Be Careful When Shopping

I always thought it was strange to see the shopping centers at school that would cater to people with different food tastes. I had stopped in a Asian supermarket while I was at school just to see what it was and I thought it was very strange. The food looked very different and all the tags were written in a strange language. Well, now I have to shop at the Asian supermarkets.

My first time shopping here I went with a friend who has a car, which makes shopping so much easier. He helped me pick out some food that he said he likes and I was able to find some things that were normal. I was able to buy instant noodles and Mt. Dew and some other foods I was accustomed to back in the States. Some things my friend would just pick up and tell me he likes them so I trusted him and let him put it in my cart. After I got home and was unpacking my food, I realized one of the things in my cart was Conch Shell meat and baby octopus. These two foods did not really excite me, but I was hungry and thought I'd give it a try. I opened it up, took one bite, and that was it. My stomach did not like it at all!!!

I have now started at shopping in an international food market which is pretty nice. I normally buy things like hot dogs and sausages and can buy some cuts of meat, but the nice meat is very expensive. I can also find chips, candy, noodles, bread, peanut butter, and eggs. It is very much like the type of diet I had in school. Some of my food is limited by the fact that I only have a cooktop and a microwave, so I can't cook anything that would need to be baked in an oven.

The fruits and vegetables are very cheap here and I have been trying some new kinds. My favorite so far is called Dragon Fruit. It has a very unique outside and the actual fruit on the inside is very nice. The fruit has a texture like a soft strawberry and it is pretty sweet. They are best served cut up like an apple, or if you are very good, they can be sliced then pealed.

A dragon fruit sliced open. The fruit is slightly bigger than a baseball, and is very filling.

My First Time on Public Transportation

I guess it wasn't my FIRST time on Public Transportation as I have ridden CyRide once or twice and been in a cab, but never really on a train or a city bus from what I can remember.

After my first full day at work, my boss took me on the train to go out to eat at Dan Ryan's Steakhouse. It was a good distance away and the train ride was interesting, but it let me see all different parts of Hong Kong.

First off, I had to get an Octopus Card. It is the same size as a credit card but has no magnetic strip on it. You can put money on it then you just press the card to a reader and it will somehow read your card. I don't even need to take it out of my wallet to have it read it, just as long as it gets close to the reader. So after I got my card I had to try and follow my boss through a crazy labyrinth of little shops and escalators and a whole mess of people. It is really good that I am taller than most people around here so it makes following people much easier.

After we got to the train platform we checked in to First Class. It was about $1.50 HKD more (remember 1 USD = 7.78 HKD) and we got a seat and a bit more room than in other cabins. There are only certain times you want to travel first class because there are only so many seats and you aren't always guaranteed a seat if you pay for it. I only travel first class when the stations aren't too busy.

The train ride wasn't too bad. It was a bit bumpy at times and the stopping and going and changing directions almost made me sick. However, we were on the train for about 30 minutes before reaching our destination. We went in to the mall ate, and came back. The train was much busier on the way back and there was standing room only. The big similarity about the trains here and CyRide at school is that they try to see how many people they can get on a train. They will just pack themselves in there and then you sometimes have to fight your way out.

Since my first trip on the train, I have had many more and have figured out how to read the maps and how to take what train to get to where I need to be. Before I arrived, I looked at a MTR (Mass Transit Rail) map and it made no sense to me. However, I feel pretty comfortable taking a train to get to where I need to go.

The bus system out here is a bit more complicated for me. Some bus signs are only in Chinese, some buses only go one way, some buses only run for the morning, so you have to take a different colored bus in the afternoon, some buses will stop wherever and some buses you have to get picked up at a bus stop. I am still trying to figure the bus system out.

The mini buses, which are the most plentiful out here, are quite handy for short distances I have found out. I normally only travel mini bus with my friend who can read Chinese which makes it a lot easier. However, they didn't take my height in to consideration when building the buses. The roof, at best, is maybe only 5'10" and the door is probably less than 5' so I have to bend over quite a bit to get out of them.
Inside a mini bus

Traveling by train and bus is very cheap. I can get on a bus for ~$4 HKD and it depends where you are going on the train as to how much it costs, but it is very cheap as well. Taxis are a bit more and they start out at ~14.50 HKD ($1.86 USD). However, if you are patient, it is easy to travel out here. It's not as convenient as jumping in my truck at home and going wherever I want, but it still gets me where I want to go and sure beats walking in this hot humid weather.

