Buzzing around Hong Kong - Day 1

Hong Kong - Try squeezing the words into a 30cm x 2 cm rectangle, then compress it by 1 cm widthwise. Thats HK! Geographically, HK is half the size of SG, yet packs twice the population. Buildings progressed in the only dimension it possibly could; upwards! Worse still, half of HK has beautiful hills. Instead of getting daunted by the sheer pressure of the population, the builders of HK were brave enough to shear it. Steep slopes? Terrible typhoons? Massive earthquakes? Seeping erosions? Landing aircraft? The souls who dared to answer these questions deserve a pat. The fact that HK exists today is high credit to them.



Hong Kong is definitely a city of contrasts, and it is immediately apparant. 12 visitor counters with snake like queues leading to only 3 of them, new megastructures among old how-come-it-doesnt-break structures, hilly terrain and beaches, 5 star hotels slightly bigger than matchboxes with fridges in bathrooms in alleys of buildings crying for a coat of paint for 20 yrs, nice streets with antique traffic lights and stinking drains, tourist agency brouchers in English while tourist guides speak mostly in Cantonese, and it goes on and on...



It is tough being a first time visitor to HK from SG. I came in with an expectation this time. The fables of HK made it look very similar to SG. It indeed is, albeit a half cooked predecessor. Thats credit to SG and not a discredit to HK which pioneered most of the stuff adorning SG. Taxis, MRT..er..MTR, train network charts, double decker buses, EZ-linking-octopus, information plaques are very similar. But there is an eerie feeling of getting lost in HK. You can NEVER get lost in SG. Well, thats what makes a travel out of the secure hail-a-taxi-catch-a-MRT SG that much more exciting.

But the expectation haunted me today. I dared not to venture more than 10ft before poring into the map to reliably take me to the desired location. And I quietly grinned having noticed so many people do the same. Having no toilets in MTR stations hurt. HK is colder than SG, definitely so in Dec, making things worse. Hooke's law was proven when SG flyer was static for over 6 hrs, and people "broke down". I dont wanna repeat in HK!

Having got off the hotel at 3.30pm with hands on belly, it was time to head south to a Nathan Road Chung King Mansion, an Indian bazaar modelled on the romantic alleys of Burma Bazaar. A red postcard with a half naked babe and a wink from the marketing manager got me scared for a second but we ended up in an extremely small place serving north indian cuisine for the past 6yrs, which was worth the price. Pity then that only the two of us and the chef were eating those!

Taking a stroll and getting a taste of the MTR crowds, we landed up in Mong Kok ladies' market. It was akin to stepping out of T Nagar railway station and stepping onto the world famous Ranganathan Street. After dragging down the price from $200 to $80 with my famed bargaining prowess, I bragged all the way to another stall where I got a similar smaller painting for $100. Hold on a second! But the $100 was on the wrong pair of hands at that second :( Pouring oil on fire, the girl offered me a second piece at $60 as I was walking out. I was gutted even as my ever-so-caring wife concealed her laughter to console me. Needless to say, that was the last barlosing of the day.



A not-so-great Symphony of Light ensued amongst the most amazing skyline I have ever seen. The skyline never ended and seemed all 360 degree around. Taking my sister's advice, I sought dinner at a famed Tsim Sha Shui (TST) restaurant which recently moved base. I was astounded to see a long queue outside until I was ever more astonished to see 2 menus with the same items with different prices. A third color printout sat on the table with yet another (higher) price. How convenient! As I sat there gaping after 30 mins of waiting, a complement from the owner that I was lucky to get a seat having come just (1.5hrs) before closing time. I soon found out why, as the order was taken by a sole waiter after 15 mins and the delicious south indian idli vada and dosa plate arrived 1 hr later. In my humble 10K days of survival devouring atleast 25K idlis and 25K dosas, these definitely ranked amongst the top few - from the bottom. This was a north indian restaurant masquarading with a south indian name where 6 chappathis costed less than 1 idli. Based on my expertise, I could spot that those came straight from the oven, and I didnt wanna hazard a guess when it came out of the cooker. By this time, my neighbour who was within a foot of grabbing this thing was visibly drooling over it. Having brought to your attention the congestion in HK and the lightening fast service at this restaurant, I couldnt let my neighbour gobble up my precious Rs 270 idli! To hell with it!



As I walked through the streets back to my hotel, I felt pity for my poor sis with her two small kids who would have blown a fortune dining in this restaurant for one whole week! One final thought as I freeze for the day, too many cities have come to be known as cities that doesnt sleep. HK is one colorful city that doesnt get dark! Although I cant fathom what colors those are...

Random Access
The search has just begun !!!