.
My Sales Seminar
After I woke up I got to work on my presentation, or lesson plan, for SME Education. My new target audience were adults who probably don't understand any English. Actually it is pretty much impossible to make an interact presentation. I asked Ah Mun and my roommate Ivy this morning for some help. Ah Mum helped me iron my shirt and tie this morning while I finished typing out my lesson plan to e-mail to May. I headed out to find a palce to get my China Visa. I went out to Wan Chai to ask the enquiry desk weither I needed to bring the original documents or if they would accept a certified/notarized copy of the original during my interview. They responded that I needed to have the originals, though I'm a little doubtful that he really knew the answer. I asked about a location I could get a visa for going to China. With a little help I found it close to the HK Convention Centre.
I had to go through a metal detector then up to the 7th floor. I filled out a form, took $40 passport photos and then waited about 1.5 hours just to hand it all in. I didn't expect to wait so long but the queue is quite long. I rushed home to get my suit for the sales seminar tonight and then rushed to make it to SME Education. I got dressed over at Yau Ma Tei, and I had some favourable impressions. I was suppose to have a power point presentation but there was something wrong with the computer and I ended up doing everything on the white board; which from Readership is my speciality anyways. I was lucky this time, the class was quite different with the majority of people having some competence in English. I had the feeling that generally people liked the class, when I was done my part and the sales people were talking I decided to exit the room and one of the girls in the front took the time to say goodbye to me. I met the program director that day as well who will be arranging my payment details. After work I went to hand in my phone for repair. Overall it is a good day, there are no new problems and at least I seem to have things to accomplish at this point in time.
Screw Slide Phones
My phone has had it. I noticed this morning that I couldn't dial out or recieve calls. Basically not only is my display flipped but the whole left side (the buttons) on the main face don't function. Pretty frustrating so I need to get it fixed for sure now. Gloria has been nice enough to offer to lend me a phone. She has really come through for me this last month. I was lucky because Ada happened to be on MSN in the morning so I just asked her to make the arrangements for me. Tai Koo Shing, infront of Esprit at 3. Everything worked out as planned and we met up, went and grabbed some McDonalds and then wandered around a bit. Gloria pointed out her old ex-boyfriend to me. My opinion? None really he looks pretty ordinary from the outside. Just another HKer working at the local Futurshop like store. Sorry Gloria, I'm sure he was a swell guy until you guys broke up. Forget him.
We went over to Gay Giano to pick up my suit. That cutie Joey was working again, lucky me. Tried on the suit and took a few more pictures in the change room because the lighting is good in there. No good pictures this time though. Gloria picked up a top and we were done. I asked about a garment bag but the manger wouldn't give me one for a sale item. I'm going to try to drop by again another day and talk to Joey to see if I can pick something up. I was walking around the mall with almost $2100 HKD worth in my shopping bag when oh! I noticed the mall has a Lacoste. Sale items at Lacoste, pretty tempting and I made the mistake of going in. Basically Gloria isn't a lot of help, I know now not to go shopping with her if all intend to do is window shopping. I tried on about 6 polos and they all work for me. Gloria really likes this strong red polo that was being displayed in the front, of course one of the more expensive of the choices. I picked out one that I thought was a good deal and Gloria just keep adding the red one into my purchase ("Oh the blue stripped one is nice, so take that and the red one, oh this one is nice, take this and the red one...") so basically I walked away with another 2 polos from Lacoste. $3000 HKD right there, crazy shopping as Ada would say. I needed a basic garmant bag and a hanger for my suit so we dropped by UNY and picked up a hanger for $45 HKD (expensive for this piece of plastic) and a cheap garmant bag for about $12 HKD. I had to meet up with Ada afterwards, to save me from the crazy shopping, we went out for McDonalds again then I took off because I had a previous engagement with Ah Mun. She mentioned she has had some arguments at home and wanted to stay out later, didn't want to go home so we headed back to hang out at my place. We met up with Ada quickly in the MTR to pick up the new phone that Gloria lent me and then hung out in my room to relieve the tension we both had this week.
