Nation! I know that we've been missing in action for the past few weeks but, have no fear, we're back! It's been a busy few weeks moving in to our new apartment in the Wan Chai neighborhood of Hong Kong.

View Larger Map

To quickly orient you - the main business area, Central (with my office), is just to the west of us and the harbor (or what they would call the "harbour" here) is just to the north of us. The neighborhoods of Tsim Sha Tsui and Kowloon are on the north side of the harbor (along with Dorit's office).

Like many areas of Hong Kong, Wan Chai is a combination of a bustling business district by day and a quieter residential area after the offices close. Historically, Wan Chai was the primary hangout for sailors from around the world and there is a corner of the neighborhood that is still home to... those establishments that sailors would frequent (and I'm not talking about spinach shops!).

Move-in went smoothly due to the quick and efficient efforts of Santa Fe Relocation Services. This is taken from out our window (we're on the American second floor which is referred to as the first floor here). 7-Eleven is directly to the left of our front door and the sign lights our apartment up all night (oh thank heaven for... blackout shades to block the sign from 7-Eleven?).

And yes, the couch fit in the door!

A few interior shots - we'll post some more once our art is on the wall!

Living Room, with our bedroom at the end

Entry way - we don't have a dryer so everything has to air dry

Dining table (other end of the entry way)

Apologies to our dear followers for not posting in the last few days - we've started to settle in to a bit of a routine (work, eat, sleep) that does not easily lend itself to coming up with clever reports and witty aphorisms.

Then we had to go apply for identity cards.

The government of Hong Kong requires that all residents hold identity cards. Given the large number of temporary residents (primarily employees of international banks and immigrants who come from other Southeast Asian countries to work as domestic helpers), the government extends this requirement to all residents.

Interacting with government is always a bit of an odd experience - not to advocate the Tea Party position too far, but even the most competent bureaucrat usually manages to frustrate, misinform, and confuse us citizens. Attempting to do this with bureaucrats who speak English as a second or third language is infinitely more challenging. Even the signs speak English as a second language!

And, despite making a 'reservation', we still had ample time to make some new friends.

After a rather pleasant hour of reading the South China Morning Post, we finally got to go in for two separate interviews. They really challenged us, asking such toughies as "What is your name?" and "Where are you from?" We even had to be thumbprinted!

Sadly, we had to meet with that lady and not this guy.

One of the coolest things about living in Hong Kong is (perhaps counter-intuitively) that the beach is always nearby. The skyline is, of course what comes to mind when one hears "Hong Kong,"

but the special administrative region is actually an island chain made up of 263 large islands and hundreds more islands too small for Wikipedia to count.


This past Sunday, at the recommendation of iloho.com (who knows who they are but we pretty much trust anything that we can find on the Internet these days), we headed over to Lower Cheung Sha Beach on Lantau Island.

Dorit was excited at the notion of a beach that was "a great spot to get away from it all."

I, never one to be tempted by rest and relaxation, was focused on its recommendation of "one of Hong Kong's most popular al fresco dining spots," The Stoep.


Dorit seemed to enjoy the restaurant quite a bit as well - the people-watching was excellent (lots of international travelers and eccentric Hong Kongers) and she forced herself to drink a liter of sangria. I stuck to beer, read Hong Kong by Jan Morris, and tried to keep out of the sun.

View from the bus (the beach is about 20 minutes from the Tung Chung stop on the MTR):

Given that we had put up with so much rest and relaxation all day, I got us to squeeze in a quick trip to the Tian Tan "Big" Buddha on the other side of Lantau Island.

Not really, they just have these big funny pictures in all of the subway stations.

First off, apologies for not posting in the last few days - it feels like the last week has been a whirlwind of char siu bao, opening bank accounts, fighting off the last of jet lag, working, and trying to enjoy our new home.

Last Sunday (Dorit's first full day in the East Hempisphere!), we had to go on a quick trip over to Macau - my work visa was not available before leaving New York so I had to leave Hong Kong and re-enter to activate the visa. Macau is the other special administrative region of China. Under the "one country, two systems" policy, both Hong Kong and Macau are permitted to maintain pseudo-democratic governments while still being considered part of the People's Republic - the closest parallel in the U.S. would be Puerto Rico (or Canada) which has its own elected government but is simultaneously considered part of America.


