Eggs Benedict

I decided to start a review of Eggs Benedict from different places around Hong Kong. Ratings will be out of a maximum possible score of 50, being made up of:

1. Eggs - must be poached, runny in the centre, without the watery whites that you sometimes get.
2. Bread - should be a muffin, or a bagel if muffins are not available. Should be lightly toasted.
3. Hollandaise sauce - light but not watery, reasonable quantity.
4. Coffee - ideally a latte.
5. Ambience - everything else about the place - sit with a newspaper or squash between families.

Each section will have a maximum possible score of 10. Scores will be awarded by me based solely on what I think at the time - all decisions are final and no correspondence shall be entered into.

Today, we sampled Uncle Willie's Deli on Wyndham Street in Central. Sonia had a Ham and Cheese Omlette, and I had, well, the Eggs Benedict. The Omlette came with chips, and was "ok".

The Eggs Benedict was two very nicely poached eggs, still running inside but cooked properly on the outside. The eggs, with smoked salmon (or your choice of ham, bacon, or spinach), sat on a big hunk of bread instead of a muffin. The bread was nice and fresh, but detracted somewhat. However the biggest downside for the dish was that it had spent some time under the lights or a grill (I assume to warm it up again), so the hollandaise sauce was slightly browned in places. An interesting effect.

The deli itself is nice and relaxed, obviously catering for the expat crowds. There were no newspapers available, but the coffee was ok, and the Apple and Cranberry juice was good. The staff were friendly and quick.

In summary, probably not a place we will rush back to, but an ok breakfast.

• Eggs - 9/10
• Bread - 5/10 (not a muffin or bagel, but it was nice and fresh)
• Hollandaise - 6/10 (don't grill it!)
• Coffee - 6/10
• Ambience - 7/10 (could have sat with a newspaper if we'd bought one with us)
• Total score = 33/50

Public Transport

Just been looking at the bus routes and timings for getting to work. Choices for the daily commute are:

• 8am and 8:20am express bus from outside the apartment complex through to Central (across from the office) in 20 minutes. Total cost $5 per trip (NZD 1.0).
• Other buses running roughly every 15/20 minutes throughout the day, but with more stops taking about 40 minutes. Total cost $5 per trip.
• Taxi from outside the apartment complex to Central, taking between 20 and 40 minutes depending on traffic. Total cost $70 per trip (NZD 14.0).
• Shuttlebus leaving from the apartment complex to the closest MTR, then MTR to Central and a five minute walk to the office, probably around 30 minutes. Total cost about $3.60 per trip (less than NZD 1.0).
• Rent a carpark in town close to the office. Drive from the apartment complex to the office, around 20 minutes. About $2000 per month for the carpark, plus petrol.
• Park in a public carpark each day. Cost around $3000 per month plus petrol.

In the end I suspect that the bus will win - get on, sit down, and relax until it stops at the other end. Charge the iPod with music and get a paper to read. And cheaper!

The contract is signed

We are ready for launch - things are starting to fall into place. The apartment rental has been agreed and contracts signed. Money to be paid today once we know the company name to go on the cheque! Carpark is included, so now Sonia is nagging (!) about getting a car. Crown Relocations called yesterday to say that the shipment has arrived in Hong Kong. Monday is a holiday, so I guess they will not be moving the stuff in then. Maybe Tuesday if the shipment clears customs in time. Otherwise it will have to be the week after, as I am off to KL next Wednesday, then Indonesia on Monday 6th, and Philippines at the end of that week. Since Sonia is swanning off back to NZ on Monday night, there are few days that will fit properly. Still, it's nice to have an apartment to call home.

I write this from the Bangkok airport where, having finished my meetings, I wait for my late afternoon flight. Actually I have been working (very peaceful tucked away in a corner) and just needed 5 minutes.

Sonia has running backwards and forwards between the hotel and Central getting the apartment stuff organised. This also required collecting a letter from the office to prove that I am (gainfully?) employed. Since then she has been looking for towels (suprisingly difficult to find) and a mattress protector (also not easy). And sleeping in (as she keeps telling me). I'm not sure what else to write about Sonia's activities, but I will apply pressure to have her update the blog on the weekend.

