In Need of a Home
Here's the wakeup call, my roommate started packing yesterday which means she'll be gone soon. Yeah, I use to think living with girls is easy, but living with HK girls really is a problem. They are really emotionally dependant on guys I think (unless you are what they call a "TB"). But the harsh reality is I need to find a place to live again, for the Nth time.
The stress and the work has taken its toll on me I think. I feel so tired from working this month I fell asleep today about 10pm. I met up with Karen today though which is a pleasant surprise. I got a whole 30 minutes from her. Her schedule is either really busy or she can only take me in small doses. Time to think about a new cell phone again, I can't keep using someone else's phone no matter how convient it is. But now that I started looking at phones again I don't know what I will do. The reality is that I don't have that much disposable income. Even knowing this it is hard for me to select a phone I won't like. I'm really interested in the new
Motorola L7 SLVR phone which seems to have all the features that I want. The only thing is it isn't a clam shell. When the RAZR drops in price should I consider that? But I like the
Vodaphone phones as well, the new Sharp phones are really nice, and plus they are clam shell phones. It is easy to say that I should just use a phone that works, but how do I fight the temptation to get a phone that I will like? I want to sync with my notebook, and I love the idea of MP3 ringtones.
Dinner At Raymond's
I was preparing all morning for my computer class. They should be learning dreamweaver by now, but I decided to stick with HTML. We spent a lot of time manually making tables and getting to know the table tags. I wanted them to be familar with HTML and I wanted them not to be afraid of getting into the code later on. I noticed I can be demanding as a teacher. I really want people to be at their best.
After work I went to meet up with the Waterloo HK crew. Out in nowhere's land (someplace in the New Territories) where Raymond and Connie live. The ride there was so long but their new place is nice. We played games (Uno) most of the night and had dinner close by. Joseph, Heidi, and I took the bus back into Kowloon where I could take the MTR back into North Point.
Of interesting note, one of my students asked me to tutor, and introduced a new model to me where she would provide a location and act as an agent in exchange for allowing her children to learn for free. I hear this style is common where a mother tried to find a tutor and a location to host classes to reduce the cost of tutoring. I'm not sure the costs at Reader-ship, but I'm sure they run in the $200+ range for a child. Then again it is a very focused environment with actual lesson plans (albeit though-up that week lesson plans by us).
I've been asking around about taking money out of my PC Financial account to use in Hong Kong. Wiring money, traveller's cheques, etc. All these methods really suck compared to what my cousin Yvonne recommended. She's a traveller and she told me to just try taking money out of the machine from the bank. It was brilliant, I don't even know why I was trying to make it so hard for myself. I need to eat the exchange/admin fee no matter what, but the transfer charge was only $3.00 CAD (so about $10 HKD). That's cheaper than cashing in a traveller's cheque here at the bank.
the break down is like this to withdraw $6000 HKD.
Sep.26/05 ABM Foreign ABM Charge $3.00
Sep.26/05 ABM Foreign ABM Withdrawal $929.81
Interview and Classes
Took some last minute photos using my new tripod this morning. I guess this is actually the first time I used it, but the thing is great (you can't beat the price at $85 HKD) and the shots turned out okay. I used a bit of tin foil as well and made a reflector. The difference is pretty big actually, I am seriously looking into getting a reflector myself sometime. I remember running into one in Sham Shui Po while I was looking around for computer equipment.
I was trying to find a place to get it developed so that I could still make the deadline. I ended up trying to find a location closer to where
Starryland was located at. Basically in Causeway Bay. I was told at one shop that the closest place to develop photos was in Wan Chai. I think they just wanted to get me out of the shop, it was a camera shop but like most "employees" I find in shops in HK they aren't really interested in the industry they are selling in.
Once I had the photos dropped off to be developed (Kodak express development) I called to change the time of my interview and took the time to run out to Wan Chai to get my HK ID card. I was dying to have it, the process had a lot of waiting, but when you actually go pick up your card it is fairly quick. Then I rushed back to Causeway Bay to pick up the photos and over to Causeway Bay Plaza 2 for my walk-in interview. I met Tracey there who was both nice and helpful. She was realistic about me going to other locations and did not give me any restrictions in doing so. The process was quick, mainly I handed my photos over to her and filled out an application form for their file.
