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<ul class="summary-list"><li>I <a href="https://www.insider.com/signs-you-should-move-2018-3">moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to Hong Kong</a> in 2014 and stayed for five years.</li><li>Living in such an international city introduced me to different cultures and new perspectives.</li></ul>I moved from <a href="https://www.insider.com/what-to-do-in-san-francisco-2018-4">San Francisco</a> to <keyword id="11896021" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hong-kong" source="Orion">Hong Kong</keyword> in 2014 to attend college.During the five years I spent overseas, I discovered an astonishing array of differences between my life in the sprawling Asian city and my life in <keyword id="11892887" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="northern-california" source="Orion">Northern California</keyword>. Now that I've settled back in the US, I decided to reflect on some of the most surprising things about my experience living abroad in Hong Kong.<h2>Hong Kong was much more geographically diverse than I expected</h2><div type="image" title="Hong Kong skyline" height="3648" width="5472" msid="92184805" hostid="261"></div>Before I moved, Hong Kong's world-famous skyline gave me the impression that the city would be <a href="https://www.insider.com/tallest-skyscraper-by-year-2018-8">all skyscrapers</a>.There are certainly plenty of colossal buildings, but there are also beaches, waterfalls, <a href="https://www.insider.com/hikes-around-the-world-2019-3">hiking trails,</a> and islands to explore.Raw nature and sky-high buildings don't typically go hand-in-hand, but Hong Kong has the best of both worlds. It's one of the most geographically diverse cities I've ever been to.<h2>The public transportation system was impressively efficient</h2>The city's robust public transportation system could get me to most places without a car, so I didn't need one. Plus, parking <a href="https://www.spacer.com.au/blog/the-most-expensive-parking-spaces-in-the-world#:~:text=Yet%2C%20when%20looking%20at%20parking,monthly%20parking%20are%20around%20%24352.">is expensive</a> in Hong Kong,Land transportation includes the Mass Transit Railway (MTR), buses, and trams that can take you across the island for less than $1. Though the MTR is extremely clean and manageable for English speakers, I think the buses are more difficult to navigate if you aren't familiar with the route. <h2>Brick-and-mortar shopping was very popular</h2><div type="image" title="Kaitlyn Cheung and friend smiling at night market in mongkok" height="886" width="886" msid="92184807" hostid="261"></div>Hong Kong holds the world record for<a href="https://www.cefc.com.hk/article/stefan-al-ed-mall-city-hong-kongs-dreamworlds-of-consumption/"> the highest commercial density</a>. No matter where you live in the city, you can easily find a corner-street convenience store stocked with groceries, household goods, and personal-care products. Shopping for clothes is easy too. Since there's <a href="https://www.cefc.com.hk/article/stefan-al-ed-mall-city-hong-kongs-dreamworlds-of-consumption/">one mall per square mile</a>, you're usually just a couple of subway stops away from the nearest one.Online shopping has <a href="https://www.business.hsbc.com/navigator/made-for-china/five-reasons-why-china-is-dominating-e-commerce">taken off in Mainland China</a> due to the rise of e-commerce giants like Taobao, Alibaba, and JD.com But I found that Hong Kong has not experienced the same cashless revolution, and brick-and-mortar shopping <a href="https://retailasia.com/retail/exclusive-news/should-hong-kongs-brick-and-mortar-retailers-ride-e-commerce-wave">seems much more popular.</a> Many items, like Chinese New Year decorations and jade trinkets, can only be found at specific mom-and-pop shops. Going for goods in-person lends itself well to the city's vibrant night-market scene, especially in places like Mongkok, a shopping district where you can find anything from clothes and electronics to snacks and souvenirs. After years of living in Hong Kong, I got used to doing most of my shopping in person. Now, I prefer it to <a href="https://www.insider.com/online-shopping-hacks-save-money-2017-12">buying things online</a>.<div type="image" title="Shops in Hong Kong." height="2687" width="4000" msid="92184808" hostid="261"></div><h2>Hong Kong is very international, but it was difficult to find authentic Mexican food</h2>I grew up in the <keyword id="11893136" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="san-francisco" source="Orion">San Francisco</keyword> Bay Area, which has a ton of restaurants that serve high-quality Cali-Mex, California's spin on traditional Mexican cuisine. Burritos, quesadillas, and enchiladas were all staples of my diet before I moved. That changed as soon as I went overseas.The flavorful dishes I regularly devoured in the US were more difficult to come by in Hong Kong than I expected. Though the city is extremely international and has a <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/01/31/hong-kong-expats-leaving-exodus-covid-quarantine/">flourishing expatriate community</a>, its Mexican population is relatively <a href="https://www.asiainsurancereview.com/Magazine/ReadMagazineArticle?aid=35137">small in comparison to other groups</a>, which could be one of the reasons I had such a hard time finding the <a href="https://www.insider.com/things-americans-get-wrong-about-mexican-food-2018-4">Mexican food I craved</a>. Don't get me wrong, I love japonica rice and jasmine rice, but I <a href="https://www.insider.com/best-and-worst-things-to-eat-at-mexican-restaurants-2020-2">don't want them in my burrito</a>. After five years of searching for a spot with Mexican dishes reminiscent of the ones in California, the closest I got was <a href="https://www.yelp.com/biz/tequila-on-davis-%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF">Tequila On Davis</a>, an expatriate bar and restaurant. And much to my relief, they used long-grain rice.