For a little over a year, from July 2005 to August 2006, I lived at Hanlun Habitats' Lilly Court. It's a modern serviced apartment building, just off Robinson Road in Mid-levels, a very nice neighbourhood of Hong Kong. Last week, I moved into 112 Apartments, a modern serviced studio building in North Point, a neighbourhood I visited exactly once, to see this building, before moving in.

First, the building and the apartment. Well, the most obvious difference is that this is not an apartment - it's a studio. My previous place was a main room, with a small bathroom and a small kitchen off it. This place is a main room, with a kitchen area at one end, and a bathroom separated from the main room by a frosted glass partition rather than a proper wall with a door. The kitchen area has a sink, a 2-ring hob, a fridge/freezer (separate sections, rather than a freezer shelf inside, as I had before), a microwave, 2 sets of cutlery/crockery, and a kettle. In the rest of the room is a bed (very firm - not uncomfortable, particularly, but pretty solid) with a couple of pillows and a duvet, a narrow desk in the corner which had a TV on it until I asked them to remove it, a small-ish sofa and, as an extra which I asked for, a half-decent computer desk. There's no wardrobe or shelving - just drawers and compartments in the bed, and a rail in a wide-but-shallow U shape, with a curtain around it. I bought a hanging storage thingy from Ikea, so at least I've got some shelves for t-shirts and underwear... The Internet service isn't included in the price, but isn't bad - a fully-routed static (at least so far) IP address and decent speed; I can't comment on the phone service, because I don't know my number, haven't used it, and don't intend to - I've gone 100% mobile. It's not an uncommon thing in Hong Kong at all - I have landline numbers for almost none of my local friends...

As for the neighbourhood, well it's very different from what I've been used to. Robinson Road is relatively quiet, with lots of high-rise buildings full of affluent expats and locals, is retail on one side of the road, but most of the units are (real) estate agents. Chun Yeung Street has a street market running down it, lots of fresh food shops, only one 'chain' place on the entire street (a 7-11 on the corner), big flags hanging over bamboo scaffolding... and a tram line running right down the middle of the street. Yesterday, I stepped out of the lobby of my building to hear "I Just Called To Say I Love You" coming out of a radio on one of the market stalls, while a tram trundled past, painted solid red with an advert for The Economist on it - "Carries a crowd". Mid-levels probably has the highest concentration of (Western) expats in Hong Kong, while I was worried last night going to a local veggie restaurant that they might not have an English menu - for the record, they have a very extensive bilingual pure-veggie menu and I look forward to going back. It's not exactly deepest darkest China, but it's a lot more Chinese than Mid-levels - there are very few white faces around, for example. Oh, and when I say there are fresh food shops on this street, I mean fresh - selling fish live from a tank is common enough that even the local supermarket does it, and there are at least two places I've seen on this street which will slaughter a chicken for you, on demand, after you've chosen from the cages in the shop. It's a long way from Tesco ready meals...

On the other hand, it's still Hong Kong Island, and it's still very civilised. The supermarket with the fresh fish is very big and well-stocked, and there are at least 2 other supermarkets within a few minutes walk. There are 7-11s all over the place, as usual in Hong Kong, and there's a 24-hour McDonald's on the other side of my block - maybe not the best food, but a modern thing either way. There are also a couple of 24-hour local cafes/diners, and a 24-hour supermarket at Causeway Bay, a few minutes away by cab/bus or about 30 minutes on foot. There is very lively shopping around North Point, both in the streets and in stores, big and small. I don't think I'd want to be here long-term - certainly not in this building - but more because of the physical location than anything else. It's an interesting part of town, and I do feel at home around here now, but I've been used to being closer to the SoHo/Lan Kwai Fong/Central areas, and this is a bit far out. I think I'd seriously consider Wan Chai (inland, away from Lockhart Road) for something more permanent...

On 25/8 I finished my employment in Hong Kong. On 26/8 I flew back to the UK, having moved out of my flat in HK. As it happens, on 27/8, having arrived in the UK that morning, I flew out to Spain that night. On 5/10, I flew out of Heathrow (getting upgraded at the gate, which was nice) and landed back in HK the day after, the 6th.

Today, the 9th, I'm leaving Hong Kong again - in fact. I've already been through passport control and I'm sitting at the gate waiting for them to call boarding. Strange, huh? Well, here's what happened...

I officially started work in Hong Kong almost exactly a year ago. In fact, it was on or about 9/10/05 - the day I activated my visa was, anyway. Since the standard 'first' work visa is for 1 year, my visa expired on 9/10/06. When I re-entered Hong Kong last week, I accidentally did it as a resident with 3 days left on his (un-renewed) work visa, rather than as a visitor who would get 180 days stay, given a UK passport. I arrived late enough that there wasn't much I could do about it on Friday, Saturday was a public holiday, Sunday is a non-work day, and today, the 9th, is Monday. I called Immigration this morning, and the best advice they could give me was "if your visa runs out today, you'd better leave Hong Kong today - when you next enter, make sure you're entering as a visitor." This may seem harsh, but it's not that bad - Hong Kong really isn't that big, and there are two convenient borders: to the mainland, and to Macau. As such, I'm at the Macau ferry terminal, waiting to board the 12 noon ferry, so I can turn around and come back - probably stopping for lunch in Macau - and re-enter Hong Kong. Total time, maybe 3.5 hours, total cost about $350 (about £25).

It's not quite what I'd planned to do today, but it's not an unpleasant way to spend an afternoon, so it's not a disaster.

Addendum: I'm now legally in Hong Kong, at least for (up to) the next 179 days. When I came back through passport control after having lunch and some nice ice cream in Macau - there are a couple of very nice little ice cream shops, one Italian, one Japanese, in a couple of side streets off the main square - I came through the 'visitor' lane rather than the 'resident' lane at passport control. The woman asked me if I'd finished working - I said yes - then asked if I wanted to enter as a visitor - I said yes - then reminded me that I couldn't work as a visitor - I said sure. Job done - got a visitor visa. Next thing - find a flat - not going well.