I went home to prep for my Grammar class. The previous classes haven't been going well, grammar is boring and tough to teach if you're not prepared. It is painful for me because I really don't know grammar myself. I actually had a few of my old hospitality students show up in my class again. I tried getting a few more games into the classroom to stimulate it and make it interesting. Some of the students really wanted to take my picture (every cell phone pretty much has a camera) which is kind of flattering.
Tired, but happy with the success of the class, I met up with Tiff afterwards and hung out. We tried to get back to her place by using the light buses and ended up getting off at the wrong stop. We wandered around for a while until she recognized the area that she lived in. I didn't get to sleep until 5 am I think.
This is Life
Some interesting developments recently. The biggest shocker was when I found out 2 days ago that my own brother, has a girl and has been dating. Oh, we've talked about it so much, and he went out and did it. I'm so proud, and yet still so shocked. I swear I almost fell out of my chair. Ada came over and helped me develop a list of Chinese vocabulary words I might need to learn. We met up with Tiff later over at quicksilver (I had no clue there were two so close to TimesSquare) and we only had a little problem location each other.
The next day I finished up a "business nouns" list for my class and I got a call from Ruby (D8). I headed over to TST to meet up with Cherry, whom I met on the boat trip to Aberdeen with Andy, and we went to see
The Brothers Grimm. We met up with some of her friends including another girl from the boat trip, Carina. We headed to a gym to enquire about membership for the girls. I remember this was the same gym that Connie said she once joined. We went to eat afterwards when one of the worst things happened, I was suppose to be teaching a class and I wasn't there. I had mis-read an e-mail about my schedule apparently which was written poorly, but regardless I needed to be in class. So I had to apologize to the girls and rush to class. I was lucky because Raymond was covering for me when I got in. I had started the class using complete English but recently have found it more useful to reveal my Chinese. Some how it puts people more at ease when I can speak Chinese to them in an attempt to explain things. I still like to start off using English because I think it starts them off with the right atmosphere.
After I finished class I met up with the girls again to apologize and to offer advice to Carina who has her eyes on a man who frequently visits her office place. Good luck Carina, I hope you get to play golf with your "man".
Today was kind of a hectic day. I decided not to pick up my HK ID quite yet. I started to call production companies again to try to get walk-in appointments. As long as I get my face around, hopefully an advertising job will come up. I managed to book an appointment with
starryland tomorrow. The good news is my class today went well, from a lot of people who had me only for this one time, I got a lot of compliments about being a good teacher.
If I want to try being a model, I need to improve my pictures. Hopefully I can do this myself.
Mid Autumn Festival
I started off the morning working on something for one of my webdesign students. I got a pleasant call from Karen who was on her way to Korea but had a 9 hour layover in Hong Kong. She met up with family and told me she'd call me at the airport...I'm still waiting for that call. I downloaded the new
Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children movie. It was a nice watch, nice and some what nostalgic at the same time. It was nice to see the characters come alive again once more on the screen, but the story was confusing as hell.
Well enough lazying around at home, I went out to meet up with one of my students, Joyce, and actually surprised Tomoka and Ji Na with a phone call each to wish them happy Mid-Autumn festival. Of course while I was calling IDD I called my Grandmother and my mother. I had some time going to Tuen Mun. Joyce took me down to the beach, and it started raining. So I got a little wet but it was okay, there was still a lot of people on the beach, with tons of lights. Mostly glow stixes and a few candles. We laid around on the beach watching the kids play in the water, listening to the sound of the sea, and listening to the planes from the airport. The moon was nice a full but hidden away and was occasionally hidden away by the clouds.
Wrapping up early, I headed into Causeway bay to meet up with Gloria and her friends, we went to a karaoke lounge and only stayed a short while. Gloria has been upset, and some what moody recently. She apparently drank too much (just like me she can't hold her drink) and so I helped her get home. There's been a bit too much volunteering from her group of friends when it comes to me and her, it has started to make me a bit uncomfortable.
