Mid level job hunting in Shanghai

I'm a management consultant, and have been looking for a job in Shanghai. I'm still with my UK firm, and hope that our Shanghai office will have a good offering for me. In the meantime, I have cast my net wide to find out more about the market. My experience should be most relevant to those people who:-
- don't want local pay but aren't quite top senior executives
- do jobs that aren't generally advertised for (i.e. not accountants or SAP consultants, but people with fluffier harder to describe jobs)

I have many observations and opinions on my job hunt experience. They centre around:-
- Language requirement (my mandarin is currently very minimal)
- Lifestyle (asian long hours / committment expectations)
- Culture (leadership / trust / will your boss back you up to the hilt? / sponsorship / who takes credit? / culture of management or leadership? )
- Salary (range of low to high)
- Travel (% travel, will I really only be able to come home for 1 weekend in 3? class and safety of travel? mandarin speaking countries?)
- Geography (am I prepared to be based out of Hong Kong, or even London if the right job comes along?)
- Timing (should I start work asap? or spend longer learning Mandarin first?)
- Development (how will my employer develop me or help me to develop?)

I don't think I'll diarise my job hunt - I think it's a bit sensitive. But if you have questions to ask, please send them in.

Need to Know Basis / Information is Power

This should be a running theme. I think I will develop some hypotheses as topics for observation and discussion, and then write on them from time to time. They should represent the view of a westerner who is trying to understand and appreciate PRC / Shanghai culture.

So far at Fudan, I have observed the withholding of information. Denying entrance to Uni. Denying accomodation. Hiding room availability. Not telling us where to go, or what time to be somewhere, but telling us that we need to be there. Not telling us that our 6 month course is actually little over 4 months. Not telling us our timetable - will classes really be mornings only? Will they really start at 8am each day?

Some of this I believe can be complacency and disregard for students. I remember how in the UK students are quite happy to queue and be messed about, as they have all the time in the world. So I don't think Chinese culture is to blame for all of this.

But I do think there's a definite aspect of non-communication here. It's like the nurses telling me in the medical exam to wait for the bus. No telling me where the bus is taking me, what will happen to be on the other end, or how long it will take - because all I need to know is that I should sit and wait for the bus.

On the power side - I understand that information such as how to shortcut highly beauraucratic processes or barriers, requires the use of favours through connections to get things done. Clearly the world of favours keeps people sweet, and quite possibly is a barrier to making life generally less beauraucratic.

Any comments / other opinions / personal observations?

Readership! Mr First Link! RSS / Site Feed

WOW

My first link - from Wang Jian Shuo. I am indeed Flattered! Jian Shuo's blog is one of the most highly rated blogs in Shanghai (specialising in transport around Shanghai, but also including travel and observations). Thank you Jian Shuo, I look forward to seeing you and Wendy again soon. I have great respect for Jian Shuo.

Readership! Including some of the bloggers I met this week, but also a chap called Terry who I've never heard of! I'm guessing he came through Jian Shuo's link. Gosh.

And requests for Site Feed / RSS / Syndication. I understand this is so that people can be informed when my blog is updated. In fact, it should be updated almost every day. Still - I'm also flattered - I guess this is akin to having regular readers or even subscribers!
I have no idea how this works... I am using Blogger.com's Atom syndication.

http://www.shiufamily.com/kw-blog/atom.xml

The blog started as a way for me to tell my family and close friends what was going on. Now with all of my Fudan experiences, and potentially job hunting experience, I can see that people may have questions to ask of me.

Lastly, thank you again Jian Shuo - I know your link is indeed a Gift, and that now I must keep my blog alive!

Fudan - Dorm or Apartment?

Terry asks - should he stay in the dorms or an apartment?

At the end of the day, I pulled out of the dorms because I couldn't cope with living in a room, especially when I only have 4 hours a day of classes. The rooms are new and clean, have private bathrooms and air conditioning/heating, but no room for an armchair. And I want to read books and watch chinese tv/films.

The dorms are 90rmb a day - about 2500rmb say a month. I'm paying 1800rmb for my 1 bed apartment, in the South Campus (52sqm). My bathroom isn't as nice (there's no shower or bathtub, but there is a shower hose and a drain....) But I get a sofa and my own kitchen a washing machine, an indoor clothes drying space (WOW), and a water cooling unit. And a small concrete garden to have a little barbecue... I'll be away from the hubbub of the dorms, but then that might be a good thing - I'd like to socialise but not too much. Bills and heating will probably come to 300rmb a month I think. I spent 1500rmb so far on bedding, domestics, cutlery etc. (including 600rmb on a feather quilt and 200rmb on two sets of linen).

