Hong Kong.

Perhaps eons ago, the islands of Singapore and Hong Kong were born from the same volcano before the tectonic shifts of the earth gently nudged them apart and made them what they are today. Singapore and Hong Kong, separated by a three-hour plane ride across the Pacific Ocean, are both small, wealthy, densely-packed countries with a history of British occupation, a very undeniably Chinese culture and a well-earned reputation for fulfilling every gluttonous shopaholic's wildest dreams.

The comparisons, however, end there. Hong Kong is Singapore on steroids and crystal meth. Hong Kong, land of Bruce Lee and beautiful cinema, is mean, crowded, noisy, flashy, gaudy, busy and just plain glorious. The easiest comparison is to describe Hong Kong as the New York City of Asia, but that wouldn't do justice to the fact that it is only in Hong Kong where you can see the world's largest sitting Buddha, go bicycling along the river front, take a picture next to a statue of Bruce Lee, eat a lot of dim sum and do a lot of fabulous shopping all in one breath.

Not surprisingly, I have fallen in love with Hong Kong and once I download "Cantonese Language Skills" into my brain Matrix-style, I can easily see myself living there.







In most public places, people move in clusters, either as individuals or in small groups, with enough physical distance between them to mark the separation of social relationship.

In Hong Kong, that is not the case. People in Hong Kong move collectively together in a big fucking sea of humanity and if you want to go the other way, well, you're screwed. A telling example of this is just how big the crosswalks in Hong Kong are:



Yeah, see that big expanse of yellow lines? That's not enough to contain the masses of people who are restless to cross the street because in Hong Kong, everyone is constantly on the move.

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One of my favorite activities in Hong Kong was wandering the busy streets all by myself. I took pictures of all the flashy signs, avoided getting trampled over and most of all, enjoyed people-watching all the hip and stylish youth looking painfully good with the right amount of disaffected urban ennui.

Don't ask me why, but being alone in the midst of a busy city gave me a peace of mind. Something about the surrounding chaos let me forget all the present troubles of the things that I should and shouldn't be worrying about.

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P.S. For Arthi:



One of my favorite purchases from H.K., photograph courtesy of Zineng.

I am convinced that these boots have magical powers, that every time I wear them they will somehow start revolutions, find the cure for cancer and topple evil empires. If not that, at least make me feel really stylish. These boots, if they could talk, would shove brass knuckles against your cheeks and whisper with thinly veiled menance, "I'm gonna mess you up."

Either that, or "Damn, I look good."