When I was in the plane, I kept thinking about all the stuff I wanted to write about Hong Kong. I had a mental image of a city full of skyscrapers, lights, biggest population on earth. Hong Kong was all of that and more. It is the kind of metropolis I imagine will model the future cities of the Word. Geographically it looks a lot like Vancouver. It consist of several islands bridged together by roads and trains. However the weather is much nicer. It was about 26 degrees Celsius and humid. When you step out of the place you get the sticky feeling in our skin that usually lets you know you are near the ocean. Unlike with other humid places, the stickiness is not gross but comforting. The rain is nice and warm just like in Colombia. But, It differs to Colombia in that the rain drops are small and scattered ( similar to the ones in Canada). In Colombia, the rain drops hit you hard, and make a splash in the floor when they fall.
I also expected everyone to speak perfect English since Hong Kong was under British domain for such a long time. But I found some people's English to be broken and I found a couple of individuals who could not speak with my at all (A middle aged woman server at a restaurant and a construction worker) .We tried the Universal sign Language of common sense :). But regardless of their language, everyone was SUPER nice. I went to a restaurant and they served me noodles with chopsticks. So, I called the server and he ran out and got me a fork and a spoon. But, I rejected the western cutlery and asked him if he could show me how to use the chopsticks instead. I can use chopstick ok for big stuff like sushi. But I have major difficulties graving small stuff. He pretty much had to place the chopsticks on my hand :(. It took me a while to master the art of eating, but I was in no hurry. In Canada, I never tried eating noodles (or rice) with chopsticks because I am by nature a slow eater and it would just take forever. But here I had the whole night. I thought it was very nice of the server to teach me :). Hospitality in Hong Kong was 10/10. Also, when I was looking for my hostel I felt at sea. I knew my hotel was in that street but each building in the street was super tall, and each had at least 10 shinny names on it, all in Cantonese. I kept comparing every Cantonese written character I saw in each building with the name of my hostel. It was going to take a long time. Not long after I started a systematically search, a woman asked me if I was lost. Turned out she even worked at my hostel but it was her night off. She was walking by in order to meet one of her friends at the local McDonalds'. Also, since I am obviously not of Asian descent (wavy hair, round eyes), people in the street asked me where I was from and offered me guidance.
I was worried about Hong Kong being polluted and about having lots of allergies since I am very sensitive to dust. I found the city smelled super nice, and was very clean despite its big population. It is very organized and well though. It seems like those who govern are always thinking about ways to keep connecting the islands and improving the infrastructure. There were tons of construction sites. I was pleased to see the eagerness for development but I was also annoyed since all the pedestrian paths were closed due to construction. I was late and I felt the need to Jay walk to cross the street. I failed miserably. I concluded that is impossible to Jay walk in Hong Kong. The sidewalks are fenced off everywhere but in the places where you CAN cross. the fences look sort of like labyrinths that mandatorily direct you to the nearest pedestrian bridge. It is super safe!!, but, took me 20 minutes to cross a single street since there was a major detour in the pedestrian paths due to construction. Therefore, I found it hard to walk in Hong Kong. People mainly use the train. They can buy a card called the Octopus in which you can load money and travel several times. Before I travelled I was wondering why they named the card "octopus". I figured is because the train lines look like and octopus. the train lines look like they are many hands , each going to a different side of the city. Moreover, because the train stations itself look like octopus. Each exit being a tentacle. Train stations in Hong Kong are nothing like anything I have ever seen anywhere. It took me 1.5 hours to navigate my way out of central station. I got blisters in my feet from walking up and down. I was trying to find exit F2. There were exits A,B.C, D, E, F, G, ...L. Train stations look way more like airports, with many terminals and full of shops. I don't even think people in Hong Kong need malls because train stations double as shopping centers. I missed the symphony of light because I got lost at one of the stations.
I was also worried about being a woman walking alone at night in the Streets of a foreign country. Looking back is funny I even though about it. Normally cities get quiet at around 9pm. After this time there is normally no people on the street, a few cars only, everything is dark and everyone is sleeping. Not Hong Kong!!. Lucky for me at 11:30pm stores are just closing, people are going out for dinner, the streets are full of cars. I wake up at 4:28am and the streets were still active. I was hungry at 11:39pm and I was able to find a restaurant open within two blocks of my hostel. I saw a guy getting in on a bus with the drawers of a night table, and several pregnant women walking alone (I would think pregnant women would normally be tired and into bed early) and, a bunch of lady friends on a night out. And, this was not even a weekend day (it was Wednesday!). I still don't know if the city ever sleeps. After all, it was only a one day visit. I was truly sorry to leave.