I was lucky with the apartment in that Mr Yu's friend knew of the apartment to rent, and so I didn't need to go to estate agents. I was also lucky that my aunt is in town and she speaks and reads Mandarin, so she could translate the contract and communicate with my somewhat interesting landlady. (e.g. how to get the Internet, how to tell the caretaker what the meter readings are each month)

Tek rents an apartment of a similar size for 1400rmb, also fairly nearby, but off campus. His bathroom has a bathtub, but it's really a long way away from being white.

The landlady was keen to ensure that I kept the flat clean. The flat was apparently clean already. I said I wanted to get a cleaner - she suggested 2 hours a week. My aunt explained that cleanliness standards are different - indeed the floor of the kitchen visibly had worn in dirt. I would have thought as a minimum 3 or 4 hours just to scrub the dang place down would be necessary. But I don't think they go in for scrubbing here.

Conclusion (end of waffle)
I'd say, any option is probably the same cost wise. Hassle wise, clearly the dorm is the simplest. The question is I guess, what you expect to do with your spare time - hang out with your uni buddies, or spend time at home. Being a part time loner at this point in time, I'd really appreciate the extra space of an apartment - being able to watch (very very cheap) chinese films, read books, not get claustrophobic. What do you think Terry?

Jumping through Hoops at Fudan

I haven't even started classes at Fudan yet.

But, I have been jumping through their various hoops, and am beginning to learn from this.

First there was trying to get accepted into the University. I first applied at Christmas time, having missed their Dec 15th or something deadline. I was told it was too late. Then I rocked up to Hong Kong, and some people who knew some people got me in.

Then there was registering at the Uni. I thought I was supposed to go to the Foreign Students Office, but in fact I needed to go to a Dining Hall at the north east of the complex. At the hall, there were about 5 stages of form filling to be done. I was quite proud to find that my name had been hand appended onto the end of the student lists the staff had. Ah... clearly it must have been a Big favour to squash me into the course so late in the day. Just as well the beauracracy (sp?) turned me away in the first place. Many of the staff didn't speak English (or Cantonese). Cunningly they had student helpers on the other side of the hall to help. Even more cunningly, they didn't speak English at all. So there I was, trying to fill in one particular form which was all in Chinese. I didn't know what the boxes were, and I didn't know at all what the form was for. But, you learn to just do as you're told, and not ask questions.

Thirdly there was getting a student dorm. I applied in January for one, but was told the e-booking was full, and that I should apply for one in person. I was assured all along the way that there would be single rooms. Having queued and filled in more forms at the dorms, I was then told that there were no more rooms. I didn't really know what to believe... A new friend Kellog told me that he had a double room with no roomie, and suggested I try again the next day. Which I did, and there was no problem.

The room I got was facing the road on the 3rd floor. The balcony (where laundry is hung to dry) was super filthy with muck from the road. A lovely french girl Sophie told me that I could easily change to another room. Amazingly, the staff didn't have a problem with readministering me into another room (including inspecting my passport again, even though they'd done this 10 minutes ago to give me my original room). Interestingly, I observed a senior administrator coach the administrator looking after me to keep the room-swap sheet hidden from my view, lest I think I should see what rooms were free. I paid my 200 rmb deposit and promised to come back the next day with lots more cash. (I thought 9000 rmb would be enough to get started, but they wanted 12150 for the full term. It's 90rmb a day, ie. just over 50 pounds a week)

Then I found out that apartments in the area are way cheaper (thanks to Tek). So I went back to Fudan, and wanted to pull out of the dorm. I thought I'd enlist some help first though. My friend back in Hong Kong U gave me the name of the officer who looks after Hong Kong U students in Fudan. On walking through his door (Mr Yu, room 202 in the Foreign Affairs Office), I was warmly greeted "oh you are the one from hong kong, welcome!" (in mandarin). Helpfully Mr Yu doesn't speak English or even Cantonese. His assistant William does speak English, so we got through.

Together, we managed to find out where and when the afternoon placement test was. It had already begun, and so William walked me over to the building (#2). Afterwards, Mr Yu looked into my accomodation situation. I explained how I thought it was a major ripoff. Mr Yu investigated a number of options. a) asking someone else to pay for it (an interesting option but sadly this didn't work, perhaps because I'm not really from HKU or yet a HK citizen) b) negotiating the rate (sadly also didn't work, but I appreciate the attempt), and c) pulling out of my contract. We went for pulling out, and Mr Yu wrote me a note to that effect to hand to the Dormitory Polizei.

