Back to Hong Kong, back to work a.k.a. "no, I did not drop off the face of the earth"

So after a whirlwind summer I am back in Hong Kong, and busy as all get out.

Day two at work has left me zonked. The trip back here was a mission in and of itself: after a tearful goodbye with Liebling at the marina, I took an early morning flight from Split, Croatia to Rome, where I spent a whopping 13 hours in the airport and airport grounds before taking a night flight to Moscow (where a wicked amount of turbulence REALLY had me thinking that we weren’t going to make it) and another four hour layover in the Moscow airport (= the land of cigarette ash, they allow smoking EVERYWHERE in that airport) and then a 10 hour morning flight back to Hong Kong.

Actually, truth be told, my layover in Rome was not so bad, as I marched myself over to the airport hotel (a Hilton attached to the aiport by a covered walkway, don’t you know!) and sat on the comfy couches in the lobby, and used the gym and pool facilities (which I was supposed to pay 15 euros for, but the guy at reception took pity on me and let me in for free. Score!)

With that being said, however, my total travel time from Split to Hong Kong was in the arena of 33 hours- nothing to sniff at! And I didn’t walk into my apartment in Hong Kong until around midnight. Keep in mind that I was out the door the next morning at 7:30am. No time to feel jet-lagged or sink into my bed and relish being home.

I was also greeted with the surprise that my internet and cable in my apartment had been cut off due to me forgetting to pay the bill over the summer (cue sheepish grin). So after work on Monday, I marched myself to my local service provider only to have them tell me in poor English that I can’t get it reconnected until Saturday. Which means that I am writing this from my friendly neighbourhood coffee shop, which happens to have two computers with free internet. I would have gladly taken advantage of the free-ness, but my “Canadian guilt” made me buy an overpriced (albeit very tasty) cappuccino so nobody would look at me cross-eyed for using the computer.

I have also been busy searching for an apartment (as I was told that my landlord had sold my flat over the summer and the new owners weren’t sure that they want a tenant). The search has been pretty terrible however. Rents have SKYROCKETED here in HK due to a huge upward dip (oxymoronic, I know) in the housing market. Which means that you pay very much for very little space. I am trying to negotiate with the new owners of my flat so I can continue to stay there, but it looks like, even if I end up staying, I might have to pay even MORE rent than what I pay currently to keep up with market rates. Bummer! Despite my lacking internet, being the resourceful gal I am, I have used this pilfered internet to look up a few rental ads and am actually due to view another apartment in a couple of minutes. Cross your fingers for me… Hope it’s decent…

Anyhoo, I’m hoping to post pics and accounts from my Croatia and Italy adventures very soon. So stay tuned!