Joyce's Hong Kong Blog #1

Ernest & Joyce Klemm Flat B, 18/F, Fortune Mansion 20 Hung Shing Street Ap Lei Chau, Hong Kong 719-423-7745 Note: The phone number is a Pueblo, CO, number and will ring us via Skype on our computer. Feel free to call. The time difference is 14 hours ahead of Colorado, Daylight Saving Time. An 8 PM Colorado call reaches us at 10 AM the next day A huge THANK YOU to all the friends and relatives who helped this year with getting the house ready for the market AND to those who came the last week to help with packing and cleaning. I couldn’t have done it without you!!! Wed., July 15, 2009 It was a hectic day as I finished clearing out the house and completed a few errands. Amelia drove me to Renate & Dee Carrier’s house in Colorado Springs in the late evening where we ate dinner and said our good-byes. Thurs., July 16 Dee drove me to the Colorado Springs airport at 4:15 AM. Ugh. Too early. The flight to Houston was uneventful. I sat next to a delightful young (20 yr. old) lady who was on her way to speak at a convention for a group that helps people overcome addiction. Hers had been cutting, which was surprising given her cheerful countenance . From Houston I continued on Continental to Tokyo. Two friendly Philippina sisters were my traveling companions. They live in the US and were returning to the Phillipines for a reunion with their 11 siblings—it’s been 14 years since the younger sister had been home. The 13 or so hour flight was very long, but more bearable with pleasant seat mates. We each had individual televisions with a multitude of movies and programs to watch. The food was good, too. After a 3 hour lay-over in Tokyo, I finally headed to my new home in Hong Kong. Aga, a man from India who has lived in HK for 8 years, was a fascinating person—well read and well travelled—and made the flight more enjoyable. Friday, July 17, 2009 I passed through the many lines including customs uneventfully and found my bags right away. Ernest was waiting for me in the part of the airport where people are allowed to wait. It was 8:30 PM HK time, but 6:30 AM Colorado time. We hopped on an airport bus and headed for his apartment; another hour of travel. After 28 hours of travelling, it was wonderful to find a bed waiting for me.

Sat., July 18

We rode te trolley and then the bus for 45 min. to our new apartment on the 18th floor in Ap Lei Chau, which is an island SW of the main Hong Kong Island. Our view of the bay is gorgeous, although I was surprised at how many boats were packed into the bay. We exchanged space for the view. The apartment is only 366 sq. ft. Hmmmm. It will be cozy, but it’s twice as large as Ernest’s apartment of 183 sq. ft. It actually has cupboards in the kitchen and you can step into the kitchen and move around. The bathroom sink isn’t in the shower, as is the case in his present apartment. It’ll be interesting to adjust since we’ve been living in a 3700 sq. ft. home for 12 years. Ernest’s boss’ apartment is 300 sq. ft., so it is quite common to have small apartments.

Next we took a ferry a very short distance to land, then waited and waited in the heat for a bus that never came. Many people were mopping their brows with cloths and many had umbrellas for shade from the sun. We finally walked a block to a different bus stop and jumped on a mini-bus. They are faster since they only stop if they have room for more people. The big buses are double deckers so they stop at every bus stop. They are air conditioned, which is wonderful. We went to see about purchasing a wardrobe and a dining room table and chairs from a lady in an area called Stanley, but they were both way too large for our apartment. The lady casually mentioned that the typhoon had been upgraded to a FIVE and that it would be an EIGHT by midnight.

TYPHOON?!!! The levels are, ONE—it’s coming; THREE—get ready and finish up your errands; FIVE—you have two hours to get off the streets; EIGHT—it’s full blown, stay inside. So, we headed home as it began to rain. The wind was blowing as we went to bed about midnight, but otherwise we barely noticed. However, we were awaken in the night with crashing and banging. The scaffolding on the building across from us tore off and broke off part of the fence on the fifth floor outdoor area by the trees. (There is scaffolding on many buildings. It’s made of bamboo then covered with green netting to protect people on the streets below from falling debris when a building is being worked on. It often goes up 5 to 25 stories.)

