Not dead yet!
1) Yeah, I took a long break from blogging, and broke my streak of posting every month. But, hey, when this started in 2005, blogs were the big thing. And yes, I should be on Tumblr by now, or something else, but this blog is old and trusted, so I need to stick with it.
2) I officially now have permanent residency. Which means I a) no longer need a work visa b) could run for office here and c) am eligible for a whole lot more stuff from the government, like living in public housing (if I made a lot less money) and more of the annual kickbacks when the government runs its usual surplus. (Last year, I missed out on getting $6,000 HK free from the government because I was not a permanent resident. I have met people who grew up in Canada, were 25, and had never been in Hong Kong before, yet they were eligible for the 6k because their parents or grandparents were Chinese and from Hong Kong. They visited HK for the first time just to get their ID card and that money.)
3) And I now have lived in Hong Kong longer than I did Chicago, by my account. I moved to Chicago in May 2008, and left in October 2005. I now have been in HK for 7 years, 2 months. Weird.
4) I will be living in the Kennedy Town address for two more years. One thing I have learned in the latest round of negotiating a lease: Never, ever trust someone until they sign an agreement. Last year, the person I rent from said she valued having a steady tenant more than anything. And this year, that did not matter; all that matters was getting a lot more money out of me. This, after she agreed to a three-year lease but backed out of it the day we were to sign and only signed a two-year lease. Was I disappointed? Yes. Do I expect to be here in this apartment after 2 more years? Not so sure.
5) So why did I stay? I still have a pretty nice place at below the market rate. The sad thing is, my rent has gone up a lot more than my pay at my full-time job, a constant complaint in Hong Kong. It's weird to think that soon, I may be priced out of what is a local neighborhood.
6) That said, gentrification is going on full-steam here. The Wall Street Journal pimped my neighborhood recently. Chain restaurants (well, outlets of local gweilo-centric chains) are opening here; the latest is to be a version of a crappy Mexican restaurant that was in Soho. Heck, I was walking home the other night via the street behind my apartment, and found a bar had opened up while I was away on Christmas break. It said it was "British fusion," which I view as meaning somewhere that took a template and will have no soul and be closed in a few months, unless they eke out a 2% margin. But I find it strange a bar can now open a block from me and I don't even notice it anymore.
7) That said, there still are constants in my hood. 7 years later, I still go to the same laundry place, run by the same old couple. My local vegetable stand is still there, 2 years after I first started buying local veggies and fruit there. And I still have not been to the wet market in my neighborhood, 7 years in. It's like a badge of honor now.
2) I officially now have permanent residency. Which means I a) no longer need a work visa b) could run for office here and c) am eligible for a whole lot more stuff from the government, like living in public housing (if I made a lot less money) and more of the annual kickbacks when the government runs its usual surplus. (Last year, I missed out on getting $6,000 HK free from the government because I was not a permanent resident. I have met people who grew up in Canada, were 25, and had never been in Hong Kong before, yet they were eligible for the 6k because their parents or grandparents were Chinese and from Hong Kong. They visited HK for the first time just to get their ID card and that money.)
3) And I now have lived in Hong Kong longer than I did Chicago, by my account. I moved to Chicago in May 2008, and left in October 2005. I now have been in HK for 7 years, 2 months. Weird.
4) I will be living in the Kennedy Town address for two more years. One thing I have learned in the latest round of negotiating a lease: Never, ever trust someone until they sign an agreement. Last year, the person I rent from said she valued having a steady tenant more than anything. And this year, that did not matter; all that matters was getting a lot more money out of me. This, after she agreed to a three-year lease but backed out of it the day we were to sign and only signed a two-year lease. Was I disappointed? Yes. Do I expect to be here in this apartment after 2 more years? Not so sure.
5) So why did I stay? I still have a pretty nice place at below the market rate. The sad thing is, my rent has gone up a lot more than my pay at my full-time job, a constant complaint in Hong Kong. It's weird to think that soon, I may be priced out of what is a local neighborhood.
6) That said, gentrification is going on full-steam here. The Wall Street Journal pimped my neighborhood recently. Chain restaurants (well, outlets of local gweilo-centric chains) are opening here; the latest is to be a version of a crappy Mexican restaurant that was in Soho. Heck, I was walking home the other night via the street behind my apartment, and found a bar had opened up while I was away on Christmas break. It said it was "British fusion," which I view as meaning somewhere that took a template and will have no soul and be closed in a few months, unless they eke out a 2% margin. But I find it strange a bar can now open a block from me and I don't even notice it anymore.
7) That said, there still are constants in my hood. 7 years later, I still go to the same laundry place, run by the same old couple. My local vegetable stand is still there, 2 years after I first started buying local veggies and fruit there. And I still have not been to the wet market in my neighborhood, 7 years in. It's like a badge of honor now.
posted by throm at 10:43 AM
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