It is always pleasant waking up on Fridays. The weekend is only hours away, and any problems that arise will usually take more than one day to solve – thereby justifying the act of procrastination. Of course, Mondays are another matter.

During the afternoon I went to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the heart of the financial district with a group of business students. The financial buildings are unbelievable, and money is written over the faces of all the bankers who talk excitedly into their mobiles. It is easy to tell who is on top for the day and who is not enjoying their Friday.

The Stock Exchange was far less exciting than I imagined, perhaps because I am not the one benefiting from the transactions. Nevertheless, the Hang Seng Index is Asia’s largest and without the exchange, Hong Kong would have died off long ago.

After the visit, I had to eat quickly and put on a business suit for an interview. I am applying for a mentorship program where, if selected, I will be paired with a prominent member of Hong Kong society. The two people I selected are a senior executive of an international logistics firm, and a senior member of the investigative police force. I chose the executive for advice on a career in logistics (“engineering business”), and the investigator because I think he will have great stories to tell. In truth, I would rather a good story than more cookie-cut advice on “what it takes to succeed in a globalized world.”

For dinner, I went out with a group of exchange students to a Mexican restaurant – it is funny that exchange students all miss the same things. The food was a worthy taste of home even though it was my first experience at an upscale Mexican restaurant. Until then, I never imagined such places exist.

The trip to the restaurant is a good opportunity to describe the excellent public transportation system in Hong Kong. To begin with, I must ride three elevators (totaling over 30 floors), and one escalator to reach the university entrance. Next, I ride a mini-bus to the local metro station using my “octopus card”. Similar to a debit card, I can easily add value and use the card everywhere from public transport to convenient stores by simply waving it in front of a sensor. As for the metro, it can take me just about anywhere in Hong Kong, and it is much cleaner and more efficient than other cities. From the metro station, I then walked a block to board the world’s longest covered outdoor escalator. It dropped me off several yards from the restaurant entrance meaning I had to actually walk - horribly inefficient by Hong Kong standards.