I am flattered that I still have some guanxi on Lantau; at least it didn’t just vanish like the Forumosa guanxi .
Anyway, before you give up entirely on living in Mui Wo’s ‘tropical paradise’ due to your work schedule consider the ferry journeys in a different way; instead of regarding them as time taken out of your free time or time wasted travelling, regard them as an opportunity to i) wake up on the way to work - I always found that regardless of how early I had to get the ferry, I never arrived at work hungover, tired or drowsy (although occasionally still drunk). The ferry journey compels you to wake up and gives you the chance to prep your head for the day ahead - and ii) the chance to unwind and reflect on the day that was on your return journey meaning that by the time you arrive back on Lantau, you have uncluttered the brain and are more relaxed. I realise that on paper it doesn’t look very appealling but you will appreciate simply not being on HK Island or Kowloon where the constant activity will take its toll after a while (couple of months). This becomes glaringly apparent to you at weekends; imagine: you are not working, you are couped up in a tiny flat somewhere and you want to go out. Go where? walk around the urban jungle? maybe you want to to Lantau? You get up early, battle the crowds at the pier, get there, walk around a bit but at some point will want to sit down and chill. To do this you will have to go all the way back to HK, arrive knackered and then fall asleep. If you lived in Mui Wo, you can really relax, get up early, get the Sunday papers, grab some food and by the time the masses are just setting out on their day trips you are already where they want to be. In HK, everyone busts a gut to go out and relax! Live on Lantau and you have a head start without the agro. Creating an agro-free environment is extremely important when living in HK and is something that many overlook. The hustle and bustle for which HK is famed may be great in the beginning but it takes its toll. In comparison, living in urban Taipei is a walk in the park compared to urban HK. During the week it may mean more time being spent ‘not at home’ but as I said, if you ‘manage the mind’ on the ferries to and from work, you will find it beneficial. Also, you will save money as the temptation to always go out when living in the big smoke will lure your money out of your wallet and before you know it, you’ll end up broke, living in a shoe box and wondering what the hell you are doing there. In addition, living in Mui Wo gives you a community feel (as you already know) as well as providing a support mechanism should you come unstuck and you get to know people outside your work environment. Take my advice and re-consider. The inconvenience of travel looks just that, inconvenient but when viewed in another way it is an asset. Had I not lived on Lantau, I doubt very much whether I would have stayed in Hong Kong for a year let alone twelve.
I agree with everything TbeBob wrote above. For people who aren’t used to commuting, the ferry ride may seem long or troublesome. However, a 25 minute boat ride to the heart of HK and then 30 minutes or so on a train would be a very reasonable commute by HK standards, especially since the first 25 minutes are on a relatively quiet ferry instead of a noisy, crowded train or bus. I would say that the average one-way commute for a HKer is just shy of an hour. If you’re living in a relaxing place, that kind of commute is definitely worth it. You just need to adjust your habits to a commuter’s schedule. For example, I’m the type of guy who likes to read the morning paper from front to back. I often spend two hours reading it every day. If I do that at home, I’ll be constantly interrupted by my wife; she’s just not much of a paper reader and never seems to get it that I can’t fucking stand being bothered while I’m reading the paper (I know she’ll be reading this later ). With a long, non-road commute, I have time to read the paper in relative peace. I see a long boat or train ride as a daily divorce preventative measure.
There are! I did say “you can get Indian food, and it’s good” in my post - my point was that Indian restaurants aren’t everywhere the way it seems to be in Britain. Whereas you know in Oz every suburb has its local Chinese - sometimes combined with the hamburger shop OK, nowadays a lot of suburbs have their local Indian as well, but if there’s going to be one ‘ethnic’ restaurant in some outback country town, it’ll be Chinese. More to the point, I guess, is that culturally, ‘sweet and sour pork and fried rice’ is to Australians what ‘pappadums and a vindaloo’ seem to be to the Brits.
Regarding TpeBob’s post, I have to add that in my experience those who lived on Lamma felt exactly the same way about their ferry ride - in their mind they didn’t really ‘leave home’ until they got OFF the ferry, and felt like they ‘arrived home’ the moment they got on in the evenings So, if not Lantau, where are you going to live? Mid-levels perhaps? If you can afford it, Stanley is the closest thing to a beach lifestyle you’ll find on the island I think. But it’s NOT CHEAP
daasgrrl: You hit he nail on the head with the on the ferry, off the ferry comment. I could not agree more.
jive turkey: newspapers. Correct. you will have read the paper already by the time you get to work. Others will be twiddling their thumbs to find a moment while at work or take time out during lunch to read it. You can do more with your time if you have a ferry commute. It is, however much more difficult to read the paper on a train during rush hour. Whenever I took the MTR during rush hour I used to get pissed off with all the pushing and shoving. By the time I got on the ferry, I always felt a palpable sense of relief that I was at least half way home. You will always find someone you know on the ferry and can sound off if you have had a bad day. Your common Island identity ensures a willing ear. To prove this you will invariably find the word ‘holiday makers’ prefixed with ‘bloody’ or ‘fucking’ when referred to by island dwellers. It’s an ‘us and them’ mentality which is quite cathartic.
