Yi Lian's scribbling and musing

I’m beginning (I hope) to ease into my new role here. It’s so different from my consumer lifestyle background that I need a lot of settling into the job. I constantly get an overload of information and though I haven’t started working the hours I used to back in SG (average 8pm on normal days and 11pm on deadline periods), I’m usually beat by the late afternoon because of the amount of info squeezing its way into my brain.

It’s more of a researcher role and one of the many challenges is to think of the viability of the story idea in a global setting – WGSN being a global company and my position covering the Asia Pacific region. Moreover, I’m so new to the HK retail scene. A LOT to learn.

Ever since I was taught to access work email on the www, I’ve been checking it every night. I don’t necessarily reply but I just like checking it. :/ Not a good start, I know, but it eases the amount of emails I need to read in the mornings.

There would be quite a number of tradeshows in the region in Oct and Angel mentioned sending me to Taipei or Shanghai so we’ll see! I haven’t been to Shanghai before and I wanna start doing all these cut-outs of designs I like from mags so I can get the local tailors to do exact copies!

Meanwhile, yesterday had to be the best weather I’ve ever seen in HK so far. It was clear blue sky for the whole day and come evening time, the sky was so beautiful as I took the ferry back to HK island.

Today, I brought Libby, my new colleague from London who’s here to replace a colleague who went for maternity leave for two months, to HK island for her first time and she was taken by the cheap and beautiful ferry ride. The view tonight:

HK island view from the Star Ferry

I had this idea that all the rich and famous stay at The Peak but according to Elaine, my HK-born but Boston-bred colleague, only the very rich stays there. Only the top tier and people with ‘old’ money like Stanley Ho and family. I was just looking at the prices of the tiny apartments in Central and their average price was about S$5-6 million. A house at The Peak cost an average of S$20 million.

So no, even Tony and Carina won’t be staying there. Elaine said probably at mid-levels. So not all the way up at The Peak yet. Maybe 1/3 up. Hahaha

And when you come to HK, you notice a good 50% of the cars are all designer cars. Coopers, Mercs, Beemers, Lexus, Audi, Ferrari and Rolls Royce. Well, apparently cars are really cheap here but it’s the parking lots that cost a bomb because space is premium in HK. So you have to rent your parking lot at your apartment and another one at your work place and they could cost as much as the rent of your apt!!! I still can’t come to terms with that. I find it such a weird and foreign concept.

And now, being the Olympics season, you can see live telecast of the broadcast everywhere you go. This is the scene while everyone waited to get onto the ferry:

Olympics-captivated HKers

Arriving at Wan Chai Ferry, Libby and I then took the cab to Jaffe Road to hunt for my beloved toast with condensed milk, which I had on my first night in HK with Belle and pals, and I managed to convert her as well! Yes, my life is complete now. I’m gonna bring everyone who comes to HK to there.

The OMG-Can-Die condensed milk toast, which I will very happily become ambassador for

The street was filled with pet shops and we popped into every one of them. We both love fat and lazy dogs and I have my eyes on the puppy chow chow and especially the puppy bulldog!

I immediately imagined Matt and I getting our own dog when he finally joins me in HK and I told him about it tonight and he really likes the idea but doggies are really expensive here! We’ll take our time anyway. No rush!

Libby and I were also very taken by this squished-face kitty. It also has the most beautiful tail ever!

"Where's my nose???"

And then this lazy ‘watcha-looking-at’ dog at another shop. It’s probably the owner’s personal pet.

Aiyo, I wanted to squeeze its face.

I’m honestly starting to like HK as an expat staying here. It’s only been slightly more than a week I’m here but if I’m here for the same period of time in the capacity of a tourist, I honestly don’t think I’ll know this much about HK as I do now. As a tourist, you don’t really care about all these nitty-gritty details. You just wanna know where to eat, sleep and shop and that’s all that matters to you.

But I love finding out the local cultures and etc so I really enjoy the process of finding out more about the local trade secrets, quaint little shops and alleys. It’s fun! So far, HK has turned out to be way more enjoyable than I thought. I was little miss dramatic before I left, kept thinking the worst of HK and being there on my own. Ironically, it may be the worst thoughts that managed my expectations but I really like HK.

Rude people and jerking drivers aside, it’s vibrant, exciting and it makes you feel like it’s the place to be in. Especially when I’m in Central during peak hours, I feel like I’m in NY (not like I’ve been there before).

Speaking of NY, Elaine, who’s lived there, was telling me how weird the city-that-never-sleeps really is. She’s seen two men, erm, masturbating IN the train on two separate occasions before and I just couldn’t grasp that sorta reality. But on the other hand, I found it really funny. She said you could even see used condoms on the tracks cos the train systems in NY are 24/7! Eeewwww

Ok, gonna rest up for tonight so can be bright and awake when Matt arrives tomorrow night. Can’t wait, can’t wait, can’t wait!