At the Dorms, the changeover went very smoothly. No complaints, not even a murmur of a grumble at the paperwork or needing to check the room. With a wink, the lady even refunded my 200rmb deposit, and only charged me a night's rent, even though I had expected to at least pay 2 nights if not lose the deposit altogether. Interestingly, this is the same lady who I quietly cursed for telling me that there were no rooms on the first day.

Kellog jokingly suggests it's to do with the fact that for the last two days I have been wearing a suit for interviews, and that the staff seem to respond well to it.

On Saturday, I went back for my medical. I shouldn't need one on the basis of my 6 month course actually being much less than 6 months, but because I came to China once in February, my total 'stay' requires me to have it done. I think.

The nurses had a production line set up in the Uni, which was darned impressive. First I had form filling to do, including running out into the street to get a passport photocopy. Some photos, barcodes, and lots of laptops ensued. I was most impressed that nurse #2 took a digital photo of my, and it appeared at nurse #5's laptop with my name and some details. Clearly they do not want to mix things up. Impressive connectivity given they were camped in the dorm foyer.

After the production line, I gave some blood and was encouraged to take a seat. I had no idea what I was waiting for. Having waited a few minutes, I enquired. Something to do with the bus outside was what I gathered. I had to leave for lunch in about ten minutes - a lunch I had organised! Miraculously, a translating teacher was on hand. Together, we tried to find out from the chief nursey where the bus would take me, and how long it would take. But chief nursey really wasn't going to explain a lot. Her response was along the lines of 'don't lunch', sit and wait. I agreed to come back on Monday in the end. It makes Monday tight. I have classes in the morning (I'm assuming - no timetable), and a friend's press conference in the afternoon - I'm going to have to do medical tests etc. at lunchtime.

All I know is that getting anything done at Fudan is very tiring. It justifies my cab rides in and out of town (25-30rmb) instead of buses (2 x 2rmb), on the basis that I need the extra time to fit in all the administration.

Dim Sum at the Four Seasons

Today we had dim sum at the Four Seasons Hotel. Six of us went - Kira, myself; Kellog and Janice from Fudan; Vicky and her husband John from the weblogger meetup earlier in the week.

They have a standard 'eat all you can' deal on weekends - 108 rmb for dim sum. that's about 7 pounds. (the catch - there's a 15% service charge, and their delicious fruit juices cost 40 rmb each. but tea is free). Our meal came to just under 200 rmb each in total (13 pounds?)

If it isn't worth it, I dunno what is. The place is opulent as heck. The restaurant was far from busy (early saturday lunch sitting). We had jade placemats and jade chopstick holders. Because the manager knew Kira, he kindly offered to choose the food for us. We had a short wait, and then the food pretty much arrived all at once.

The best dish was some sort of crab filled crispy pastry. That cost 30rmb extra, but it was delicious. The rest was good, but not really quality to write home about. To give you an idea o the quantity though.... as well as lots of dim sum, we had congee, duck ho fun noodles, desserts, fruit and petit fours. There really was no danger of not being absolutely stuffed. The staff positively encouraged us to eat more - they didn't want to hold back on their 'eat all you can' offer.

My verdict - if you want luxury surroundings and service, and the ability to order food without worrying about what the bill might come to, then this is great.

Another perspective on the lunch. Some other friends we met this week brought their family to lunch at the same time. They ordered a la carte - peking duck and the like. Sadly they weren't happy when it came to the bill, especially when they realised that they could buy a crate of soft drinks for the price of a single coca cola at the restaurant. They were actually pretty angry, and blamed my cousin Kira. I think that's stupid - it has nothing to do with Kira. If they have complaints they should go to the hotel, rather than harrass my cousin. Oh well - we won't keep in touch with them.

I chatted to the manager afterwards - Mr Li Jihe. Superb guy. He studied English at Fudan University a while back, and has spent 15 years in the states (Chicago I believe). He says he'd earn more in the States, but in Shanghai he can be close to his family and live a comfortable life. We were a little embarrassed about the complaints made by our other dining group, but Mr Li was philosophical about it. He said that it certainly wasn't the first time, and that there many people that expected the drinks to be priced as well as the lunch special.

