Changes

With some friends at the Empire State Building during my recent trip to the US

Well, I’ve returned to Hong Kong after a wonderful month in the States. In fact, I’ve been here for about five days now, so I’m pretty much back in the swing of things. Except life isn’t exactly the same as when I left. While I’ve been away, quite a few important changes have taken place. It’s funny, but even making my way from the airport to my apartment, I realized that more seems to have changed in Hong Kong over last month than in the US over the eight months between my visits. Favorite restaurants have closed and fresh ones have opened, massive new stores have sprung up, construction projects have finally been completed and new ones have been started. I also missed out on the first Typhoon 8 to hit Hong Kong since I moved here. But there are other changes that personally affect me to an even greater extent than these.

'Nova Happy Hour in NYC

One of the first to hit me upon my homecoming was the absence of Véronique, my roommate whose internship ended while I was away. She’s back in Europe now, going on with her life, and Hong Kong is just a chapter of her past. We knew her departure would occur while I was in the States, so we had a proper goodbye before I left, but it still felt odd walking into the apartment knowing she was no longer there. I know I wrote this in my last post, but I am really going to miss her. She was a fellow adventurer and a drinking buddy, a history nerd and a partier, all rolled into one, and that combination is pretty hard to find. I was very lucky to have her around, even though she only stayed in Hong Kong for a few months.

with Véro

In her old room, we now have Remco. He’s from Amsterdam, and he also works in finance, so I’m sure we will become friends. Although he moved in while I was in the States, my first days back in Hong Kong were a sordid mess of late nights, early mornings and strange sleep schedules, so our paths didn’t cross until last night. We had a good chat though, and I’m very excited to get to know him better. He seems very motivated to see as much of Hong Kong as he can while he’s here (until February), so hopefully I get the chance to revisit some of my favorite Hong Kong attractions that I’ve pretty much ignored since the first months after my relocation. It’s funny, but there are so many things I literally haven’t done in nearly two years—things I loved when I first arrived but somehow never got back to. Maybe Remco will be a good excuse to do them again.

Perhaps the biggest change I was faced with when coming back to Hong Kong was a shift in offices. Yes, while I was away, the company decided to re-locate from IFC2 to 151 Hollywood Road. Imagine moving from the single most corporate skyscraper in the heart of Hong Kong’s business district to a quaint, Chinese street lined with stately antique shops and banyan trees, and that’s pretty much what we did. Walking into the old office, I used to pass a line of clocks indicating the time in over twenty cities worldwide. Now, I walk pass the Man Mo Temple, perhaps the most historic and interesting temple in town, which is literally just across the street.

The uber-corporate lobby of IFC2 features digital clocks of major cities around the world.

And so far, it’s turned out to be wonderful. Near IFC, the restaurants acted like they were doing you a favor by letting you eat there. They charged exorbitant prices for only decent food. And the lunchtime crowd was a horror. The restaurants up here compete for your business with reasonably-priced prix-fixe lunch specials. And it’s such a nice area to work. It’s quiet and filled with incredible restaurants, bistros, coffee shops and wine bars. I already miss certain aspects of IFC, but the new location certainly has its perks!

Inside the Man Mo Temple on Hollywood Road, across the street from our new office.

I’m not gonna lie: one thing I certainly miss is taking the tram every morning. But to get to Hollywood Road from the nearest tram stop, I’d have to scale several steep flights of stone steps, so it wouldn’t really be practical to continue taking it to work. Luckily for me, the 26 bus runs pretty much from my apartment to the office door, so it’s a much less exhausting way for me to commute. And the fare is only HK$4.10 (or $0.53!!!) so I can’t really complain.

One thing I already miss is taking the tram to work every morning.

And although I loved the view from IFC, our workspace was pretty small. I wouldn’t exactly call it cramped since it was only Kevin and me sharing it, but the larger space on Hollywood Road is much roomier. Gone is our harbor view, but we now have a nice panorama of traditional Chinese apartments, the Cat Street market and the neighboring high-rises. And I understand the new rent is about one third the price of our old office’s. Sounds like a good deal to me!

One of the last photos of took of my view from my desk in IFC2

Luckily, a lot of things are the same, too. I’ve loved spending time with my old friends, ogling at the skyline from the Avenue of Stars, dancing till dawn in Lan Kwai Fong and feasting on the most delicious dumplings you will ever eat! Tomorrow night I’ll head back to Happy Valley for the Wednesday night horse races before venturing into Wan Chai for post-racing revelry. And next weekend we have what may well prove to be the last junk boat trip of the season. So Hong Kong is still an irresistible mix of old and new, and I’m so glad to be back in the pearl of the orient.

Sunset over HK's skyline, with my old office building, IFC2, dominating the scene!