<h2>Most convenience stores didn't carry American groceries</h2><div type="image" title="grocery store aisle in elements hong kong" height="2800" width="3733" msid="92184810" hostid="261"></div>ParknShop, a supermarket chain in Hong Kong, and Circle K, a convenience store, didn't sell popular American foods like cheese, yogurt, granola, and cereals. If I wanted to find them, I had to go to City Super, the international grocery store. And when I could get my hands on the items, they were much more expensive than my other groceries.On American holidays, <a href="https://www.insider.com/all-the-places-that-celebrate-thanksgiving-2018-11">like Thanksgiving</a>, I could easily break the bank shopping for the ingredients I needed to make my recipes. A pint of yogurt cost me between $5 and $10. That might not seem very pricey in certain grocery stores in the US, but it felt relatively expensive in Hong Kong, where I could get a local meal for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/02/world/asia/hong-kong-inexpensive-dining.html">significantly less money</a>.The grocery stores I visited in Hong Kong also didn't carry some of the produce that I regularly bought in the US, like fresh berries and Brussels sprouts.I got used to swapping them out for <a href="https://www.insider.com/vegetables-around-the-world-2018-9">other fruits and vegetables</a>. And over time, I started eating more dragon fruit, locally grown taro root, bitter melon, and daikon.<h2>I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Hong Kong's soy-sauce Western cuisine</h2>Soy-sauce Western really knocked my socks off. Similar to the way Chinese immigrants <a href="https://time.com/4211871/chinese-food-history/">created Chinese-American cuisine</a> after moving to the US, European immigrants made <a href="https://www.scmp.com/magazines/hk-magazine/article/2035494/soy-sauce-western-hong-kongs-self-made-cuisine">soy-sauce Western</a> cuisine by fusing traditional dishes with Hong Kong's local flavors. I wasn't familiar with these foods ahead of my move, but I was blown away by their impeccable sweet-and-savory blend. Popular plates include wok-fried spaghetti with meat sauce, Swiss-sauce chicken wings, and Hong Kong-style borscht, a Ukrainian soup that's sweeter than the traditional version.My favorite soy-sauce Western dish is the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reviews/out?u=https%3A%2F%2Ffood52.com%2Frecipes%2F32514-hong-kong-style-spam-egg-macaroni-soup">Hong Kong-style macaroni soup</a>, which typically consists of pasta, meat, and vegetables in chicken broth. I loved eating it for breakfast with a side of Spam and eggs. Both locals and expats file into cha chaan teng, Hong Kong-style cafés that serve this cuisine. When I was living in the city, some of my favorite spots for soy-sauce Western were Australia Dairy Company and Café de Coral. <h2>Rugby and horse racing are the most popular spectator sports</h2><div type="image" title="Kaitlyn Cheung and friends attend the rugby 7s match, smiling in fish eye lens" height="577" width="768" msid="92184813" hostid="261"></div>I was used to the Americans' adoration for sports like football and basketball, but I quickly learned that Hong Kong's expats were far more dialed into rugby and horse racing. Before my move, I knew nothing about these two sports.In the same way that sports bring Americans together year after year, rugby and horse racing have united Hong Kong's international community.Every week, people bet on horse races in the Shatin and Happy Valley neighborhoods.Hong Kong Stadium in the Causeway Bay neighborhood also hosts the annual Hong Kong Sevens, a world-famous rugby tournament. If you can get your hands on tickets, watching the matches in person feels like a huge party. Dressing up is a tradition, so many spectators don their best group costumes.<h2>Many of the people I met weren't from Hong Kong either</h2><div type="image" title="Kaitlyn Cheung and her friends taking a junk boat across Victoria Harbor" height="768" width="1024" msid="92184814" hostid="261"></div>When I met people in Central, Hong Kong's financial district, many of them had come to the city from elsewhere.Hong Kong has <a href="https://www.asiainsurancereview.com/Magazine/ReadMagazineArticle?aid=35137">one of the world's biggest expat populations</a>, making it a popular option for people who are looking to work abroad for the first time. The city is a cultural melting pot, with a sizable number of <a href="https://www.insider.com/things-i-dont-miss-about-the-us-according-to-someone-who-left">expats</a> from Indonesia, the Philippines, China, France, South Korea, India, the UK, Canada, Japan, Pakistan, and many other countries. In the US, I was used to asking people which state they were from. But in Hong Kong, I routinely made friends from all over the world, which allowed me to broaden my horizons and learn about different cultures. Sometimes I would meet people from places that I knew almost nothing about, so the experience challenged me to become a better listener and ask more thoughtful questions.