Living in Hong Kong isn’t just about where you live, it’s a state of mind.
You work 10 minutes away from the ferry, you will have a 40 minute commute. One of my old mates from home pulled 12 hour days and took a ferry for 50 minutes each way to and from work.
He did that for 3 years and seemed content. Your alternative is a shoe box somewhere and you will not thrive in that environment.
What time is the last ferry? I only ask because what if one decides to go out after work for a drink or 5… etc. This is the only downside I imagine.
Out of interest… is the river system in Taipei logisitcally suited to having a ferry system? (ignore the dead horses and gangsters with cement shoes). I mean, it would be nice to get the ferry again.
AWOL: Ferries go on until 12.30 a.m. and there is another at 3.40 a.m. just in case you want to get really out of it in a Wanchai girlie bar…not that that ever happened, you understand.
Mr. He: Absolutely. My point exactly. Definitely more succinctly put, too.
daasgrrl: Actually, the closest you get to a beach-style living in HK is not Stanley but Shek O. It is a lot cheaper than Stanley but the downside is the hopeless bus service that is less frequent than the ferries to and from the islands. The taxi fare will set you back well over HK$100, if you miss the bus and the journey time can be over an hour. Rush hours to and from Stanley can be very time-consuming too.
Frequently, Honkies asked me where I lived and I told them “Mui Wo”. Invariably, their answer was “Waaaah, so far ah!”. Sometimes I would ask them where they lived and they may ahave answered “Fanling” or somewhere else in the NT. Then I would say:“Well, how long do you spend getting to work?”. The answer would come: “Oh, only and hour” to which I would reply: “Well, it takes me about 30 minutes AND I can do it sitting down reading the paper and having a cup of coffee. Can you do this standing up on the KCR/MTR on the way to and from work?” -silence-
As I said earlier, it’s a state of mind. Late last year I went to Zanzibar and was on the northern tip of the island having rode up there on a Vespa from Zanzibar Town. The distance to Mombasa in another country across the water was the same as I had just travelled on the Vespa but simply because of the water, Mombasa SEEMED further away when it wasn’t. Don’t let the perception of convenience fool you into staying on HK island.
Craig: I think we have all put forward compelling arguments for you to consider again the merits of living on an island.
If not, this may help:
“THE BEER IS A DAMN SIGHT CHEAPER ON THE ISLANDS!!!”
Well, Craig, I know the routine in the financial sweatshops, how many hours do you work per day?
I used to work the same place as you, and I lived in Yangmei one hr away. I managed to live and live well pulling 12-14 hour days and then up to 2 hrs on the commute. I would have stayed there if I had come to like the job.
An added bonus was that I had to be there before 7 AM, I avoided the rush hour. As I returned home between 7-9 PM (10 PM on Mondays when the powers that be was too slow in writing up the weekly), the traffic home was also manageable.
And remember, even though I had a very nice car to drive for the last months in the job, I actually had to drive all the way, which in my view is somewhat more strenious than sitting on a ferry.
Firstly your all spot on. I was looking at the ferry time as defrag the brain time. Quite looking forward to it. It certainly compares rather favourably with my previous 30 mintue mad scoot commute through Taipei to work . . . then the homeward journey which never failed to wind me up more than work!
The problem is my 7am, possibly earlier starts. Th first ferry is slow and leaves at 5:55, the next is fast from 6:20. Silly really because both are likely to arrive around the same time. Mind you I haven’t given up all hope, I’ll check with my boss next week. I’m certainly not going to be living on HK island . . or the New Territories.
Bob, there’s a group of older geesers on the island that meet at a little shop. Since they built a new toilet almost over the road they cdall it Cafe Latrine. Cheapest beers I’ve seen here! Thanks to Andrew and you for that one.
What did happen to the gunaxi? I had oodles of it. I was the only positive interest account I’ve ever had! Damn, I’m broke again.
