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Hong Kong fling
As I sit in the International Hong Kong airport, all I can do is hope I can give Hong Kong a second chance.
Is a beautiful city, and very modern city. Which for me, that means easy mobility around the city, no language barriers, and plenty of options. After spending my last 15 days in Kuala Lumpur (last 6 days due to a minor but nagging injury) I was glad to finally be able to move again, and that my next destination was this little but well known city.
Hong Kong during the day from Avenue of Stars
Unfortunately I knew the downside of coming to HK, is an expensive city. Not overly expensive mind you, but when you are backpacking on a $30 – $35 a day HK is a city that is best to skip. I stretched my budget to about $50 a day, and was just experiencing the very low that this city had to offer.
Hong Kong Central at night
I would walk down the streets, and some of the foods that I would see was just mouth watering. But they were also 120 HKD ($15.50) at least. I was able to find a soup for 25HKD and that was probably the best meal I had. In other instances I went to McDonald’s and other local fast food chains for food. Not because I was craving it, but just because financially was my best choice. Not happy with myself about that.
Hong Kong is better suited with a larger budget, $60 – $75 per day I think would have open more doors for me. But after 2 months of traveling and already being over budget in way cheaper countries, I couldn’t pull the trigger in this one.
Don’t get me wrong, this is not Hong Kong’s fault. If I had my old job, and I was here just as a normal tourist, this would be a great town to feast myself in. I was hoping to try Dim Sum that I love so much. But being an unemployed backpacker, trying to stretch himself to see as many countries as I can, it requires certain sacrifices.
For entertainment I did some urban exploration, Central area of Hong Kong was the best part for me. If you go to the Sheung Wan area, there are some antiques stores and shops that offer unique artifacts and weapons. The other end of the island, near the Chai Wan train station, offers a trail to Big Wave Bay Beach (try saying that 4 times in a row) that is challenging and rewarding. I ran into a Dutch-Spaniard couple, and they convince me to keep going and I’m very glad they did. The first part of the trail is a cemetery going up a mountain. There’s very little shade, and the sun is just beating down on you. I stopped to assess if I wanted to keep going, when the couple catch up to me, we started talking, and decided to keep going. Glad they did, because the cemetery stairs is the hardest part of the trail and I already did it.
Big Wave Bay Beach not living up to its name.
Big Wave Bay Beach is nice little beach, and it doesn’t seem to get too crowded, less than a 100 people when I was there. There’s an ancient rock carving in one of the cliffs, they don’t know much about it, but is believed is about 3,000 years old. Sorry no pics of this, since I explore this cliff without my camera. There’s no resort on the beach, so you have a green forest were the sandy beach ends, a very welcoming sight with all the concrete of the city.
Prayer hanging at Man Mo Temple. Beautiful yet small temple in HK
The only thing I could afford that I didn’t do, was the Tian Tan Buddha, is a giant bronze statue of the sitting Buddha. I ran out of time on my last day, and couldn’t make it there on time. To reach the Buddha there’s a cable car (expensive and with a minimum hour wait) or a bus. It’s supposed to have some great views of the city.
Hong Kong let’s do a re-do. A start over?
PS. Hong Kong is trying to answer the question if one mall per person is enough. How many fucking malls do you need people?
Income deficiency starts now….
For the first time since I was 17 years old, I am without a proper job. I will officially be unemployed. Thankfully I’m doing it under my own terms. But still scary. Today is my last day at my current job as a Systems Administrator. I hope I did a good job for the company and the time I put there. I love my co workers, and their ball busting ways. Even if work wasn’t entertaining, at least they were always good for a laugh or an interesting conversation about the different Terminator timelines or which Avenger is the least useful (Black Widow).
I got to say, that leaving the country and going into the unknown in 2 weeks doesn’t scare me. Its should, because I have so very little planned for what I’m about to embark, yet, I’m more at peace with that decision everyday.
What does scare me, is the fact that I no longer have a job. I always knew I had a paycheck coming my way. Now the idea of not having a paycheck scares me, there’s no safety net, no going back.
A while back I had a one-on-one meeting with my manager. I told him that in about 2 months I would be leaving the company. While my skill sets are not unique, I have been in this company for seven years. I have forgotten more about this place that I can ever document, so I thought it would be beneficial for him to know about my plans, so that they can plan on how to replace me. He said “I hope you have a good job opportunity coming.” As a way of wishing me good luck in my next job.
However I said “I don’t have anything lined up. I’m traveling the world.” And as those last 3 words were coming out of my mouth, my eyes watered. If you know me, you know I’m not much for touchy feely moments, so the fact that I got momentarily choked up was unexpected for me. But it really set in stone, the moment I’ve been planning for over 20 years.
I went to one of the sites I support(ed) yesterday, my last on-site visit. The fact that I’m leaving the company was brought up, and they start asking me questions about my plans and why I’m doing this. I don’t have great answers for those questions. But I did say that, there’s an imbalance in the way I run my life. This woman also agreed with that statement on her own life. I know there’s plenty of people with that same sentiment.
One of the reasons I like to travel is that you get to know a different sides of yourself. You meet people along the way, and you feel more at ease with these strangers. It forces you to open up. It took me a while to figure it out, but is the fact that when I’m traveling nobody asks me “What do you do for a living/work?”
It’s such a first world question.
I can’t express how much I detest that question. I don’t like to ask that question, but sometimes I can’t find a way to NOT ask it. And I don’t like when people ask me that either. In United States what you do for a job seems to define you as a whole person, it helps to label you into an expected box. Lawyer? Well you must make a lot of money and be an asshole. Dentist? You must be a sadist. lol.
It’s an easy way to tag people for sure, but the times I have been to other countries, I don’t think I have ever been asked that question. They don’t care. That’s not what completes them. Their jobs are just the vehicle to put food on their tables, not what drives them to be fulfilled (or not). Their families and friends do that.
In United States a get together is as much a celebration as is in other countries, but in other countries it seems they do it daily. We are lucky if it happens weekly here. When I was in Peru, my aunt’s house was the hub of the family. Her daughters, sister(s), brother, would come by almost every day, they would laugh and talk, and be a united front. They knew what was going on in each other lifes. It took me a while to realize I didn’t know what most of them did for a job.
Work was such an afterthought in their lives. The way it should be. I shouldn’t be so scared. I won’t be.
Don't Follow My Lead 