Day 1

sooo tired... must sleep
I've never walked so much in a day... landed in HK at around 9:20am, checked into the apartment (more like a VERY tiny hotel room) by 11:30am, unpacked and started walking at 1pm and finally stopped at 11:30pm... whew

Since I didn't get a good sleep I wanted to force myself to stay awake so that I would crash tonight and I think I succeeded!!! well, we'll see if I can fall asleep in this new environment.

First thing I did was go to the Causeway Bay MTR station and got a map of the subway system, then I roamed around Causeway Bay to better acquaint myself with the surrounding, such as figuring out where the nearest 7-11 store is (not that I really needed to since there's like 4 of them in a 2 block radius), the HSBC bank, and work location. Then I walked further into WanChai and found the meat/fish market, I had to buy me some mangosteen of course!!!!

snore... dang I'm falling asleep... where was I??? well, the rest is just walking some more, eating with Sylvia and some friends, and now I'm back... sorry guys, I'm sleepy so gonna be lazy today, oh yeah lets not forget that I ate a lot too!!! haahaa

Scheduled for take off... JUNE 19th

I've finally made the decision on when I'm going to fly out to HK... after trying to figure out when I should go, the decision basically came down to the fact that I'm going to be gone for 2 years, so why not stay as long as I can here before taking off? That way I can spend some more time with friends and family that I won't see for such a long time... unless of course there are those of you that would be willing to come and visit me =) cause I know ya'll will miss me tremendously. haahaa

My plans are to move out of my apartment on June 14th and back home to my parent's until the night of the 19th (I'm sure Gromit would love it), then to the airport we will go!!!

I will arrive in Hong Kong on Saturday morning, hopefully I can check into my serviced studio then giving myself 2 full days to roam around HK before reporting into work on Monday. I'm so glad the serviced studio is only 2 blocks from work and not have to worry about the transportation into work, just need to make sure I remember how to put my left foot in front of my right, then continue from there =P

Man, working in HK, sometimes I still can't believe it...

Moving my stuff...

The relocation company sent an agent to my apartment in Los Feliz to take an inventory of what I want them to move for me to HK. There's not much really, only a sofabed, coffee table, dishes, glasses, computer stuff, luggage, books, CDs, clothes, shoes.... damn, there's actually quite a good amount of stuff now that I think about it... LOL Well then, I guess it's good that the company's paying for the shipment!! =) But how do I bring it back? grrr

One funny thing the agent said was "are you going to make a costco run?"
There I was scratching my head and can't figure out why she'd ask that question since I'm trying not to accumulate more stuff, right?

She goes on to explain they're relocated some folks from Disney and they always make a costco run to buy stuff like detergent and soap and such, since those things are expensive in HK... there I stood still scratching my head... "um, ok..." I didn't believe that, so I kindly said "hmm, I'll have to take that into consideration".

Later that day I talked to my mom and a friend in HK about it, they both said that stuff is really cheap in Asia, shouldn't have to do a costco run and bring those heavy items over... so I just chalked that up as "wtf are those people thinking?"

Earlier today I found out from the moving company that they're going to provide me with 2 crates for the move, each measuring 7 feet by 7 feet, and 3.5 feet high. So one crate can carry my sofa and coffee table, and miscellaneous stuff. The other can carry anything else, perhaps even a bed if I want to bring one over, which I don't think I am since that means I gotta go out and buy one... and HK friend says beds may even be cheaper there since everything is made in China anyways, and everyone provides free delivery.

Ahh, now to the decision on what are all the things I wanna take with me... OH yeah! My snowboard!

Give me the money!!!

Hmmm, wonder why I didn't think of it myself...

I was talking with the company's HR person about the move and wanted to know how much they've allocated for moving my belongings from US to HK, that way I can gauge how much stuff I can take with me. Even before I finished my sentence, she interrupted me and said "if you're going to ask whether we can just give you the money, the answer is 'NO', we will pay for the move but won't give you cash".
I was stunned and offended at the same time and though to myself "that wasn't what I was going to ask at all, how rude!" So I proceeded to ask my question and she indicated there should be enough money to move everything I want to but won't give me a dollar amount.

Later in the evening, as I was thinking over the conversation, I realized that would've been a good question to ask! Because if they would just give me the money, I wouldn't need to worry about what furniture to bring and just buy new ones there. It would be great if I could just have the money and buy new stuff there, but I am however, curious as to how much it would cost to ship my stuff over. Why wouldn't they just give me the money!!!