Hong Kong - Spring 2006 (March)

I've always wanted to visit Hong Kong and Taiwan because they have huge Chinese communities - a legacy of the Chinese immigrants decades back - and it's interesting to see how these communities have evolved; especially when I myself am from a community that has a great percentage of citizens from similar origins. Last spring, I finally got a chance to go to Hong Kong and Taiwan. Open jaw tickets usually cost lots, so I must thank Vivi for helping me get the round trip tickets from Hong Kong to Taipei and H I S Travel for their fabulous online tickets to Hong Kong from Japan. And not forgetting Charles-san - thanks to him, I got a business class seat and free hotel lodging! And Sandra and Pauline showed me great hospitality too. I'm lucky that I've had lots of help from people on all my trips (I've just been too slack to write about them promptly).

I found Hong Kong similar to Singapore in many ways. It's no wonder why we are often compared. Apart from economic and historical similarities, the subway (MTR) in the SAR also bears an uncanny resemblance to our good old MRT. [add: I think I read an article somewhere years ago why this is so but I can't remember the details. And by the way, in case I forget to mention later, subways in Hong Kong and Singapore look alike and the trains in Taiwan and Japan are as like as peas. It's almost like I left Japan to go to Japan II and left Singapore to go to Singapore II - when I take the trains, that is.] By the way, "subway" in HK refers to the underpass, NOT the trains (MTR) - at least that's what the signs would like us to believe.

Like Singapore, Hong Kong is a major Asian financial hub. Walking through the tall office buildings and shops at Central, I felt like I was home for a moment. Perhaps Asian cities are becoming more and more alike. In Hong Kong, especially, with Chinese food that I was used to seeing everywhere in Singapore (and used to not seeing anywhere in Iwaki or even Tokyo!), posters featuring Asian artistes and music by Asian singers, it made it easy for me to feel at home for a while. And yes, does anyone remember the days when Hong Kong was said to be the Hollywood of the East?! Being in the SAR made me feel like I was relieving the good old memories of going to the theatre to watch Chinese movies made in Hong Kong (when was the last time anyone watched a Chinese film at the theatre??). Names of places were especially nostalgic - Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Portland Street, Temple Street, Hong Kong Island, Lantau etc etc. Some of these names still appear in Hong Kong drama serials popular today. I look forward to the day when Singapore drama serials/ movies will make known to others places like "Orchard Road', "Chinatown", “Bukit Batok” (good for ghost stories!!) etc.

And then yeah, the bitchy Singaporean emerged and suddenly it became obvious to me how cluttered and erm, how much litter there was on the streets (Lan Kwai Fong, especially, was in need of extra hands for cleaning). And having lived in Japan for more than half a year at that point, I was really not used to the way people behaved. People just don't bother to give you directions. And I know that because they say they don't know the way even before you finish your question! According to V, Hong Kongers don't tend to talk to strangers as it's seen as potentially dangerous. I guess this mentality is telling of how safe the place is in general? (But S & P were very generous and kind to me though. HKers can be great too ((even though it’s true that they chide people who get in their way when they walk too slowly))!!)

But word has it that the more dangerous places are where all the fun is! Singapore may be good for raising families and gaining an education (I hope) but HK is probably more fun for most people. The night scene at Lan Kwai Fong was more vibrant than what I have ever seen in Singapore and the people (many yuppies and expats among them) actually look like they were really having loads of fun. I also enjoyed the ferry ride when commuting between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Somehow, taking a ferry to work every morning just sounds surreal to me. It sounds more like a holiday, eh? I enjoyed the tram rides too, better than what I had in Nagasaki. It could be because that I felt more familiar with them, having seen them in HK dramas.

Probably almost every tourist to HK will leave their footprints on Victoria Peak and that was exactly what I did too. VP has got some of the most insanely expensive houses in the whole of Hong Kong (with typically endless driveways and gates so high you can't see anything inside) and also, it probably offers the best view of the rest of the island at night. I made the mistake of taking the bus up AND down. I had planned to take the peak tram on my way down from the peak but I forgot about it when I saw a bus about to leave the depot!

Hong Kong's cool. I never thought there was so much there that I could relate to. That's how shared histories and media bind people together, I think.