Anyways, happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
I woke up and realized I was late. I was late for some presentation I promised to attend at HKU. Out the door I rushed luckily I've been there before on a couple of occasions so I knew where I could get off the bus. I wandered around an extra hour trying to find the lecture hall and managed to sit in for the last hour of the SBA seminar. Basically I didn't learn anything, just wrote down a couple of web site address (
http://web.hku.hk/~sbapro/ and
http://www.hkeaa.edu.hk) to reference later. I then rushed over to SME Education centre to teach my Web Design class. I was a bit peaved off because they have a tendency to not prepare the computers properly. There is no support, as soon as I have a problem I'm out in the hallway telling them I have this problem, they stand or sit there looking at me expecting me to tell them what they should do. This is Canada Life Investments IT I guess, people aren't there to make sure you can do your job. After that frustration I met up with Ada and Tiffany. We went to find a pair of shoes for Tiffany since she didn't have a pair of flat shoes she could use in Hong Kong. We met up with Gloria and headed over to Tin Hau where Wincy and her boyfriend Bill were helping with a dragon dance function. Oh it was great, Wincy hooked us up with some event t-shirts which got us inside so that we could see the dragon up close. Actually we could've taken part but the system seemed a bit confusing and I didn't know when I could jump in. We got to take a few pictures and had a few drinks. I ended up with some sort of grape cider and managed to drink a fair portion before my face turned completely red. We met up with Midco afterwards to have a few more drinks and a late night snack.
I have to say, the Dragon Dance was an amazing Mid-Autumn experience. I think both Tiff and I had a lot of fun, Thanks Wincy.
Welcome Back Ricky
Since I have this new web design class, I've been a bit worried. I've made a couple of web sites in my time, but it hasn't been my primary job. Also since this web design class is taught completely in Chinese, I really need to think about what I will teach. I made an arrangement to meet up with Raymond today over in Sham Shui Po. He meets many students in his class and one of them works at a computer store. He hooked me up with some discounted prices for a pair of Microlab USB powered speakers ($40 HKD) and a generic USB 2.0 4 port active hub ($85 HKD).
We sat in McDonalds talking over how he deals with the class and then headed back to SME to help him with one of his work assignments. He needed Adobe Illustrator so I managed to pull a copy off of easynews (thanks Arthur). Too bad SME education has a screwed up admin setup for their computers so we couldn't even install it. I guess they are all students just learning but they should really get the setup right.
We met up right afterwards with Ricky, his girl friend Carol, Raymond's girl friend Connie, and another waterlooer Heidi. We went out for drinks at a place called M1 where we met up with a few other people. M1 was pretty nice, we got a promotional lighter that looked like a gel cap (pill). I took a picture, I think I'll ask Kevin later if he produces these things. We went out afterwards to eat hotpot. A good portion of the night was spent laughing at my Chinese. This is typically the case but is okay since it brings joy and happiness to the group. I pointed out a cockroach on the street to Heidi and she freaked out, almost pushing me onto the street infront of a taxi. Mental note, if a girl doesn't see a cockroach walking towards her, don't point it out.
A Simplier Time
I hung out after class yesterday with one of my students, Joyce, who invited me out mid-autumn festival night to go to the beach. Apparently there are a lot of people who go that night. We hung out in Mong Kok for a while and then I went to meet up with Kevin. Kevin was meeting up with his friend Henry and we went out for Drinks. Henry is an interesting fellow. He works for a Japanese company in Hong Kong who makes circuit boards that are used in Japanese mobile phones. This is one of his jobs since his father apparently has his own business as well. He is very into Japanese culture and loves to speak Japanese. I gave Tiff a call since it is quite possible that she would be interested meeting these people. Tiff has a good head on her shoulders, she picks up a lot of information and is good in these surroundings. Since she recently was in China, her and Kevin should have a lot of similar experiences dealing with Mainland suppliers. So yesterday was pretty relaxing, and it was nice to see and talk to Kevin again. he gets me thinking about business all over again.
