Coronavirus and hotel death

Getting a hotel room in Hong Kong used to be painfully expensive.  A room on the island would always cost over HKD1,000 a night and even a room in one of the decrepit hostels in Chunking Mansion or Miramar Mansion would cost more than HKD200 a night.  Those prices are now a thing of the past.  The hotel industry had already been devastated by the ongoing protests, but now it seems as though there is almost nothing left as the coronavirus means that all travel has effectively ground to a halt.  The few travellers left coming through Hong Kong are now able to get hotels on the island for under HKD200 a night.  One friend who was staying in a hotel on the island even noted with confidence that even with those prices, he was the only person on the entire floor.

Walking along Nathan Rd, through the heart of Kowloon one evening, I could see very clearly the devastation on Hong Kong's hotel industry.  Looking up at the windows of many of the hotels you could see floor after floor of blackened rooms.  The few lights that were on seem to come from utility rooms.

Further along the road, other hotels weren't doing much better.  There were only a few scattered lights on the entire building.  Rumours have been coming out that some of the most famous hotels in Hong Kong are down to single digit room occupancy.  On top of that, many of the activities associated with some of the big hotels are also struggling.  The high tea at the Peninsula Hotel is often touted as one of the highlights of any trip to Hong Kong, and it used to require a long line up.  Now, it's easy to walk in and get a table, with sittings often only half full at best.

It's gotten so bad in fact that I have friends living in Hong Kong who have decided to stop renting apartments altogether, but have instead opted to move into hotels for the time being.  The price of a hotel is now far cheaper than renting your own place and you even have the added benefit of having someone turnover your room everyday!

Coronavirus and the death of nightlife

Well it happened.  More shutdowns.

On the weekend, the level of shutdown was increased.  Social gatherings of more than four are now banned.  Bars and other venues that are "exclusively or mainly used" for the sale of alcohol have been shut.  Early in the week, the government finally relented with the closure of karaoke bars and mahjong parlours, but only after another cluster of people fell ill after a visit to a karaoke bar.

Everything has gone deathly quiet, even as the lights are still on.

The street party on Peel street is now long gone.  I look at the emptiness with this feeling of sadness and nostalgia for what was once there.  Only weeks ago, this was a bustling hub for people around the world to congregate and to socialise.

Elsewhere famous pubs and bars have also been shuttered.  The streets are quiet and the steps that used to act as benches are now being used as thoroughfares once again.

Even the MTRs have gone quiet.

Everyone has been filled with concern about using the public transportation system, but ironically this is probably one of the safer ways to get around now.  With no one using the MTR, there's little chance you're going to come into contact with anyone or be close enough to someone to catch anything.

I'm sure this will all pass one day.  I just wonder what will be left once it does pass?  What will recover and what will be gone forever?  I used to think the party never ended in Hong Kong, but the music has now most definitely stopped.

Coronavirus and deserted streets

Everything seems to be getting worse.

When all of this started a few months ago, it seemed to be a bit of an inconvenience.  Precautions were being taken in Hong Kong, and we had luckily managed to avoid most of the issues that China was going through.  Fast forward a few months and this is now a global issue.  Those who fled Hong Kong at the start are now returning and they are sadly bringing back the very infections they sought to avoid in the first place.  The pride most of us had in only having a hundred cases has evaporated as the returnees brought back over 400 cases in the space of a couple of weeks.

The whole world is locking down, and sadly Hong Kong is now no exception.  Whilst we haven't reached the extremely tough measures implemented in some other countries, there has definitely been a dramatic escalation.  Restaurants and bars can now only be half full and they must also not have more than 4 people in a group.  Public gatherings of four people are also now banned.  Beyond those legal requirements, the people of Hong Kong have also retreated into their homes as the streets and public places are now emptier than I have ever experienced.

Place after place, once bustling areas of shopping and commerce are now ghost towns.  Many shops have either closed temporarily or disappeared for good.  The shops that continue seem to only have a fraction of the staff they used to employ as they try desperately to ramp down their costs.  The ones who have closed have clearly made the decision that even staffing costs aren't worth it anymore given how little foot traffic there is.

