Hong Kong - October 2010

Shout Outs: Nathalie Su will be in Hong Kong from January 7^th to January 12^th. Sweeeeet! Jacob Cheriathundam not only has tentative plans to visit me in Hong Kong but he most generously donated to Eat Your Serial giving a donation 50 times the amount I asked for. As a result, he is now honorary CEO. As of the end of this sentence, however, his reign as honorary CEO is over and I’m…errr…Shawn is back in charge. Gill Wheat still has the # 1 blog following ranking. I don’t think anybody will be able to shake this ranking away from her. Speaking of shake, who the hell is Nevershake? I should just message this person to find out.

Honorable Mentions: Natalie Nguyen and Anne Volz. These two lovely ladies may very be my travel buddies for my post Hong Kong trips. If so, they will definitely move up to Shout Out/Special Thanks status on this blog.

Temperature/Humidity: I’m still adjusting to this. I do love the California summers with the mid-70s, no humidity/no rain, and cool breeze. The weather is starting to get better/nicer, though.

7-11: If you ever find yourself in Hong Kong, don’t walk out of your way to find a 7-11 because you will most definitely run into one regardless of what direction you’re walking in or what street you’re walking on. They are as common as Starbucks in NYC and way more useful. I can recharge my prepaid phone, recharge my octopus card, get food, drinks, etc.

Haircut: I finally had to get a haircut and on the binary scale of it being a 1 or a 0, I’d have to go with it being a 0.

*** side note (#1): Engineering/Software joke (for Saugat) -- There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those who know binary and those who don’t. ***

a) It took way too long. I feel like it was almost an hour. I was getting hungry and I thought I was going to fall asleep at one point.

2) He didn’t use clippers. I need to specify this next time because this is probably why it took almost an hour

3) He cut my hair way too short (specifically on top). It’s been about three weeks since I’ve cut my hair and I might be able to comb it or gel it up….I mean, I don’t actually comb my hair or put gel in it anyways, really, buuuut if I did…

d) All these people were dressed up like they were about to walk the runway and I think my hair was washed about 3 times.

e) Last but not least, I still had to touch it up myself with some scissors. I don’t want to say it was terrible because I’m sure it could have been worse but it definitely could have been better.

Food: I think I eat food with chopsticks at least 50% of the time. Given the fact that I used chopsticks about 3% of the time I had food in the States, this is a huge change. I think I’m decent enough with my ability to use chopsticks. I didn’t come to HK a chopsticks rookie but I am no pro bowler. I’m trying to change that.

Weight: Maybe it’s my poor use of the chopsticks (or maybe the temp/humidity) but I’ve certainly lost weight and I haven’t put it back on (yet). When left NY for CA, I was 150lbs (in November of 2006) and now I’m 138lbs. I was actually about 142-144lbs before I left CA for HK, so I’ve definitely lost a few in the short while I’ve been away. I have a plan to get myself back to around 144/145 (which is around the weight I would want to be anyway). My plan includes going to the gym to lift twice a week (which I’ve been successful so far). I don’t really have much more to my plan other than eating well.

Age: Have I mentioned my age yet? I feel like I’m older than 90% of the people I know and hang out with, including my good friends Kon and Marius……they’re 19! They are mature, though, I promise. They’re almost 20, if that counts for anything. They are cool dudes and we hang out often (when they’re not studying hard for their exams). Most people think I look younger than my actual age, which I’m happy about.

Wan Chai/Filipinos: When I came to Hong Kong, I heard stories about all sorts of places and things including Wan Chai. Now there are normal places in Wan Chai but there are also “interesting” places in Wan Chai. Alright, let’s quit with the vagueness….there are normal bars mixed with bars that aren’t exactly strip clubs but I’m thinking that’s the closest comparison (from what I’ve heard about strip clubs…haha…actually, I’ve only been to 3.5 – 4 strip clubs in my life…they are a waste of time, in my opinion…yes there is a half…you can ask me offline…haha). Basically you walk down this one street and there are women that look like the Chinese version of my Mom grabbing you by the arm trying to convince you to come into their bar for a drink. They have young women in lingerie just hanging out there (no nudity). So, of course my friends and I go into one. We each get $10 dollar beers and then they send these young women after us. One for each guy….divide and conquer. Now here’s where they start to try to get more money out of ya… They talk to you for a bit then ask if you want to buy them a drink. I heard that these girls get commission for these drinks (knowledge I had prior to ever going into this bar), so I figured I’d humor my girl (Stella was allegedly her name). Now I knew there would be a mark up on this drink but I didn’t think it would be $30 dollars…haha. You got me. Fool me once, Stella…shame on you.

