Hong Kong. Having a bucket list to
tick off is a reminder that I shouldn’t
be wasting my time here.”
Make the city your own
Like a new friend, every city has its
own charm and eccentricities you get
to know over time. The only thing
worse than being a tourist in your own
city is living in an expat bubble. The
first order of things is to top up your
Octopus card and walk the streets and
markets on both sides of the harbour,
taste the local street food, from milk
tea to fish balls and congee, and ride
Hong Kong’s much loved “ding ding”
trams. The Hong Kong Tourism
Board has compiled three mobile apps
with detailed heritage, city and island
walking guides – a handy first step to
grasp the lie of the land. There are
also a number of private city walks
to try out. The very popular “Little
Adventures in Hong Kong” (www.
littleadventuresinhongkong.com) is
managed by a group of city enthusiasts
and local food journalists who take you
on well-researched, off-the-beaten-
path city walks that promise to make
you feel like a Hong Kong old-hand in
no time.
Even a basic understanding of
the Opium Wars and the Japanese
Occupation during World War II can
give a newcomer real appreciation
for the city’s fascinating history. Two
museums that are favourites with locals
and great starting points for expats are
The Hong Kong Museum of Coastal
Defence and Hong Kong Museum of
History. Both provide immersive and
fun exhibits that save you the effort
of ploughing through prosaic history
books.
Second careers
A transfer to Hong Kong often means
one person is the trailing spouse – the
one taking a break from their career.
But Hong Kong’s entrepreneurial
can-do attitude can be infectious, and
there are plenty of networking groups
to help you get back in the game. No
one knows this better than Nicole
Webb, who has reinvented herself from
being a TV news reader in Australia
to an expat mum who freelances
as a journalist, media trainer and
blogger who details her experiences
at MintMochaMusings.com. “Hong
Kong is the perfect place for second
careers. I remember being terrified at
what my career prospects would be,
Like a new friend, every city has its own charm
and eccentricities you get to know over time.
May 2014
57