General Casting
Today I had an interesting experience, my first general casting. Actually it wasn't anything special but since it is the first time I've done it, I guess it is special for me. I went back to D8 in TST for my casting. When I got up to the office I noticed they had several chairs set up outside in the hallway before the main door. There were already 3 or 4 girls sitting outside. As I approached the main door I noticed they had setup an additional row of chairs infront of the sofas on the left and on the right of the room. They were pretty much all full. There were obviously more girls than guys in the room. I walked up to the front reception and asked for "Paul" for my general casting. I was given a sheet of paper with my casting instructions, but I noticed a big problem already; the instructions were all in Chinese. One of the girls at reception remembered me from my initial visit and told me it was okay, she would see if she could find someone to help me out. I wandered back into the hallway and took a seat. I was concentrating on trying to decipher the Chinese before me, aside from Chinese name, English name, and Hong Kong and USA there was very little Chinese I could understand. The girls beside me were peaking over and commented on how our sheets looked the same. I figured out later that probably the bottom will be reversed. While I was waiting around I had a good feeling being the best looking guy waiting around. Equally I knew I had the worst Chinese in probably the building. They managed to pull Ruby to help explain my role to me. Basically I will be recorded when I enter the room. I need to state my name in Chinese and in English. I need to tell them how tall I am and how much do I weight. I need to explain my previous line or current work and also about activities and hobbies that I like to do. Followed by a description of my personality and then the script. She spent sometime explaining that there are two characters in the script, "King" and "Jenny", who were previously dating and had made plans to marry but were separated because of work. King is waiting in Hong Kong, he has been preparing for the wedding and has been keeping fit and desperately wants to see Jenny again. When Jenny calls to tell King that she will be returning to Hong Kong, but with her new husband, King is devestated. I was given a bit more time out in the waiting area to consider how I would play my role. There's not much for me to think generally it was dictated how I would express myself the problem is still that I can not read but at least I know what they are roughly suppose to say. There was a cute staff member that was coming in and out talking to the reception that I noticed, she kept me fairly distracted most of the time. When I got in for the actual casting I presented my information (I forgot to tell them about my previous line of work but they didn't seem to mind or care...) and needed some help to start my script. Aside from Paul sitting in the middle with the video camera there was another man and another lady sitting on his left and right side respectively. The man I guess would play the male role with the female actresses and the women was there to play the role of "Jenny" while I played the role of "King". It was short, not very smooth but I didn't feel too bad out of it. Looking back there was plenty of things I should have done, lets hope there's a next time. They took my picture again and I left.
I was already running late for my meeting with Raymond. When I got to SME Education May pulled me aside to speak with her and the other sales force about selling in the Seminar coming up on Monday. May had quickly e-mailed me a powerpoint presentation in the morning and I had glanced through it. We talked about a few concepts, and they pretty much gave me some ideas and left it up to me to come up with something for them. We basically had an outline figured out and I went in to help Raymond finish off his class. After class I went to find the store in Mong Kok where I bought my phone. It looks like it would take a couple of days to fix but at this point in time I need to have a phone to communicate so I told them I would bring it back.
There has been a typhoon 1 warning which for now means it keeps raining. I'm getting sick of the raining here, we need this much rain in Canada for the crops, I just don't need it here in Hong Kong. Surprisingly I think the streets should be cleaner than Seattle or Vancouver because of the amount of rain I see coming down. So far Seattle still wins as the cleanest city I've been to.
Too Much Excitement
It really seems like I've been in Hong Kong forever. I've felt like I have had a continious supply of new experiences since my arrival here. Only a few days of calm breaks. Since I have my casting tomorrow I need to get my hair cleaned up today. I really miss my stylist in Toronto. She was quick, she was good, and she was cheap ($10-$15 CAD for wash and cut). So what has my research amounted to for a new style? Nothing actually, I honestly haven't decided on a long hair style. I did this before and I went back to my short hair style in Toronto but then the girls told me my hair was getting too long back then. Hong Kong people were telling me to keep my hair longer, they are use to boys with long hair so I was set on finding a style that was a little longer. I went out with Ada who know a stylist. Ada has been a lot of help and what happened was by no means her fault. I heard her tell the stylist that he shouldn't cut my hair particulary short. Up to the last minute I still did not decide on a particular style and so this stylist took charge. The end result is a typical Hong Kong hair style. Honestly, I was in shock. I should have said something, and I didn't. I just can't imagine how someone can consider this a style. It honestly looked like a large fuzzy rodent had perched aboved my semi buzzed hair and died leaving a fuzzy tail hanging in front of my face. Charisma -2 points.
