Too often as expats, we are trapped in the bubble that is Central/Soho/LKF and maybe sometimes Wanchai and TST. A tall tale sign of being too insulated is the fact that after 9 months in Hong Kong, I can only say my street and stop here in Cantonese to tell the cabs where I need to be dropped off. Last Sat, I was given an unique opportunity to visit a lovely Cantonese family.
Joanna was my landlord up until a few weeks ago, when she sold the apartment to someone else. Luckily, I am still a tenant under the same contract. She always mentioned that she wanted to take me to her house in Sai Kung for lunch or tea one weekend. Last weekend, she came and picked myself and her former tenant in the apartment, Nick, up from my apartment. With just a twenty minute drive, we were out in the fishing villages of East Sai Kung. There, Joanna lived on the third and fourth floor of a small low-rise building. There are villages after villages by the beach, with beautiful weather and clean air. The houses reminded me of townhouses in the United States, except each section of the townhouses have a different design, breeding personality and character into the village.
Her sitting room was the very top floor, with open windows and excellent sunshine. It felt like an open aired room even though it was complete enclosed. There was so much space! Joanna told us that for HK$8,000 a month, we could rent over 1,000 sq. feet. I currently pay double that for less than half the space in Mid-levels! We had tea and dim sum from Tim Ho Wan, the famous Michelin star restaurant. Joanna, picked up the dim sum last evening and heated them up after we arrived. Post dim sum, we went on a long walk around the beaches and different fishing villages. All the little communities are connected by the water. The air quality was unparallel. Even though every family had a car to get around, it is still 100x better than the muggy air that over cast that consumes Hong Kong island.
After our walk, Joanna and her husband hosted us for ice cream and fruits. We had a lovely time understanding what matters to a Cantonese family. Joanna and her husband were very concerned about her children, worrying about their lack of attention span, lack of responsibility, lack of self-displace. As a professor in film, Joanna tells us she often has students that don't complete their work. She worries for her own son in boarding school, worried about his development.
The afternoon couldn't last forever and we didn't want to overstay our welcome. It started at 1PM. After a 45 minute non-stop bus ride back on bus 618, I managed to return to the land of the expats again around 615PM. I couldn't have asked for a more lovely afternoon with a very impressive woman. Thanks Joanna.
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