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.