Malapascua was just fantastic, but unfortunately my health wasn’t. During the first flight I caught a cold of some sort and spent the rest of the trip more or less moving by ibuprofen ja adrenaline. I couldn’t just let the opportunity pass and skip the diving while there, so I chose medical CPR instead and did 17 dives during the past seven days.

I’m writing this in one of the pay lounges of Hong Kong international airport since our trip arrangements are a bit less than efficient: the flight from Philippines landed at 15:10, while the connecting flight leaves around 22:20 – more than seven hours later. Not having to spend all that time on the benches near gates was well worth that 500 Hong Kong dollars (around 40 euros). Nice armchairs, electricity outlets, free internet access, drinks, food, showers and massages should make the wait much less painful.

I’ll post some photos later, but here’s a teaser:

I think it’s a sweetlips, but I may be completely wrong. Please let me know if you can identify the species

Edit: my second guess would be striped dogface pufferfish, but still not sure. I’m not exactly brilliant in biology, so help me out.

Tags: diving, flu, holiday, let me know, natural beauty, oh bugger, photos, travel, waiting

Swimming trunks, check.

Mask, check.

Passport & Visa, check.

I’m off to Malapascua!

Tags: holiday

Happiness is…

• having someone look after the house while you’re at work
• finding nice furniture
• loud and visual thunderstorms
• having two more days before holiday
• scoring an empty toilet roll to the trash can on one try

Today I was away so late that the guard called my driver if I’m okay. It’s nice when someone cares, even if it’s for money.

Tags: it's good to be me

Regardless of my previous post, being here is more than just dysfunctional interior, awful traffic and too much people. It’s just easy to see the bad sides first, especially when the contrast between home and India is so… so… big. It’s hard to explain, and I’ve tried so many times I don’t bother anymore. Instead, I’ll get to the latest news:

I spent the whole Sunday at the house, reading Richard Dawkins (which may have affected to my opinion on shrines in the house),  observing wildlife on the street and bathing my toes in the sun. I also found the three floors useful as I can do some aerobic exercise just by running up and down the stairs. And it’s surprisingly much more fun to cook when someone else is going to do the dishes

Today I went to my agent to get an estimate on how much money I can blow on furniture without going over my maximum rent. We have a deal with a rental company so that they buy what I want and rent it out to the Corporation as long as I stay here. After that they get to keep the stuff and make ridiculous amounts of profit by selling near mint stuff that have paid themselves back in the rent. Brilliant business!

I also got my residential permit for one year, meaning that I don’t have to worry about the legality of my stay before next April. My agent Vivek is one of the best Indians I’ve ever known, as he’s very helpful and sees things through. I must figure out a way to thank him properly when all the initial hussle is over. Good agents, drivers and maids are worth gold here.

Speaking of maids, I have a good one at the house: does her job well, speaks rather good English and cooks good veg curry (among other dishes, I suppose).  When needed, she can also do some shopping and boss the guards around to do something – especially handy since the boys aren’t that fluent in languages other than their native ones.

Oh, the allowance for furniture? More than the Engineer makes in six months.

(I’ll post some photos when I get the stuff, most likely next month)

Tags: accommodation, colleagues from India, luxuries, my pimped-up interior design, practical stuff, prices, shopping

As I told earlier, I am currently living in my future home while the present occupants are on holiday. Let’s cut straight to the case, the photos (more here):

Here’s the house from the roadside. It has three floors, four bedrooms (each with separate bathroom & shower), three balconies, two guards (one of them right there) and a roof terrace. I would estimate it has somewhere around 300-350 square meters, but I don’t have any hard data on my hands. In any case it should be enough for two plus two.

The amount of trees still amazes me, as well as the East German (lookalike) cars people still drive around here.

Okay, back to the house… this is the main hall from the front door direction. There’s another entrance on the left because the logical one faces the wrong direction for some god(desse)s to be favorable on the house. And that’s not the most wasteful effort put into this house in the name of some imaginary being…

…but before that, here’s something I didn’t expect to see: it’s an alcove for washing your hands. It’s conveniently placed right next to the dining space (and with a mirror I noticed too late).

Undoubtedly this is the most decorated and well-made part of the house, but sadly it isn’t anything of significance for me: there’s a small room about the size (and feel) of a two-person outhouse behind them, purpose-built for worshipping hindu gods.  I could respect the culture and blahblahblah, but not in my home, thank you. So from my point of view it’s complete waste of time and effort.

The living room in the second floor (first floor is on ground level) will easily accommodate my desk, couch and movie screen when they arrive. Quite frankly, I’m not a huge fan of the current interior, especially when there’s no room to land your laptop anywhere without first lifting that beer can out of the way.