Even the public transportation areas are now emptied of people.  The ferry terminal around TST is normally one of the big gathering points for locals and tourists alike, but it now sits empty.  The tourists are long gone, having been already driven away by the protests, the last of them are now completely gone.

In the central checkin area for the Airport Express, there are no more travellers, so the remaining staff sit waiting for patrons who will never come.  Amazingly they still show up day in and day out for what must now be an exceptionally boring job.  Yet they are still probably thankful they still have jobs to go to at all.  Many others aren't so lucky as layoffs in Hong Kong have skyrocketed in the last few months.  There have been some small measures undertaken by the Hong Kong government, with the promise of HKD10,000 being paid to all Hong Kong residents, but this now seems to pale in comparison to the actions being taken by governments overseas who are concerned about the wellbeing of their unemployed citizens.

Closer to home, the lights were on in Central, but there were few people walking in the warm glow.

These strange times will hopefully end sooner rather than later, but it's hard not to be shocked by the complete change in our lives.

Coronavirus and the global shut down

The air in Hong Kong has been exceptionally fresh.  It is incredible how clear the skies have been since China shut down.  Looking out of my window, I can still clearly see the hills in the New Territories.  This is normally something you don't see until an intense tropical storm of typhoon clears the haze out of the city.

When I first arrived in Hong Kong, I found myself still clinging to some of my old habits from Australia.  I was still searching for the same foods, the same activities to continue with.  I also found myself watching Aussie Rules most weekends rather than going out.  It wasn't a great habit, but even now it's nice to be able to watch a game in the same timezone.  My brother often has to wake up in the early hours of the morning if there's a particularly important game he wants to watch.

I started my Sunday like I did many others.  I slept in, then I migrated over to the couch to watch some Aussie Rules.  The first game came and went and then my beloved Hawks came on.  It was the first game of the season, a season which looked to be in danger from the moment it began as travel restrictions and bans on gatherings had started.  The games were already being played in empty stadiums as large gatherings were now considered to be too dangerous.

As halftime approached, the commentators announced that there would be an emergency press conference with the CEO of the AFL at halftime.  The voices of the commentators betrayed what they all thought.  My chat groups all lit up as we all started to discuss what we knew wast coming.  The halftime siren sounded with the Hawks and Lions fighting a close game.  The CEO came onto the screen and announced that the season would be suspended at the end of the round for the next two months.

We all knew this was coming, but we had all been hoping to get a few weeks of games at least.  The rest of the game was strange to watch.  Apparently the players weren't told about this news and they fought out the game.  The Hawks slowly took over and pushed ahead of the Lions.  The Hawks midfield looks better than it has been for years, which makes the end of this season even more tragic. Watching an old player like Shaun Burgoyne continue to display his incredible skills also felt bitter sweet, as I thought about whether or not he would still be be able to play once the league resumed.

The siren sounded to end the game and the Hawks had won.  For me, Australia had now truly shut down.

Coronavirus and mask expertise

Living in the time of coronavirus means developing an expertise for face masks.

This is definitely not a topic I ever expected I would learn so much about.  Conversations with friends and family seem to revolve around different types of masks, the best ways to use them and various pros and cons associated with all of this.

The most basic of face masks is the simple surgical mask.  They are the standard for most people and I have now become accustomed to seeing almost all people wearing them on the streets.  In Hong Kong, prices for these surgical masks went up almost 10 fold at one point, with shortages creating long lines at the mere rumour of resupply.  Buying them isn't an issue anymore, but the prices still remain higher than they used to be.  Even a simple surgical masks is not truly as simple as it seems.  As people starting buying (hoarding) more and more of them, we started to learn about different makes and quality.  How many layers matters, the type of material, all of it mattered.  When you wore the masks, you could start to feel the difference in the make and quality.  Certain masks felt thinner (which was bad), whereas other masks felt like they had the sufficient thickness of material to keep out the bugs.  There was also a vinegar-like smell to the masks, which it turned out was a good thing as it meant that the necessary chemicals needed to make the masks effective were indeed being used.  At one point we thought we received the worst news when we all found out that there were "fake" masks that were being circulated and sold.  That news in turn was trumped by the actual worst news, which was that there were people who were collecting old and used masks, washing and drying them, then reselling them .... truly disgusting.

