In Hong Kong, you'd be dead!

Welcome to Hong Kong!

A couple of weeks into it (sorry, didn't have net access until I started work), but have already achieved so much. The biggest challenges in the first few days included;

1. HK ID card - mandatory for carrying around on you, I think the wait in line to get it is mandatory as well. The average wait is about 6 hrs.. I think I set a new record in getting it done in 1.5 ... It's not hard, just a few forms, a picture taken and your thumbprints taken twice! but for some reason they like just making you line up and watch a screen for your number to be called... but they were all nice, including the lady that asked if I wanted to get my picture taken again (probably coz I looked crap!).. much nicer than those ppl at the RTA.
2. Bank account - needed so many forms of ID for this, but in the end a letter from PwC was enough to get me in, including the waiver of the first year of bank charges.. see PwC is the best... Anyway, again had to wait and it looked like it was going to be at least an hour, but luckily for some weird reason everyone else before me wasn't in the waiting room at the time and I ended up with a banker in 5 mins.. its so cool here, you can deposit multiple notes at once into the ATM, as well as cheques. The notes clear straightaway, and the cheques only take until 4pm the next business day. Gotta luv HSBC.. and gotta take pleasure in the small things ;p
3. Apartment - found a really cool agent (who I refer to as Danny mole - for all those who watch the Amazing Race) who took me around to about 30 different places in about 4 days, including sat/sun.. saw places from wan chai to causeway bay to tin hau, fortress hill, north point, taikoo and kornhill. Basically just followed the MTR line.. Also saw a whole range of places from 2 - 3 bedrooms with 1 - 2 toilets and really new places as well as one really really old and dirty place which made me scared... Funnily enough, ended up getting the first apartment I saw, which is in Causeway Bay. Rent is about $1k AUD a month each (which is actually quite cheap here) and have spent the last week or two buying all sorts of
   furniture (never thought I would eva buy so much from IKEA), as well as other miscellaneous things I would have never thought of buying...

Now I'm all settled.. my normal day is.. wake up 7:30am.. turn on hot water, turn off alarm
.. wake up 8am turn off alarm... wake up 8:20am, get ready for work.. 9am, leave home, buy
breakfast (a chinese bread thing from a maxim-esq shop downstairs) and get to work by 9:30
am. Work until about 7 - 8pm. Home then dinner, or dinner then home. Then walk around the
shops or play playstation/watch dvd until bed. Yeah, quite a meaningless existence, but it
suffices for brainnumbingness entertainment for the time being. Give me a few weeks and I
may start going out to meet new friends...

Have actually started making new friends.. in the past 3 weeks I have played ultimate
frisbee, touch footy, and basketball... all with diff ppl who I never knew before I came to
HK. Good to keep in shape etc... Hopefully I can keep it up.. but even nowadays I'm starting
to get lazy....

Anyway, time for another 3 hr meeting at work.. hope you guys are all having fun without me,
and keep writing to keep me updated on the going ons in Sydney/wherever you are!! ;p