I moved from California to Hong Kong. Here are 8 things that surprised me most.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Temperatures in the UK on Tuesday shattered records, reaching a high of 104.36 degrees Fahrenheit.</li><li>The extreme heat can cause railway tracks to buckle in the scorching temperatures. </li></ul>Train riders in the UK have been warned not to travel into the "red zone" around <keyword id="11897569" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="london" source="Orion">London</keyword> amid a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-maps-forecast-extreme-heat-fires-may-last-weeks-2022-7">record-breaking heatwave</a> that can cause railway tracks to buckle in the scorching temperatures.Britain's Network Rail <a href="https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/network-rail-and-train-operators-upgrade-travel-advice-to-do-not-travel">advised travelers to stay home instead of riding the railways</a> as temperatures in the UK on Tuesday shattered records, reaching a high of 104.36 degrees Fahrenheit (40.2 degrees Celsius) for the first time ever."Temperatures are still climbing in many places," the UK's Met Office warned in a <a href="https://twitter.com/metoffice/status/1549362223889481733">tweet</a>. Network Rail <a href="https://twitter.com/networkrail/status/1549286113105350657">tweeted</a> that the company and train operators "have upgraded travel advice for services heading north out of London into the weather warning 'red zone' to DO NOT TRAVEL.""With free refunds/ticket swaps available, the advice is to stay home and replan your journey," the company said. The company said on Monday that services "were heavily impacted by the extreme heat today with buckled rails reported and overhead wire systems failing."The railway company's hottest track recorded on Monday was 62 degrees Celsius, or 143.6 degrees Fahrenheit, in the county of Suffolk. "Rail temperature can be about 20°C higher than air temperature, causing it to expand, bend and break," Network Rail <a href="https://twitter.com/networkrail/status/1549304795063779330">said</a>. Additionally, speed restrictions for <keyword id="11921528" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="trains" source="Orion">trains</keyword> across the area have been put in place to help prevent the steel tracks from buckling.The UK issued its first "red extreme heat" warning zone around London this week.The <a href="https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings#?date=2022-07-19&amp;id=b01e382c-77dc-4ac0-9ba4-d81c80dd1690">"red extreme heat" weather warning</a> was issued for Monday and Tuesday for parts of central, northern, eastern, and southeastern England.