Oh well, back to work I think.

Sleepless in Hong Kong

Well, a very sleepless night. We were watching a movie (I think the title is "Ed" - about a guy who agrees to have his life turned into a TV show) until about 11pm. Then began the tossing and turning as we wondered whether we are heading in the right direction with the apartment. So small - will we fit everything, how will we stand the small space after being used to a 1400 sqft apartment in KL. I forgot to mention yesterday that the 900 sqft includes an allowance for "common areas", so your usable space in the apartment is around 3/4 of the quoted space. So in actual fact the apartment is probably closer to 700 sqft. Sonia checked with reception at the hotel - our "studio" hotel room is between 330 and 350 sqft. So the apartment will be around double the size. Oh, and it is on the 48th floor, which does at least mean you get a good view. Some might say it is above the smog? Decisions, decisions.

Monday, monday

Well, we (Sonia) saw another couple of places this afternoon and it looks like we are getting closer. This time it's a two bedroom apartment in Bel-Air, Pokfulam. It's 913 square feet (gasp). There is enough room in the second bedroom for a small wardrobe and a desk. That's it. We are currently trying to work out how to fit our "stuff", and what "stuff" will need to be sent back to NZ or sold. For example, our second bed will not fit unless you count leaning up against the wall in the lounge. So it will be a casualty of HK.

VISITORS BEWARE. You will be sleeping on the floor in the lounge. Although we can still fit the sofa, so maybe one person gets the sofa and one gets a lilo on the balcony?

I guess the advantage of the smaller apartment is the significantly lower cost. We get to save more, and spend some of the money on eating out in the many restaurants. And of course we can also afford to have Sonia's nails done (HKD 400 for a job done badly today) and her hair colour maintained (it's not natural, you know!). And maybe I'll be able to afford a motorbike? We'll see.

Delayed Arrival...

It has happened sorry. I have just got off the phone from Cathay Pacific and the only date I could change my flight to was next Monday 30th October. My apologies to Jordan who had the red carpet already prepared, but at least he can update his calendar now!!

We have decided that we really do not want to be in a hotel for another month (if the shipping goes into storage at all it needs to be for a month - they charge you for a full month regardless of how many days it is there for and we must get value for money :-)...) so I am staying to find us something in the next few days. I shall have to apply extreme pressure to the agents to show me everything there is to see on Monday and Tuesday. Andrew is off to Thailand on Wednesday night, so I will have a couple of days in the hotel by myself at the end of the week, but it should not be too bad. I will then leave Andrew to actually supervise the unpacking - most likely on the 1st November. It is about time he had a turn!

Dinner was just fine... do not let Andrew tell you otherwise - he cleaned every last bit from his plate...

See you soon

Sonia

Unknown

Couldn't figure out what to use as a title....

Today we got fatter. Well, we started with breakfast at the hotel this morning (same as every other day so far). Then moved to Pacific Place for lunch (a big shopping centre in Admiralty). Lunch was Mozzerella & Proscuittio (spelling?) sandwiches from one of the nicest supermarkets that we've found. The one sandwich cost abou HKD 59, for about a foot length. Which we shared... Then we decided to walk(?) the escalator, which is the longest escalator (we believe) in the world. It takes you from Central (where Andrew works) to the top of Midlevels (suburb). In the morning until 10:20am, the escalator goes down. After that, it goes up. It is not, however enclosed and air-conditioned. So in summer it is probably very warm. Right now, it was mostly ok, although after 20 minutes we decided that it was time for a break. Conveniently, we happened to be passing a cafe called The Phoenix. Very nice.

We caught the ferry to Discovery Bay, which is an island about 30 minutes away from Central. It's quite popular as a place to live for expats. However, the somewhat "moving" trip on the ferry led us to decide that it is probably not a feasible location for us (Sonia).

Now, we are home, and Sonia is cooking dinner. On the menu tonight, is pasta, with meat sauce made from a jar of Smokey Bacon sauce and a lump of mince purchased from the supermarket. Mince and Smokey Bacon, I hear you ask? I'll update the blog again once we have sampled the results.