Mr Li gave me some hints and tips - where there nearest Carrefour hypermarket was to the University, for me to buy linen and such like (I'd post the address, but it's in Chinese and I don't know how to write Chinese on the computer yet), and also of an interesting place to buy bicycles. He told me of a place in Hong Kou district near the Uni, where there was a market for buying bikes. The kind of market where there aren't really bikes on display as such, just people with coats on. He suggested that in this place you could buy 500rmb bikes for less than 100rmb (30 pounds down to 7 pounds). The bikes were probably of distinctly dubious origin, but when you accept that your bike will be stolen anyway, then possibly you can begin to regard it as a sort of short term leasing plan.

Check this - got a flat

i wasn't going to get one...
but I got some help from my HKU buddies, have backed out of the dormitory lodging, got refunded my deposit (!), and have secured a teacher's flat on campus. Rocking!

New mission - screw dorms, get a flat

Someone I met earlier this week has kindly told me that I could get a flat for much the same price as Fudan want me to pay for my student room. I'd really appreciate a place big enough for me to sit in a chair and read a book. And also I think I'd rather not contribute to the mass milking scheme which is the dorm housing. Not to mention the attitude around getting a room.

I've paid a deposit and signed a 'housing contract' I believe. I'm going to see if I can get away with offering them to rent with them for a month or not at all. Some money better than no money for them I guess.

Then I'll look for an apartment in the area. At the end of my language course, I'll either hand it over to another foreign student as they move in, or I'll offer my landlord a couple of months rent to break the contract. Something like that.

Thanks Tec!

career thoughts

been thinking about what kind of employer i want. I'm still hoping that i can find someone who will 'sponsor' me with a view to the medium term. I'm not desperately keen on working crazy hours and not having much opportunity to learn mandarin or chinese business/culture.

I am going through the rounds with mckinsey at the moment. not sure where that will take me - my presumption at the moment is that if we get to offer stage then we will have a discussion about how my goals will fit in / whether I can be convinced otherwise.

I think at the moment my best bets are lying with hsbc or my own Capgemini. Capgemini SH have been quiet at the moment - perhaps they are busy. I hope and assume there's nothing wrong there.

Got a room at Fudan!

so i had a sneaky suspicion that being told there weren't rooms left didn't necessarily mean there weren't rooms left. it was all a bit dodg. So, I went back today, and managed to get a room no problem. North facing though, which I'm told will be cold. But I managed to choose a high floor, which means that it'll have less noise from the road (hooting culture).

not sure about the pricing - just paid a deposit so far. they wanted 12150 rmb (600 pounds) for the 3.5 months. That doesn't seem right - by my maths I want about 100 days at 90 rmb a night, which should come to much less. I shall try to enquire again tomorrow.

so far every dealing with fudan has been difficult - they speak hardly any english, and no cantonese. so I am pretty much incapable of communication. I think it's easy to get ripped off.

Fudan University

big place...

lots of walking inside - very spaced out. I gotta say, they ain't very helpful for foreigners. Lots of forms in Chinese, with very little help to complete. Duplication, duplication and more duplication. Needing to bring 8 passport photos with me to register was always going to be a bad sign.

I think I know when classes will start now though - Monday. There's a 'placement' test tomorrow, which I can't make, which is to choose which class I should go into. They're going to slot me into B for the time being, given I won't do a proper assessment. And there's an 'opening ceremony' this Sunday.

Tiring this business - getting lost, making conversation with taxi drivers, not really understanding what people are saying - not understanding the purpose of the various forms I was completing and signing... also today was hot - so walking around in my big coat I got hot.

Back home now, for a rest.

No dorms left...

sadly no student dorms left, which means until I figure something else out, I'm camping with cousin Kira. Which would be fine, except given her mom is also visiting for the next couple of months, it'll be a little cramped at home. oh well! I suppose I may find a flat to share, perhaps somewhere where I can take a bus directly to Fudan.

Haircut at No 3 on the Bund

Today I went for a haircut. Good thing - I'd been walking around HK totally hair-style-less. Wanting to be able to communicate with my stylist in more descriptive terms than 'bowl cut', I chose to go to an expat hairdresser.

Two options were presented - the Four Seasons hotel at 200 yen (13 pounds) or a fancy upmarket barbers at No. 3 on the Bund (240 yen / 17 pounds).

?!? when does my language course start?

ok so I can register for the University, and pay for my language course. All this is done at the Foreign Student's Office, who are very helpful and speak English. But they can't tell me what date my course starts... 'not our department'. for all I know it could have already started! oh dear me...

