Hong Kong – Did I already mention that bad weather follows me everywhere? Well, Hong Kong greeted me with a typhoon. Even better, this is the second time I’ve been in Hong Kong and the second time I have had to take shelter from a typhoon there. I believe this is just Mother Nature’s way of saying that she misses me.
Hong Kong is quite the city; it’s a concrete jungle with mountains peppering the background. Coleman’s office is located by the Victoria Harbour, giving it one of the best views I’ve ever enjoyed. Even more impressive is Hong Kong’s Victoria Peak. Sitting at 1,811 ft., “The Peak” is the highest mountain in Hong Kong and offers outstanding views over Central, Victoria Harbour, and beyond. I took in the view with a refreshing Long Island Iced Tea in hand while taking over 3GB’s worth of pictures and videos.
If you thought that the release of “Pokémon Go” in the US or EU made everyone crazy, you should have been present during its release in Hong Kong. Asia was one of the last regions in the world to get the app, and on the day it was finally released, the city could talk about nothing else. Bars, parks, malls, subway stations, convention centers, hotel lobbies, and tram cars were all filled with people simply because of their nearby “Poké Stops.” I had to try the APAC Pokémon experience for myself, and will admit that it was very addicting. I found myself exploring almost every park in Hong Kong, made new local friends at random, visited businesses that lured customers in from nearby “Poké Stops,” and even witnessed a stampede of people trying to catch a rare Pokémon.
Coleman’s Hong Kong staff is very diverse, with employees hailing from countries including Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, India, and Indonesia. Working in the APAC region requires knowledge of many different languages, and this team is equipped with such. The atmosphere of collaboration is rich in the office, and the Hong Kong staff definitely works hard and puts in long hours to help service our Experts and Clients. That being said, they also know how to have fun. During my stay, the office held a Squidding/Night Time Boat Trip. At the Tsim Sha Tsui ferry pier, we boarded a boat which was rented solely for our team. The boat, fully loaded with food, drinks, and fishing equipment, cruised through the Kowloon and Junk Bays and out to sea where we began fishing. Unfortunately, we didn’t catch much, but the team bonded and enjoyed the beautiful weather and the skylines of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.
Our August new hire class in Hong Kong is now trained and hitting the ground running, and they are a great bunch. Picking up the material quickly and acing the hands-on assignments, I was thoroughly impressed and am very excited to have them join our staff. They are off to a fast start in their careers at Coleman!
These 41 days of travel are filled with stories that I’ll be able to share for the rest of my life. Our Coleman staff in Gdansk and Hong Kong were very welcoming, and I am infinitely grateful for that. I believe that this pervasive positive attitude and infectious spirit of collaboration help make us successful, and define our fantastic organizational culture at Coleman.