Here is a photo of Sonia at work, watching the pasta cook in a frypan (that is all we have) in our little kitchen situated right next to the bathroom (Sonia's back is to the bathroom).

Location, location, location

Things are getting interesting in the hunt for an apartment. So far we have managed to agree on a preferred apartment development, and some basic criteria for the final selection. It's now with the agent (who is unfortunately telling us we might be a little optimistic) to find some apartments in that block.

The picture is somewhat complicated because the prices that the various landlords are advertising vary wildly - by more than HKD 10,000 per month for what is essentially the same apartment. We now need a smidgen of luck to identify a landlord who needs to let their apartment quickly in order to meet the mortgage. For your reference, these apartments are worth HKD 22,000,000 to purchase. Unbelieveable? Believe it. One factor that works in our favour is that the permits for the entire block of 8 towers of 49-50 floors (three apartments per floor) were released at the same time. That means there are a lot on the market right now. Some of the landlords arranged their mortgage many months ago but have been unable to let the apartments because the permits were not issued. So, watch this space over the next couple of days.

If that falls through, we did see a one-bedroom place in The Peak that looked very nice. Maybe a backup option, although it does mean for all you people who are planning to visit, that you would have to sleep shoulder-to-shoulder on the floor in the (small) lounge.

The other alternative is that we go and stay at the Four Seasons, which will rent us a one-bedroom serviced apartment on a long-term basis, for a similar amount to Bel-Air. How would that be for a prestigious address? Maybe not quite as good as being able to say we live at "Cloud Nine" apartments (in Tai Tam)?

To all Aucklanders (including mothers) - Sonia will probably delay her trip to NZ by a few days until she has the apartment situation under control. She promises to keep you posted (however if you believe that, then look at who has kept the blogs up-to-date!).

Correction

Well I stand corrected. Got back to the hotel room tonight to find that Sonia had actually tidied up - unless of course I find out that Sonia convinced the maid service to tidy up for her? The place looks very clean and tidy now. Long may it last!

Sonia spent the afternoon looking at apartments on the North and West parts of the island. At the end there were only two that made the grade - Leighton Hill (in Causeway Bay) and Bel-Air (in Pokfulam). The rest were too small, too bad, or too expensive. Then there were discussions at work this afternoon with other expats about the relative advantages/disadvantages of the various areas. The South Side of the island was raised as an option, however from what I've seen on the Internet sites the prices rise dramatically, and the company doesn't pay enough to get somewhere decent at a reasonable size. Sonia will be going out again tomorrow (Thursday) morning to have a look at two Bel-Air apartments that I've already seen. The viewing of Bel-Air today was marred by a crowd of small children exiting the shuttle bus to bombard the pool area. And the apartment turned out to be one or two floors up directly above the (now full) pool. Not a good start. Well, we'll see what Sonia thinks of the places tomorrow. Time is getting tight as the shipment arrives in HK on 27th and we need to have somewhere for them to deliver to shortly after that. I'm heading to Bangkok for two days at the end of next week, returning to HK on Friday night.

Dinner tonight at Grappa's Cellar - a pizza/pasta restaurant in Jardine House (not far from the office). Not bad until you convert the HKD360 into NZD! Sometimes you just cannot think about it.

Jonathan posted a comment referring to an interesting article pointing out some disappointing behaviour on the part of Helen Clark and her Labour Party in NZ. Worth a read.

National Disaster

Sonia arrived last night and started to unpack her bag. Now the (my) place looks like a mess! My place! Imposter!

We went down for breakfast this morning (will be nice to get out of the hotel soon), then walked to the MTR station so that Sonia knows the way (assuming that she can remember the directions and turnings). I've stopped at Pacific Coffee to collect my morning caffiene injection before heading upstairs to the office.

