September 6, 2009

Sunday evening and we have now been in our apartment (or in Hong Kong/British parlance, flat) for almost a week. Our move-in was delayed by the need to install new air conditioners. The PolyU people, who are the official renters of the flat, are very picky and went over it with a fine tooth comb to make sure everything worked. The landlord, CY Chim is a very good man and he seems to want everything to be good for us. On the day we moved in he came and took us on a tour of the neighbourhood. The waterfront, the municipal swimming pools and soccer field, the local park, the wet market, the dry market, the public library and then all the Wonderful Worlds of Whampoa (more of those later). It was enormously helpful and saved us several days of wandering around lost by ourselves.
The closet city to Hong Kong in the USA is probably New York. Rent and property prices may be similar. As a consequence, apartments are very small by US standards. I believe ours is 750 sq. ft. Jacob and Duncan each have their own bedroom but they are each only about 10 x 6. What it lacks in square footage, it makes up for in views. Our flat is on the 12th floor (our block is small by local standards) and we look out over the harbour, which is surrounded on most if not all sides by high rises of one kind or another. So as I look out now, I see the MegaBox, a big retail/entertainment complex. It has an elaborate and constantly changing display of lights on the outside. Between us and it, are two cruise liners that are anchored in the middle of the bay. They are also lit up like Christmas trees and getting ready for their nightly trip out into the ocean. Gambling is illegal in Hong Kong (surprisingly) and so the solution is floating casinos. They go out very late and then return around 9 the next morning. I think I will give that experience a pass.