Retrospect: Hong Kong
This entry is probably way overdue
but I can't seem to know how to get my pictures affixed here, so I
shall just try to use words to convey the ups and downs of my maiden
voyage, my virgin overseas-in-a-plane trip. But it shall not be
chronological.
I shopped too much. Spent too much on too little things when compared to my fellow travel mate. He seems to bring back bagloads of merchandise each day, while I look dolefully on. I console myself by watching loads of cable tv with soccer as the main dish. But I enjoyed the shopping really. There was just so much variety in places where winter is one of the seasons; the possibility of wearing crumpled tees under swanky jackets make dressing up a definite breeze! And the selection, the choices, Ronald McDonald would finally have ample justification to mutter "what to wear, what to wear" in front of his cupboard. And oh, there was this delightfully quaint shopping place sussed out by my friend over at Granville Street. Quaint 'cause it really just looked like a residential building tucked away in some middling, dank alley but inside proved to be maze of original (or so the owners claim) designer shops made by these young men and women of our age and perhaps even younger. No Queensway/Far East/Heeren type of shopping here but truly good stuff that I know all you shopaholics out there would revel in. I did. Not that it's cheap but they do look rather impressive. So that's one shopping tip I leave to share. Hopefully some day soon, our young uns out there would be able to showcase their talent the way their HK counterparts are doing right now...
Clubbing over there is HUGELY over-rated I must conclude. Their Lan Kwai Fung stretch pales in comparison with even our Boat Quay crowd, and I don't even think Boat Quay is happening! Then again, what do I know about the present clubbing scene. Haven't been down to these joints for the longest time (Ken, get your groovy butt back down here in our tiny shores pronto!).
I enjoyed just being able to walk around without breaking into a sweat, to be able to roam around and watch people go about their lives without feeling self-conscious about it. Perhaps it's because I'm abroad and nobody knows me or perhaps it's just the way people back home have this tendency to scrutinise and pass judgement on anybody else here that juts out like a sore thumb; anyone that actually has an iota of individuality would be eyeballed with laserbeam intensity back into mediocrity. But that's just my gut feel. Spent loads of time in the coffee places just watching the human flow stream by, catching nuggets of little lovely images to carry back home. Just like this one when I sat in Starbucks waiting for my sickening stomach indigestion (from too much dim sum for breakfast!) to clear up: These two angmohs standing under the canopy of a little coffee place right across the street from me were just being in love and enrapt in their own blissful world whilst the entire world just seems to gush to and fro by. I felt a tad voyeuristic at the moment but it really felt like I was looking through the lenses of a Hollywood movie filming, so picture perfect it was to me. Being in love in a foreign land, truly something special I'll bet.
There are many, many more little nuggets of memories tucked away for reminiscing but not many more I want to dredge out here. Enjoyed the experience tremendously but somewhere else in a different continent for my next adventure I hope. Somehow I still felt that I remained in my protective bubble, not being stretched enough to really feel immersed in a foreign land. After all, I did get stopped by one of the famed HK police force officer during one of my sojourns through their quiet, narrow alleys. I must really start looking less cheena...haha. Kidding.
So, that's it for my rambling. I wish I could put up the pictures, think they speak a thousand words to use a cliche if I may, but we make do with the limited skills I have.
Back to my Lit texts now. Hai.
I shopped too much. Spent too much on too little things when compared to my fellow travel mate. He seems to bring back bagloads of merchandise each day, while I look dolefully on. I console myself by watching loads of cable tv with soccer as the main dish. But I enjoyed the shopping really. There was just so much variety in places where winter is one of the seasons; the possibility of wearing crumpled tees under swanky jackets make dressing up a definite breeze! And the selection, the choices, Ronald McDonald would finally have ample justification to mutter "what to wear, what to wear" in front of his cupboard. And oh, there was this delightfully quaint shopping place sussed out by my friend over at Granville Street. Quaint 'cause it really just looked like a residential building tucked away in some middling, dank alley but inside proved to be maze of original (or so the owners claim) designer shops made by these young men and women of our age and perhaps even younger. No Queensway/Far East/Heeren type of shopping here but truly good stuff that I know all you shopaholics out there would revel in. I did. Not that it's cheap but they do look rather impressive. So that's one shopping tip I leave to share. Hopefully some day soon, our young uns out there would be able to showcase their talent the way their HK counterparts are doing right now...
Clubbing over there is HUGELY over-rated I must conclude. Their Lan Kwai Fung stretch pales in comparison with even our Boat Quay crowd, and I don't even think Boat Quay is happening! Then again, what do I know about the present clubbing scene. Haven't been down to these joints for the longest time (Ken, get your groovy butt back down here in our tiny shores pronto!).
I enjoyed just being able to walk around without breaking into a sweat, to be able to roam around and watch people go about their lives without feeling self-conscious about it. Perhaps it's because I'm abroad and nobody knows me or perhaps it's just the way people back home have this tendency to scrutinise and pass judgement on anybody else here that juts out like a sore thumb; anyone that actually has an iota of individuality would be eyeballed with laserbeam intensity back into mediocrity. But that's just my gut feel. Spent loads of time in the coffee places just watching the human flow stream by, catching nuggets of little lovely images to carry back home. Just like this one when I sat in Starbucks waiting for my sickening stomach indigestion (from too much dim sum for breakfast!) to clear up: These two angmohs standing under the canopy of a little coffee place right across the street from me were just being in love and enrapt in their own blissful world whilst the entire world just seems to gush to and fro by. I felt a tad voyeuristic at the moment but it really felt like I was looking through the lenses of a Hollywood movie filming, so picture perfect it was to me. Being in love in a foreign land, truly something special I'll bet.
There are many, many more little nuggets of memories tucked away for reminiscing but not many more I want to dredge out here. Enjoyed the experience tremendously but somewhere else in a different continent for my next adventure I hope. Somehow I still felt that I remained in my protective bubble, not being stretched enough to really feel immersed in a foreign land. After all, I did get stopped by one of the famed HK police force officer during one of my sojourns through their quiet, narrow alleys. I must really start looking less cheena...haha. Kidding.
So, that's it for my rambling. I wish I could put up the pictures, think they speak a thousand words to use a cliche if I may, but we make do with the limited skills I have.
Back to my Lit texts now. Hai.