My 1st Week In Shenzhen

Ok, so this should have been written earlier. But well, with limited access to online.. and the business of settling down, I can only find time to write this now.

I thought I'd document my very first week in Shenzhen as it does mean something "special" in a way. I'm in a new city, that I'm rather unfamiliar with (I didn't even know how it looks like before I arrived!).

 

I arrived Shenzhen on my birthday. Personally, I didn't feel so wow. I mean, spending my birthday rushing to the airport, and on the plane to an all new city (the anxiousness).. just didn't feel that fantastic. And well, even though I arrived dinner time, all I had was to eat my first meal at some hawkers nearby the hotel. 

For a guy who likes birthdays to be spent with nice meal and all.. this was a lil setback la! But well, a "sacrifice" I have to make as the next day, I'll be starting work. 

 

The very next day, I have started to use the subway. It's really efficient (peak hours trains have like 2 mins interval!). But it's really packed in the morning and I'm still trying to get accustomed to that life of having to queue up, get pushed and well.. not having the luxury of driving! (yea, spoilt I am!).

 

For the 1st week, there were a lot of documentation for visa application. And at the same time, I had to quickly find a house to stay. This was another challenge. As I don't even know which part of the city to look for a house. I decided the ones nearer the office (like a few stations away) would be best as I need to wake up early for work (ps: can't be late or salary will be deducted!).

 

I saw about 7 different houses.. and OMG, prices here are expensive! Actually, I saw many "terrible" homes, and to a point, I thought I have made a "wrong" decision. For the same price I'm paying in KL, but I see houses which are located on the 7th storey of a low cost apartment in KL - and it's a walk up! And the staircase is sooooooo dirty!

But then, I finally found a house with a pool. Slightly smaller.. more like a studio. While I could get with 3 bedrooms for the same price back in KL, this is still... well rather okay (more of the house once I'm ready to show it). 

 

House is not the only expensive thing in Shenzhen. Like my China friend mentioned, China has now become really expensive. Food is nearly 30-50% more expensive than back home! So far, the only cheaper place I found is this western restaurant, Saizerya... which pizzas go for less than RMB20!

Oh btw, on my first week, I managed to celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival. A local friend brought me to a park in the city. You'll be amused that the celebrations are much less here compared to back home - if not wrong, the only celebrations was at this park! Anyway, I still managed to borrow a lantern from someone just for a photo!

In all, I thank my friends for helping me in my 1st week in this new place that I'll be calling "home" for a while. Without them, I really don't know how my 1st week would have been!

*On that note, people here in Shenzhen are generally nice. It's not the same like the ones you hear from tourists who visit those tourist spots or my previous encounters with locals during my China trip 5-6 years back!