Sonia is off with an estate agent this afternoon (no rest for the very wicked) to look at a range of apartments around the place. Today she will focus mostly on Happy Valley (make anyone think of Happy Valley ski slope at Ruapehu?), Wan Chai (party town), and Midlevels (expatriate central). Then tomorrow afternoon meeting one of the agents who showed me a couple of places in Bel-Air. Then tomorrow late afternoon with another agent at Bel-Air - this may be the favourite development so far.

Decided that I'm sick of cooking for myself in the hotel room (it has a small kitchen) while walking past lots of nice restaurants every day. Tonight I'll drag Sonia to Grappa's Cellars for dinner to recap the apartment hunting experience. Then tomorrow night we are supposed to meet up with Paula, a lady who Sonia and I have both worked with over the years and who was instrumental in me getting this current job.

Time to get to work... I hope Sonia has tidied up by now.

End of week two

Today was the end of the second week in Hong Kong. This morning I started with a walk around Victoria Park. The park is popular with people who want to get outside. There were lots of people wandering around, playing soccer and tennis on the concrete pitches, sitting on the path, exercising (variations of Tai Chi again), and playing with model boats on the pond. I worked out eventually that the pond is specially constructed for exactly that purpose.




I didn't manage to get a photo, but there was a guy running a racing boat around the longer part of the pond - you can see the space in the background. It went really fast - the sign actually says that the second part of the pond is restricted for fast running. There were other guys with similar boats, and I hung around for a while hoping that they would race. However it was evidently more about a social time spent chatting and (I guess) comparing the relative advantages and disadvantages of each boat.

The families seemed to be having more fun teaching their young children how to drive the boats.

Then this afternoon walking into Central. The newspaper this morning had an advertisement for a hotel/residential development in Queenstown called "The Shore". I walked to the Ritz-Carlton where they had a conference room set up. Great to hear Kiwi accents from the developers. Nice looking places, but I wonder about the financials of investing in this type of development.

This evening I'll head out and re-stock the food cupboard for the room in preparation for Sonia's arrival on Tuesday. Wouldn't do to be empty at the wrong time! And of course the gym - it's great being somewhere where the gym is close and convenient. Reading the entry Sharon and Sonia put onto the World Tour Blog, I suspect I've got the better arrangement at the moment :-)

Exercise habits

Not mine - other peoples'.

One of the things I've noticed about HK is the number of people I see exercising as I make my way to the office each morning. I'm in Pacific Coffee (again) having just walked past two or three people exercising gently. Something like Tai Chi but not. You need to understand the context of this. The office and Pacific Coffee are part of a large shopping mall, which is bounded by four office towers. The people I see exercising are standing in the courtyards of the shopping mall, while all around them people walk by. Imagine something similar to the office blocks and shopping areas in Queen St in Auckland, the Trafford Centre in Manchester, or maybe Edmonton Mall in Edmonton. A strange place to do your exercises when there are a number of small parks close by.

On a different note, I see from the NZ Herald that the government is finally starting to move on the traffic/roading problems in Auckland. The article is about the likely toll motorway from Manukau to Albany. About time, and people should stop worrying about tolls. Go most places in Europe and tolls are a fact of life. Same in Malaysia. Focus on more important things. However, it moves at a glacial pace - the motorway might be open in 2015, barring the usual delays.

And another article on smacking kids... Ignore for one moment the ridiculousness of legislating the limits on smacking to such a level of detail (maybe they should look at the principles rather than be prescriptive), read the final paragraph about mums and wooden spoons. Reminds me of a time when one parent used a wooden spoon, but it wasn't particularly effective. The spoon broke and both of us burst out laughing. And of course I was an angel and didn't deserve it at all!

Musings in the evening too...

Another day gone. Time is starting to move quickly after a bit of a slow start in HK.

Some of the apartments are pretty flash looking. Here's a shot of a lobby/shared area in a block that is a favourite so far... On the right of the picture is the restaurant/cafe. On the left (mostly out of the shot) is the library area with nice comfy couches. Moving through the middle takes you down a nice curving staircase to the gym, squash courts, basketball court, yoga studio, spa, and event rooms.


On the other hand there are some pretty terrible places. Here is a shot of the view when looking out the living room windows of a place in Midlevels.

