Gentlefolk,
This post describes our visit to Hong Kong, 28 March to 8 April 2017.
The main reason for the visit was to see our new granddaughter, Jay Milton Olah, born on 8 March 2017.
Andrew & Caroline have decided to re-locate to Sydney in June. They reckon Sydney is cheaper than HK and Australia holds greater potential for their business. So this was probably our last visit to HK, at least for a while. It is an incredible city - so intense and crowded, with high-rise buildings everywhere, yet works very well. Chinese know how to handle big populations.
We spent 10 days here in September 2016, on our way back to Australia. The biggest change we noticed is the number of Tesla cars now on the road. Traditionally Hongkongers have preferred Mercedes and BMW, which are everywhere, and now Tesla is becoming popular. I've only seen one or two in our 6 months back in Australia - Chinese like quality and new technology. Also many Toyota Alphards now visible, a luxury "people mover".
The other big difference this time was the weather. September was hot and steamy - much more comfortable now, in Spring. The first couple of days were showery, but then the weather cleared and we had 5 or 6 days of nice, clear days with maximum temperatures in mid-20sC.
We have visited HK regularly since Andrew and Caroline moved here 2.5 years ago, and we were going to and fro Qingdao. It is a big, crowded city. Space is at a premium, so buildings are getting taller and taller. Life is lived "vertically" - for example, Eddie's soccer class on Saturday mornings is on the 20th floor of a building.
The well-off (10%?) live in beautiful apartments and houses, while the other 90% live in 'shoe-boxes'. Yet the society seems cohesive; although very competitive just like the Mainland. It's not good enough to be 10th in the class, you have to be top - lot of pressure on kids - very different from life in Australia.
Here there are few government hand-outs: if you don't have a job or an income you'd better have a supportive family!
Personal safety is good. I'm sure bad people exist, but around Andrew's place we've seen none of the alcohol-or-drug-fuelled rowdiness one sees so often in Western countries. A big plus.
Still, I'm glad we live in sleepy little Canberra.
Here are some photos of our visit to HK.
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| Our first meeting with Jay Milton Olah, 3 weeks old. Born in Hong Kong on 8 March 2017, 2.9kg, 48cm long. She is gorgeous!!! |
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| Andrew with Baby Jay. |
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| "Opa" Alex busy looking after Baby Jay. |
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| "Oma" Vera with Baby Jay |
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| Baby Jay at 4 weeks. She is stacking on weight, and has already increased by 2 cm in length. |
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| Andrew left Google at the end of October 2016 to join Caroline's online furniture business, Reddie, click HERE. Sometimes they work from home - this is a typical sight, with Eddie playing under their work table. Not easy starting a business from scratch. They have focused on the HK market, but since Andrew came on board they are looking wider afield starting with the Australian market. The big selling point is that the furniture can be customised to an individual's specific requirements. |
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| Little Eddie, now 3 years of age. He is not too sure what to make of his sister's arrival! |
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| One day we took a fast ferry to Cheung Chau Island (about 40 min from Central). No cars are permitted, only bicycles. It was like stepping back in time - very nice. |
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| A map of Cheung Chau Island. It is next to Lantau, where HK's International Airport is located. |
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| The large boat harbour at Cheung Chau. I really enjoyed this place - it had a very strong "asian" flavour - reminded me of other parts of South East Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia) in days gone past. Of course Hong Kong is Asian, but it is a big, modern mega-city very different from this Island. |
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| Walking along the main promenade, along the harbour. We had lunch in one of the small local restaurants - delicious and cheap. |
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| One of the narrow streets on Cheung Chau. I liked the atmosphere - reminded me of a small Georgetown in Penang 40 years ago. |
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| Cheung Chau also has some nice, small beaches. Although it was a nice day, it was still a bit cool to swim. |
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Our 'home away from home' was the HKFC. It was only about 80 meters from Andrew's apartment. He got membership through the Tennis Section. Vera & I belong to the Southern Cross Club in Canberra, which has a 'reciprocal membership' arrangement with HKFC. The Club was founded in 1886 by James Lockhart (later Sir James) who was a Civil Servant and rose to rank of Colonial Secretary. Later (1902-21) Sir James was Commissioner for Weihai, a small British Protectorate in Shandong Province.
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Sir James Haldane Stewart Lockhart, 1858 - 1937. He came to HK in 1878. He was Colonial Secretary of HK and Commissioner in Weihai. He was the main instigator of founding the HKFC in 1886. The Club played its first game of Rugby Union in February 1886, and its first game of soccer a month later. Lockhart became a fluent Chinese speaker and an expert in Chinese coins.