It was a little unfortunate that Ada had to see my reaction to it. I was a bit emotional, I mean a man's hair is pretty sacred. Try to buzz cut Gene's "I've had the same style since highschool" cut and you'll probably finally see him angry (There's nothing wrong with Gene's cut which is probably why he's kept the same style forever it works so don't fix it). I vowed right then and there not to go back to another HK stylist. I thought back to when Wendy told me about her hair cut in Hong Kong. I can totally feel her pain, her anger. I look around me searching for a good hair cut, and I see a sea of people who have the same or similar horrible styles. I hear Japanest sytlists are expensive in HK. I think I will try to find a Korean stylist again. Susan, one of the managing directors at the Korean restaurant Kaya, has been a good source of information on korean locations in Hong Kong. I hope she can recommend a hairstylist.
Well, to end off the day my roommate came back and I heard somewhat a very typical story in HK (I've been hearing it more and more). Her boyfriend of 2 years has had a 2nd girl friend. Who is married, much older, has 3 kids, and whom he has been dating for 8 years. She is incredibly angry, and heartbroken of course. She'll be going to her uncle's place to stay a few nights because she can't bare to stay in this apartment; there are too many memories here. I couldn't believe it when I heard it. I've never had to deal with this type of situtation before, it simply sounds like a drama. This isn't the first case I've heard of it in HK though, almost everyone I've met here has had a case of a third person, this seems the typical HK culture. Sounds really like my roommate will want to move. Which means I'll have another thing to worry about soon.
First thing is first. My general casting is tomorrow I need to deal with this hair. I need to decide if, when, and how long I will leave Hong Kong so that I can renew my Visa. I recieved a letter about my Hong Kong ID. I need to go for an interview at immigrations with my original documents. My father has made a smart move declining to send the documents via post. So I need to find an alternative, I will ask when the office opens on Monday. My budget and money situtation isn't the greatest right now, so I need to decide what to do about that as well.
Hong Kong is full of excitement. I wouldn't mind a break though.
I've been hearing a lot from Ruby these days and today was no exception. She called me and told me I was schedule for a general casting this Saturday. Actually I'm not even sure what kind of general casting I'm scheduled for but I don't remember her putting my name in for anything strange so why not. I'm wondering if they'll cast me and tell me I'm so good but I need talent training or I need
composite cards made up. The composite cards maybe an issue, I spent a lot of time researching about them this morning. Luckily I have Alvin's to use as an example for the structure and what they look like. I met up with Ada downtown and met her younger sister Amy who was going to the hospital for some minor surgery. We hung out for a bit and I headed over to the library. I've been searching through magazines trying to find a good hair style. I stayed in the library for about 2 or 3 hours and I gave Gloria a call. I really need to get my hair cut if I plan to go to that casting.
Gloria happened to be out at the
APM mall with her friends. She mentioned there was a salon there and asked if I wanted to go check it out. I figured I would and so I went to meet up with them. At APM I met one of her best friends, Kathy, and another man, Jeff. We went to "Red Ant" at the APM (so this is my 3rd visit) and actually this time the meal was better than the previous two times. Jeff works for a distribution company that deals with North American newspapers (he knows about the Toronto Star, Vancouver Sun, Ottawa Times, etc). Just out of curiousity I asked if he knew any printing places. I showed them an example comp card and actually Kathy said she would ask for me. I guess she knows someone. I'm not sure her exact job, but she is part of a company that produces externally used health items (I can't be any more specific because I don't really know myself). After dinner we hung around APM for a while. I went to see if there was a Gay Giano in the mall but it was only their "lower" brand
Cour Carré, not that I think it really is a lower brand but that's what the sales girl mentioned. I learned something else APM (AM and PM) is a new mall that is open 24 hours which is the epitome of Hong Kong culture maybe.
