Some of it is also that I spend far too much of my time at my computer studying, and when I am done it is hard to feel like I should sit down and stare at the computer some more. As today is Sunday, I am having a (relatively) study-free day, so I can feel free to blog.
I am excited by our new place in Tsim Sha Tsui. It is small (M. worries about this), but I love it. Unlike in our previous apartment, where I felt like I had to walk too far to find anything, even in the kitchen, in our new apartment, everything is conveniently closeby. Most importantly, the storage is great, so everything that needs to be can be put away, leaving the place uncluttered and simple, which is what we like. Now if only we had tatami floors and shoji, it would be perfect! In the picture you can see the view out of our living room window, which encapsulates so many aspects of Hong Kong that I like.
There is the combination of old and new, as evidenced, in the foreground, by the grungy older building opposite, and the gleaming facade of the Miramar to the right. Looking a little further away, there is the gorgeous spread of Kowloon Park, which is going to be a favourite for morning walks, or simply getting away from the apartment for a bit of 'nature'. Looking beyond the park you can see the somewhat tacky 80s (sadly there is no wikipedia entry to confirm or deny this) facade of the Royal Pacific Hotel, beyond which is Victoria Harbour, and a splendid view of Hong Kong Island. Conveniently there is an easy walking route that cuts across the park, over a pedestrian bridge, to an attractive waterfront promenade, to make this an even more enticing option.
The park itself is one of the biggest in Hong Kong, with a wild outdoor swimming pool, bird aviary, resident flock of flamingos, regular Sunday martial arts demonstrations, and so much more. Every morning, it is incredibly well-used for tai chi practice, with individuals and groups practicing in all corners of the part, at various levels of skill. Perhaps when I get familiar enough with the twenty-four move tai chi style I am trying to learn, I can find a group that does that and join them occasionally. Given the very multicultural nature of the area (we are close to Chungking Mansions after all, as well as one of the main mosques on Kowloon-side), there will also be people doing other forms of exercise, such as yoga, although this is strictly a marginal affair compared to the tai chi practice.
For us it is such a contrast from living on the very edge of Tai Po. Now we have everything, almost literally, at our doorstep. For a chemist shop we need only walk ten metres. For a newsagents, perhaps 50 metres. Our closest supermarket is 100 metres away, although there are many in the vicinity. There are innumerable cafes and restaurants, but I am most interested in ones that serve great espresso, and for that there are at least four closeby that meet my standards - my favourite at the moment being Crema Coffee. It is a little daggy (to use an Australianism) as far as decor goes, but the coffee is excellent (they roast their own in-house) and they do a very cheap breakfast too. There is even a resident dog at certain times of the day, which keeps M. smiling. There is a Post Office just around the corner, a number of vegetarian Chinese restaurants within a two or three minute walk, and, I think, four cinemas within a five or ten minute walk of the place. I think we feel like we are in Paradise, at least as far as the convenience factor.
As those will know who have visited us, at our old place it could be quite a chore to get a taxi, mostly to explain the complexities of how to get there across the English-Cantonese barrier. At our new place the majority of the traffic that goes past our door is taxis, a little bit like in central London. I cannot imagine there would be any time, day or night, when there wouldn't be a taxi in view, though I haven't currently been awake here at 3am to test that proposition. Mind you, with dozens of buses going down Nathan road at the end of the street, the MTR nearby, and a free shuttle-service to the airport express, it is hard to know when we will really need a taxi, unless we have so much luggage that a bit of laziness appeals.
Our apartment move was actually achieved in Hong Kong style, via taxi. We thought of how little stuff we really have (given our furnished apartment) and how difficult it might be to organise movers when we didn't know where to start, and the taxi option seemed appealing. So we have made four taxi journeys down on various days, with a full load of bags/boxes and this has mostly done the trick. Given the price of taxis in Hong Kong, this was all managed surprisingly cheaply. Even better, it gave me practise in saying my new address in Cantonese.
Actually, in one of the first taxi rides down, I heard my taxi-driver talking on one of his phones to someone, and saying something that sounded oddly familiar (I am oddly fascinated by how many phones most taxi-drivers have - the most I've seen is six, all lined up in their own brackets on the dashboard). It took me a moment, but I eventually realised he was saying our street! It made me smile, because so much of the time random words and phrases that I understand in Cantonese, pop out of people's conversations around me. Unless they're saying something very simple, it is usually not enough to know what they are talking about, but it is enough to make me realise I am making some progress, however slow. Another thing that is available in our new neighbourhood, is actual lessons in the language, organised via Chinese University of Hong Kong. So that will be one of the first tasks on my list for next week...