I had avoided much of the terrified panic buying when I managed to buy several boxes of masks for myself and my friends whilst I was in Thailand.  I managed to also come back with some of the much more desirable n99 masks.  These masks create a much better seal over the face and they also filter out particles and bacteria of a smaller size and more successfully.  Even that alone isn't enough, as you still need to differentiate between the "type" of n99 (or n95) mask you have.  Some will be specifically made to deal with bacteria, whereas others will be for industrial uses only.  The industrial use only masks will of course be relatively useless in protecting you.

One of the most highly sought after masks is the Korean made KF94s.  They come nicely individually packaged and you can feel that they are of a higher quality when you use them.

Not only does the fabric and material used for the KF94s feel stronger, their overall design is also much better.  The way they fold open means that they hold the chin and the nose far better than the normal surgical masks (or even the n99 masks I bought).  It feels like a better seal gets formed around the face without the same tightness of the more expensive surgical masks.  It also pushes the mask itself away from the mouth, so overall it's just far more comfortable.

On top of the masks themselves, there's also the important issue of how the mask is handled.  Get it wet and it becomes useless.  Touch it and it could become infected with whatever is on your hands.  Leave it lying around and it could get infected with what it touches.  One of my old colleagues devised an ingenious method of addressing this problem by creating a cradle for her mask out of an old tissue box for when she isn't wearing it.

The other day, I was in the elevator in my apartment complex with an old German lady, both of us masked up.  She sardonically commented to me "these masks are very tiresome".  I smiled at her through my mask and responded "yes, but it's for the public good".  She nodded her back at me and responded simply "yes, you're right".  As uncomfortable and annoying as these masks may be, there does seem to be some good to come from them in terms of stopping the spread.  The benefit they provide in protecting each individual may be questionable, but if it stops an infected individual from spreading it as much, that would already be a significant win.  To that end, it seems like Hong Kong has been able to help create level of herd protection for itself.

Coronavirus and restaurant death

Hong Kong's restaurant industry has been crushed.

The six months of protests had already beaten the industry to a pulp, but it looks like the coronavirus has been the knockout punch for many of them.  The tourists are all gone and local Hong Kongers have stopped going out.

 Everywhere you go, you see boarded up shops and previously popular restaurants closed down.

During these tough times, it's been reported that some landlords have been accommodating with rental reductions, but it seems like these haven't been that big and most others haven't offered anything at all.  It's an incredible thing, that you would have landlords during this time who are so naive to the fact that their tenants are in this state of distress.  Surely having lower rental income would be better than having no income at all?  What also surprises me is that there must then be a thought from these landlords that losing their tenant will simply mean replacing that tenant with someone else.

I'm not sure who these businesses will be.  The nightlife and the restaurant business in Hong Kong simply isn't as vibrant as it once was.  It really isn't the case that one closing down will merely open up a space for several others to fight over.  Most people would also be smart enough to wait a while before committing any of their time and resources to starting any businesses during this time.

This doesn't feel like a flash in the pan problem.  This feels like something that's going to continue on for quite a while.  Even after everything goes "back to normal" from the point of view of the virus, there is still the risk of the protests restarting.  With all of this uncertainty, surely any landlord should be holding onto their tenants for dear life?

Cheung Sha BBQ

It's perfect hiking season in Hong Kong at the moment.  It isn't too hot yet, but the worst of the cold has gone.  It's the perfect period when the sun isn't frying your skin and the breeze is still cool.

Ayuna convinced me to go on a long hike with her and her running group.  Given the reputation of her running a group, I was a little bit reluctant to follow, but I relented in the end.  The planned hike was long, going from Mui Wo all the way to Upper Cheung Sha beach.  The total length of the hike was over 15km.  Thankfully for me, the runners took it easier than I feared and the hike wasn't unmanageable.  It was still tough though as the hike was done without any breaks at all.  After about 3 and a half hours, we reached the beach at Cheung Sha.  The water looked nice, but it was still just a touch too cold to go for a swim.  