Today I woke up and out of the blue decided to watch a few old Startrek TNG episodes that I happen to have with me. I rewatched an episode that I did not appreciate so much in the past, but I had a new view looking at it now. TNG is full of morality and human issues. The episode I watched dealt with Picard's "son", Jason. Strangely enough I was suppose to be called Jason because it sounded closer to my Chinese name. In this episode Picard, a renaissance man, is faced with meeting a "son" whom he did not even know existed. When they meet he finds out that the "son" doesn't appreciate the same things that he does and he also has some minor criminal records. My own father has been very paitent with me in my life. As I look back in my life I must have been a terror. To raise a child with unconditional love is probably one of the most difficult tasks a parent must face. I have made many mistakes, and I do have regrets. Some people say that you should never regret any of your decisions in life, but regret allows you to choose "right" the next time that situtation comes around.
I have had a few conversations with my class of housewives about raising children. It seems a lot of my learning has been focused around familes in Hong Kong. After teaching children I thought boys were the hardest to raise. But after talking to mothers, girls are a special difficult case. Apparently there are instances when mothers aren't aware that their child is pregnant until they notice that she's 3 months or more pregnant. One of the mothers at my work place monitors everything about her daughter, from the friends she has to when her period is each time of the month. In one of the books about influence that Ada had lent me, I read that 2/3 of females have problems with self confidence. This means they have a tendency to be influenced by other people. I think a lot more girls are smoking these days compared to boys.
So boys are a terror when they're younger, girls are more well behaved. But, which will be easier to raise afterwards? Is it fair that boys tend to have less restrictions than girls. But, girls might need a more controlled environment so that they won't stray off the "right" track as easily. I suppose I should find a girl friend before I decide to worry about raising children. But then again, I always try to prepare for the future. What choices will you make when you have your own children?
The Surprise
Yesterday was a pretty normal day. Focused on the BULATS studying for my class. I got some brownie points when I presented the work that Jay had done for me (I had him write a few explainations about some of the TOEIC exam questions). Lucky that I know someone doing their Masters in English. Afterwards I went to talk about the payment situtation. I figured I had let it slip by long enough and I was well established in the company now so it was only proper that I cleared up the payment issues. United Oriental College needs me to attend a course about being an SBA co-ordinator (School Based Assessment). I spent most of yesterday evening out with my boss, Mr. PL Chou, and another co-worker Ah Ling looking for materials for BULATS. The end result is we did a whole lot of walking and found nothing.
Today I was suppose to meet Karen down at Landmark. Little did I know I was going to have a big surprise. I wasn't sure if it would be the same Karen that I met in Toronto. I went a little early, because when you're meeting a girl you shouldn't ever be late (thanks Alison), and made sure I knew where the meeting spot was. I had about half an hour to kill so I did a quick round in the store and ended up back at the water fountain (our meeting spot). There was a pair of Japanese guys next to me pouring over a map so I talked to them briefly and helped them out. Still I haven't seen anyone approach me who looked like a "Karen". I figured this must be a different Karen and started looking for someone who looks like she's looking to meet up with someone she's never met before (me). I spotted one likely candidate and approached her, asking her ever so politely if she happened to be Karen. The answer was no, so I was back sitting at the fountain waiting. Out of the blue Tiffany jumped out and surprised me. I was totally shocked. Rui I know you love my surprised and shocked expressions, it is too bad you missed this one. I couldn't believe it, all this time I was looking for someone whom I probably have never me before and Tiffany jumps out.
Apparently she had arrived a little late, and ended up circling around to a higher level. She had timed it so that I wouldn't notice her coming down to the fountain. It was a perfect surprise. I was delighted of course, and we ended up hanging out for the rest of the day. I took her over to APM and the factory outlets in the same area. We headed back to my place and dropped by a $10 store so that she could buy craft supplies. Then finished the evening over at the Macau Restaurant near Tai Koo Shing. Welcome to Hong Kong Tiffany!
Oh, she mentioned that she was interested in Kenneth Cole watches. Either this is a really strange coincidence or someone leaked out that I had picked her up a Kenneth Cole watch back when Alvin was originally suppose to return to Canada. Well, I hope it was just luck, then I won't be so worried that she's faking liking my present.
