Tsim Sha Tsui - Sept 2008

This is my first day at Tsim Tsa Tsui and at the office. One of my colleagues took me out for lunch at Spaghetti House, a franchise similar to Spaghetti Factory. The $62 set lunch I had was a good price for what we had: soup, mini-salad, entree and coffee. Nothing to shout about but the coffee helped me last the rest of the afternoon at the office. However, the $33 Italian set dinner I had at Maxim's was better. With a $3 coupon in my hand, the entree and soup combination was unbeatable. The day went well. I arranged my things, hung my diplomas, wiped my office, loaded some programs, visited the library and read some office brochures, minutes and history.

Hong Kong people are notorious for working late. I tried to leave at 5 pm but no one budged, so I washed my mug, used the restroom, and checked my mail. My stalling did not work, no one made a move, so I asked for an office handbook to see if the office hours are till 5 or 6 pm, but there was none at hand. I finally left at 5:25 pm, the first to leave. This will be in my record for years to come, I guess. Curiously enough, a colleague even called me at 5:01 pm to discuss a matter. At least I was not the last to arrive at the office. At 8:15 am, I was 15 minutes early, yet all but one was earlier than me. I found out next day that office hours were till 5:30 pm, so I had left five minutes early, not overstayed 25 minutes!

Going to Macau on the weeked (Sept 5) was a comedy of errors. First, I forgot my passport, but I read on the internet that identity card holders like me with numbers that begin with "R" can just use their I.D. to enter Macau without any other travel document. A colleague told me the same thing, but I was stopped. So I called sister-in-law, who offered to rush the passport to me at the Tsim Sha Tsui ferry terminal. I had wanted to meet her halfway at other subway stations but I had too many luggages. A number of complications ensued. I rushed to the ticket counter to change my ticket, but the agent said I cannot change it with part of the stub missing, since I had passed the entrance hall once but was stopped by customs agents. My only way out is to go to the entrance again and asked for the first half of the stub back, which I did, half-running another 100 meters. After changing my ticket I could not go on the next ferry that operates every half an hour, supposedly the next one at 7:30 pm. The complication is that the ferry operates every HOUR after 7 pm at this less popular ferry (Another destination - Seung Wan - is more popular since it has ferry service to Macau every 15 mins ). I ended up taking the 8 pm instead of the 6 pm or 7:30 pm ferry. No wonder my leg cramped again sleeping that night. It happened to my weaker left leg when I turn my body to the side in the night. On my return I asked a customs agent why I still needed a passport with "R" on my passport, she replied, "Not that 'R," it's another 'R' at another place on the card!" Macau is pretty boring, but not all is lost. We ate Portugese food at the fisherman's wharf after an savory experience at a tea restaurant when I ordered a bowl of Portugese spicy fish noodles. What Portugese fish? It was laughable sardine fish right out of the can, plus three mini chilis! On, Macau working hours: 9:30 am- 1pm; LUNCH - 1-2:30 pm, 2:30-5:30 pm!

MTR Madness (Sept 9). Speaking of sardines, that was how I felt when I took a coach from Admiralty (Chung Wan) to Wan Chai at 6:40 pm to dine with my American friends who were in town. They told me they were in the previous train that reopened three times due to passengers obstruting or crowding the doors. When my turn came, I was no better, being the last to enter the door. The young lady beside me had her hand firmly holding the pole by the door to stabilize herself, thereby giving me no room to enter or maneuver without pushing her hand away, which would be very rude. I have never seen so many people packed in a train, never mind been in one, which reminds me of a scene from Japan where porters shove borderline passengers in with a big broad broom. Canned sardines have more space, I swear. The weirdest thing is the exit at the next stop is not on my side anymore, but on the other side. Not to risk missing my stop, I began saying "excuse me" to the nearest one of ten people blocking my exit. To my relief, she was getting off too, so I just followed her lead.