The best surprise was still to be had.

Walking over to one of the restaurants at the end, it turned out that the running group had arranged for a big BBQ for everyone who wanted to take part.  Most people joined in and contributed their money and after a short wait, two long planks for food were brought out to us.  With the table covered in BBQed meat and vegetables, everyone started to crowd around to take their photos and admire what was in front of us.

Once the photos were taken, everyone pounced on the food.  The long hike had created a huge appetite and even with the huge amount of food, it didn't take long for almost all of it to be eaten.  We washed it down with beers and sangria and then sat back into our food comas.

Each time I had been to Cheung Sha in the past, I had looked on with jealousy as other people had done this famous BBQ.  It needs a very big group of friends to do, so I was glad that Ayuna had convinced me to join in the hike.

Coronavirus and the great outdoors

I've done the hike up Mt Butler several times.  It's a well worn path for people living in Hong Kong as it's one of the most accessible of hikes.  You get a cab up to Parkview, then you start your hike up along the trail.  The start of the hike is difficult, but before long you're up at the top of Mount Butler looking out at incredible views of Hong Kong.  There are a few more difficult sections, but for the most part it's generally downhill.

We decided on a very different approach to climbing up to Mount Butler, by doing it in reverse.  This may not seem so hard, but there is actually a dramatic difference.  When you start at Parkview, you are in effect already starting at a very high elevation and you eventually end up near sea level.  The effect of that is that the hike is a "net down" in terms of the walking.  By starting instead at Quarry Bay, we were doing the exact opposite and creating a "net up" in terms of all the hiking.

It was a lovely day out.  Almost all days have been lovely of late.  Coronavirus had seen to these problems with a near complete shutdown of its factories.  The lack of industry in China means no smog and no haze.

Everyone who was out and about was able to breathe in deeply, to fill their lungs with the fresh forrest air that was unsullied by the factory smoke from Hong Kong's larger neighbour.

The visibility was also exceptionally good.

At every big vantage point, people were standing around taking photos and looking out into the distance, able to spot landmarks they hadn't been able to see clearly for years.

The hike itself was tough.  Going the direction we went meant hundreds of stairs.  There were plenty of people who were walking in the other direction, but very few who were following the direction that we took.  At several points, I had no thought in my head other than a metronome... slowly pushing and pacing me to keep walking up the stairs.  It was worth it though and the work out felt great.  Seeing Hong Kongers of all type out enjoying the weather and fresh air also made me happy.  They weren't cooped up and terrified of the virus, they were out trying to be healthy and active which is surely a better preventative measure. 

Coronavirus and changing behaviours

The number of cases of coronavirus in Hong Kong really haven't dramatically increased.  There are a couple new reports here and there, but it really doesn't seem to have ballooned or jumped at all.  Fingers crossed that this continues to be the case, but based purely on the numbers currently available, there definitely seems to be a disproportionate response to the coronavirus by the general population.  Surgical mask prices continue to remain sky high (though there don't seem to be shortages anymore as there are now plenty of stores stocking them), hoarding of random goods is still happening, and there continues to be large groups of people terrified of even going outside.

The food and beverage sector as well as the retail sector have been hit hard.  Another sector which has been particularly hard hit are taxis.  Some people have stopped taking taxis entirely because of a concern that they can't be sure who the taxi drivers have come into contact with.  It's created the odd scene that I've never witnessed before of long ranks of taxis at the taxi stands with no lines of people.  This happens even during the evening rush hours in the CBD. 

Unsurprisingly, a lot of the initial panicked behaviours have now backfired.

Rumours and terror drove people to clean out the shelves completely of toilet paper and rice (though not the brown rice....), but the stores of course responded with the restocking orders.  It seems like there never actually was any real shortages, just shortages in locations due to the sudden surge.  Now there is too much rice and too much toilet paper in the stores.  Since most people went out and bought about two years worth of both, some of these stores may be stuck with an oversupply of these products for a while....