Ada got a hold of us again and we met up in Sai Wan Ho for some drinks. I needed to hear instructions on how to introduce myself using Chinese. Hong Kong is already pretty good for having people who can operate in English. I suppose it is very much like if you can only speak French but you are travelling around some of the smaller cities in Canada (maybe not even just the smaller cities) can you function? The other thing I'm not good at doing is smiling. I need to practice smiling; it sounds silly but actually getting a good natural looking smile without showing my gums is fairly difficult. Ada also brought out a few presents from her trip to Japan including a book cover for me.
I convinced them that tonight we need to go out to star gaze. Once a year the Comet Swift-Tuttle who's tail brushes up against the Earth's atmosphere. It is best viewed after 2 am according to
NASA but we managed to find a place by the waterfront where there were fewier lights. Hong Kong in general is very pretty at night but due to the excess lights it is pretty hard to find a spot to star gaze in the city. We stayed out for about 2 hours chatting away about tons of problems Ada has been solving recently. The wait was worth it, at first Gloria saw a few and then Ada. Finally when I saw my first falling star I was in awe, it had left a very large streak across the sky. Even with the light polution tonight I saw the largest and the brightest falling stars. I made several wishes for good luck and I have Takeshi's
protective charm (O-Mamori) so with the rush of bad luck these days maybe something good will come out of it. What can I say? Hong Kong has been an adventure so far.
Ada back from the "Land of the Raising Sun"
I got a wakeup call today from Ruby telling me they are sending my pictures for a couple of jobs. Something to do with weddings, sport shoes, and something I totally forget (but it isn't hemorroids Karen...). I need to pay more attention, the last thing I want is being put in to do something weird. Plus I don't want to do food ads because I find half of the food ads in Hong Kong are fake. Some restaurant paid to have it done for them. Still questionable if this will be legitimate but until they ask for money then I'm willing to go along.
Today Ada is officially back from Japan. I told Gloria to play a little trick on her but she ended up cracking up and Ada knew. Ada had work but I met her after work to go to the library. We flipped through newspapers looking for mention of D8 and then I wanted to find some sort of hair style. My hair has gotten really long, I think about 3 months without cutting it. We didn't find anything really and walked back to my place. I'm more inclined to try to cook at home with someone so we had a sort of welcome home dinner. Except Ada gave me a helping hand. We took Gary's traditional pineapple chicken on rice and gave it a spin by putting it on Italian linguini noodles. We haven't come out with a name for our creation but Ada plans to teach it as part of her cooking class. We had a lot to catch up on. She probably couldn't believe so much has happened to me in the 9 days she was away. She had quite the adventure herself. I hear she's very familar with the lost and found department in Osaka. Yoshiro you're suppose to help her out there! I know now that even in the International airport I can't expect people to know English.
Badminton and D8 Interview
I did talk to a few friends about
D8. I was warned that D8 was like a scam and that they ask you to sign up for their consultant classes and makeover courses. Well the one thing that has been in short supply for me is money this trip. If they want money I'm the wrong sucker. When Ruby called me up about having an interview in TST it just happened to be on my way so I agreed. I was suppose to meet Gloria around 6:30 at Tai Wo Hau and Ruby wanted to meet between 5:30-6:00 so it seemed about right. I asked before hand what kind of fees would I need to pay and she gave me the right answer; nothing. I was surprised to find the building was located in the small street where I first met up with Raymond, and later where I had dinner with Connie. I find it is a very pleasant area to be in. They're located on the 22nd floor and so far it seems pretty legit.
When I walked in there were already a few people sitting around waiting. For some reason I did not expect this even though it seems perfectly normal. Actually I don't know why I felt a bit shocked to see that it was a legit place. There was a reception desk in the front and sofas along the left and right side. On the left I remember seeing a guy in a suit and another girl. There were two girls sitting on the right side where I decided to take a seat. I was given a form to fill out with my details. There was some in Chinese that I couldn't read so I had to ask the receptionist. Ruby came by fairly quickly and took me to another office (apparently not hers judging by the name cards). She tried to explain a few things to me and showed me a portfolio of their work. It doesn't really seem high class, but I can't expect this to be an agency like elite or starz or gensis. Still the things she showed me seemed fairly legit. So far so good she explained that basically I am free lance and they take 20% of my pay as commission. No contract and no money out of my pocket so I can accept this. There's a lot of girls working in the office I noticed. On my way out the people waiting have changed and a new batch of girls were sitting around waiting for their chance.
