ASIANish

July '08 dawns a new adventure in my life. I've since resigned from my position as Sr. Product Manager of Search from EarthLink, moved all my stuff from Pasadena, CA to my parents home in the South Bay, and packed up 3 large suitcases of my small world to take to Hong Kong, China.

Laters LA, Hong Kong (香港) Here I come!

It was a nice sunny Tuesday. My parents drove me to the Tom Bradley International Airport at LAX for my 1:10 PM flight. This day wasn't any different from any other travel day. I went through all the standard travel procedures (e.g. 40 min. drive to LAX, maddening traffic at LAX, insane long wait at the TSA baggage). Except, as I was sitting by myself at Gate 105 waiting for Cathay Pacific flight CX 885, I was overcome with a surreal feeling.

It might have been fear of not having a job lined up for Hong Kong, or it might have been the dread of moving to a confined 520 sq. ft apartment, or it could have been the excitement of living somewhere other than Southern California for the first time. Whatever it was, that was the first time I've felt it.

The flight over was good. Apparently many people don't fly out to Asia in the middle of the afternoon. So I was able to move to the back of the plane and stretch out across 4 seats for the duration of the 13 hr 45 min flight. After 5 movies (CloverField, Rambo, 27 Dresses, Vantage Point, Maverick), 2 not so great meals, and a few chapters of Tai Pan, I had arrived!

Public Transportation and the City Life

"Over 90% of daily travels (11 million) are on public transport, making it the highest percentage in the world."

The ride from the Airport to Kowloon only took about 20 minutes. Just enough time to listen to an episode of The Daily Search Cast.

Immigration and customs were a breeze. Once, I picked up my luggage I quickly made my way over to the train stop. Anyone who's been to Hong Kong knows that the MTR (Mass Transit Railway) is the way to travel. Basically the MTR is a subway system that connects the three major sections that make up Hong Kong: Kowloon, New Territories, and Hong Kong Island.

The Apartment and my first HK Meal

Finally, I made it to the apartment. It's advertised as being 580 sq. feet, but 60 of that 580 is the "common area" that is shared. I'll have a separate post on the apartment since I pretty much took up the whole place with all my crap. But the view from the couch is just stunning.

Of course, after getting settled in I had to have some Chinese food. Although the portions here are small, the flavor is huge!