Awhile later there was more crashing—four window air conditioners from our apartment building fell to the flat roof 2 floors below us, one at a time. Our conditioners stayed put, thankfully. We did get some sleep since our building wasn’t shuddering or shaking. Welcome to Hong Kong!!

It dawned on me that the reason "our" bay was so filled with boats was because they were seeking a safer place to "park" during the typhoon. Sunday, July 19 We left the apartment at 9:15 to catch a bus that took us to a shopping mall. There we waited for a mini-bus that has been hired by our church to take us up the mountain. The church meets in an English speaking school. There are a wide variety of people at Faith Community Church: ABC’s (American Born Chinese,) Mandarin speaking Chinese, Australians, Indians (from India,) Philippinos, etc. Everyone was very friendly and glad Ernest’s wife finally arrived. The church is searching for a pastor, so a special speaker from Australia preached on gossip and slander: we’re not supposed to do either.

Afterwards we ate at McDonald’s. Ernest is allergic to MSG and the Chinese put it in everything as a food supplement like we might put Vitamin C in food, so he can’t eat at most of the local food establishments. Then we rode the bus to the main library. It’s huge and beautiful. You can stand on the main floor and look up to the 7th floor, which they call the 6th floor. They don’t count the ground floor—it’s “zero.” When looking up, each floor has beautiful wood on all 4 sides. We went to the top floor where they have a language department: you can use tapes to learn many languages. I might utilize it for learning Cantanese, although it’s quite a trip over there.

Monday, July 20

Ernest left for work at 8:30 and returned about 7:30. It’s a 45 min. ride each way, but from our new apartment it’ll only be about 20 min. each way. I explored the neighborhood, being very careful to pay attention to where I was. It would be easy to get lost—especially within the apartment building maze. Our door has a outside, steel accordian door for security. It’s difficult to open and close and to lock properly. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get back in, but I made it okay.

There are shops everywhere. Many of the storefronts are only 10 ft. wide and go back 20 to 40 ft. Next to the grocery store is a personal care store, then a restaurant, then a floral shop, then a stationary shop, then a bakery, a 7-11, a McDonalds, etc. There are 7-11s on every street, McDonalds and Circle Ks every few blocks, and some Kentucky Fried Chicken and Burger King restaurants. People are everywhere and you have to be careful not to bump into them or to fall off the sidewalk into the street. The crosswalks have a slow “click-click” sound until it’s time to cross, then it becomes a higher tone and fast “dit-dit” sound. The buses, trolleys, mini-buses, taxis and some private cars whiz by noisily. They drive on the left side, so I have to remember to look for vehicles the opposite way from which I’m used to looking. The window air conditioners from the high rise buildings constantly drip onto the pedestrians.

Tuesday, July 21

Our 30th wedding anniversary. My day was similar to Monday, exploring several shops. I bought several small items with no problem. In Hong Kong currency, ten dollars is approximately $1.30 US. I even went to a “Everything is $10.00 store” which is equivalent to our Dollar Stores.

When Ernest got home, we rode the bus to a Vietnamese restaurant. I ordered a bowl of chicken noodle soup. It was HUGE. The noodles were rice noodles. Ernest had beef stew, which was very flavorful but not spicy hot. Indian and Thai cuisine can be really hot. We sat next to some very friendly Philappina ladies, one of whom had lived in NY on Long Island for 2 ½ yrs. They were very encouraging that I will enjoy HK as they do.

Then we wandered around the “Soho” district which is full of restaurants, bars, and a few nightclubs. This area is full of expatriots (expats) from England, Australia, Cananda, and the U.S. as well as a few from Europe and some locals. There are escalators to ride up the hills and stairs coming down, plus walkways that go over the busy streets. It’s quite interesting. One escalator went up five city blocks, stopping at each street for us to cross, then continuing on up the next block. The view from the top block of the surrounding high rise buildings was incredible.

Wed., July 22, 2009

I’m beginning to pack up the apartment since we are moving tomorrow afternoon. It’s bizarre to go from working 18 hrs. per day with long “to do” lists to having very little to do. Packing up a 183 sq. ft. apartment where one person has been living is sure different from packing up a 3700 sq. ft. house that held 5 people 2 dogs and a cat.