Ok, so the title doesn't make sense but I thought it would grab your attention. Also its late and I am running out of ideas. I had the very good fortune of going to Hong Kong a few times and all of them save once, was on company expense. Microsoft sent me to Hong Kong twice, once for training and another for some planning session. SAP then sent me there for our annual conference and I was there on a personal capacity once. I have to say that I can't help but love Hong Kong.
When I came to Hong Kong pre-Disneyland, there was A LOT of attention on me for the obvious reasons. Funny looking guy, not sure where he is from...Philippines, Mexico, Middle East, India, who knows?? But can he speak Cantonese!!! What intonation and annunciation!! They cut you a lot of slack if you are a non-Chinese trying to speak their language! Microsoft put us up at Marco Polo where our rooms opened up to the Harbour and Star Cruise berth. The view was gorgeous! Next up was the Mandarin Oriental. Its the hotel where Leslie Cheung jumped to his death. Finally, the The Harbour View Equatorial.
What surprises me is the the taxi drivers in HK don't know the hotel names in English. The moment we check in, we are given a card with the Chinese names of our hotels. So Euqatorial Harbour View was Hong Kong Man Lai Hoi Keng Chau Tim. All together now....Accommodation is super expensive in Hong Kong and so is eating out. A bowl of wanton noodle can set you back about RM8 in a street shop.
My wife loves Stanley Market which is in Repulse Bay. The journey there is really beautiful and the place is very pleasant. It looks like the Riviera or Monte Carlo with its coffee shops by the streets. There is a market there though mostly for tourist so it is pricier than Mongkok which is like Petaling Street but it is not as busy and people can be nice. I normally get a good deal here once I start on my Cantonese.
The food is just great. I have not had bad food in HK. Partly due to the fact that my cousin (whom we stayed with) takes us to all the cool places and also because food is just good here.
I observed some really interesting traits in Hong Kong folks. The public transport is first rate but people seem to be always in a great hurry to get somewhere. You can walk your normal KL pace here as you will be swept away by a sea of people. Also folks tend to be spoilt by govt signboards and workers. Few examples, I saw a sign at the restroom urinal. "Automatic, no hands needed". Just in case you didn't know what automatic meant. Also you will see signs ON the road saying "Look Right", just in case you didn't know where the cars were coming from. There was an ad on TV teaching everyone to set their air-cond to 25.5 degrees in the winter to converse energy and that being the optimal temperature. Little things like dat.
Two things I can't get used to in HK, the size of the condos and the constant queing for food. I once queued just to take a number for the next queue. The condos were so small, I could hardly fit into the shower which has those transparent partitions. We stayed at my cousin's place once and my feet was sticking out of the bed and froze. In the morning, my toes were literally on strike and refused to move. But the folks are very hardworking when it comes to cleanliness. I actually saw a worker wipe down an entire lift, top to bottom after he took out the garbage in it. Also they are taught to stand on the right if they are not moving up the escalator which my kids followed by hard and chastised me whenever I renegaded from it.
Now with Disneyland, there are more Filipinos and I am perceived to be one of them. The novelty has worn off. I really enjoyed HK and its cosmopolitan styles. People just know how to utilize every inch of space and utlize it tastefully. So to all dis sum, char siew, siew york and tong sui lovers out there, you have got to make a trip to HK. If you need a bargain, you can always call on the Cantonese speaking Filipino.
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