It’s been a very long time since I’ve went back to Hong Kong and I was very excited about the trip since I’ve heard so many interesting stories about the dining and shopping experience there. However, I have to say, at the end of the two weeks I’m actually glad I’ll be heading home and this is only partially because I was sick and I want to sleep on my own (well it’s actually Al’s) comfy bed. Anyways here are my HK experience. It’s a long read so grab a drink and maybe a snack before you start.
Lets begin with the not-so-great parts (I prefer to have the bitter before the sweet):
The weather & air quality - Ok I already know it’s humid there and I know it’d be hot (I think on average it’s about 25 – 28 degrees during the two weeks that I was there). However I did not expect that I would need an oxygen mask to breathe. Maybe it’s because I have asthma, which is why I found it extremely hard to breathe. Morning and night times are not so bad but during mid-morning to early evening it can be hellish. Drinking water or any fluid helps but it’s best to just stay inside where there is air-condition. What I usually do is walk outside for like an hour then hop into a mall, restaurant or even the MTR station to get some air before continuing outdoor activities. Even though it’s so warm, you’d still see people wearing long sleeve or carry a jacket/scarf. That’s because the air condition in transit (bus/MTR) and some other places are turned way up. It feels like a freezer. That’s probably how people get sick most of the time…going from super hot to super cold.
The air quality is very poor. We complain about the smog here in Vancouver during the summer times but over in HK it’s like 100 times worse. You’d find your face dirtier. Even your boogers will come out black! (Yes I checked after the 2nd day in HK…) There’s just so much pollution there. The first couple of days, I’d look up in the sky and saw it all hazy. I thought my vision had gone bad but it was just very bad smog.
The toilets – When I went to Taiwan and Hong Kong in 1998, I remember I hardly had to visit places that still uses a hole-in-the-ground type toilets (a.k.a squat toilets). The only places that still uses them were rural locations in Taiwan or some really old places in HK. So I was very surprised to find this type of washrooms at a mall in Sha Tin. The mall is an older one, compared to the really nice, new building next to it. But it wasn’t so old where you’d think squat toilets existed. The decor in the washroom and outside looked pretty new also which was why I was totally caught off guard when I saw the hole-in-the-ground when it was my turn to use the toilet. That’s not all, there’s no toilet paper and the ground around the hole is wet and sticky (gross, I know). Good thing I always carry 2-3 PACKS of tissue with me. I guess it’s an interesting experience since I’d probably never see squat toilets here in Vancouver (or even places I’d visit in North America), and this is probably the closest thing to peeing into a hole-in-the-wall like one of the guys. After this, I always check the washroom before waiting in line and only use washrooms in nice looking malls and hotels. Some restaurant washrooms are pretty gross too so I’m not taking my chances.
Now we’ll take a break with some interesting cultural differences that I’ve noticed:
Courtesy? – If you’ve ever taken the Skytrain or public transit here in Vancouver you’d noticed that people walk at normal to slow pace as they get on the train or bus. They’d look around for seats and either take them or proceed to stand, especially by the door where they can lean on once the vehicle starts to move. If an elderly person walked into the train, someone will most likely give their seats to him/her. This is how I behave when I got on the transit here. But when I got to HK I was told that I’m “stupid/dumb” for not going after a seat on the MTR/train. Apparently seats are valuable and if you are able to get one, it’s like SCORE~~~~~~~!!
I’ve witness some very aggressive seat taking behaviour on the MTR during my time there. There are people of all age, sex and sizes fighting for spots along the metal bench. When the door of the train opens, people push each other to get inside as quickly as possible. People trying to get off will try to push their way out (~___~). People will RUN to the available spots, elbowing slow folks like me out of the way. Oh and don’t think that the elderly people are at a disadvantage. When it comes to securing seats, they are just as aggressive. My aunt told me a funny story about how one elderly man took his seat. There were two elderly men, each standing at one of the doors waiting for the train to approach. The doors were next to each other so they would both enter the same train compartment. Each man has a newspaper in hand in which they’ve rolled up. When the doors to the train opened, they both ran in and threw their rolled up newspaper towards the same empty seat. The man with the newspaper that had landed on the spot first wins! (=___=) It’s funny but at the same time, I wonder what had lead to this type of behaviour. Is getting a seat really that important? If you’ve sat at work all day, do you really need that seat?