One of my students, Andy, had invited me out to socialize by going boating in Aberdeen. We started off meeting down infront of Causeway Bay's Times Square. When I got there, there was a whole line of cars. I guess that's to be expected since there is suppose to be 40 people on this boat trip. Even more surprising where the amount of dogs. There were at least 6 dogs, though I we only ended up having 3 on the boat trip. Andy's golden retreiver (Creamy) was adorable.
I have a vague memory of going on a boat trip when I was really young. I was in Hong Kong about grade 7, visiting my grandmother. This brought back feelings of nostalgia. It took a little warming up, but once I got talking to a few people I became quite social. I think I mentioned it before, Hong Kong has been great for my ego. I've been working on my six pack so I wasn't the least bit shy getting my shirt off. The water was really salty. But it took almost no effort to float in. It was funny watching Andy trying to force the dogs to swim. The dogs didn't seem like they wanted to so Andy ended up tossing them into the water. It was a bit hard for Creamy though, she ended up puking later on.
There were so many activities. We had BBQ on the boat to eat, plenty of drinks, and I forced one of my new friends to dive off the top of the boat with me into the water. I told him to dive but the red spot near his belly told me he didn't go in straight. Aside from swimming we got to ride the "banana". Using a motorboat, they drag an inflated banana shaped raft behind the boat. This was a lot more fun then I expected. The person in the front needs to help shift the weight so that the "banana" doesn't tip over, spilling the other four passangers. Apparently I did a good job at this and was asked to pilot several times. Afterwards I got to go wakeboarding again. I did much better this time around, I hope I can get some more time out there. The trip was really worth it since it turned out only to be about $220 HKD for the full day.
There were a ton of us who were so hungry afterwards. We ended up eating near Quarry Bay, seated outside in a patio like environment. There was about 20 people so the tables stretched out extra long. This caused a problem since we were all so hungry; one side of the table had no clue what the other side was ordering. We ate and we ate until we were so full, but the food kept comming. When it gets to this point, the guys have it the worst, we're expected to finish all the leftovers.
The day was amazing, a lot of new friends, fun water activities, and full stomachs. Thanks Andy.
Last note, today is my brother's birthday. So happy birthday to him. Sorry that I can't be around this year.
A Time to be Social
I was asked at SME today about possibly teaching a class on Sunday. The work load has been increasing. This would be a good thing if it wasn't for the fact that they pay so late. Teaching at SME can only be treated as a part time job for spare cash. I had to refuse this Sunday because I'll be going boating with Andy. I taught my Web Design class (all in Chinese) and it went okay. I think the students can accept that I have some experience even though I can not speak Cantonese well. I have a lot of prep work to do though, and I think making a vocab sheet for myself will help.
We had a surprise, one of our own who had left (Kammy) came back to work at SME. The low level jobs really don't pay well in Hong Kong. I guess this is where min wage comes in. Her new environment apparently was horrible so her mother had agreed to let her return to work at SME.
I was given an outline for a new English class starting Thursday. It looks like I will be teaching the full thing, from Grammar and Writting to Listening and Speaking. Since Kammy was back we decided to grab something to eat after work. Carmen, Kammy, Joan and I went out to a little shop that was selling battered and seared peppers, fishballs, and other similar foods. Joan (who likes to be called Joanna) openned up her pop and sprayed a bit onto a lady who was sitting at the same table. The lady seemed already annoyed when we sat down, and it didn't help with Joan trying to contain her laughter.
I had an appointment with Priscilla as well, so I said my goodbyes and met up with her for dinner. This is the first time I've seen her since she got back from Canada. I met up with her friends Julien, Eva, and her best friend in Hong Kong. We had a nice dinner and then went to Dickens to watch the soccer game. It was a nice social night. After we departed I met up with Ada and Gloria who happened to be shopping for spices down in Causeway Bay. I had wowed them with my famous pork chops (okay, I claim them to be famous) and Gloria was interested in learning. We went out for some dessert and talked. I made it home at about 3 am.
