It’s been almost three years since I married my husband from Europe. Now she lives in Beijing, the capital of China, because of her husband’s job. The other day, her husband decided to go to Hong Kong to attend an academic conference. I myself attended as a researcher, and the two of us went to Hong Kong from mainland China. Here, I would like to introduce Hong Kong from the perspective of those who went to Hong Kong for work, not travelers.
Humid, high temperature, and cooler…
So hot in Hong Kong in the end of June
Speaking of Hong Kong, many people may know that the temperature is hot. We went to Hong Kong at the end of June. The outside temperature was so hot that I thought it would exceed the midsummer of Japan.
Her husband had to present his research at a conference, so he went to a meeting with the presenters the day before the conference started. Meanwhile, I was killing time at a shopping center near the university.
Outside the window glass, there is a deep blue sky that is hard to see in Beijing, and there are green palm trees on the roadside! It was a very beautiful sight, so I decided to go outside for a while and regretted the moment I stepped outside. It wasn’t very walkable during the day, it was humid and hot!
Cooler works insanely
On the other hand, it was very cold inside the Hong Kong building! Japan is called Cool Biz, and the air conditioner is often set to 28 degrees. The air conditioner in Hong Kong was basically set to 18 degrees.
It was cold inside the shopping center even if I wore a jacket, and I missed a sweater rather than a cardigan on the train. The air conditioner in the hotel room was basically set to 18 degrees Celsius, and even if the temperature was raised, it could not go above 20 degrees Celsius.
The same is true for the university that hosts the academic society, and the air conditioner is as cold as 18 degrees Celsius, and even if a researcher from a foreign country asks the student staff, “It’s cold, can’t you do something about it?” did. I’m convinced that there is a set temperature that can’t be lowered any more, but I thought it was strange that it couldn’t be raised any more.
Laundry doesn’t get dried well
At the hotel, we were told that we didn’t have to turn off the air conditioner because it was hot, so we went out with the temperature of the air conditioner raised to about 28 degrees. However, when I came back, the air conditioner was running at 20 degrees Celsius, and the moment I entered the room, it became “cold!”!
We stayed for 3 nights and 4 days, but we wanted to reduce our luggage as much as possible so that we could carry everything on the plane, so we thought it would be good to wash our clothes and dry them in the room. I thought the hotel air was dry, so I thought it would dry soon.
However, an air conditioner whose temperature did not rise was unexpected. As I mentioned earlier, if you go out with the air conditioner on, the temperature will drop, so you had to turn off the air conditioner and go out. However, since Hong Kong is hot and humid, if you go out for a day without turning on the air conditioner, the humidity will rise and the laundry will not dry.
In the end, I used a hair dryer to dry only what I needed, but it was a pitiful experience for the laundry to dry out in the hotel room. After returning to Beijing, I washed everything again.
You have to write nationality?
How bills describe personal information?
Hong Kong is Cantonese, but I think some people have the image that they can speak English in general. Indeed, more people can speak English than in mainland China.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be distracted. This time I went to Hong Kong because of her husband’s job, so she had to receive a receipt when paying for the hotel accommodation. However, there was one strange thing about the receipt she got to the university.
At the top left of the receipt was the name of the university, below that was the address of the university, below that was her husband’s nationality, and Germany. It seemed that there was a university in Beijing where her husband worked.
It requires nationality…
The reception staff said that the receipt must state the nationality of the payer. Even the rules don’t make sense in the first place. What are the benefits of listing the nationality of the person who made the payment in the receipt address?
Her husband asked, “Germany has nothing to do with the university, so I want you to erase it.” “It looks like the university is in Germany.” The reception staff was happy to say, “Yes, I understand,” and printed a new receipt.
However, this time it was written as Zaire instead of Germany for some reason. I don’t know why Germany became Zaire. Moreover, Zaire is a country name used in Congo from 1971 to 1997, and is no longer used today. I was so angry that I was fooling around !?
Use stationary to fix it
Eventually, the reception staff could not erase their nationality. I don’t know what he did, but he could “tamper” with Zaire in Germany, but he couldn’t get rid of Zaire in the first place.
So he erased the part of Zaire with a correction pen, copied it and gave it to her husband. I’m wondering if such a thing would be useful as a receipt, but it’s true that the receipt is printed, so I don’t feel any discomfort when I make a copy of it. Since the seal is not stamped, there is no problem with copying.
Looking back, I don’t understand why I have to write the nationality of the person who paid the receipt. Also, I don’t know that I can write a different country name, but I can’t erase the country name.
English works
Got lost in the street at night
We arrived at the hotel in Hong Kong at night. Then I left the hotel with her husband to have dinner, but in reality they all looked the same, and on the way home after eating, we were completely lost.
Some may wonder if they have a cell phone or a map. But we didn’t have a map with the idea that there would be something to eat around the hotel, and certainly we live in mainland China, but mainland China And Hong Kong are treated differently, so I couldn’t use my cell phone.
We went to McDonald’s where WiFi is likely to come in, but we couldn’t pick up the radio waves well. As I mentioned earlier, on a hot and humid night in Hong Kong, we were tired of the heat and wondered what to do.
Local people don’t know the hotels
So I asked the people who passed each other while showing the name and address of the hotel. Then, many people said, “I don’t know such a hotel.” The hotel we stayed in was a decent hotel where tourists could stay. It is said that humans do not know the local tourist spots, but is that the reason?
Also, some people tell me the direction, but I couldn’t get to the hotel because some people pointed in different directions. I was at a loss and asked various people, and I also asked a strong guard man who was standing at the entrance of Jakuso, a black suit, and black sunglasses even at night.
Several people actually helped us…
One of the guards took out his cell phone and searched for the location of the hotel. We took a picture of the map, thanked us and started walking. After crossing a nearby pedestrian crossing, the guard ran and gave me another shortcut.
However, I still couldn’t get to the hotel, and when I was looking around to ask who to ask next, an uncle who came later asked me in English, “Where are you going?” And the grandfather guided us to a place that said, “It’s a hotel as soon as you turn left at this corner.” After that, the grandfather walked in the opposite direction, so she came with me just to really guide us.
Apparently some people showed me the way to help even though I didn’t know the location of the hotel, but even so, various people helped me. Originally, I wish I had a map and a mobile phone, but thanks to the lack of such things, I was able to experience the kindness of the local people.
Visiting the new place
We are now in an era where we can obtain various information on the Internet, and we are in an era where we can obtain detailed information so that we can feel as if we have been there even in places we have never been to. However, after all, I feel that the real pleasure of traveling can only be achieved by actually going and talking with the local people.
There were also mysterious things such as receipts, and there were many problems with the reaction. However, I was able to experience many things that I could not experience in Japan, and the trip to Hong Kong was very meaningful.
However, it’s still a good idea to remember the map when visiting Hong Kong!
Leave a Reply