So on to Tai Wo Hau. It started to sporatically rain while I was there. Getting to play again was fun, it has been a long time since I got to play badminton. I felt really bad though because actually the people where there playing "for fun" meaning some of them were coming out for their first time. It is pretty hard for me to play like a first timer so I might have come across as rude seeming to be aggressive (but I really wasn't aggressive). The culture is a little different as well, after we finished our game everyone just left the court. I was expecting to shake hands and actually I followed them off the court to shake hands and they were totally shocked that I would do so. Culture gap.
We were trying to pass me off as a native HKer but of course that is nearly impossible. The guys saw through me right away and the girls thought I was some Japanese person. Actually the majority of HKers guess I am Japanese the first time they see me. We went off as a group to eat at a restaurant and then back home. Thanks for the fun day Gloria! I wish my brother didn't break my badminton racquet...
Scouted - Fresh Off The Boat
After I woke up I headed back over to Tai Koo Shing to figure out what to do about my missing reciept. Apparently as long as I have the invoice number I should be okay for picking up the suit. I wanted to go over to the Wan Chai computer centre to look at the prices and styles for USB 2.0 hubs. On my way back I stopped by a Mannings store to look for some hair putty. My gel is just about done and I was told this hair putty stuff was the way to go. I couldn't really decide on which one to get but Alberto V05 had a sticker claiming to win the FHM 2004 Grooming Award. Plus I noticed a paper near by that stated there was a $5 off. Because I couldn't read the Chinese I had to find someone in the store to help me. The girls laughed of course and right after they told me that it really is $5 off I went ahead and bought the hair putty. They passed me some sort of ticket to win discounts but I couldn't read that either, they found a manager who could tell me that it was for deodourant.
Since I was out in Wan Chai I decided to take the Star Ferry across to TST. Right after I got off the boat in TST I went to find a bus that could take me to Yau Ma Tei. I looked at a couple of signs and couldn't find the information I needed and headed towards the information centre at the pier. Just before stepping inside I was stopped by a women who gave me her card and explained quickly (in Chinese mind you so I lost most of it until I asked her to slow down) that she works for
Dragon Eight Limited (d8) and I guess wanted to know if I would be interested in some jobs. I've been looking at doing some modelling in HK if I could, but I'm also aware that there are a lot of scams going on. She quickly flipped open a magazine (
milk) to show me some of the things that their company has done. She asked about my status and when I mentioned I don't have a Hong Kong ID she did say that they can't hire someone without an Hong Kong ID (my biggest problem so far). That was some what a good sign though because it made me feel they were running something legit. I left her my number and I took her card, which actually was her name written on just a company card. Of course I'm going to take this carefully. I contacted a few friends already about it to get their opinions.
I ended up in Yau Ma Tei sitting in on a seminar for SME Education. I was there as an observer and they asked me to pretend to not know any Chinese. They introduced the sales person to me and there was suppose to be a teacher who is suppose to speak English later in the classroom. What was suppose to happen and what actually happened are two different stories. Some how everyone focused their attention to me because everyone was too embarassed or afraid to talk about themselves. The first time I was there I had to pretend to not know any Chinese. Now I had to pretend to be a native Chinese speaker. Oh, it was just too hard, and quite impossible for me. I think I managed to just pass off that I'm a shy person who doesn't know how to properly express himself. When the sales person went to find the teacher to come in I figured they would tell him that I just came from abroad. But, just like before he came in and focused a lot of attention on me. Oh I just wanted to die. The centre manager, May Chan, did not have a lot of time to talk either so we just said that we would call each other at a later time. I totally forgot that I wanted to go look at USB hubs in Mong Kok and I just went home with a headache.
A New Suit
I didn't get much sleep last night, just out of habit I woke up just before 11 am. I ended up getting on my computer copying files over to my new 200 Gig drive. It feels nice to have space again and the notebook doesn't seem slow anymore.