People in general walks a lot faster there. It doesn’t matter where, at the mall, in the streets or in the train station. They’d push you around and you won’t get a “sorry” or “excuse me” out of them. What’s the hurry? I can’t imagine every single person is in a hurry every minute of the day. Maybe I’m being a grumpy old lady but I think that bumping into someone should warrant an apology.
Wash bowls – First day we arrived we went to have dim sum with Al’s relatives. At the restaurant, they have a big bowl on the lazy susan. What is it for? Apparently it’s there for you to dump the tea/water after you’ve “wash/rinse” your bowl, cup and chopstick. So the first and sometimes second pot of tea is use for washing/rinsing every bowl, cup and chopsticks use at the table. Why? I was told that it’s because some restaurants don’t use dish washers (I guess they still wash their dishes manually by hand with soup…one at a time…) and so they feel that if the person washing the dishes isn’t doing a good job, it’d be dirty and soap might be left on there. Also the eatery has been left out in the open, who knows what have crawled or landed on them? Hence people wash them with hot tea/water. Now I wonder why they bothered eating at those restaurants where they feel they need to wash the bowls and chopsticks (and people do this in almost all restaurant except the higher end ones) when the plates/bowls that hold the food are probably washed by the same person and in the same method (if they don’t have a dish washer). So then if there are soap left on the plates, you’d get it through your food. To me this is silly but at the same time I know a lot of people just do it out of custom and a peace of mind.
Napkins – When I see a napkin in HK, whether they are made with clothe or paper, I’d be extremely happy. That’s because I’ve noticed that they are RARE. If this is WoW, napkins would be classified as a purple drop. This is another reason why I have to carry 2-3 PACKS of tissue with me every day. Most restaurants don’t have paper napkins. Why? I don’t know. Maybe it’s to cut cost. Like how toilet paper in most toilets (except the nice ones) only have one ply (which I think is stupid because I’d just use double the amount to make it seem like two-ply so they aren’t saving anything). I didn’t expect places like dai pai dong (kind of like an open-air food stall) to have napkins but restaurants where I had dim sum or dinner don’t have them either.
Ok after all the rant, I can move on to what I liked about the trip:
Shopping – Who doesn’t like shopping in Hong Kong? It’s like a shopper’s heaven, especially with the exchange rate! Even thought I’m super picky about my clothes I was able to find some stuff there at prices that’s probably more than 50% less than what I’d find in Vancouver. The malls are great place to shop but I also like to walk in places around Mong Kok, such as Fa Yuen Street, Ladies’ Street. There are couple of malls in the area as well which makes it easy for washroom breaks. Aside from clothing and shoes, I think the best thing to buy (that’s non-electronic) are jewelry and hair accessories. I didn’t want to buy any electronic items (because I’d have to ship it back to HK for warranty) but I did score some good quality, but cheap iphone cases as well as the protective covers.
Environmentally Friendly Bags – It’s like the latest trend. Everyone has them. They come in different colours and can be folded into different shapes. We were all given one on our first day. At first I thought I’d never have to use it since I carry a pretty big purse but I was wrong. These bags helped us carried a lot of our goods, especially things that you’d buy at Fa Yuen Street.
Food – Ok I didn’t like everything I ate there but there are some that needs to be mentioned here because it was so good (and the fact that I can’t get them here). First it’s the durian pancakes dessert. Basically it’s a pancake filled with cream and fresh durian. I’m a big fan of this fruit which is why I love this. Second it’s the che zai mian (literally translated to be cart noodles). The one place I know in Vancouver that has them is at the food court at Aberdeen Center. But it’s just not the same stuff. The soup base, the noodles, even the toppings are so much better in HK. Third it’s the variety of different drinks you can find. The bottle of this honey aloe drink caught my eye so I bought it. To my surprise it was really good and not too sweet at all. I wish we have more variety of drinks here, and I don’t mean different flavors of Coke or Pepsi. Fourth, the fast food is actually pretty good. I’m not talking about McDonald’s or Burger King. One of the places that Al likes a lot is Cafe de Coral. He loves their roasted duck. The price isn’t expensive and service is fast.
Friends & Family – Even though I was sick during the second week, I did managed to meet up with almost everyone I had wanted to see during my visit. I’ve met up with all my relatives, including my cousin and her cute son Christian. The three of us also met up with friends who’ve moved back to HK for work as well as Kaya, a dear friend that I’ve met from WoW ♥. I can’t wait for us to meet again!
Since I’ve wrote so much here, I’ll leave the photos for the next post.
