Intro to our apartment in Kowloon

Hello from your Heroine Regina, your Hero Pommes and your trusty scribe, Chris.

Today is Tuesday and we are now moved into our new apartment in Hong Kong. (!)

We live in The Pinnacle in Tsim Sha Shui, here in Hong Kong.

There is no phone yet, and I have still to sort out a mobile phone number, so that is yet to come.

Oh, and it just started POURING.  I can no longer see across the harbour, It is raining cats, dogs and cicadas here.  But when it is not pouring we have sea views of North Point, the Peak  (watch the short video!), and Central Plaza tower.

We see a big leafy park beside us though all the birds have taken refuge somewhere presumably because of the storm (see picture at top of post).  

We have survived one typhoon already, and I think we will have great storm views from this new apartment.  It will be as good as storm-watching in Tofino (Canada).

I would describe our apartment as pretty phenomenal, which, of course, is why my kidney is still on auction. :)  I will be going to the clubhouse shortly to swim and work out so that I can drive a better price for that remaining kidney...

Before we moved in Ana phoned us (tall, blonde, smile with legs resident in Geneva) at the serviced apartment we used to be in and I told Ana that thenew  apartment was 100 square metres (1076 square feet).  Ana, I lied.  

The new home grew in my head; it is only 90+ square metres (976 square feet).

The house is currently a bit empty, (read, Regina, Pommes, a cat litter box, and your scribe).  

However, as everyone knows, this will be only a temporary aberration.  

We moved from the serviced apartment to here, but we are still waiting a couple of weeks for our belongings to wend their way across the ocean to HK and to us. I suspect that our possession will completely absorb all available space in this apartment and maybe push us into the hallway.

(Oh, aside, a big freighter is passing by, two Chinese junks, and it looks like the Star Ferry, but I still cannot see the buildings on the other side of the harbour due to the rain.)  

I should note however, that the coolest buildings (HSBC, Bank of China, et al) are obscured by the "SinoPec" sign on the Sheraton hotel and our inadequate height (our floor location, not my glorious 5 feet seven and a half inches).

Now that we have a place, its time to start meeting people. 

I am also going to attempt to attach the web camera that Chiemi gave us to the computer and try to make the whole skype thing work. So, once I dig out the headset that Troy gave us, I will be on the road to skyping you people.  

Sujeet and Scottie, I know that both of you are snickering at the reality that I have still haven't skyped yet, likely others are too, but all in good time. 

When you name your blog after a 5000 year old script, you are allowed a slightly longer time horizon to do things like start skyping.  Besides, I wanted the bugs to be worked out.

Anyway, that is all for now, and I will send another post out shortly to one and all.

Stay well, be good, and plan your trips to visit.  We love guests and we miss our friends.

P.S. The Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens are March 27 - 29, 2009 (Friday to Sunday) and I plan on buying tickets soon... Only 40,000 seats in the stadium and I expect a full house for this event...  Fab? Jean? Scottie? Annabel?  Who else?

Tschuess,

Chris, Regina, and Pommes

Intro to Hong Kong; small apartment with coleslaw

Hello from HK from your Heroine Regina, your Hero Pommes and I, your Humble Scribe, Chris. (Sepiru is the transliteration of this:

which is Akkadian cuneiform for Scribe.)

It is raining today, which means it is only marginally warmer than mid-day in Geneva (Switzerland, our last home), though much wetter.  

On other days it has been considerably warmer, although I still find myself just as wet.

Pommes seems to be settling into his new apartment well, and we take him onto the roof top terrace for a Dubonnet (well, we get the Dubonnet, Pommes chaperones us and acts as a guide cat to get us back to our apartment). 

Pommes seems to enjoy air-conditioning, but he looks longingly at the horizon. 

I think he misses pulling Swiss birds from the air.  

Maybe he finds the local cat dialect strange here?  

I should clarify, Pommes' new home is our temporary, serviced apartment.  

We have made nothing more than noodle soup in our serviced apartment because it is just too small to comfortably cook anything, and normally I can cook anywhere.  

By small, I mean 40 square meters (430 square feet) including us, our 120 kilos of air luggage (265 pounds), one new sofa, one bed, one ottoman, one small kitchen, one bathroom, one bedroom, one piece of furniture, one tv, one wife, one cat, and me.  

It just seems too stuffed to work in, let alone walk in. 

But, all that said, Pommes seems to like it-- many surfaces with many layers for him to prance on and lie on and scratch on.  

By "scratch on" I refer to what was once the one new sofa.  

Now, slightly battered and shredded, we call it coleslaw. 

Regina called me before I left Switzerland with a slightly frantic, "Bring darning needles".  

I did. 

I also brough crocheting needles and upholstery needles and other oddments.  

Quite the damage our little Pommes has done to the fabric covered(ish) surfaces in this apartment.  

It takes ages to condition Pommes to a new scratching post, but he seems to have a natural affinity for sofas. 

Feline sofa killer, that's Pommes.

Fortunately, we just found an apartment.  If we are lucky (!) then we get to bid for it.  

I would tell you the initial asking rate but that would be (a) gauche and (b) might put my bankers into catatonia.  

Suffice to say that Tero was right. Hong Kong is the most expensive rental market on the planet for very obvious reasons.  

I have no idea why we ever complained about inexpensive Switzerland.  

My left kidney is earmarked for the first month's rent.

Regina says more planning is required for month two.  

That said, I will never mention rent again.  I will just put my head in the sand and pretend it is not real.

Hmm. On a positive note, the Hong Kong skyline is tremendous, and I think that we are going to live in Kowloon which is fantastic because then we can enjoy the Hong Kong skyline instead of merely being a part of it.  

For those that have never been to Hong Kong (yet) the Star Ferry is: the coolest thing in the world; my favourite place to stand; and only a 5 minutes walk from the place we hope to move into.  

For those who know Hong Kong, it is almost like coming home because our (hopefully) new apartment, the Pinnacle, is right around the corner from Chungking Mansions. 

There was even a big apartment that I was trying to view there, just because it was in Chungking Mansions, not that we wanted to live there!  

If you have never backpacked through Hong Kong, you likely will not know of Chungking Mansions; let it suffice that CKM was notorious amongst those seeking inexpensive short term digs in HK.

Anyway, I expect to be ultimately working in Central which would be great because then I could take the Star Ferry to work every day and enjoy the view from the water twice a day.  

I have to become more (read lots) proactive, but this whole leaving Switzerland and finding a place here process has been a tad bit engaging and time consuming.  

Anyway, I thought that as your scribe I should compose a quick note to to let you know that we are alive and well, after completing all the paperwork to leave Switzerland. 

(Notice how there has been complete radio/email silence as to the whereabouts of my right kidney and my spleen.... coincidence?...)

All right then, here ends the letter for today.  

I have to go find some chicken feet for dinner, or something else.  

Oh, and we are looking forward to guests.  Start coming soon. :)  

I am keen to see how long creme brulée lasts in this humidity. 

My guess is that I will keep torching it to just beyond the teeth.  

Of course, the apartment we have on offer (hopefully) comes with only electric elements (groan) and no oven.  So I am going to have to look into buying one.

Tschuess,

Chris, Regina, and Pommes