I met up with Gloria over at Tai Koo Shing. We went to eat at the Macau style restaurant there. There was some sort of meat inside our dish and I stopped one of the waitresses to ask what it was. She couldn't answer, surprisingly the next person she stopped couldn't answer either. The manager ended up coming out to tell us. I didn't really intend for it to be a big deal. Just for the record it was Polish sausage.
We walked over to Cityplaza so that I can look at more suits. We hit up Rudolph first where Bernard picked up his suit. The suits that were left really didn't fit me. There's so many little details to look at I've learned. I went to
Playlord thinking they would have some decent suits but it turns out that their material is really cheap. I felt it looked cheaper than G2000. We headed over to
Gay Giano and met up with Gloria's sister. They were so nice spending a couple of hours literally watching me try on suits and shirts. The cuts were really nice the price was right pretty much the same price as G2000 but the material was 100% wool. I ended up looking for a dark gray pinstripe suit. The hard part comes with picking the size. A 46 fits me well but it is tight. A 48, their next biggest size, fits me loose and doesn't have the same feeling as the 46 according to my panel of fashion specialists. Of course since this is the end of summer sale this was the last jacket so I don't have much of a choice. I'm a little afraid of the fact that I seem to have lost a lot of weight coming to Hong Kong. I ended up with an interesting dress shirt as well and we picked out a nice tie to go with the whole suit. Over all the price for a suit, a nice dress shirt, and a tie came out to $2073 HKD. This is well within my budget for a suit so I am happy.
So much time had passed picking out the suit that I totally forgot about a previous engagement with another friend. I felt bad that I had to postpone but I thought I owed Gloria a meal for spending so many hours helping me out. I couldn't decide on where to go and actually I've been sick of all the MSG in Hong Kong recently. I decided to cook something simple for her since she has never had a guy cook for her before. Linquine, Shrimp, Brocolli, Tomatoe sauce. She has apparently cooked noodles in the past for her ex-bfs and they never turned out well, so I let her watch and taught her the basics about cooking noodles al dente!
I thought my bad luck was turning but it paid me another quick visit. I ended up losing my reciept for the new suit some how between the time we bought the suit and by the time we got back to my place. Good Grief.
Freddy Doesn't Know Chinese
I got a please call this morning from Ma Shi Te. He called to complain why I spoke to his new girl friend (I swear I didn't know) in Japanese. I know he had met some Japanese girls in Toronto and I didn't know he had started to date a new girl recently. Just my luck, she actually studied Japanese before so when she responded in Japanese I thought she was one of the Japanese girls. Anyways he covered it up pretty well and we got a good laugh.
I went to meet up with Raymond, he was teaching an English class and thought it would be good to bring in a native speaker. In order to force them to speak to me in English he told them that I did not understand Chinese at all. Oh sometimes it was hard to keep my expression straight. Their mission was to ask me several questions to get to know me. I could hear them making comments about what to ask and how to ask me. As soon as I started answering they started talking about my accent as well. How do you keep a straight face when you hear them wanting to ask me if I had a girl friend? That was pretty hard, actually they asked me how many girl friends did I have which is a very strange question. The class was a success, I made it fun and interesting and forced them to use English at the same time.
Raymond had to take off but showed me where the Mong Kok computer centre was. I wandered inside looking at prices for an external USB 2.0 harddrive and after taking notes I phoned up Ceci to ask her for her opinion. Since Sham Shui Po was only about 2 stops away I decided to go there to take a look. There really are too many computer stores I had some what of a headache afterwards and actually got sick of looking at computer equipment. In the end I just decided on a "Hi-Speed" external USB 2.0 case ($210 HKD) and a Seagate IDE 200 Gig 8Mb Cache harddrive ($728 HKD). This was within my budget so I was fine with it. I really need the space on my notebook and this would give me a relatively safe place to back up my photos. In 2 months I had collected nearly 5 gigs of pictures.
I stopped off at TST so that I could take the Star Ferry back. I was going to Causeway Bay to meet up with Gloria for dinner but ended up taking the wrong ferry to Central. The view was really nice though, there's still so much of Hong Kong I haven't seen. The boat ride is fairly quick as well and of course it is cheap.