Through all of these problems and issues, there have been some occasional bright spots.  One of the big responses to the coronavirus in China has been a near complete shutdown of the businesses and industry on the mainland.  Shops have been shuttered and factories have now remained closed since Chinese new year.  In Hong Kong, this industrial shutdown has meant the most prolonged clear skies I've seen in my time living in the city.

The air has been fresh and from my apartment in the Mid Levels, the lack of any haze means that I can see all the way across to the hills in the New Territories.

Placebo or not

I've never been a good sleeper.  I often struggle to get to sleep and then I'll toss and turn through the night.  I'm not sure what the cause of it all is, but it's definitely annoying.  I remember when I was in the dorm rooms at boarding school, after lights out, I would lay there slowly trying to sleep.  Meanwhile, some of my fellow boarders would be dead to the world and snoring within five minutes.  I was always incredibly jealous of their ability to fall asleep so quickly.  It seemed like a gift to be able to sleep without effort.

Lately, I've been reading a bit about the benefits to sleeping of the "weighted blanket".  I've even got a few friends who have started trying it.  The concept seems to be simple enough, that sleeping with a greater weight helps to push down on your body like a kind of "hug" which in turn helps a person sleep.  There don't seem to be that many actual studies on whether it works, but there are plenty of anecdotal reports about its effectiveness.

Now, I realise that anecdotal evidence is the weakest of all the different types of evidence, but I didn't see the harm in trying it.  For the risk of a small amount of money, I could improve my sleep and that seemed like a very fair gamble to take.  So I jumped on Amazon and made my purchase.  Within a few days it arrived at work and I had the fun task of lugging it home (at 20lb, it's definitely not light).

After a few nights, I felt like I was sleeping better.  I had no actual way of telling other than I did notice I was able to get to sleep more quickly and I didn't seem to be waking up so much during the night.  The most interesting observation of all was that I found that I was generally waking up in the same position as when I went to sleep.  It seems to be a success so far.

Coronavirus and the retail apocalypse

Hong Kong feels extremely strange at the moment.

The last year or so has been pretty rough for many businesses with the impact of the protests, but this is another level entirely.  Malls and other shopping areas have been emptied of people and businesses are starting to struggle.

During the worst of the protests, you could still generally avoid the most heavily affected areas.  If you weren't around the areas where there were protests, you life would still continue on for the most part without any disruption.  In fact, if you weren't actively following it on the news and your public transport wasn't impacted, you wouldn't even really know that the protests were happening at all.

This time, the impact has spread across most of the city.  Tourist numbers, particular from China, have completely collapsed.  I have read that the daily inflow of visitors from China has dropped from approximately 100,000 people a day, down to less than 1,000 a day.  These visitors from China represent the vast majority of all tourism into the city.  Everywhere you go, you'll see restaurants and shops closing, sometimes temporarily, sometimes permanently.  The shopping malls are incredibly quiet, with some of the more famous brands actively slashing their prices, something which you don't normally see in Hong Kong.

It doesn't seem to be hitting any particular area or class of shops either.

The fanciest malls, such as Pacific Place in the Admiralty area is extremely quiet and the crowds of high end shoppers are gone.  On the other end of the spectrum, even the McDonalds near my office has emptied of people.  It was incredible to see it so quiet at lunchtime on a weekday.  It's normally full of people at lunchtime jostling to get to the front of the queue.  Restaurants all through Hong Kong have been trying to deal with this problem through scaledowns or through outright closure.  It would be an incredibly tough time to be working in F&B at the moment.

After watching a movie on Saturday night, I decided to walk home with my friend.  We were both shocked at the lack of cars as we approached Central.  The intersection is normally crowded with taxis and other cars, and even the streets themselves normally have people wandering around.

Instead, there was nothing.

As we walked further along, we saw a cab rank with at least a dozen taxis patiently waiting.  It's a far cry from the days when it's the people who were patiently waiting for a cab.

More running

The lights of Hong Kong from up on Bowen Road are incredible.

The weather in Hong Kong is perfect for running right now.  It's nice and cool and even the humidity is down.

Running along Bowen Road at night is one of the strangest, but also underrated experiences I've had in Hong Kong.  The road itself winds its way through the forests halfway up the mountain.  It should be dark and tucked away.  To an extent it is, you feel the nature around you and you get the benefit of the peacefulness of being in the mountain.  Yet at the same time, you can't escape the city.  The glow of the city lights are so intense and they illuminate the path. 

