[Coolhand]

Well its been a hell of a week, but I am nearly there. This time tomorrow that huge British Airways 747 will rumble down the runway, and I will be on my way to Hong Kong!

The packers did a wonderful job, all very smooth. Letting agent got her cleaner into the house and spring cleaned it top to bottom, so that it was ready for my tenant to move into on Saturday. Meanwhile I have moved into a hotel; its haunted and so is the pub next door!

My air freight has already arrived in HK and will be clear of customs on Friday. My container arrives about 5th May.

The apartment has been a hassle. Last minute legal wrangles meant that the exchange didn't happen till Monday afternoon. The temporary furniture has gone in, then the gas engineer found a gas leak, that will take two days to fix, and with the holiday, that means I have to move into the JW Marriott for a couple of nights.

I am quite pleased about this as I left a suitcase with the concierge, when I came over on my recce visit, and I would have felt a little bit guilty about going in and saying, "Can I have my suitcase back, please? No, I am not staying here, but it was cheaper than the left luggage at Central".

All packed up at work, thats being couriered out to me. Going in tomorrow so that one of the Directors can take me out for a farewell lunch, then its off to the airport

[Emuse]

How about we just call it Hong Kong?

[JonnyC]

Coolhand, good luck with your move, hope things all work out well. I'm heading over to HK from London myself in the next month or so too, maybe I'll buy you a beer when I arrive

Regarding the other thing, I used to have a Thai girlfriend and she wasn't offended at the term 'oriental' at all, and neither were any Japanese people I used to work with. However, I have one American-Hong Kong friend and she is deadly against it (when I told her I'd been to the local oriental supermarket, which has the word oriental written on it's sign, she wasn't happy), so maybe there is something in the notion that it's only really in north america that it's frowned upon

[HKNewBi]

It is obviously more of a reflection of the internal ethnic conflicts within north American society than a reflection of what people in this part of the world actually think. It would seem only North Americans (as stated in Wikipedia) take offense and they don't live in this part of the world. Ironic really.

[HKNewBi]

Originally Posted by Emuse

How about we just call it Hong Kong?

So as 'France' is to 'Western Europe', 'Hong Kong' is to .......

Please fill in the blank.

[Coolhand]

Well the last day at work was a blast. We went out for lunch at a restaurant nearby and I was presented with a card and a porcelain decanter of pusser's rum. The latter will be couriered out to me because I had no room in my luggage! After the meal I did my round of the office, and left a note on my desk saying "Back in April 2009".

Then it was off to drop off the hire car and get to the airport. Really nice girl at the checkin; she didn't appear to notice that my luggage weighed 39kg, so I wasn't stung for any excess baggage. Result!

Got on the plane; 2 glasses of Champagne, gin and tonic and a couple of glasses of red wine set me up for a nice long kip till just before we landed.

Found the smoking room fairly close to the gate; I was gasping. Put my HK sim card in the mobile, switched it on - 5 voicemail messages, I can't be that popular, can I?

Long queue at immigration, but it moved along steadily and soon I was through to the luggage carousel - didn't have to wait for my luggage, both cases were going round. Through customs and on to the meeting area. Now, where was my greeter? There he was a little guy in a blue suit holding up my name. He grabbed my trolley, and in no time I was settling into a people carrier and driving through to Hong Kong.

Now I am safely settled in the JW Marriott for a few days, until my apartment is ready.

I am glad its Thursday - only have to work Friday, then its the weekend - YIPPEE!

[donabel_beltran]

Originally Posted by Coolhand

... I am glad its Thursday - only have to work Friday, then its the weekend - YIPPEE!

Some journey. :-) Welcome! (back?)

:-D

[Coolhand]

What a bummer! Here I am sitting in JW Marriott when I am supposed to be moving in to my apartment. What's the problem, well when my company took over the apartment they had the gas people come and do some safety checks, and they detected a gas leak - no big deal, I was told they will do the work in a couple of days and I could move in on Saturday. Now they have found another leak on the main gas pipe coming into the apartment, which means doing repairs outside and inside the apartment.
Gas company has to submit plans to management company (including erecting scaffolding) or the landlord can change all the gas units for electric ones and isolate the gas completely.
It doesn't look like I will be moving in for a few days, and with Easter coming up...........
So that is why I am still in JW Marriott, nursing a hangover, and wondering how to survive on HKD500 per day!

Mind you I am glad that they discovered the leak, especially since I am a smoker!

[Laughing_Monkey]

Originally Posted by HKNewBi

So as 'France' is to 'Western Europe', 'Hong Kong' is to .......

Please fill in the blank.

Er... South East Asia?

[nation]

Good stuff Coolhand. Apart from Singapore HK really is the easiest Asian region to set up and survive in so it should be smooth sailing once your apartment is ready.