Work That Didn't Turn Out
Yesterday I dropped by PolyTechnical University to help Carman fix her Internet connection. She had her new Toshiba Laptop which I doubt was the real problem. The setup requires the users to configure their own static IP. There are two jackets with two separate IPs; one on her side and one on her roommate's side. They use Cisco VoIP telephones in their residence. I remember as a floor representative first year sitting in on a meeting trying to decide if we should move the residence over to a PBX style system or continue having separate lines running to each room. The VoIP phone has a cable that is suppose to connect to the computer, which didn't seem to be working. I left my cable with Carman because my cable seems to work.
Carman is actually and amateur photographer so it was natural for me to ask her to help me with my portraits. We looked through a few example pictures I had been stealing and downloading off the internet and decided to have a little fun taking pictures near her school. The pictures turned out quite well considering we weren't really planning to take pictures that day. She gave me a quick talk about matching the colours in my clothes to my shooting environment.
I had an appointment afterwards with Gloria, Kathy, and Jeff over at APM. I heard that Kathy had actually written the BULATS examination paper. There's a lot of stress trying to help my class of housewives prepare for this examination. There doesn't seem to be alot of information for me so I was hoping to get some good information from people who have actually prepared and who have written the examination before. Kathy and Jeff told me that what they learned from their textbook had nothing to do with the examination. At least I know the sample exam downloaded from the
BULATS website is pretty much exactly the same format as the final examination. I got a call from May to prepare to do a sales seminar to some students who might need to prepare for the
IELTS examination.
That's about all I did today, get ready for the seminar. I went in a bit early to talk about the setup with May. For the listening and audio portion I went online to see if I could find any audiobooks or news materials that I could use to give them a sample for listening. I ran across something interesting, an audio book from the Fab 5 (Queer eye for the straight guy). I had come early and was dressed casually, I went and found a room to change and when I came out something interesting happened. One of the staff at the front reception, Josephine, sees me come in once in a while to do my classes. We talk, maybe flirt, and this is the first time she saw me in my suit. She happened to be talking on the phone when I came around the corner in my suit and my ego was bursting with pride when I saw her eyes pop open and her mouth drop (literally). I figured it was a good time to get her phone number.
Speaking of phones, I got a call from Tiffany's friend Karen. I know Tiffany doesn't have time to come to Hong Kong but she asked me to show Karen around. We setup a time to meet at Landmark. I've never been to that mall before but I'm sure it will be easy to find. I also got another surprise when I went home, I had a call from a special friend from New York City. NYC's one and only Nana called me. She was our special tourguide when Sai and I drove to NJ and NY for some shopping and adventure. Nana all I can say is "WwrRarrr".
New Legal Life, New Stress
It feels good being legal. I have no restrictions on living, studying, or working in Hong Kong. My Classes were hard again, due mainly to my poor Chinese grammar and vocabulary, but it went relatively smoothly. The students have choosen to focus on the
BULATS examination. My boss at SME Education strongly recommended that I steer my students away from this choice, since we lack the training material for it, but I won't influence my student's choice if they've so strongly come to the decision by themselves.
This leads to a different problem though, I still need to prepare them, even though I don't have the resources to do so. I have a few grammar sheets that I passed out, but grammar is really my weak point. The good thing is that BULATS is very focused on business English. I've been searching for articles that they can practice reading. It is hard to say what is the best method to teach English in the shortest period of time. It would be good if I could speak just in English, but unlike the children I use to teach it is much harder for adults. I do have students in my afternoon class who are willing to try to speak in English. I'm willing to accept suggestions though, I've got about 18 housewives in the morning and about 13 in the afternoon.
Right after class I went to iron out my payment details. Payment is an issue at the centre. It is complicated requiring me to fill out sheets for everything I've done. I write my own times, they double check in their books, then I need people to sign them. Also each course and each month requires their own sheet, so I end up filling in tons. Luckily I track my work days and times in my outlook calendar. Currently there is work, but I need to find another job soon since this one doesn't pay on a timely schedule. They have a policy to pay after the course has been completed, which could run up to 2 months in some cases.
The just added a class for me that runs Saturdays. The interesting thing about this class is that it is for teaching web design. The course is not related to English at all, it completely focuses on computers (HTML, CSS, Dreamweaver, Flash, Photoshop, etc) and so it must be taught in Chinese. That means a lot of stress for me, but it is also a good chance to force me to improve on my Chinese skills. I will need a lot of support from my friends but hopefully when I get through this, my Chinese will have something to show for it.