Shanghai First Impressions

oooh Shanghai is not how I expected. I was told Shanghai had already boomed, and that it was towns outside that were on the up. In myopinion, this place has a whole lot more up still to go. The sky isfar from full with skyscrapers. There are lots, but they are veryspaced out. The vast majority of buildings in town are old, and oneto two stories. They are still being pulled down and developed upon. Cars and trucks are almost all over ten years of age. Similarlybicycles look like they have lasted since ww2.

I spent 3 pounds on the maglev train from the airport - cool - bankingtrain, no wheels, 430kph top speed, 7 minute journey covering 30km.Way to go. I spent another 3 pounds on a taxi from the station tokira's apartment. Way to go. The taxi was a bit scary though -seriously bashed up car, no seatbelts, and ali G 'minicab' style of driving. bikes and people wander out aimlessly at junctions, I don'tknow how the cab driver has the confidence to go around corners ateven reasonable speeds.

Kira's apartment is in the best district of town, Jing'an. The area still looks like crud though. People hang their laundry from trees inthe street to dry them. Weird huh. But, as more of the crud ispulled down and rebuilt as 'luxury' hi-rises (still without doubleglazing no doubt), the area will begin to show it's glory. I can seewhy many expats would not be prepared to come here - quality of lifein some simple respects is really not great.

We had lunch today in 'food street'. A big bowl of chicken soupnoodles cost about 80p. Pretty good. The starbucks coffee we hadafterwards cost about 1.30 pounds. The glass of whisky I drank lastnight cost a little more than it would have in the UK - about 4 poundsfor a 12 year old glenfiddich. The trainers I bought locally (to tideme until I can go back to HK and pick up the rest of my stuff), costabout 6 pounds.

I'm not sure how I will adjust to the different model of pricing thereis here. Local products (clothing, food, accomodation) are cheap.Branded products (nike, nokia, bmw, macallans) are at London prices.But all young people here have new nokia and 3g phones.

I was somewhat shocked to find that my aunt sheena has been bringing basic foodstuffs with her from canada each time. pasta, pasta sauce,hot chocolate, coffee... apparently the stock here is stale because no-one buys it. Will I be able to accustom myself to local productsonly? With the matter of clothing I think I can safely say no. Theclothes that people buy and wear are of very poor quality. Surethey're ridiculously affordable. But the quality is akin todisposable clothing.
Kira isn't sure how long she will stay out here. Her motivations arevery different to mine. The fun lifestyle of a young person isimportant to her, and as a young lady, being single in Shanghai isn't good for her. Expats come and go, and the alure of her passport makesrelationships with locals a bad idea. For me, I'm hoping the languageand experience will make it worthwhile for me to give it a try.

I'll be meeting Capgemini, KPMG, Fujitsu and HSBC in the coming weeks here in Shanghai. And anyone else willing to talk to me... Which perhaps includes McKinsey BTO, although they say they'll only consider me for Hong Kong, at least until I can read and speak Mandarin. Not sure what to do about them.

My language course should start soon. It's quite far away, so I thinkI'm going to stay in their student accomodation whilst I'm studyingwith them full time. The pocket money Capgemini UK are giving me isgoing a long way - it covers my basic living expenses and languagecourse costs. But not whisky or wining and dining. But still, itmeans that I'm not yet eating into my savings, and so can take my timein learning some mandarin and negotiating with employers. Cheers Paul!

I have a Shanghai mobile now, feel free to call or SMS me on it - +86136 8196 1710

article - population demographics in china

http://www.feer.com/articles1/2005/0501/free/p019.html
china's intention was to control population growth

just like the UK, they are now suffering from an ageing population, and insufficient young workers.

this article also discusses the issue of low paid migrant workers in factories - the basis of the 'workshop of the world'

Back in HK

got back late last night from the golf trip. my feet were aching! a good night's sleep, and thankfully up nice and early to prepare for my job interview this morning.

will write about my trip and post photos when i get home this evening.

