Greetings from Hong Kong, where 100 degrees is the norm, there are at least 30 fruits I don't know the names of, and the number, 4, is considered bad luck. It's been a wild week already with only a few mishaps. Here's a quick overview:
- I think I actually nailed the air shipment this time! (You may recall that with our move down under, I didn't put anything that was actually useful it in and we had to get to IKEA in a hurry.) This time, the essentials are covered and we're good to go until our sea shipment arrives next week. In fact, we're not even all sharing ONE towel! Craziness.
- We picked an apartment in a very mountainous area of the city (although it is all pretty mountainous) and after getting our apartment keys, we tried to go to a celebratory lunch. I was particularly having trouble adjusting to the heat along with jet lag. After walking just 10 min through the winding hills, we essentially gave up and ended up eating at the Hard Rock Cafe. #lunchfail!
- I think I actually nailed the air shipment this time! (You may recall that with our move down under, I didn't put anything that was actually useful it in and we had to get to IKEA in a hurry.) This time, the essentials are covered and we're good to go until our sea shipment arrives next week. In fact, we're not even all sharing ONE towel! Craziness.
- We picked an apartment in a very mountainous area of the city (although it is all pretty mountainous) and after getting our apartment keys, we tried to go to a celebratory lunch. I was particularly having trouble adjusting to the heat along with jet lag. After walking just 10 min through the winding hills, we essentially gave up and ended up eating at the Hard Rock Cafe. #lunchfail!
- Nate started work after one day here so I have been exploring all around with Isla and the number of tasty treats on the street are mind blowing. I am aiming to strike a delicate balance between, "OMG, everything looks amazing! Yes I'll get one of each of those purple-looking things!" and "Hey, remember you are pregnant, idiot. Maybe take some steps to ensure you aren't eating dog on a stick!" Life can be so tricky sometimes.
- While this city does have most items you could want, finding them is quite a challenge, even with the internet, as many stores are unmarked and housed on the 15th floor of an office building, for example. Yesterday, my mission was to go buy an air mattress as we won't have a bed for a while longer. I found an expat forum that mostly has posts from people complaining about how impossible it is to find an air mattress in this city, but then finally I found 2 sources that stated a store called Outdoor Mart does carry them.
Isla and I found our way down to the MTR (metro) and trained out to a station near the store. From the metro, I was then given directions from three different people who all turned out to be incorrect. After 20 minutes or so, I finally stumbled upon a small sign that read "New City Center," which is the building it was supposed to be in. From here, the photos tell the story best:
- While this city does have most items you could want, finding them is quite a challenge, even with the internet, as many stores are unmarked and housed on the 15th floor of an office building, for example. Yesterday, my mission was to go buy an air mattress as we won't have a bed for a while longer. I found an expat forum that mostly has posts from people complaining about how impossible it is to find an air mattress in this city, but then finally I found 2 sources that stated a store called Outdoor Mart does carry them.
Isla and I found our way down to the MTR (metro) and trained out to a station near the store. From the metro, I was then given directions from three different people who all turned out to be incorrect. After 20 minutes or so, I finally stumbled upon a small sign that read "New City Center," which is the building it was supposed to be in. From here, the photos tell the story best:
Creepy long deserted hallway...
Then down a long hall to reach success! A tiny store the size of an average walk in closet that sold about 20 random "outdoor" items. I got a hand written receipt for my air mattress purchase.
