Central Plaza

Central Plaza (where AA HK office is and where I work) is currently the 3rd tallest building in Hong Kong, although for a time it was the tallest building in Asia. According to a recent article I read (which may be dated by now), it could be the 10th tallest building in the world with 76 stories and about 1,200 feet of height. It has a remarkable presence on the Hong Kong skyline, and participates grandly in all the light shows and festivals at night. It is topped by a gold spire which I was not able to capture in this photo. It is somewhat triangular in shape in order to maximize the square footage of office space that is eligible for a harbor view. It is located in the busy Wan Chai section of Hong Kong, just east of the "official" downtown, or "Central" neighborhood.



There is a very distinctive gold design in the windows.

I arrived at work quite early by Hong Kong standards (0800-ish) this day. Few people are on the escalators at this time. One escalator up....



...and then you go up the second set. The lobby is bronze and black - lots of black granite, marble, and bronze trim. Incredible care is take of every square inch. Workers are constantly scrubbing and polishing every piece of trim. At the top of the second escalator, there are elevator banks complete with hand-sanitizers (a post-SARS invention), an incredible view, and of course a Starbucks.

If you arrive early enough in the morning, you can begin your day with some Tai Chi! Class begins around 0700, although individual workout-ers can be seen until around 0930 - by then Hong Kong is so bustling that I think it would be difficult to concentrate, but I know nothing about Tai Chi! The covered breezeways under the building make a nice place to stretch, even in rainy weather. The office buidling pipes Tai Chi music around adding to the very peaceful effect.

Another important fact about the photo above is the China Resources building in the background. That's a nice spot to go to lunch to souvenir shop when you have a LOT of money in your pocket (of course window shopping is fun too, if you're like me). It has incredible silks and other Chinese treasures - just typical Chinese souvenirs, but of amazingly fantastic quality.
Pointsettias really dress up the grounds in the winter.


Inside our office space is pretty much typical of any office space - grey cubicle type furniture.

Our team is represented here - - on the back row from the left:

Casey Fung (EDS technical support)
Jimmy Lee (Sales Planning and Analysis)
Delia Hui (Finance lead)
Katherine Shum (Sales Planning and Analysis)
EJ (moi)
Teresa Wong (Regional Administrative Support)
Esther Lee (Finance)
Amy Leung (Marketing)
Sam Liu (EDS technical support)

on the front row from left to right:

Zoe Chan (Sales Planning and Analysis lead)
Glady Tung (Marketing lead)
Imelda Fung (Regional Reservations and Ticketing Support)
Heidi Law (Finance)

I almost blend in, don't I? (ha ha ha! :-). Most of my colleagues are native Hong Kong people. They all speak English very fluently (except when they don't want me to hear them...ha ha...then they speak Cantonese, the local dialect of the region).


Central Plaza knows how to dress up for Christmas! The trees in the lobbies are enormous - and real. The smell is lovely.