Fitz is in Hong Kong!

Week One!

Well, actually it is more than a week but whatever. Here are some observations from my first week or so in Hong Kong.

• There are a lot of Chinese people here!
• Actually there are a lot of Brits, Aussies, Swedes, Americans, etc here as well
• English is very widely spoken except in the outer territories
• This joint is clean (minus the smog)! At times it feels like you are being followed by someone with a broom and other times well….YOU ARE)
• People do not throw their cigarette butts on the ground. They place them in special ashtrays that are all over the place.
• Central Hong Kong’s sidewalks are mostly elevated and it is very cool
• Cabs suck. The MRT subway is amazing. The ferry is fun and costs about 25 cents a ride.
• Food? AMAZING!
• Longest covered escalator in the world? Yep been there done that.
• Victoria Peak is beautiful (pics below)
• My camera sucks but I bought a new one
• For a country that is jam packed with people you would think they would be expert walkers. They aren’t. There are no rules here for walking like stay on the left pass on the right or what not. People just walk all directions and angles and it really irks me
• Ordering nachos in China equates to Doritos with sour cream on top of them. no really
• Things are not THAT expensive. It is basically New York City prices
• The harbor has shrunk (been filled in to make real estate) a lot since I was here in 1994

Here are a few pictures I took on Victoria Peak:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thefitzman/sets/72157608446037395/

First Day at the Office (The Long Cab Ride)

My first day at the office in Hong Kong started normal enough. I got up at around 7:00am tired as hell from jet lag and sent a blackberry message to my co-worker and friend Brian who was set to leave Hong later that day. After a few txt messages back and forth calling eachother ‘douche’ and ‘fag meister’ (we’re mature) we decided to go to McDonald’s and get some breakfast, you know, enjoy the local cuisine of the Natives.

So I had to travel from my apartment in Kowloon (Tsim Sha Tsiu) to Central Hong Kong and decided since I alread traveled the subway I might as well try the Ferry and enjoy the scenery. I started to walk in the direction of the ferry (at least I thought I was) and quickly got lost. Not a problemk though as there are cabs EVERYWHERE in Hong Kong. I hopped in a cab and said ‘Star Ferry please’ knowing full well that the star ferry is something everyone has heard of since it has been a part of hong kong since the 1880’s. But the driver looked at me with a stare so blank I thought perhaps he was blind and deaf and had no idea I was even speaking to him. ‘S T A R  F E R R Y’ I said slowly and clearly as he picked up his cellphone completely ignoring me and drove off. He said something really quickly to the person on the phone and put his arm into the backseat handing me the phone without even looking at me. ‘Talk’ he said.

I put my ear to the phone and the person on the other end said in a really think accent ‘where wanna to be go?’. I told the person I was goingt o the Star Ferry to Central Hong Kong. ‘Ok you put me back now?’ she said and I handed the driver the phone. I saw him knowingly nod his head as he talked to the person and figured out where I was going. he drove with a new sense of direction and I eased back in my seat and enjoyed the scenerey on what I knew would be a 3 or 4 minute ride. I had taken a cab from the ferry to my apartment the day previous and it took 4 minutes in heavy traffic.

So ten or so minutes later as we approached an area that I knew was nowhere near where I was going I ask the driver if this was the correct way to the ferry. He nodded and pointed straight ahead. I was edgy even though I had plenty of time to kill but frankly a little pissed because I knew we were not going where I wanted and we were on a hiway so i couldnt just jump out. Twenty minutes later I was even more pissed. I asked again and got another nod and a finger point. Twenty five minutes and another nod and two finger points. At 30 minutes I saw the tunnel leading from kowloon to central and realized he was indeed bringing me to the ferry but he was bringing me to the ferry on the other side of the fucking harbor. Why in the fucking world would someone want to go to the destination of the very ferry they want to ride? Did he think I wanted to take a cab to central so that I could just take the ferry right back where I came from?

I was pissed but at least I now knew where I was and I still made it to work on time. That is the only time I am taking a cab. The subway, ferry and tram cars are so plentiful and cheap I dont even know why people take cabs in Hong Kong. The traffic is ridiculous.

My Seat Reclines Beotch!!! (The Flight)

One of the things I was excited about in regards to going to Hong Kong was the simple fact that I would get to fly business class. I’m an economy class kinda guy so the thought of being pampered and eating edible food while I laid in a fully reclined seat kinda rubs me the right way.

I arrived to JFK about two and a half hours early and found the first/business class check-in counter. There was no line and I was checked in in seconds and given my ticket to the first class lounge. Perks!!!! I used to press my nose against the glass of the first class lounge and wonder what it was like. Now it was my turn to experience it.

The first class lounge at JFK is huge. Lotsa rich and special looking people lounge around typing on blackberries and laptops. Some just lay on recliners sipping mimosas or bloody marys while looking fabulous. Me, I just kinda meandered around looking for coffee. There were all these little areas with different food and drink but none of them had anyone working at them. Then I realized that it was all free and self service. Wine? Sure help yourself to any of the 20 or so bottles they had on the counter. Stiff drink? Sure help yourself. Donuts, bagels, cereal, fresh fruit? Be our guest.

I found the coffee machine and while I was making my double esspresso I saw the funniest thing. A man dressed in a very expensive suit started eyeing the little packages of milano cookies on the counter and then he reached out and grabbed about 20 packs and put them in his briefcase and his pockets. Fuckin’ rich people!

Three double esspresso later I was boarding the plane and boarding before the lowly creatures in economy class I might add. I found my little cubicle located at 16f and prepared for my 15 hour journey. Huang, my flight steward greeted me by name and took my jacket and offered me a beverage. I was so delighted that I didn’t even mind how bad he mispronunciated my last name. I immediately tried out all the functions of my seat, making sure that it fully reclined into a bed and that the back massager worked. I winked at the coach customers passing by me wide eyed with jealousy and disbelief as they gawked at me, fully reclined, pillow behind my head, sipping an orange juice and perusing the in flight breakfast menu wondering if I should go for the mushroom omellete or the beef and noodles (who the hell eats beef and noodles for breakfast). ‘That’s right…my seat reclines all the way back beotch’ I shouted in my head at the ‘lookie loos’ as they passed one by one with looks ranging from jealousy to disgust as they grappled with the fact that they would spend the next fifteen hours strapped in their tiny coach seat while people like me slept in pure comfort. I’m a pretty nice guy but I wasn’t going to pass up one of the only opportunities I would ever have to act like a rich snob. But I digress… the food was great, the service was hyper-attentive and I managed 10 hours of sleep and five hours of watching movies (don’t bother watching Get Smart…it blows).