I met up with Ceci at Festival Walk. I thought it was actually a path similar to the Star Walk but it turns out to be a mall. There is an indoor skating rink at this mall as well which I hope I will have some time to try in the near future. We talked about our potential housing situtation and took a walk around the community there.
I need to figure out other ways to make money, and I need to find more information about BULATS. Tomorrow I'm suppose to meet up with Carman to fix her computer or her internet, I'm hoping to ask her to help me with my personal pictures since she is a photographer herself. The stress in my life has changed, but Hong Kong is still stressful. I hope I can survive until the next big step.
Hong Kong ID - Feels Good to be Legal!
Since I had some free time today I thought I would drop by the immigration office to try to move up my appointment date. If they could process my ID today I would do it at the same time. I took a number and sat down expecting to wait 2 to 3 hours, but I think the staff member remembered I only needed one piece of information verified because he called me within half an hour. After checking my requirement I thought it would all be over. Actually I had just finished the portion to verify if I had qualified, I still needed to go through the process of getting my Hong Kong ID card. So back down from the 25th floor over to the 8th floor. Luckily it was still early and they had not filled their walkin quota for that day. I think it took another hour but I had my picture taken, my thumb prints recorded and a temporary ID card made up for me. I must say the process was quite efficent.
I was in a happy mood walking back from Wan Chai to Sogo, where I was stopped by a lost traveller. Possibly from Taiwan, he was lost and looking for Times Square. Of course he only spoke Mandarin but I looked at his map and figured out the path. Actually I learned something myself because I use to take the long way back to get to Times Square. I lead him myself, and since I was in the area, I went up to see if Sharon Island (the Korean hair salon) was open. I got up to the door and had to be let inside, they were all Korean. My Korean is so rusty but I managed to get a few words out and I think they were more at ease. The lady told me that two of the stylist are from Korea, and the charge for a cut is $150 HKD. I was over joyed. No more having to deal with Hong Kong stylists, I just have to call and book an appointment with them next time. My hair is slowly getting back to the long state I had it before it was butchered, so I think it will still be another month before I get it cut.
I headed over towards Sogo where I was stopped just behind Sogo. As usual it was someone looking to do a survey so I broke out in complete English again expecting to scare off my would be interviewer. To my surprise he switched to English himself. He was understandable and because I was in a good mood I decided to do the survey. Looks like he was interviewing for PCCW's iShop magazine. He asked me a few questions about my ipod shuffle, and other electronic devices I would like to own. They had a photographer take my picture and I guess we'll see if I show up in the October issue. This reminds me I still need to collect a few good photos so I can start hitting up those production companies. I've been so busy with my prep work these days. Thanks Jay for doing the write-ups for the TOEIC mock exam papers.
Problem Resolution - No More Phone
I went to meet up with Ada at the Central Library this afternoon. I've been trying to find information regarding the BULATS test for work. I took some time to read through a few articles in the economist and when Ada arrived I went to find her a National Geographics magazine. Veto, the cell phone shop, called me to tell me that they actually fixed my phone. If I want it in the original condition then they need to take the phone back to replace the inside. I was fed up already, actually for $190 HKD I was willing to end the pain. I agree to the exchange and after library I headed out to Mong Kok. The street was crazy, I forgot it was the weekend. Walking in and out of the MTR feels like rush hour.
When I got to the store, that bastard old man wasn't around. I was a lot calmer and the sales associate really made an effort to be friendly this time around. Actually he ended up charging me $180 HKD for the work. I said my thank you and head out to find Gloria. We walked around the street to see how much it would be to trade in my phone. Most places were willing to pay $1100 HKD for it. Eventually we came across someone who was willing to buy it for $1150 HKD. Only $50 but still that matters to someone who's counting pennies. I really don't want to deal with
that phone anymore. Now to calculate. The total cost for the phone initially was $1750 HKD. Plus $180 HKD for repair brings us to $1930 HKD. Minus the $1150 HKD for the trade leaves me at a loss of $780 HKD (about $120 CAD) which I deemed acceptable. If it was going to break on me after 3 months, the chances of it doing so again was high. Gloria was nice enough to lend me her phone still until I decide to buy my new one. I'm planning to wait until mid September, hopefully the new
SLVR will be out by then. Well one worry down. I wonder if I can get anything for the box of equipment I still have at home for the phone, I'm surprised they didn't even ask for the charger they just took the phone.