Craig: You must be refering to Chow Kee store just above the roundabout and opposite the ‘new’ public toilet (which took about a year to build!). Cafe Latrine, eh? I suppose it needed a name! Before the government invested in a new crapper, it used to be difficult to distinguish between Chow Kee’s and the toilet, except for the fact that the old toilet was infinitely more sanitary. Chow Kee himself is a bit of an institution in Mui Wo (wonder if he’s still alive?). Everytime I saw him he used to be picking his nose, scratching his bollocks and farting continuously. Rumour has it the entire family is in-bred. Having seen his family, I can believe this to be true as no-one in their right mind wound want to marry into it
Please say hello to Tony “The Boat” Steele in the Lantau Deli for me. Ask him to tell you about the day he launched his boat. It’s very funny. If I recall, his crew consisted of an alcoholic, penniless Cockney and a confused discarded prostitute brought over to Lantau from Hong Kong and then dumped by (I forget the name) when he changed his mind. I still fail to understand why he didn’t name the boat ‘Chicken Marengo’ which everyone else seemed to like. BTW, the chicken marengo on Carnegie’s (in Taipei) menu has more to do with Tony’s contribution to the world of boat-building than a pressing need to have that particular item on the menu. Odd, I know.
Man, are there tales to tell about living 12 years on that island! The three ‘M’s’: Missionaries, Mercenaries and Misfits. I do miss the laughs over there. So much of it could never have been scripted by even the world’s most talented comedy writers.
To illustrate the community feel of the place a little: once my dog (who is right here now with me in front of the TV in Taipei) went with another dog to the pub (now the soft-drink section of Wellcome - this was in 1991) and without me. A city-dweller over for the day, objected to their presence there and tried to kick them out whereupon the landlord said “Oi, you! Fuck off out of here. We know those dogs!”
Still on the big island but hoping for the little one.
I checked out Lamma the other day as there seems to be a misguided impression in HK that it is somehow more accesible. I didn’t like theplace at all. Lamma’s narrow streets amlify teh weekend tourists making yopu feel like you’re back in Causeway bay without the tagalog. Strangelty it is not better served by ferries and in fact doesn’t have the luxury of the 3am late ferry for late night wanderers. Suppsoedly a hippy hang I was looking for the hintof reefers and all I found were English brokers chugging lagers. Nice bunch that they were, it wasn’t really what I had in mind.
Still waxing and waning on Mui Wo. It’s the damned need for an odd earlier than 7 start at this point. I may sort that out. I’m certainly hoping to. I’ve not looked at one house on HK! Mui Wo has set the base so high that I wonder if I’ll manage to find anywhere should I start looking.
Enjoying the pleasure of Missus Huang who is popping over from Taiwan this weekend . . and we’ll be staying at . . . Mui Wo of course. I hope she remembers to bring some Taianese rice. I did want alunch box but I’ll settle for 5 kilos of good old Taiwan rice. I miss it, sob, snort weep.
[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]I hope she remembers to bring some Taianese rice. I did want alunch box but I’ll settle for 5 kilos of good old Taiwan rice. I miss it, sob, snort weep.
[/quote]
It’s funny you say that about the rice. When I first moved to Taiwan, I hated Taiwanese rice. While in university, I just got used to eating the Thai jasmine stuff that HK people eat because that’s what my girlfriend (now wife) always insisted upon when we went shopping. I got used to Taiwan rice, though. After moving over to HK, I now miss the Taiwan stuff. HK rice tastes to light and empty to me.
Well, I 'm here in Moi Wo. I’ve checked into the Silvermine Beach Hotel for a month to see if the commuting works out. I’ve sussed it and I reckon it will. I am SO looking forward to waking up here tomorrow morning! In the interim I’m off to the bar by the ferry.
Cheers y’all. Thanks for pushing the joint. I really can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be . . . except Taiwan!
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). With a long, non-road commute, I have time to read the paper in relative peace. I see a long boat or train ride as a daily divorce preventative measure. 
OK, nowadays a lot of suburbs have their local Indian as well, but if there’s going to be one ‘ethnic’ restaurant in some outback country town, it’ll be Chinese. More to the point, I guess, is that culturally, ‘sweet and sour pork and fried rice’ is to Australians what ‘pappadums and a vindaloo’ seem to be to the Brits.
I suppose it needed a name! Before the government invested in a new crapper, it used to be difficult to distinguish between Chow Kee’s and the toilet, except for the fact that the old toilet was infinitely more sanitary. Chow Kee himself is a bit of an institution in Mui Wo (wonder if he’s still alive?). Everytime I saw him he used to be picking his nose, scratching his bollocks and farting continuously. Rumour has it the entire family is in-bred. Having seen his family, I can believe this to be true as no-one in their right mind wound want to marry 