KW :)

Leen Chor 2

the day after new year. woke to cousin Lisa's call, inviting me out to lunch. amazingly it was already midday..... ooops! I blame the warm weather - bit stuffy. possibly also the wine and cigar last night.

good to see lisa again, and she was in good spirits. she took me to an expat restaurant in soho - 'jaspas' on staunton street, fusion food. actually it wasn't so much fusion, more 'all sorts'. she had a goat's cheese salad, i had chicken fajitas. both were good. we chatted for a long time about family, jobs, relationships, china, and also whether we thought it was ok or not for her to ask out or date her clients/candidates. i reckoned it was all cool.

having decided that lisa's friends aren't all that much older than me, we're gonna see if i can get hooked up with one.

back home for dinner and packing for golf. the last of the fishballs, and doing our very best to finish off the cakes in the fridge - leen goh, mah tai goh, wu tou goh - delicious, but still Loads left in the fridge.

watched the new year fireworks happening in wanchai from the balcony. uncle philip wanted to watch them from auntie teresa's office in central, but auntie didn't fancy going out. the fireworks were really good though - very impressive, 26 minutes worth or something, and so auntie conceded that maybe they should try the office next year.

showed auntie some of my photos later in the evening, which was nice - many of them she hadn't seen, including photos of aaron and florence at kai keen's wedding, and some of mum's photos from paris and her trip to scotland. missed wei yee and yian online, which was a shame, but hope to catch them again some other time.

revived this blog thing, thinking it'll help wei yee and mum and others know what i'm up to, and they can write comments back to me. i hope also i can hook my various photos into it, to make more of an 'illustrated' journal.

off to 4 days of golf now. on my return,
tuesday - first interview with kpmg; try to confirm language and accomodation with isabella at HKU
wednesday - salsa with teresa?
thursday - james so? hung hung?
friday - brain test with mckinsey
saturday - dinner with andrew sheng at home
sunday - hopefully flying off to shanghai

dinner at home with joe and shirley poon 

party party party party at pamela's birthday party. i luuuurve dancing. 

auntie teresa and auntie margaret 

auntie margaret and uncle kh at auntie teresa's penthouse terrace 

uncle man hei and i at shek ho country club 

uncle andrew, auntie teresa and myself at Gough 40 

auntie doing her speech at the mong kok leen siu opening ceremony 

auntie teresa interviewing a HKU / middle school stall at the mong kok leen siu market 

a flower at mong kok's flower market. think these are grandpa's favourites - his birthday is around this time 

my colleagues at HKU China Affairs Office - our tuen leen fan lunch at the HK Culinary Academy 

uncle simon's 'little england' 

auntie checking out her favourite (and very heavy) sui seen fa (dandelions) 

New Year's Day

Morning - rang round to Auntie Maureen and Uncle Man Hei to wish them happy new year. Neither of them felt I needed to pay my respects, which was good cos I was running short of gifts to bring to the house, and so off I went to Bagiuo Villas to see Uncle Simon and Por Por. Por por was cool, and seemed to like the random chicken toy thing that I'd bought. I'll try to get a photo off Pauline.

Afternoon - rushed back for surprise lunch with Auntie Margaret and Uncle KH from Taiwan, at home with Auntie Teresa and Uncle Philip. Had a 'tea ceremony' afterwards, and Auntie let me have a go at brewing and serving tea.

Not really enough time now to nap, which I wanted given I only got to bed at 4am or something the night before, having been out to the market at Victoria Park. But dashed off to Bagiuo Villas for dinner with Uncle Simon and Por por. A massive and delicious meal followed, including pork thigh with lots of blubber, roast goose, and a big fish with speckled fins, which apparently is called 'rich fish'.

Told pauline after dinner that I thought she should go to cambridge cos it would be better for her love life. This was my conclusion after much deliberation on whether it would make any difference to her as to which unversity she went to. Explanation of my thinking another day perhaps.

Smoked a cigar with uncle simon. I'm still not convinced by the pure enjoyability of cigars. Kai Biu apparently is. Caught buses home this time, sparing Uncle Simon from his usual kind offer of a lift home. Once home, a ring around to family to pass on my greetings. Spoke to mum, kai biu and auntie len len. Couldn't hold of Wei Yee or Joanne, and I think grandpa picked up the phone but he wouldn't answer me so I'm not sure what happened there. Finally, off to bed quite late, say 1 or 2am.

New Year's Eve

Dinner at Dr Paul Yuen's house down the road - family friends of the Tongs. Lots of talk, including an extended talk on why proxy voting for the Convocation might be 'bad'. Went afterwards to Mong Kok with Teresa Yuen to watch a New Year concert being given by her friend, which started as traditional chinese (drums, lions, er wu), and ended up as hip hop rapping body popping and breakdancing. pretty good. after that, went to victoria park for the street market, which was packed with thousands of people. at 3am. crazy. the 8 of us had a competition to buy chicken hats - last one to buy one had to buy drinks. we didn't actually go for drinks... but stopped off for ben and jerrys on the way home anyway.