Running through the forest, you hear the nature, the animals, the water and the rustling of the trees as the wind blows through.  Meanwhile you still see clearly.  Nothing is shrouded and you almost feel as though all of the natural surroundings sit within an even larger artificial construct.  To an extent, that's probably the best way of thinking about it.

Coronavirus and toilet paper madness

This is getting ridiculous.  People have completely lost their collective minds in Hong Kong.

After some rumours came out that there were manufacturing issues in China that could impact the production of toilet paper, people in Hong Kong decided to go completely CRAZY.  People descended on the supermarkets and vacuumed up all of the toilet paper they could get their hands on.  Stores were left completely barren of toilet paper....

The rumours are that either the factories making the toilet paper have all been shut down because of China's precautions with regards to the coronavirus, or that these factories have had all their raw materials stripped from them to go to the manufacture of surgical masks.  Whatever the "reason", I don't buy into it.  This seems far more like a fake rumour that has spiralled out of control and led to another case of panic in Hong Kong.  Even if there "was" a shortage, I don't see the need to go and buy several hundred rolls of toilet paper at once.  Some may say that there are people who are taking advantage of the situation and hoarding for the purpose of resale (which is entirely possible), but it's also clear that a significant number of people are just panicking and losing their grip on their good sense.  Why else would you need to buy several hundred rolls of toilet paper in one go?  Looking at some of the volumes purchased, I could only think that such an amount would probably last me more than two years.

A few days before, the shelves had been stripped bare of rice.  That seems to be a slightly more reasonable thing to be worried about... until you consider that most of the rice in Hong Kong seems to come from Thailand these days.

On top of that, it seems like people are all a little bit picky in their desperation.  Even with all the white rice completely gone, it seems as though people would still prefer to starve over eating brown rice....

I've never experienced anything like this before.  This collective hysteria cannot be healthy and I can understand why experts warn that this type of panic can often be more damaging to a society than the actual diseases themselves.

Coronavirus and mask madness

It's been about a week of coronavirus craziness.

Masks have become the main discussion topic in Hong Kong (and possibly the entire region) as supplies have run out.  The prices for masks have risen dramatically and there's even a market for used masks.... truly horrifying.

Luckily for me, I was in Thailand when everything started to go crazy and I was able to buy up enough masks for myself and for some of my friends who requested that I bring them back.

Unluckily for me, I didn't fully appreciate just how bad the shortages were in Hong Kong and I lost a golden opportunity to bring back as many boxes of surgical masks as I could possibly lay my hands on.  Little did I know, but the supply of masks in Hong Kong would completely disappear.

Either way, I managed to bring back a decent haul of masks (and some antiseptic gels) from Thailand that I was able to provide to some friends who were in need.  I bought myself a Hong Kong shopper and packed all my stuff into it, then checked the bag through on my flight.

It's a very strange mood in Hong Kong.  Normally when people are sick, you would see the sick person wearing the surgical masks if they were Chinese in background.  You would very rarely if ever see anyone from any other racial background wearing masks when they were sick.  It just wasn't part of the wider culture.  That's changed completely now.  Everyone, no matter what their background, has jumped onto this craze and is now wearing face masks wherever they go.  It's created a strange scene in Hong Kong, something akin to the beginning of a Hollywood movie about a pandemic spreading.

The result of the fear has been clear to see for everyone.  Businesses in Hong Kong have slowed down.  The streets feel more empty.  The speed of my normal commute to and from work has dramatically increased as the bus has only a fraction of its normal passengers.  Restaurants are emptier.  More and more people are working from home and avoiding going outside entirely.

One very surprising outcome from this entire saga has been the rise in increasingly black humour.

Memes and photos have circulated ad nauseam, often reappearing in your phone having been sent to you by various friends or acquaintances.

 Some are simple jokes and a play on the names or the shortages.

 Whereas others have definitely taken a more sarcastic turn.

Either way, we might as well try and find some humour in this annoying situation.