First Day Exploring

Got an early start this morning. Out of the house before 7:30am! My goal was to find the building where I'll be working, and mission accomplished! It feels good to set goals and to meet them.

It turns out that Hong Kong has a lot of hills. Luckily, for this walk, it was mostly downhill. Of course, I had to return, but I stayed positive for the first half and didn't think about that. Because not all streets have sidewalks, and I'm still not sure when and where a car will come zipping along (usually a red cab. They're everywhere), I stuck with sidewalks. I hadn't planned on it, but I walked over to the Central to Mid-levels escalator and took that down to the end, which was only a block or two passed where I wanted to be. Assuming I get off the escalator at the right time, it should be about a 20 minute trip to work. Of course, today was Sunday morning, with hardly anyone around, so I'll definitely allow more time on weekdays. But it's good to know where I'm gonig. I'll check out the route again, later today, to see if I can shave off any of that time. But at least I know where I'm going.

After finding work, I decided to walk back towards the hostel. That was kind of a mistake, as the reality of geography kicked in, and it was an unhill walk most of the way. So. Tired. When old ladies started passing me on the sidewalk, I decided it was time for a change of plans. So I went sideways, and started walking east. That showed them!

Oh, along the way I decided to stop for some water. 7-11, here I come! They're as ubiquitous as the red taxis. This one was just a hole in the wall, but with 3 guys stocking the shelves. There was almost no room for me, the customer. I'm not so sure about the business model of having so many employees that customers cannot fit in, but who am I to judge? Oh yeah, I'm the customer Of course I'll judge.

I grabbed a bottle and turned to the counter (no steps involved, just a jaunty spin on the heel. Again, locals were impressed). As I went to pay (with my Octopus metro card. So cool, you can pay for the trains and buses, as well as use it in stores), an old lady street cleaner (lots of those around, too) said something to one of the employers, who yelled something back. Sounded like they were arguing, and I'm pretty sure the store guy motioned that the lady was crazy. He smiled at me and said something, which seemed to be to the effect of "she's crazy", but I'm not entirely sure. I smiled and nodded, figuring maybe he'd give me a break on the water. He didn't. What he DID do, however, was grab a box cutter, open it up and walk out to the sidewalk, seemingly telling the old lady street cleaner to cut him? Again, I'm just going on his actions here. She didn't take him up on the offer.

As I was about to utter "let's roll" and spring into action (too tacky?), he came back into the store, laughing. Catastrophe averted, I guess. He had stepped out just after I swiped my Octupus card to pay, and I was like "um, am I done here?". Another guy came over and kind of smiled and nodded that I was ok. Such customer service! As least the box-cutter wasn't waved my way, huh? I guess it was a harmless enough encounter, but still, kinda weird.

Here are some pics of my adventure this morning...

I stumbled upon the escalator, which is really neat. You can get off at different streets, and the path is lined with small shops (pretty much all closed early Sunday mornings, though)

From What I did on my summer vacation

On the way back, I stopped at the botanical garden. Very pleasant. Here's the view as I sat on a bench

From What I did on my summer vacation

And here's the view to the right

From What I did on my summer vacation

And of course, the view to the left

From What I did on my summer vacation

And who's this sexy guy?

From What I did on my summer vacation

You want another? Of course you do

From What I did on my summer vacation

Aaand, just one more. Can you tell how much I'm sweating? It is so hot and humid, and it's just gonna get worse.

From What I did on my summer vacation

Here's the path across the fountain. It's a very nice place to wander, so long as you don't mind hills. I am going to be about 15 lbs lighter in about 3 days

From What I did on my summer vacation

I liked this memorial arch

From What I did on my summer vacation

The whole thing. It's an entrance to the park

From What I did on my summer vacation

As I walked around the garden, I realized I was on an overpass. So I looked down

From What I did on my summer vacation

And right after taking that previous pic, I looked ahead and realized I was very close to the hostel. There it is!

From What I did on my summer vacation

I actually circled around the far side of the hostel, just to see what's around. One of the roads was very narrow, with everyone walking in the road. So I did too. I was hoping this lady wouldn't turn around. I don't know how to say "I'm just getting a picture of the road" in Chinese

From What I did on my summer vacation

And me on the escalator again. I took it for just a few blocks this time, back to where I started

From What I did on my summer vacation

This is just the road near the hostel. There's a handy grocery store behind me (I'm facing towards the hostel, which is about 5 minutes up the road, and on the right, over one block)

From What I did on my summer vacation

And, back home!

From What I did on my summer vacation

It was a fun morning. I'm gonna hang out for a bit, then head out for lunch a little later. Man, getting up early really lengthens the day, doesn't it? It's only 9:30am and I actually have to wait to do things.