Returning to 'normal' life

Two words that are often associated with Hong Kong - tall buildings (which was the only thing we saw for 3 weeks during our quarantine) and crowds. As we stepped out of our hotel quarantine this Monday, we were greeted all around by tall buildings which seemed to nearly touch the sky and hoards of people walking around at a New York pace. The third thing that hit us like a ton of bricks was the HOT HUMID air. Taking a breath of fresh air (well not so fresh given EVERYONE masks here even outdoors) was amazing after being cooped up inside for 21 days. But within five minutes I was missing the damp London weather (who would have thought). I think its safe to say I will never be wearing jeans again. Now having lived nearly half my life in one city or another, I should be used to both crowds and tall buildings (although London is the exception to the tall buildings), but after a year of COVID (not to mention the 21 days of isolation) where I consciously avoided the city's crowded places, it was a bit of a shock to the system. While the extended quarantine seemed over the top, HK has had over 50 days of ZERO local cases so even riding a train where people were packed like sardines felt safer than a sparsely packed tube in London. Also, everyone here is rigid about masking - even children as little as V are masked - I really need to start training him - which should be really easy - it takes me longer to put a hat on him than the time it takes him to pull it and throw it on the floor.

We were finally ready to leave our hotel....only to go to another hotel. Thanks again to COVID (this seems to be a theme), our sea shipment has been delayed so we are spending another week living out of suitcases. But thankfully we can come and go as we like and the new view from the hotel is quite a contrast to the one from my previous post.

If quarantine was like groundhog day, the first few days out of quarantine was the exact opposite. As with any move, we spent our first day waiting in our new home for new utilities, internet etc to be set up. Unlike a move within the country, moving abroad means dealing with things like immigration and opening a new bank account. Thankfully, the company had a relocation agent named Priscilla assigned to us to help with all this. While moving to London was challenging, this move is a whole new ball game because of the language barrier and the fact that we have three small humans we have to drag everywhere. For the first time in my life I know what non-English speaking people must feel like when immigrating to the US. While some people do speak English here, they may as well be speaking Chinese because I have such a difficult time understanding the accent (remind me why I ever complained about British accents). I found myself staring blankly as the immigration worker said something to me and I looked at Priscilla helplessly (thankfully I could mostly understand her, although there were a few times when I asked her a question and got a completely random answer - lost in translation). I'm quite sure the person at immigration looked at me suspiciously as I checked off the Masters/post secondary box on the immigration form. Hopefully in time, I will learn to understand the local English and even pick up Mandarin.

By our second day out of quarantine we had sampled every mode of transport - the MTR, bus, taxi, ferry and even a golf cart. Yup you heard it right - the island where we have chosen to live is a short ferry ride from Central HK and its a no car zone so people ride around in golf carts. If you had told me ten years ago I would be a soccer mom zipping in a car, I might have believed you, if you told me I'd be zipping around in a golf cart....not so much. Our new surroundings have everything you might want - beaches, shops, restaurants, playgrounds (even one right on the beach) and easy access to the city. We've been busy this week exploring our new digs!

In our first week I've realized there are two things you can't wander without...wait make that three. Your Hong Kong ID card (or a photo of it) - its like a walking passport which you must carry around with you - I've been told you can be stopped randomly and asked for it and an Octopus card which is like a prepaid debit card you can use to pay for public transport, shops and even school lunches - hubby's dream of teaching L how to manage a card might become reality! Some local shops don’t accept anything but cash or Octopus. Oh and masks - everyone masks here even outdoors which the girls (and if I’m honest me) are finding a bit hard coming from London where children are not required to mask under 11. The heat and humidity also makes wearing a mask outdoors really hard.

Wish us luck as our stuff arrives this weekend! As always please subscribe to receive notifications of new posts and comment!