We wandered around a bit and actually came upon an acceptable tripod. I suck at bargining, like most guys I think, so I needed Gloria to pressure to get the price down. Original was $98 HKD, sold to me for $85 HKD. So now I have a very basic large tripod that I can use for both night time shots and portrait style shots.
Tonight I went out to meet Gloria's friends for karaoke. My first time doing Karaoke in HK. We went to Neway out near Causeway Bay. It seems pretty much like Canada's Chinese karaoke places except they had a buffet included. As soon as we got there we went downstairs to find food to eat. The selection isn't exactly great but it is okay, I was eyeing the veggies since I don't nearly get enough of them. I actually sang quite a few songs, though Sai will be disappointed since I'm not quite hitting the ranges I use to. The West Life songs really went no where. One of the people asked about the Korean word for "awesome" so just as a test I ended up calling Hyun Jin. She finally picked up and we had a pleasant conversation just to catch up. I miss quite a few friends, and a few of them I hope read through my blog I hope. I really do miss you guys, it is hard to find the same feeling with friends that I had before.
My New Teaching Day
This is my first full teaching day. 9:30 sharp I have the housewives in the morning. This time it went a lot better, with a little help from everyone we all made it through class, learned a few things, and had some fun. I find that when a large group of ladies get together they really want to have fun. I grew up pretty sheltered from the female culture, probably my own fault though, and only in the recent years have I become to see the habits of the "fairer" sex. One lady brought out pictures of her children and the first thing the ladies talk about is their size. How skinny or thin someone is, how big another child is.
The afternoon class was a surprise. They actually wanted to learn English and even tried on their own to speak to me in English. I hope they all do well on their exam. I need to prepare them for either the TOEIC exam or the BULATS. I'm a little worried for the first class because their skill level is a bit behind the afternoon class's. Actually I have a person in my morning class that is hearing impaired. Since she walked out in anger the first time I need a way to keep her around and actually help her learn the next time she is in class.
I had about 3 or 4 hours to kill before my evening class (this feels like I'm working at Casey's Bar and Grill again) so I went back to SME Education Centre. Mr. P L Chan still had a problem with peeling skin (he got sunburnt badly) and it was looking as gross as ever. I stressed the importance of moisturizer. I also found out it was one of the girl's last day there. I was helping her correct a few fliers. Kammy is a friendly girl who will be heading out to work in Sha Tin. Not at Snoopy land, but in some plaza where there is a candy or snack store. She is good friends with another employee at SME Education; they've been friends for over 16 years. I don't think this is the usual case but just like Ada and Gloria, they've kept some really long friendships. I think out of the friends that I really associate with, I've known Arthur the longest (about 8 years now).
Evening class was really casual tonight. Almost all the guys arrived early or on time for class. This is a first it usually never is like this. One of the guys, Andy, really wants me to go boating with him and his friends and I finally agreed. My budget is really tight but this is a big chance to increase my network in Hong Kong so it might be worth the sacrafice. Not that he is a bad person to know, but more along the lines that I am not in a good finacial position. Especially if you consider that I probably need to buy a new phone. I have my eye on a new motorola (
v270) due out in mid September.
As a class we headed out to eat Japanese food. It was a great time to talk and network. They asked their other teacher to come out as well, Peggy, and afterwards she asked if I was interested in teaching at a couple of other locations. I expressed interest and we exchanged numbers. Very productive as a day so I was quite happy heading home. Maybe a bit too happy, I've been dying to get back into breakdancing. While I was standing at the platform I suddenly felt the need to break listening to the Beastie Boys on my ipod shuffle. If you're interested in seeing my short lapse of craziness you can message me because I actually recorded it on my camera. Of course I choose an area where the majority of the people couldn't see me.
