I Accidentally Stranded Myself in Hong Kong

I realize that some of my previous posts have been pretty long. To that, I say "Well too bad". However, for my own selfish reasons, I'll probably cut the material down to 10 minutes worth of reading. 

"Wait what. No Stuart, it's the Macau Interlude, not the Hong Kong Pit Stop. Stuart. Your job is in Macau! You live there now! What are you doing? Doesn't school start soon? Don't you have to be planning for the year and setting things up or something? GET BACK TO WORK!". Okay, easy there Brant chip. There's a simple explanation to the reasons that I am in Hong Kong right now, and not in Macau. The short version of it is this: I came back from my European vacation a little too early and the government wouldn't let me stay, so I have to be out of Macau for 30 full days to be able to return to Macau. So here I am. I'd like to give a shout out to the school & staff that turned a poopy situation into a not-poopy situation. Like the school paying for an apartment, a staff member covering and planning my classes while I'm away, plus my partner-in-crime, Hope (the other grade 4 teacher) who keeps my train on the tracks even when my train isn't even in the same country. Seriously, School of the Nations (& staff), you're 10/10 great. 

So here I am in Hong Kong. In case you don't know much about Hong Kong, here are a list of neat facts:
Population: Thrice as much as Turonno packed into an area a fraction of the size. Apartment sizes are very small and rent is NOT.
Food: Tons. A plethora of restaurants in a huge variety. I turned a corner and found half a dozen french eateries by sheer accident
Inhabitants: Mainly Cantonese, but lots of foreign migrant workers from Europe, Asia & N. America
What's Neat: Hong Kong has the longest life expectancy in the world, as long as you don't breathe the air

Both Macau and Hong Kong qualify as China-not-China (a term defined by me) but they share little in common beyond that.
Macau - The Portuguese weren't exactly experts in Empire-building, and as a result Macau didn't turn into the giant trade hub like its neighbour. Mind you, the Macanese enjoy lower taxes, a less restrictive government (arguably) and a generally more relaxed style of living (compared to the fast-paced business-intense environment of HK). However, Hong Kong has a leg up on Macau in other ways.

Hong Kong - The British built a chuffing excellent empire, and Hong Kong is a direct product (and last holdout) of that. It sports a wide selection of restaurants, bars & parks, an incredible arts scene, a comprehensive metro system, and is just generally a more developed and culturally diverse than Macau. Hong Kong became the major hub of Chinese trade with Europe a century and a half ago, meaning that it soon became an affluent city with plenty of opportunities for investment and business owners. The most obvious product of that is the fantastic HK skyline, which is always modernizing and upgrading. See for yourself. 

During my time here (almost two weeks), I've been able to scope out a few tasty restaurants, check out a really great jazz show, and find a few remnants of the old city that once occupied this spot (like this 100+ year old temple with air heavy and warm with incense).
The lively loud marketplaces are great to check out, I found a few colourful ties there, and you can usually find something neat (so long as you don't expect it to be the real deal).

Victoria Peak is the mountain on Hong Kong island. It was a heck of a climb, but I did it. I got to the top just before sunset, and was able to take pics of the city in daylight and at night time (note the smog...)

While space is tight, it doesn't stop all kinds of cool restaurants from popping up. Most places only last a year or two, but it affords some fantastic variety and a super-competitive environment where only the tastiest venues survive.

While Macau isn't the big, comprehensive metropolis of Hong Kong, I prefer it that way though, despite what I miss out on. It reminds me of the Hamilton vs Toronto arrangement I had for a while; Each place offered their own neat things, but splitting my time between the two was the best setup. I wouldn't have had it any other way. Right now, I'd really like to just be in Macau, planning my year and looking forwards to my kids arriving (Yes, they're mine now. I take possession of them, so I can have a class that belongs to me). I found a silly picture of my class & I taken at the end of the year and got plugged up with feels. So yeah, I'm excited to start the new year, once I get back that is... 

One last thing, if you'd like to be pen pals with me (because I found I quite like writing), don't be afraid to drop me a line! I've had some confusion over my Macau address (mostly because I messed up on my building's name), so if you ever would like to send me something, you can do it VIA the school at this address:

Stuart Feenstra

c/o School of the Nations

Rua de Minho

Taipa, Macau, S.A.R.

One day one of these might be sent your way! See you in a week's time