Here, the buildings are very densely packed with little chance of a view of the sea. The advertisements often specify FSV or PSV - Full Sea View or Part Sea View. The alternative is MV - Mountain View. I think this place was described as MV. Something to watch.
I am going out again on Friday to look at places with an expat agent who knows what other expats are looking for. Then Sonia is here next week to make the decision and we can move in.

Apartments don't come with curtains here. And in some cases don't have light fittings either. Something else to be careful of.

Musings in the morning

It's early (well 8:00am is almost early) on Wednesday. This morning I decided to catch a taxi to the office instead of taking the MTR. A big decision to make long-term: do I catch a taxi to work, arriving cool, calm, and (mostly) collected. Or do I save money and catch the MTR, arriving a bit warmer, at roughly the same time.

For anyone who has been in HK, you'll know what the MTR is like. For those who have not, it's a very efficient and cost-effective means of transport. Because it is both of those things, it gets very busy at rush hour and on the weekends. Think of those pictures you see on TV of the subway in Tokyo where staff are pushing people onto the train. Not that bad, but still very popular with the crowds of people who need to commute around Hong Kong. When I was here about 5 years ago, I remember walking through the stations fighting an oppressive heat. No longer - the stations arenow airconditioned, with the temperature a pleasant 25 degrees. So the sweat (and associated smells) is not such a problem. During peak periods the trains seem to run every two minutes. During the key rush-hour, it seems like they are actually about a minute apart. Even then, there are still lots of people on the trains and waiting to get on (or off as the case may be)!

The advantage of the taxi at the moment is the door-to-door nature of the trip. They pick up off the street outside the hotel, and drop you off outside the office building. The MTR station in Causeway Bay is about 5 minutes walk from the hotel door, or 10 minutes walk to the actual train platform. Then at Central I have to walk about 10 minutes underground to get to the office. Not a worry normally, but at the moment I am working to lose the additional calories that I stored away on the round-the-world tour. Too many burgers, chips, etc!

On the money side, it cost me about HKD 4.5 (NZD 1) to go each way on the MTR. Very reasonable price. A taxi going the same distance (well almost) costs about HKD 33 (NZD 6.60). The same taxi at night going the opposite direction costs more because of the traffic (one-way roads). I guess I will end up on the MTR most of the time, with taxis from time to time.
So, taxi or MTR?

Anyway, I have just looked back at what I have written this morning and cannot believe that it's possible (certainly not sensible) to write so much about so little! Maybe it really is time to go to work. This morning's ramble has been bought to you courtesy of Pacific Coffee in IFC Mall! Have a nice day.

Doing the washing

Well, another mundane evening. I am sitting with the laptop in the laundrette waiting for the washing to finish. Next the dryer. I carefully noted the time when the washing went in, and came back a couple of minutes after it was supposed to be finished. However at some point in the cycle it decided to extend, so there are 8 minutes more to go. Oh well. There are bigger problems in this world.

Passport time today. There are only two blank pages in my passport, so it's time to get a new one - in time to put my HK work visa stamp into it. Strangely, New Zealand passports are only issued in Wellington (funnily enough), Sydney (there must still be too many Kiwis in Bondi), and London (too many Kiwis on their OE). So, off with the forms and passport by courier to NZ.

Starting to think about maids. Time to get one. Or at least start the process of getting one. Maybe Sonia would like to apply?

Mundane

This afternoon was a little mundane. Having been out and fought my way through the crowds for a while, I ended up a little warm and back at the hotel. However, there is very little to do at the hotel other than go to the gym. Eventually I succumbed to boredom and gave in and went to the gym. A brisk walk for 45 minutes on the treadmill, followed by some weight machines.

Then back to the room, shower and cool down. Dinner was spaghetti with bread. I know that sounds boring, but we have not been able to get spaghetti for about three years! A bit of browsing on the Internet, catching up with news from BBC and NZ Herald.

I note that Sonia has still not updated her travel blog, although I know from talking to her that they arrived safely in Ooty.

