My New Home. I'm a Grow'd Up Now.

I've been here a week and I am disappointing my readers because I have not thrown myself into any Kung Fu action. Sorry folks, it's pretty darn safe here. I still plan to overthrow the Chinese Mafia once my Cantonese is strong enough. At the moment I only know how to answer the phone.

The above picture is my street. It's small, pretty quiet, lined with laundry shops and beautiful flower shops so it smells pretty good. That's really important since there is a strong chance you could live somewhere that smells like a sewer or fish market. About where I'm standing is the wine bar which I plan to make my second home. Well maybe third, after the office.


The entrance to my building is in between Pizza Hut and Fresh Laundry. Come up the stairs to the landing and take the lift to the third floor which I occupy entirely. That whopping 320 square feet!


It's pretty much like living in a dorm room furnished by Ikea. It's an older building, but nothing in HK is really that old. They have a habit of tearing stuff down for something new and pretty. I was told that my neighborhood is a nice mix of old and new, and I think I have found just the right spot.


This little place is a little more expensive than my previous Silver Lake domain, but it's still at the very base level in terms of pricing in HK. Yeah, F'ing expensive is right. But included in my rent is the furniture, TV and cable, dvd player, broadband, and weekly maid service. I am also thrilled to have an air conditioner (I think it would be a crime not to have one here), and finally, for the first time ever, cable tv. You may think that is crazy since I love bad TV and I was a former cable tv producer, but Netflix got me through the bulk of it. Yeah, I think I would trade cable for my Netflix back.

The little wardrobe that is my closet is the same style Ikea unit I had as an entertainment system over 10 years ago.


My kitchen consists of a mini-fridge, microwave, and I think I have a hot plate somewhere. Kitchens aren't a big thing since there are more restaurants in Hong Kong per capita than any other place in the world. Although I could stand to make a few meals at home, I've only found a few things at the grocery. Yogurt, bread, peanut butter and jelly, pringles, granola bars and tabasco sauce. And TimTams. Life is not complete without TimTams. If you worked on Uncommon Threads maybe you know of them because Allison brings them from Australia.

I am very comfortable in this little room because it's clean and recently renovated. Laminate floors, new WC all that. Yes I said WC and I mean it because my bathroom is really a water closet.


With fluffy blue towels I hijacked from our former Kansas estate.


And there it is. The elusive shower/toilet combo. There is no designated shower stall, just a drain in the floor and shower head. I got over the weirdness pretty quick since it's a clean and new bathroom. If it were older and creepier I would probably cry myself to sleep at night. The only bad part is I haven't found a convenient spot to put the TP, and the bathroom floor is all wet after a shower. I don't like having wet feet. It's like when your socks get wet. Not for happiness making. And that's why one of my Ikea priorties was a bath mat, outside the bathroom door.

Did you spot the Batman washcloth?