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| The nice swimming pool on the roof of the HKFC. I used the gym, and swam almost every day. In winter the water is heated to 30C - very comfortable. The huge 30 storey apartment blocks which line Leighton Hill (aka The Great Wall) look down on the club. |
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| Another view of the HKFC swimming pool, looking north towards Causeway Bay. The tall black building on the right is the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The two tall buildings in the distance is Times Square where the Google office is located. |
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| The coffee shop has an indoor area and outdoor, which is shown in the photo. |
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| Andrew was able to join HKFC through its Tennis Section (6 tennis courts on the roof). As a sports member he paid US$3,000 for membership and there was a minimum monthly usage charge. Normal membership is at least 10 times that amount. The club's website has 50 Corporate Memberships for sale at the moment, at US$400,000 each. |
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| The HKFC is adjacent to the Jockey Club's racecourse at Happy Valley - it is a green oasis in the midst of one of the most crowded cities on earth. The two tall towers in the distance are the Sanatorium Hospital where Baby Jay was born on 8 March 2017. |
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| Andrew & Caroline's apartment was on the second floor of this building, at 155 Wong Nai Chung Road, Happy Valley. Great location, near Causeway Bay. It had a nice outlook towards the Craigengower Cricket Club across the street. It faces west, so can get quite hot in summer. |
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| The living room of their apartment. The apartment is 2 bedrooms and a study and 2 bathrooms; a total of about 100 sq meters. Their rent is US$5,500 per month (plus utilities). Apparently their landlord has put the apartment on the market for US3 million, Prices in the Mid-levels, above Central, are going for around US$10,000 per square foot - yes, you read right, per square foot! - property prices in HK are crazy! |
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| Andrew and Eddie in the living room of the apartment. |
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| The HK Jockey Club runs races at Happy Valley on Wednesday nights (weekend races are held at its main facility at Sha Tin). Big totalisator board, everything is very professional. Chinese love gambling, and the turnover of the Jockey Club is huge. Note the lights of the Leighton Hill residences in the background. |
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| The racecourse was packed, mainly a young crowd, lots of expats. Seems that it's a popular night out. Entrance ticket is US$1.50. |
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| The horses were paraded before each race. Beautiful specimens. |
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| The horses being led into the barrier for the start of the next race. |
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| The HKFC organises a "Tens" tournament a few days before the famous "Sevens". I went to the 10s a few times - so convenient, jut across the street. In this photo a French team is playing a team from East Africa. One of the teams was the "Classic Wallabies" made up of previous Wallabies such as Adam Frier, Morgan Turianui, and Wendell Sailor (crowd favourite, but Big Dell wasn't fit and didn't stay on for long). Steve Menzies 'Beaver', ex-Manly Sea Eagles was a ring-in and played well. The coach was Justin Harrison. |
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| The Classic Wallabies in action. The played three games on the first day (Wednesday), won one, lost 2. They were obviously "under-done" - coordination and fitness were lacking. I got the impression they thought they could just turn up and their past experience would carry them through. But they got a rude awakening when they came up against fit young sides. The following day they had a big win in the first game, but crashed out in the second, so didn't make the final of the Bowl. |
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| After being knocked out of the 10s comp, the Classic Wallabies walked around the pitch thanking the crowd for their support. |
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| On Friday night Andrew and I went to the start of the "HK 7s". Huge event, lots of people. Great atmosphere, music blaring between games and many spectators come in fancy-dress. Apparently Saturday and Sunday are BIG, BIG, BIG, but tomorrow we fly to Australia. I'd heard of the HK 7s (it has legendary status amongst expats in Asia) and was grateful for the opportunity to experience it at least once. Tonight Australia beat Samoa, so we were off to a good start. South Africa and England are the favourites this year and they also won their first games tonight, as did New Zealand and Fiji, always contenders, |
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Some of the large crowd at the Hong Kong 7s on Friday night. A well-designed stadium - the crowd cleared quickly at the end.
Eddie's "Little Kickers" soccer class this morning. They mainly play games to improve coordination.
A new Tesla and a new Toyota Alphard parked outside Andrew's apartment block this morning. They have become popular in the last 6 months in Hong Kong.
And so ended another memorable visit to Hong Kong.
We are flying back to Australia tonight.
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I've now caught up with my blog. It's been quite an effort since my decision in early February to continue the blog; but it has also been enjoyable re-living the time since we left our teaching life in Qingdao back in July 2016.
The next post will be from Canberra.
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Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.
Alex & Vera Olah
Canberra, Australia
Saturday 8 April 2017
(We are still in Hong Kong, fly back to Australia tonight).
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