Housing in Hong Kong

Well. My first time looking at apartments in Hong Kong. I had discussed our preferences with the agent beforehand, and agreed that she would show me a range of apartments in different areas. The idea was to cover off the main styles and expatriate areas, then make a decision about how best to proceed.

We looked at a new block in Pokfulam, then worked our way back into town and across towards Happy Valley. Pokfulam is nice, new, and very grand in the public areas in the development. Kennedy Town is a former industrial area that is slowly being redeveloped. The apartment block there was brand new and surrounded by old factories that are empty and awaiting destruction. Nice enough, but the apartment felt a bit small and the location was... strange. Then into Midlevels, which is older (buildings are 20-30 years old) and smaller. There is less emphasis on facilities in the block, probably because you're right in the city and therefore go out rather than staying in the development. Then lastly Happy Valley. The apartment was not great, but the location has a nice feel. Being Saturday midday by this stage, the streets were teeming with people enjoying the time at the shops, cafes, and restaurants. Like I say, a very nice feel.

Interestingly, the agent had rented a car (MPV) and driver to take us around the places. This meant being dropped off at the entrance of each block, then pickups right outside afterwards.

Then later today it was back onto the streets to explore. I caught a bus from Causeway Bay into Exchange Square - an adventure trying to work out which bus number to catch. Despite looking at the sign at the bus-stop and finding that bus 25 did stop at Exchange Square, I found that in reality the bus only stopped across the road and not somewhere signed as Exchange Square. I guess I will have to figure it out, as public transport will be the thing for commuting to work. The cost of parking in Central is sky-high, so it's not feasible to drive to work each day. That means MTR (as I have mentioned before it's busy) or buses (which are air-conditioned and go straight to the office block).

Having now cooked dinner (ham-steak and cheese slices on a bagel) and been to the gym, it is time to head for bed. Goodnight.

Day three in the office

Day three at an end. I took a taxi home tonight to see what the traffic would be like. The answer is "bad". It took about two minutes to find a taxi, then 30 minutes to do the same drive that takes five minutes in the morning! I guess Hong Kong is no different to other cities with respect to traffic issues. This morning the MTR was better, after leaving the hotel about 7:30, I managed to get to the office (with coffee) by 8am.

It's washing and gym night - gym to get fit, and washing to deal with the clothes. Need clean underwear for tomorrow!

On Saturday it's off to look at apartments - see what HK has to offer.

Day two

In the office. A busy day, started by trying to catch the MTR from Causeway Bay to Central before the rush hour. Admittedly at 7:45 it was not as busy as it get's, but I think I need to leave the hotel a few minutes earlier. At the other end of the day I thought I would catch a taxi home. However. The taxi queue at Exchange Square was soooo loooonnnnnngggg it looked like it would take half an hour standing there before the front of the line comes close. Back to the MTR we go. Still trying to figure out the back streets of Causeway Bay from the MTR station (exit F) to the hotel. Getting closer...

Spent some time at lunch looking at apartment rentals (go to Hong Kong Homes and search) in Pokfulam, Central, and Happy Valley. If you're interested, click those areas on the map that is displayed when you search for rental apartments. Don't even bother looking at buying - the prices are way too high.

Anyway I was planning on the gym tonight, but after taking so long to get home and cook dinner I gave up and watched The Matrix Reloaded. The hotel has a great collection of DVDs that we can borrow. Now just checking a few things before going to bed. Good night.

Hong Kong

Andrew has landed in HK. Sonia still going around the world (it seems), visiting friends and relatives. The work begins in HK, both at work (new job) and at home (finding a home, getting things set up, etc).

Moving within the company group means that I know some of the people I'm working with, after having sat on the other side of the fence from them in the past couple of years. The offices are so much nicer than in Malaysia, which will be nice. On the down side, tavelling at rush hour means battling the crowds on the MTR. First night tonight, and it was busy. I've never seen so many people trying to crowd in at once!

We bought a new camera in KL before leaving, and will try to get some more photos onto the blog as things move along. Sonia has the old camera, and promised to keep the World Tour blog going until after she lands in HK. I'll use this one to keep track of other stuff that's happening.