So, I was $40 in the hole. I might as well get my money’s worth, right? I sure did…by having a candid conversation with her. She claimed to be 21 years old and I can believe it. She looked young and was very attractive. I thought to myself, what the hell was she doing at this place? She could be a gold digger, arm candy, or something else and/or better in the U.S. She asked me what I was doing here and who I worked for. She had a blank/clueless look on her face when I said DHL/consulting/logistics. She said she was from the Philippines. She was supposedly in Hong Kong for six months to work…at this bar. She said she worked every day 8pm - 4:30am. She said all she does is sleep during the day and that she shares a two bedroom apartment with 11 other girls. ELEVEN OTHER GIRLS!

*** side note (#2): The Filipinos here don’t live great lives for the most part. I’ve never seen anything like this before. They work in these bars, they are prostitutes, they are maids, etc. This appears to be slave like to me, to be honest. When I see an old, unattractive, rich looking white guy with a young, Filipino girl (regardless if she’s attractive or not), I can’t help but think it is disgusting and terrible. This one Filipino that I met at this BBQ who was there with her former, old, unattractive, rich white guy bf was telling me how she lives with her Mom and her married sister. Where is her sister’s husband? Back in the Philippines living off the money that his wife is making. These guys live off their wives and just do whatever they want (so I’ve been told). I don’t want to make sweeping judgments or assumptions but the Filipinos, women particularly, deserve better lives. There are a lot of people in this world that deserve better lives and opportunities but seeing it first hand has definitely opened my eyes some. I don’t know what I would do to help these people (or even my own people [Indians]…think Slumdog Millionaire…sadly, a lot of that is how it is), if anything, but it’s on my mind and now it’s on my blog. ***

Back to Stella… she asks me, “How’s your brother?”

*** side note (#3): Now, I don’t have any brothers. I have two older sisters. This question reminded me of when I was in high school and how all the teachers and randoms used to think that the kid one grade below me and/or the kid one grade above me was/were my brother/brothers. No…they weren’t my brothers. Coincidentally, they were brothers..haha ***

I didn’t go to this bar with any Indian people. I was looking around to see if there was another Indian dude or whatever in the bar and there wasn’t. So, I asked “My brother?” in a slow, confused way (since I was confused) and I may have even paused slightly between saying my and saying brother. She motions…downward… Ohhhhhhhh myyyy brotttherr… THAT Brother….Ohh….I DO have a brother. Well, for all the times I have been falsely (or in this case, accurately) accused of having a brother (or looking like Aziz Ansari), this takes the cake. In the words of Aziz mimicking R-Kelly, “Ain’t noooobbbbboddddy gonna top that shit!”

*** side note (#4): Speaking of Aziz, have you ever heard his bit about hotel luxury linens? The whole advertised thread count vs. actual? Funny stuff. Check it out. ***

I told Stella that “my brother” was sleeping. Fool me twice, Stella? I don’t think so…

Syracuse University: Thanks to Jenn Ed The Home Wrecking Dead Horse Pedde, I got in touch with the director of Syracuse’s abroad program here in Hong Kong. She asked if I wanted to do a guest speech or lecture and I accepted the guest speech gig. In return, I put her in touch with one of DHL’s senior HR managers so she could discuss a possible SU/DHL internship program. I think she would have offered the guest lecture/speech gig anyway but there happened to be a mutually beneficial opportunity for her and for me. A win/win scenario, if you will.

The speech was about what you would expect. 20-25, 18-22 year old students…some interested…some not. The speech was good and fun. If for nothing else, it was a good experience and it is going on my resume. The professor was a really cool dude, too, that talked me up like I was someone far more extraordinary than I am. Thanks Dr. Trimachi!

Movie Theater/Theatre: Is it theater or theatre? Whatever… I went to a movie here and the one thing that I found interesting was that there was assigned seating. It makes things a lot easier, that’s for sure. I think I like it better this way.