The library is right next to the living area, complete with exotic laminate floors and a writing desk with an antique feeling to it. Sadly I’ll never have enough books to fill up the shelves before I move on.

The second floor balcony is decorated for hanging around with friends, although again with no tables to rest your drinks on. Of course I will see that there’s plenty of tables here when I’m in command, but not just yet.

The bigger third floor balcony accommodates a couple of grills, along with a slight sense of privacy since the closest neighbours are lower down (the tall building on the right is a hotel, windows not facing this way). I am yet to find something good to grill, but one of these days…

This photo was taken from the top point of the house, even above the roof terrace. If only I could have a swimming pool here!

I realise I’m being quite negative on certain aspects of the place, but most of it is only temporary: in a month or so I’ll be able to customise the whole place as I please,  because it will be ALL MINE! No, wait…

Tags: accommodation, luxuries, oh bugger, photos, religion, what is different

Just for everyone to know, I’m a lot better today. I’ll get back to business tomorrow with some photos of the house and nearby.

Right now I’ll hit the hay as soon as my shower water warms up and I get to have a wash. I’ll be back tomorrow!

Tags: friends and family, what is different

The last 24 hours have been something I wish no one would have to endure. It all started as neck, shoulder and head ache, which I accounted to bad ergonomy in the office (still haven’t got a display or a keyboard) and  standing out in the heat (I had to register myself at an office with no aircon). During the evening it got worse, and by the time I was supposed to have dinner it came clear to me that something was wrong besides the usual office worker’s aches: I was dizzy, nauseous, sweaty and, in retrospective, horribly disoriented.

The reason came up – along with my lunch – just before I went to bed. I checked out the symptoms of malaria just in case, but it seems like it was just a regular case of food poisoning.  These things happen quite a lot in here, but this was my first one here. I thought it was all over and went to bed, hoping to wake up safe and sound.

As you probably have guessed already, it didn’t go that well.

I fell asleep relatively quickly, but woke up somewhere in the wee hours of the night with a biblically sore hip bone. It felt like the outermost parts of the bone (the ones on the sides) had been in a screw clamp, pressed inwards by some kilotons of force. The reason turned out to be the rock hard matress in the new bed, combined with my tendency to sleep on my side 90% of the time. I usually sleep on a soft matress that gives way for the protruding bones and distributes my weight more evenly, but these futons and straw thingies just don’t do the trick for me.

So I spent the rest of the night rolling around, sleeping on the couch, lying awake, wandering around the house, trying to sleep, looking for anything soft to sleep on, and missing my loved ones in the dark, hopeless hours of Indian night. What would I have given for being with my wife at that moment!

Eventually morning came, I gave a call to our agent, and he promised to arrange me a softer matress before end of the day. It came in around two o’clock (on a rikshaw), but looks suspiciously similar to the previous one. The coming night will tell if it’s any better.

I had already forgotten how things can suck sometimes.

Tags: accommodation, food, friends and family, oh bugger, sleep, surprises, transportation

For the last few days I’ve been running around the town and arranging things (along with having three-hour lunch breaks). It took me several days to realize what a cultural shock it has been for me, but it’s easy to see now when it’s fading away.

The Residences has been okay, but there are still some things that make me want to leave. The toilet doesn’t flush properly, dustbin lids are broken, the kitchen sink is stained and so on. Today I visited Oakwood to see the place in person and, first and foremost, to get the lowest rate they could offer. The final decision is with the Corporation and its agent, but I am hopeful in getting a good apartment this time. Oakwood is brand new, its location just brilliant, amenities include saunas and a (long) swimming pool on the roof, plus there are some good restaurants in the same building. It should really be the place where every expat lives while looking for a more permanent apartment.

I don’t remember being so shocked the last time I came here, but I can also see why: besides some bad luck (especially with accommodation), I’m here without my second sanity (Eve) and there’s no way out. I’ll just have to bite the bullet for a couple of weeks (excluding the diving holiday, I hope) before I get to build my own sanctuary from all the bureaucracy and millions of Abus trying to separate me from my money and my sanity.

They say that the first and last month are the worst, with all the paper work, temporary accommodation, gathering and getting rid of stuff, registrations, phone arrangements, and the list goes on. Doesn’t sound even half as difficult as it is, but I still don’t recommend anyone to try without professional help from the locals.

I seem to have ran out of things to say a long time ago, so I’ll get back when there’s something really happening.

Tags: accommodation, cultural shock, hotels, oh bugger, traffic, ways of working, what is different

Last night I came back to the hotel after going bowling and, despite the brilliant brunch at Olive Beach, hungry like a wolf. So I paid a personal visit to the reception and told them to order a pizza for me. And so they did.

Guess how long it took for a small topped bread to arrive?

Three bloody hours, but it was still warm.

Tags: culture, food, time, what is different