Instant Coffee From A Tea Pot

In the States, I had grown so accustomed to the traditional amenities of a hotel, that I didn't even think too much about them until I came to Hong Kong. I can't speak for every hotel here, but I can say that my room in the Club was much different than many other hotels.

First off, there was no coffee pot. After being on a plane for 20 some odd hours, being flown half way around the world and a strange night of sleep, I wanted some coffee to start my first day at work successful, and awake. However, instead of a coffee pot, they gave me this nice little electric tea pot type deal. I had to fill it up with water, then there was a heating element inside that, when turned on, would bring the water to a boil. There were little packets of instant coffee, green tea, and some other type of tea you could use to make your morning drink. I poured the instant coffee in to my tea cup, poured my boiling water over it and then proceeded to burn the heck out of my mouth.



The second thing I noticed about my room was the light switches. In the US up is on and down is off, which is just the opposite here. The traditional light switch is also very small here, about the size of the button on your pants.

Another observation I made was the shower. It was not designed for someone of my height. The shower head was like a wand that you can move wherever, but at its highest point, reached somewhere around my shoulder and neck region so I had to squat down to shower. My shower in my apartment is much more height friendly. The water pressure here is amazing. If you turn a shower on full bore, it is almost painful to take a shower. In my apartment, I have an instant water heater, which I am assuming is to save space and be more efficient. So, first thing in the morning I turn the heater on, wait a few minutes, then get in the shower and have almost unlimited hot water. Then after the shower I just turn it off and it saves electricity and space.

Not Sleeping Through The Night

When I arrived in Hong Kong, it was about 6:30 pm HK time, which is 5:30am Central time. I was obviously tired from being on the flight and I really couldn't tell if I was supposed to be sleepy or awake or what not. I slept at the Club for the first few days because my apartment wasn't ready, but I could only stay asleep for a few hours. I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking it was the middle of the afternoon. Also, I would be tired very early in the afternoon and feel like going to bed around 6, so it took me about a week to get over the time change.

While at the club I had some form of cable TV. It was about 5 local channels and 5 sports channels. On the nights I would wake up in the middle of the night, I would turn the TV on to ESPN and be able to watch a live NASCAR Race at 2am. I never thought about how hard it would be (if I was interested in sports) to watch live sporting events that took place back in the States. There is plenty of excitement now with the World Cup underway and it is not uncommon for people to head to sports bars at 2:30am HK time to see the live action of the World Cup.

My sleeping schedule is finally pretty good. I have always been one to enjoy going to bed early and waking up early. Currently, I go to bed around 8:00pm and wake up around 3:30am. This allows me time to call home to friends and family before I go to work. I realized on my first internship with a golf course it would be hard for me to stay up late anyways, but I currently have settled in to a good pattern.

My Very First Blogg!

Before I left the States, I promised everybody I would start a blogg to try and keep in touch with people. Unfortunately, it has taken me quite some time to get all settled in, get internet, etc...so I have now finally started what I promised.

Since I have been here, I have had many experiences. There is no point in me writing one huge action packed blogg about everything I have done, as that would take me days! However, here are just a few topics that I am going to write about in the near future:

• Not Sleeping Through The Night
• Instant Coffee From a Tea Pot
• My First Time on Public Transportation
  
• Be Careful When Shopping
• I See Dead People (Well their tombs that is)
• The Lady in The Shack
• My Neighbor
• The Villagers
• Shek O Golf Club
• An American, a South African, a Chinese Man, and a New Zealander Walk in to a Bar
• Not Only Can You Smell It, You Can See It -- Pollution!!!
• Chickens Feet and Pig Knuckles
  
• "Well, they used to have dogs, but I think they ate them...I don't see them any more"

Well, I think this should give us a good start for some topics that I will write about soon. I just wanted to finally get this thing started and I will be posting again in the very near future!