Escalators: I was good to the people moving industry and now the people moving industry is being good to me. I live in SOHO. From Hong Kong MTR station to my apartment is all uphill. Think downtown Syracuse to campus or walking up Lombard Street 3 or 4 times. Maybe I’m exaggerating but perhaps my initial paths to and from the HK MTR helped contribute to my weight loss. I was determined to find a better way and after a few days of going to and from HK MTR (to get to the train that took me to work), I found a better way….the escalators. Some of ya’ll know this and some of ya’ll don’t. At any rate, there are these escalators (actually, people movers but whatever) that go from the HK MTR all the way up to my apartment (just a block or two over…but I don’t have to walk up an incline). So, there are escalators on one side (only going in one direction) and stairs on the other side (obviously for people going in the other direction…or, I guess, people who want exercise or something). I thought I would take the stairs down in the morning, too, because there is a subway discount machine that people use every day to save some money on their commute, so I figured I’d use it too. As I was preparing to walk down along side the escalators, what did I find out? They reverse the direction in the morning!! So, I could (basically) stand the entire way up and down the hill. I don’t stand, I still walk (and usually fast…because Matt Thomas only knows one speed…full speed)…but it’s a lot easier. The escalators are awesome and “Ain’t nooobbbboddddy gonnna top that shit!”

Hong Kong/Macau (Sept 2010 -- Basically)

I want to start with my special thanks to Gill, Saugat, and Shawn. I think you three are the only ones reading this blog…haha. Thanks! I’ll give honorable mentions to Analisa, Jason Demant, and Nevershake. Analisa said she is reading the blog but she hasn’t passed my “test” to see if people were reading my blog…I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt with an honorable mention. Jason Demant hasn’t passed the test yet either but he’s a follower along with Nevershake. For the record, I don’t know who you are, Nevershake, but I like you. For now, Maribel can be Nevershake because I know she’ll read this post too (even though she always shakes it on the dance floor).

Format Change: I’m not going with daily updates anymore but I’ll cover key topics, like this format change.

Apartment/Flat: I was living with Kenil, my cousin/boss, for the first couple of weeks but I needed to move because: 1) He’s my boss and that’s just weird; 2) He should have his space and I know he wanted it for when he may have “guests” over; 3) Lastly and most importantly, he lived on the Kowloon side and I needed to get to Central. So, I needed to figure this flat thing out quickly before he left for Germany for a 2 week work thing.

I used a few websites to find places (Asia Expats was the best, I believe; beware of scams/scammers, btw, if you’re every looking for places online or whatever). I only ended up looking at two places. The first place I ended up seeing twice because the agent that represented the place didn’t take down old posts that I responded to but instead of telling me that the place I was interested in was not available, he showed me the same place twice. This place sucked because the shower and the toilet were sharing the same space.

The second place was awesome and I figured I’d might as well not waste time and just jump on it. The list price was $7,500HKD/month but the agent said the price was negotiable. So I…uh…negotiated. I offered $6,500HKD/month and he accepted. Awesome! Only he calls me a few days before I plan on moving in to say someone offered $7,000HKD/month and that if I matched I still might have a chance. I figured this was the amount we were going to agree to in the first place when I low balled him and he, to my surprise at the time, accepted, so I said fine…$7,000. He called me back the next day and said were on for $7,000. Kenil thought I was going to lose the place but I told him I didn’t think there was anybody else and I think I was right. So, the day before I was supposed to move in he called and said the other guy who’s living at the flat is paying $7,200 and that she (the owner) wants me to pay that too. Now this is only like $30USD/month extra but I was pissed at this point. There was nobody else (I assumed) and I was moving in less than 24hrs from now; so, I told him he’s jerking me around too much and I wasn’t interested anymore…peace. He called me back 45 seconds later and said it was cool for $7,000. Yeah, you better believe it is. I’m the biggest hustler…ain’t nobody hustling me…haha

The place is cool, the location is cool, and the value is good for the location. Now the agent kept telling me not to tell my roommate how much I was paying or to lie because he was paying more than I was. Whatever…I won’t talk about it, however, it turns out (so far) that my roommate is cool as shit and he started talking to me about how the owner and the agent jerked him around in similar fashion too. We didn’t share how much the other was paying but it was interesting.

Banking/Finances: I know I’ve briefly mentioned banking before but I’ll mention it again. My first month check and deposit has been taken from my account but my HSBC account is broken up into three categories. Savings, Current (which I assume is checking), and foreign currency. There could be more but these are the three I see. For some reason, they put all my money into a savings account (same # as the checking account) but when the checks were withdrawn, it pulled from the current account that had nothing in it. There was no overdraw fee since this was my first “offense” but there was a minimal interest charge (less than $1 USD, I think). I went to the HSBC and resolved the issue so that my future rent checks don’t overdraw every month….just another pain in the ass banking experience. Also, I can’t waive my foreign transaction fees on my credit cards even though I’m living overseas unless I get a card here. Amex said if I disputed they would credit me but that’s just cheap.