UK railway warns train tracks around London could buckle because of the extreme heat

With an aim to ensure all senior officials take their work seriously, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=railway+board+&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">railway board </a>has started rating its 16 zones. This might prove helpful as the performance of the zones will be reflected in their promotion and career progression. 
 
According to the latest rating by the railway board between April and December 2016, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=South+Eastern+Railway&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">South Eastern Railway</a> headquartered in <keyword id="6354925" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kolkata">Kolkata</keyword> is on the top while <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=North+Eastern+Railway&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">North Eastern Railway</a> with its head office in <keyword id="43253" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gorakhpur">Gorakhpur</keyword> has got the last rank. <keyword id="76478" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Northern-Railway">Northern Railway</keyword>, with its headquarters in Delhi a few kilometres from the railway board office, was third from last. 
 
This private sector like appraisal system, under <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Suresh+Prabhu&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Suresh Prabhu</a>, will make the officials serious about their jobs as the career graph of top officers will depend on the amount of money they have helped the state-run transporter earn, physical assets they have helped create and punctuality of trains. 
 
The ranking is based on a sof 17 key performance indicators (KPIs) such as operational and financial performance measured by passenger traffic and freight loading among others. The KPIs have been made part of the annual performance appraisal reports (APARs) of general managers, divisional railway managers and departmental heads in zonal railways. 
 
"Zonal railways are being evaluated as per relative performance on each indicator by comparing the targets fixed for each one after much deliberation," a senior official told ET. 
 
Zonal and divisional units were asked for targets for the year. Now, each general manager, DRM and departmental heads are being evaluated against his/her own targets.

This is how Railways is ensuring its officials work efficiently

New Delhi, Apr 27 () E-commerce giant Amazon India on Monday said it has strengthened its partnership with the Indian Railways and has ramped up its operations to 55 lanes in a bid to enable faster deliveries to customers amid the nationwide lockdown. Last year, Amazon India had partnered with Indian Railways for inter-city transportation of e-commerce packages on 13 lanes, and had also set up pickup kiosks for customers in Kolkata and Mumbai. Amazon India will transport consignments via rail across the country and is leveraging the 'COVID-19 Parcel Special Trains' introduced by the Indian Railways to ramp up its operations to 55 lanes during the lockdown period, it said in a statement. Indian Railways with the support of the Railway Board and the zones across Western, Central, Northern, Eastern, South Central, Southern, South Eastern, North East Frontier, North Western and South Western have created a proactive solution to provide support for transportation during lockdown. "This enhanced network will enable sellers in Amazon India's network to ship their products across the country and keep their businesses running, thereby, allowing people to access a more diverse selection of essential products," the statement said. Amazon India Director (Amazon Transportation Services) Abhinav Singh said with the support of COVID-19 Parcel Special trains introduced by the Indian Railways, the company is confident it can further fulfil customer orders with enhanced speed and capacity. "We are grateful for this timely decision by the Indian Railways to offer freight movement solutions during these challenging times," he added. Under the lockdown - scheduled to end on May 3, e-commerce companies have been allowed to sell only essential items like grocery, healthcare and pharmaceutical products. The players and industry associations have been urging the government to expand the list of essentials to include 'work from home' and 'study from home' products. SR SHWSHW

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I moved from California to Hong Kong. Here are 8 things that surprised me most.

Kaitlyn Cheung

UK railway warns train tracks around London could buckle because of the extreme heat

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This is how Railways is ensuring its officials work efficiently

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Amazon India strengthens partnership with Railways for faster deliveries amid lockdown

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