Gloria choose an interesting place to eat. The food was decent and the interesting thing about it is the live singers. There's a pair of Thai girls and a guy who sing live songs (Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and Thai) while you sit and eat. They did okay, though some times I couldn't understand the English they were singing. I had a few pictures and songs to share with Gloria and we stayed up until about 5 am chatting away. This should improve my Cantonese.
Illegal in Hong Kong
Well, as if things weren't going great already I have a new problem. I was already stressed with the addition of a few new students that don't speak a lot of English and unknown to me I was being watched yesterday by a government representative. He came to check on the employment status of everyone in the building; just my luck a spot check. Apparently Phoebe said this has never happened in the last 2 years she's been running business there. Of course at this moment in time I'm waiting for my HK ID but I don't have a work visa. So yes, big trouble, he took down my contact information and that was that. I finished off the day and we had our little talk. Basically it isn't worth risking me getting caught again; which I agree. So for the time being I should stop working until I get my Hong Kong ID. Additionally, as a teacher I have several areas which need improvement. I didn't know but one of my co-workers was bad mouthing me behind my back. Welcome to Hong Kong I guess. Phoebe is really good about it though, she was very straight forward about my issues, what I do well in and what I need to improve upon. Her concerns are legit but also raises the question if I should continue working there.
I had just finished doing a budget for myself for August. This really changes my budget now, but actually my original budget did not have a lot of flexability. Things that I am still in need of are a suit for interviews, an external storage device to put my travel photos on, and a visa for traveling to China.
Today the first thing I did was go to the immigration office. When I enquired about my status they need to forward it to the Right of Abode department. The estimate though is 6-8 weeks. If I count the 2 weeks that I've waited already that means at the earliest it could be at the end of the month before I get my HK ID. Since I have the day off I walked back towards Causeway Bay stopping off at different shops along the way. I found a nice suit at
Mitsukoshi, the ladies had fun helping me out I think. The suit was nice but a bit over budget sitting at $3600 HKD. Well I'll consider it since Bernard stressed the importance of having a suit that doesn't appear too cheap. But, is too cheap really that bad? I can't bias myself so easily so I went to
G2000. The low end suits really do look cheap here. Their high end line of wool blended suits were much better compared to their low end. Luckily it wasn't very busy since it was in the middle of the day and I got the cute sales girl's attention all to myself. Gralia or Grania I think her name was, I don't know what is harder in Hong Kong, remembering their Chinese names or remembering their English names? Still my favourite so far is Chloe. We found a suit that seem to fit, pin stripes on a dark gray. I thanked her for her time and later on met up with Gloria. We headed over to Times Square and tried on several more spending a lot of time with different combinations at
G2000. I forget the name of the shop but their comfortable dress shirts were over $1000 HKD each. The rich lifestyle is really rich. But for now, budget Freddy needs to concentrate on his interview suit. Since this is my first day looking I need time to sit and consider my alternatives.
When You Have Problems, They Always Bring Friends
One thing solved today, after lunch I could access the cash I had deposited so now I'm good for the short term. I've worked out a preliminary budget for my August spending, and already it is pretty tight. Work was fairly rough with a bunch of new kids. I think I did a good job selling to them, they had a lot of fun and we had a few new kids sign in for classes. The only problem is these kids are a bit behind the other readership children so again I'm dealing with a mixed level I'm not comfortable with. Not much I can do about it though.
Afterwork I went to pay my phone bill. I needed my cell phone back. I've been a recluse for the past few days and it is about time I got ahold of some people. I wandered around Causeway Bay shopping for a suit. There's just too many choices, I need my army of fashion consultants here. Sai's been giving some good tips but really there's just so many options it is hard for me to decide. Raymond got a hold of me today, He's apparently teaching an English class on Saturday and I'm going to see if I can make it for a surprise visit. We haven't had a chance to hangout for a while so this will be a good chance to meet up again.