Cost of Living: Speaking of cheap, a fully loaded cell phone plan (data, text, minutes, whatever) runs no more than $45USD/month (if my memory serves me right). That’s super cheap. I’ve just been rocking the prepaid phone plans since the contracts for phone plans are no less than 18 months. You know what’s not cheap? The Burberry trench coat Kenil bought for $10,000 HKD. $10,000! Sure it’s a nice coat but I told him it probably cost no more than $700 HKD to make (and I’m probably being nice given the fact that it was made with synthetic material…the 100% cotton one was $15,000 HKD…for cotton).

Macau: Going from cotton to Macau is about as good of a transition as I’m going to get right now and I think it’s a damn good one, given how different cotton and Macau may seem on the surface. I had to go to Macau to activate my working visa and when I got there I had two cabbies passed me up even though I was properly waiting in queue. The one that took me (I wanted to go and see the Ruínas de São Paulo…and did) almost didn’t even want to take me. A nice couple behind me in queue helped translate because there was a misunderstanding but who knows, it could have been racism. Perhaps they preferred it if I picked cotton! (You see, I told ya there was a connection…sorry to any offended but it did seem suspect and I was pissed at the time). Otherwise Macau was OK and I was only there for the working visa formality. I left at 2pm and was back by 6pm and it takes about an hour each way. I’ll have to go back some day with company.

Work: DHL, the company (I swear I’m getting lucky with these transitions) I work for is quite different than UTC. I went from a position that rarely had deadlines but success was easily measurable to a position that often has deadlines but success is subjective. The highest earner I saw on a daily basis in NY or CA maybe made $250K USD/year at best; now I see one of the global CEOs (DHL has many CEOs) on a daily basis and I’m sure he’s making over a mil. DHL has given me a few moments to sit with coworkers and learn some excel and power point tricks that I should have learned a long time ago (some of these tricks I learned in the past but I forgot them). The work is different, the people are different…everything is different. If for nothing else, I think the experience is good, I’m definitely learning new things, and diversifying my background.

Test 2: For a bonus picture that was left out of my HK photo albums, e-mail me on the side.

People: I could probably share a million things about the makeup of the people here but I’ll try to hit some key things I’ve noticed.

Expats/Foreigners = Central; Locals = Kowloon side (or other areas of HK Island). I like hanging out with both groups but rarely do you find expats/foreigners in large numbers on the Kowloon side or vice versa.

The girls/women I’ve met here so far don’t do hugs like they do in the states but they do this European kissing both cheeks things. It took me a while to get on board with the hugging thing back in the day (which the hugging thing ain’t so bad) but now this? It’s all good, actually, but it’s just different. It confused me the first time or two and I’m still not sure if everybody does this or just the slew of people I’ve met.

The other interesting thing is (if I haven’t mentioned this in previous posts) is how quickly people will exchange/ask for phone #s. I had 3 girls that I knew for mere minutes ask to exchange phone numbers. These aren’t necessarily girls who are interested in dating or whatever, they just want to hang out (or exchange #s…I dunno). Either way, I don’t think you’d ever see that in the states (ever is an exaggeration but seriously…maybe 3% of the girls in the states would do this, including Terry Tran).

The last two things I’ve noticed are: 1) 90% of the people I know are regular or social smokers. I know two California friends that would love this environment. 2) Everybody with the exception of my roommate (from the UK) speaks at least 2 languages (if not more) including this 100% Korean girl who speaks German but knows very little Korean.

*** side note (one and only): I think it is cool meeting people that speak a language and/or have an accent that is completely opposite to the language and/or accent you would think they would have. For example, a Chinese girl with an Australian accent (I’ve seen this) or a white dude with an Indian accent (I’ve never seen this…it would be…interesting…haha). ***

I really want to have a strong command of a second language but I don’t think I’ll have the time to learn one while I’m here in HK. I’ll learn basic words and phrases but I don’t expect to learn much more. I rather spend time getting the most out of work and having a good time (6 months isn’t that long…down to about 5 months now, actually). Anyways… I’ve lost touch with the Spanish I learned in HS and I have a sad to nonexistent command of Malayalam. This leads to the final transition of this note, which involves my latest poll (see the side bar on the right). Thanks for reading.

MT

p.s. Eat Your Serial…Kick Starter… check out the links…ask me questions…word