Hong Kong, Day 1: Random Thoughts
I spent the day shopping (a full 7-hour solo flight)--if you know me in any capacity, you'll know this was a fairly remarkable feat. Being alone though, has the downside of not having someone to relay snarky or thoughts comments to when they occur. So, for posterity:
This post was almost not written (a.k.a. I almost got killed twice today): If you are a traveler and the cars drive on the other side of the street, do not cross the street on your own. Instead, wait to cross the street with people native to the area. This has two benefits: (1) buffer, and (2) they know when to cross the street. The corollary to this is not to cross the street with other foreign travelers; you'll all just die together.
Traveling is exciting (a.k.a. I ate weird stuff today): Those traveling in foreign countries really should be the kind to enjoy unexpected things and the excitement of feeling like an idiot. I do not enjoy either of these two things. And while I did end up enjoying what I got for lunch and dinner today, it was most definitely not what I expected (I think I ordered something different). Of course, since there is something of a language barrier, I did not make a fuss over it -- I just made a face, sucked it up, and ate it. The corollary to this is that if you work in the service industry and want to have a good time, give travelers things they didn't order.
Foreign things are still foreign to foreign countries (a.k.a. IKEA is the same): I visited an IKEA today, and it was exact same as back at home in Canada. I'm not really sure what I expected, given that IKEA is a Swedish store, but not much was different: (1) it still has a long one-way path that forces you through the entire store, and (2) it still has the little pencils. The most interesting thing was that everything was scaled down to match the Hong Kong form factor. Back at home, the kitchens can be huge (you can fit 10-20 people inside one); in Hong Kong, space is at a premium, so the reality is that you can only fit about 3-4 people in a kitchen (uncomfortably) -- the display spaces were scaled down to reflect this reality.
Street-level facelifts are common: Since Hong Kong is so humid, things seem to rott very quickly -- this includes the outsides of buildings. If you were to take a 5th-floor-and-up tour of Hong Kong, you would say that everything looks very old, gross and dead. The interesting thing is that the outside of the first three to four floors of many buildings (at least in the area I was in) are totally remodelled and made into commercial areas, replete with neon signs and huge ads. At the street level, everything looks vibrant and alive.
This post was almost not written (a.k.a. I almost got killed twice today): If you are a traveler and the cars drive on the other side of the street, do not cross the street on your own. Instead, wait to cross the street with people native to the area. This has two benefits: (1) buffer, and (2) they know when to cross the street. The corollary to this is not to cross the street with other foreign travelers; you'll all just die together.
Traveling is exciting (a.k.a. I ate weird stuff today): Those traveling in foreign countries really should be the kind to enjoy unexpected things and the excitement of feeling like an idiot. I do not enjoy either of these two things. And while I did end up enjoying what I got for lunch and dinner today, it was most definitely not what I expected (I think I ordered something different). Of course, since there is something of a language barrier, I did not make a fuss over it -- I just made a face, sucked it up, and ate it. The corollary to this is that if you work in the service industry and want to have a good time, give travelers things they didn't order.
Foreign things are still foreign to foreign countries (a.k.a. IKEA is the same): I visited an IKEA today, and it was exact same as back at home in Canada. I'm not really sure what I expected, given that IKEA is a Swedish store, but not much was different: (1) it still has a long one-way path that forces you through the entire store, and (2) it still has the little pencils. The most interesting thing was that everything was scaled down to match the Hong Kong form factor. Back at home, the kitchens can be huge (you can fit 10-20 people inside one); in Hong Kong, space is at a premium, so the reality is that you can only fit about 3-4 people in a kitchen (uncomfortably) -- the display spaces were scaled down to reflect this reality.
Street-level facelifts are common: Since Hong Kong is so humid, things seem to rott very quickly -- this includes the outsides of buildings. If you were to take a 5th-floor-and-up tour of Hong Kong, you would say that everything looks very old, gross and dead. The interesting thing is that the outside of the first three to four floors of many buildings (at least in the area I was in) are totally remodelled and made into commercial areas, replete with neon signs and huge ads. At the street level, everything looks vibrant and alive.
posted by tangaroo at 10:04 a.m.
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