Going from A to B

These two pictures were taken a day apart at almost the same time of day. I was heading to the same place, but using different modes of transportation. The one with the crowd was taken on the MTR (HK's subway system) and the one without the crowd was taken on one of HK's modern double decker buses. Nearly the same time and the same direction, yet a world of difference in terms of the environment. This is one of the many things I have to learn about getting from place A to place B here.

I've learned that even the local folks aren't aware of all the transportation options out here. Case in point, the MTR shuts down @ 1am. So when partying it up at Lan Kwai Fong I can't take the MTR back home. According to most locals (including friends of my parents) my only option is to take a taxi. I paid $80 HKD to do just that to get to the Kowloon side during my first week here. But I refused to accept that there were no other public transportation options. So asking around, I found out there was a late night LKF green mini bus that does the same thing for less than $20 HKD. Tada! Instant savings that meant I could use $60 HKD for another drink for myself or a friend.

My most recent transportation pain occurred this last Friday, 11-11-05. For the first time I took public transportation to/from Cyberport. It took 20 minutes to wait for the 69x mini bus and another 20 minutes to get there. Not too bad. But coming back was a *major* pain. Two 69x buses passed me and my student assistant before we gave up and boarded a double decker. It took us nearly an hour and a half to get back to the university this way. I learned that we were waiting at the last minibus stop at Cyberport so they will almost always be full at that stop. We'll have to go to an earlier stop next time. I also learned that the last bus leaves Cyberport at 11:30pm. It looks like the Cyberport commute will be a little more challenging then going to and from the university.

Other than figuring out the transportation bit, there's a lot going on here. I've been keeping so busy I haven't had the time/energy to blog. Things are really starting to pickup. I'm going to have to stay organized to keep up. To make up for my lack of posts; here's a quick bullet point update:

* I'm getting a better sense of who's who and how things work in the film industry here. I'm meeting a good number of film producers/directors and post production execs. Hopefully, I'll be collaborating with them soon on a few projects.

* I spent Friday at Cyberport with my student/assistant setting up working desks so it looked presentable to a few UK video game execs who visited this weekend. We should be moving in and working there this week. I've got my eye on a desk that's got the best damn view. It will be the best view I've ever had for an office. Sweet!

* I may be pitching an IP idea to a major HK film studio in a few weeks. To prepare I'll be doing a dry run with a student entrepreneur group at Cyberport this week. Not that I'm an expert, but I'll probably have to explain the whole pitch process to them. This will be my third studio pitch and first one in HK. Hopefully this will result in a greenlit project!

* I finished my first HK business plan 2 weeks ago and we may actually begin executing and funding portions of it faster than I ever thought possible. Things really move fast here!

* I went to Hey Hey! at LKF last night and didn't pay to get in! I'm sure it won't last forever, but I'm really lucking out with the party scene. I haven't had to pay a cover to get into all the exclusive clubs I've gone to. Just lucky enough to be hanging with the right people at the right time so far!

Well, enough rambling. I've got a big week coming up. I better try to get some sleep...