I had dinner with Gloria tonight, she was a little surprised that I would just call her out. Actually she's been quite helpful tonight. I poured out a bunch of problems and we talked about several things. She'll probably help me look for a suit as well. I did a fun little personality test with her (drawing the box in the desert with the horse, ladder, etc) and it was over 90% accurate for her. She was so surprised, I'm actually getting decent with it. This is probably one of my favourite personality games. We went to a drinking spot right beside Times Square. It is located on the 2nd floor of some apartment, or so it seems. Actually the atomosphere is comfortable, a nice change for me but the air was horrible with a lot of smokers. We were talking about the RMB pegged against a basket of currencies and a lady behind me overheard the conversation. I overheard her talking about Manulife afterwards so we assumed she must work in the investment side. It is too bad I didn't have a chance to talk with her more since I'm in the market for a job in that type of field. Wouldn't it be nice to join my fellow ex-CLAers at one of the many Manulife branches (Canada and Japan why not add Hong Kong)?
My roommate has been missing in action the last few days. I didn't exactly have a phone so I couldn't really call her to find out what was wrong. We spoke briefly on the phone but it doesn't look good actually. I'm a bit fearful she will want to move. If she does then it is as if I'm starting over again, everything uncertain. I'm in a super stress mode right now trying to plan things out. I hope at the very least that I'll hear about my HK ID soon even though I'll be working on my many plans in the mean time. This will be a tough month I think, I feel the stress already.
First of a New Month
It is now the First of August. Things have slowly started to change for me and plans need to be made. Ming Jian is suppose to be going out to
Shanghai on the 5th, Willa should be coming into
Hong Kong after the 8th of Sept. I need to start arranging my time. I might look to go to
GuangZhou for the 20th. There is a good possibility but now I need to figure out when Ming Jian is planning on visiting
Hong Kong.
I still haven't heard from the immigration office about my Hong Kong ID. That could be useful about now, the sooner I find out then the quicker I can make a few decisions. I need to work on my August budget right now. Luckily today I got paid, I still have to wait 2 days for the cheque to clear but now things are looking up. No more instant noodles, I'll keep with my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on my whole grain.
interestingly enough today a bunch of my Japanese friends decided to e-mail me at once. I haven't heard from Tomoka for a while but she sent me a short message today saying that she's been super busy with work. Yoji sent the same thing (what does this tell me about working in Tokyo? And in that case working in Hong Kong?) but he mentioned that he's moving soon with his family to a new condo by the river. I now have naked pictures of his son Max playing in the water. I'm sure these will haunt him when he grows up. Akira's birthday passed recently and I had sent him an e-mail on his birthday. I haven't heard from Yoshiro or Yuki for a while but I hope they're doing well! I expect to have a lot of fun when I go visit them in Japan.
I started putting up the Readership course data up on the
website I'm missing a couple of courses and for some reason the Chinese writing doesn't like displaying unordered lists. But apparently people have started checking out the website and have been asking why there isn't any course information. I have some old site usage information hopefully after a month I can review the new data and we'll see if people are starting to visit the website. But even in its incomplete stage compared to the old website it is like night and day.
But the question I need to resolve is what my focus will be in the short term. I've taken Kevin's advice and have been spending more time in the Library. I've been going over economic magazines trying to understand a little bit of the world. The information has been useful in terms of refocusing myself. There are some great magazines like
China International Business and
The Economist. Is growth slowing in China? Sure probably a sure sign is the revaluation of the RMB. When I cam to HK HKD > RMB. Now after July 21st RMB > HKD. There are some great articles in terms of speculation about how China affects world Economy (inflation rates in the US due to Oil consumption and surplus exports in China) but what interested me is the continual references that China really does not have enough skilled (read MBAs) to help run their businesses. Lenovo is just the first step and probably the biggest example. I haven't yet explored what opportunities exist for me, but for sure one thing I need to do is fix my resume and buy a suit.
Summer sales are still going on but I need to be careful of my budget. I need to plan for my trip, I need to plan on buying a suit and dress shirts/pants. I've been looking at buying a single dumbbell as well. I have gotten just too skinny lately. Hopefully I can improve my eating habits to counter it but I think the lack of exercise has really affected me. I have nothing left for Alison, Coral and the girls to play with now. I wonder what they'll say about my long hair? Even my co-worker Rosalind told me that I need to cut it. She's been getting me to do Yoga moves at work.
