Now for something completely different

I was checking my Posting index, and I realized that I hadn't made a peep since early October. Work, plus a lot of stressful activities have of course managed to pre-empt any chance of me from making observations on the going on's.

The newspapers are of course just about picking up on stories about how the HK WTO talks will be bound to fail (there is one story on the SCMP just about every other day), and of course the Bird Flu pandemonium (which is of course raising concerns among the usually unflappable Hong Kongers. Of course we had La Presidente here in HK a week ago, and the SCMP ran a rather unflattering Editorial Cartoon of hers sliding to Disneyland and looking at her kababayan's and saying "Just like you, I have Sunday's Off too".

But what has been pre-occupying me, aside from my wife's almost constant vigil on any Bird Flu related news, is my expiration of my lease.

Your lease you say? But how mundane! Well, it could have been easier if things had gone according to plan. The Landlord could have had the courtesy to inform his tenant that he was raising his rent, two months earlier. Instead, he was incommunicado for two months, only responding to my agent, just over the week, forcing us to scramble to find newer digs.

Mind you, HK right now is not very cheap. The newspapers keep saying its 1997 again, and I tend to agree that market prices are scrambling up, especially in the area I live in. Thus, with a heavy heart, my wife and I went to Discovery Bay to look at what some of colleagues are raving as quiet living.

Quiet is the word. Having lived in a working class district, we've gotten used to jackhammers and traffic over us. Instead, we were confronted with serene landscapes and some breath taking views of HK Disneyland. It reminds me of a private subdivision, which in essence it is. Plus, the flats are cheap, and we've got tons of space for our precious little daughter to roll around.

Now that we are sold on it, the hard part comes. Moving, cleaning etc. All in the middle of an impending Christmas holiday, its bound to drive anyone crazy. Hopefully, it will all work out somehow.