The next day, I was disoriented catching a train. I usually stop at Admiralty and then change to Tsim Sha Tsui, but that day, while reading the papers, I got off a stop earlier at Wan Chai without knowing it. Of course, I couldn't find a connecting train and so I stopped on the escalator like others to the concourse, but the surroundings look different, so I did not exit. Asking the ticket office, I realized the mistake, dashed downstairs to continue on the next train to Admiralty. To compound my mistake, I went up the concourse area again at Admiralty, thinking I was at Tsim Sah Tsui, because I was used to making two stops to reach the office. I scurried downstairs again only to bump into Wife's friend, who later told my wife she saw me at the subway. I still made the office by 8:30 am.

The most unique lunch I had so far was at Tsim Sha Tsui Canton Road Harbour City's Curry-in-a-Hurry. I went there twice in one week, once with a coworker and another with a spicy enthusiast. I must admit I have enough of Chinese fast food at Maxim, Cafe de Coral and Fairwood, and also mooncakes from well-wishers at the office.

The first attempt (Sept 15) to withdraw money from a Hong Kong ATM machine was laughable . My Hong Kong cash reserve was running low due the inability to set up a HSBC bank account until we get a local address, which is pending till the landlord signs a contract with us at the end of the month on the flat we seek to rent. So far so good? Further, I will get my salary only after my first month's work, not before. Not dipping into the Hong Kong (BEA) branch of my US bank account was not an option with $60 left in my wallet and $17 left in my Octopus card. I did have some cash from office reimbursement but my wife's need was more urgent and she left the ATM card to me. So Wife and her sister brought me to a Bank of China (sister bank with Bank of East Asia) teller in the nearby mall to teach me how to withdraw from my US account. However, that failed, too, not because I was too slow reading the Chinese words (which I was), but because the screen ended saying "Connection Busy," not the more common "Out of Cash. Please Try Again." Wife's sister exclaimed she had never ever saw the sign before. Feeling broke did not stop me from putting my last $60 into my Octopus card so that I can return home from lunch at Jordan with old friends . Finally, I was penniless and the beneficiary of two lunches in a row - one yesterday after worship. I went to the same unfriendly teller on the way home and tried again; this time I managed to withdraw $1,000. Besides feeling guilty, I needed the money as cushion since I am going to an office retreat that stretches over three days this week.

So far I have stuck to my stubornness of showering only once a day despite the heat. The secret is to shower when you no longer need to go out again and when the sun is down. The biggest threat was when a friend called before 9 pm (Sept 16) the night before he was to return the next morning to the States. I was reluctant to meet him at Central after taking my shower, but I had a receipt to give to him. He took me to IFC the day after the Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy. It was eerie but all was normal. I caught the MTR before 11:30 pm and returned home at 11:41 pm, skipping the shower and just "wiping the body" going to bed, since the bedsheets were due for a wash the next day.

After retreat (Sept 19) we took a regular bus instead of the min-bus due heavy rain that day. As I was about to get off the bus with everybody else, a friend I have not met for 25 years stepped into the bus. Hong Kong is that small. I noticed him and greeted him, but alas I could not get off the bus while I was still talking since I was the last in line to disembark, too. The students called me and asked if I was OK, worried that I was new in town.

The day before the second typhoon (Sept 24) hit was a hot day. After the typhoon barely left by morning, I had to go to work even though most schools were closed, but I am not complaining. If classes were canceled that Wednesday, I had to make it up with students and I already have next Wednesday's class to make up since it is another holiday. Can you imagine having to make up the first two of 10 Wednesday morning classes before school even starts? I wanted to wear long sleeves to school but Wife insisted I should wear a singlet especially when I wear white because of its transparency. I tried it but could not stand cotton sticking to my skin, so I stuck to wearing long sleeves without a singlet underneath my white shirt. I do not know how Hong Kong men could stand wearing singlets or undergarments here with the stifling heat.