The trip over to Macau was, itself, pretty cool. We opted for the Turbojet ferry given that the Sky Shuttle was a teeny bit out of our price range. The Turbojet is one of those times that you realize (again) how much better Chinese infrastructure is than American infrastructure - it's a basic ferry boat, except that it goes so fast it flies above the water:

Macau was formerly a Portuguese colony so we checked out some of the colonial sights - pretty jarring to see 16th century churches dropped in the middle of hordes of Chinese tourists. I'm not sure that I could hear the "sermon in stone" at the Ruinas de Sao Paulo, you be the judge:

Aside from the Portuguese ruins, the other highlight of any trip to Macau is (and please know that I am not kidding one iota) a nice portion of fresh jerky. Macanese jerky comes from all manner of beast including beef, chicken, pork, and...

My condolences to Christopher Robin, Eyore, and the crew down at Pooh Corner.

Many of you have eaten the food of Hong Kong without ever realizing it. Dim sum, today eaten by Jewish people in New York who need a break from cream cheese and nova, was invented in the south-eastern corner of China called Guangdong as part of a traditional tea ceremony. Hong Kong added the now-eponymous steaming carts and a culinary tradition was created.

Sunday morning, we took a quick walk over to Lin Heung which is a short walk from our temporary apartment. I would link to the restaurant, but the owners definitely have not gotten around to making a Web site. Also, no menus, no waiters, and you have to find your own seat.

Food at Lin Heung is not brought to your table - when a steam-cart emerges from the kitchen, it is thronged by hungry Hong Kongers looking for their breakfast. The delivery-woman (all cart-pushers are female while tea-pourers are male) doles out bamboo trays to whomever has managed to elbow through the crowd and then stamps your receipt indicating... something, we had a hard time decoding exactly what was going on. 

Lin Heung is able to get away with all of this because it serves up some of the best dim sum in Hong Kong. There are some items that don't quite suit the American palette (steamed tripe, unidentifiable fishy-smelling meatballs, buns full of pork fat, etc.) but we had a great time and some delicious food. It's also a great place to meet locals and fellow-travellers while sharing large tables - we met a handful of local Hong Kongers (who were extremely helpful in helping us figure out the ordering system) as well as some Korean tourists who seemed as mystified as us.

After four of the worst days of my entire life, Dorit arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday. What better way to celebrate than with a quick trip down to the mall we live on top of for Dorit's favorite Chinese foodstuff: soup dumplings, or xiao long bao, at Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao.

Many of you have joined us for the best soup dumplings in New York at Shanghai Cafe (officially deemed so by Serious Eats last month) - these were way, way better. Please note that Dorit loved the soup dumplings so much that she kissed one of them (you can see the lipstick on the dumpling at the end of her chopsticks).

Take a look - we might have had more dim sum the next day as well...

I just finished watching "Barney's Version" and one line stuck with me afterwards. In a beautiful scene overlooking the New York skyline (!), Paul Giamatti's character, Barney, is pursuing the love of his life, Miriam, and trying to convince her to fall for him. She knows that he is deeply troubled and she warns him,


    Life is made up of little things - minutes, hours, naps, and routine. And it has to be enough.

They fall in love and build a life full of little things - lunches at their favorite restaurant, cooking dinner together, and the comfort of always knowing that their partner would be lying next to them each night. I never cease to be amazed at the joy I find in all of the little things - walking around our apartment in the dark and knowing every floorboard, a smile or a cooking tip from our corner grocer, a weekend on the lake immersed in the comfort of nature and family, and the nights I get to sit around with my friends laughing so hard we cry. It's hard to imagine being away from any of it for a single minute and, to be frank, I'm brought to tears at the thought that in about four hours, I'm going to step off this plane without any of it.

With all of the tears comes a tiny smile - my best friend and I are off on an adventure that we have talked about and planned together for years. I've been listening to the Fleet Foxes song "Helplesness Blues" a lot recently and one verse keeps running through my head:

   If I know only one thing
   It's that every thing that I see
   Of the world outside is so inconceivable
   Often I barely can speak

The world - be it the little things on 92nd Street or Roaring Brook Lake or in Loveland, and the big things a half a world away - is inconceivably wonderful and I can't wait to see a little bit more of it.