I have finally returned the travel guide book on Hongkong that I’d borrowed more then a month ago. It’s now evident that any worthy memorabilia leftover from the canto speaking region of China are now ingrained in my memory with some torn pieces of HK maps and photos.

I got a real bargain for the trip. Bought the 2 way plane ticket + hostel accommodation over 4 days 3 night for a total of only SGD375. We didn’t ask for much and it turns out nothing more or less then I expected. Even with a guide book and map, our traveling itinerary was pretty unplanned. Although 4 days is hardly enough to assimilate any form of cultural interaction, I think some general comments from my observation is fair enough.

The hostel we stayed is located in Mongkok - Kowloon, and my first notion about the establishment felt pretty dodgy. It is basically an old congested rundown block with rows of apartments that are converted into hallways of rooms. Ours had a toilet though.

*Snazzy hostel room

Make no qualms that property prices in HK is quite similar to madness. They are arguably one of the world’s most densely populated location, land are scarce and developers have little option but to build upwards. Residential buildings all seems to be plotted in very close proximity, commonly at a height from 20 to 40 floors. I noticed that Singapore is also beginning to develop along that line.

Walking along the streets proved to be an interesting episode. I suppose Kowloon is very close to an insomnia’s dream come true. It is a neon-lit, buzzing, gastronomical realm that does not sleep. I had to check on my watch constantly. Even at the late hours, the streets are bustling with masses of people walking up and down, left and right, high and low - doing something, going somewhere. Doing what, going where - I’m not sure. We make several attempts by following the crowd to see what’s what. Unfortunately, I had to give up halfway trying to pace myself to the blistering walking speed for which everyone exhibits.

The food was nothing short of dramatic. Though we often claimed to be bilingual, wall menus filled with Chinese characters and Cantonese communication can be pretty much compared to a chicken and duck. We resorted to doing alot of dramatization such as gesturing/pointing OR rephrasing our mandarin to place our orders. In all honesty, the initial prospect of eating in a local joint was really quite a challenge. Nonetheless, we learned along the way and I probably enjoyed eating the most throughout the entire trip. There was always a sense of excitement between us everytime we started looking around for our next meal.

*Deciphering chinese characters in restaurants

One delightful contrast between us and HongKong’s foodfare is that there seems to be an abundance of seafood. Certainly, the region is blessed enough to have a brisk supply of fresh seafood from its wealth of waters surrounding the island. I suppose the prawns come considerably cheaper compared to Singapore. One thing’s for sure, one will find alot of prawns inside alot of yummy stuff.

In retrospect, we estimated that we consumed over 100 prawns in 4 days.

• 6 bowls of Wanton Mee (each bowl got 5 wantons, inside each wanton got 2 prawns) = 60 prawns.

• 4 baskets of Har Gao (each basket for 4 Har Gao, inside each Har Gao got 2 prawns) = 32 prawns.

• 3 baskets of Siew Mai (each basket for 4 Siew Mai, inside each Siew Mai got 2 prawns) = 24 prawns.

• 2 Strips of Chee Cheong Fun (Wrapped around prawns) = 4 prawns.

*Giant Wontons

Apart from the buying things, eating things, we devoted a fair bit to history and culture. Stanley probably enkindled some nostalgia by visiting his old primary school and the family apartment while he was growing up in HK. Decidedly, we also made plans to take a trip down to visit the Hongkong’s Museum of History.

From Kowloon, as we crossed the river to the island of Hongkong, the term - concrete jungle exemplifies into a a new degree of meaning. This little island is really the cradle of Asian commercialization. A capitalistic model that hinges on the essence of free economy, resulting in an industrialization that helped accelerated the island’s rugged terrains to its present- day glory.

*You see the eagle?

*The bank is called NCB. There seems to be a missing letter

Up we went into the clouds with the help of a tilted tram. The Peak Tram ride brought us to the top of Victoria Peak just in time for cold and foggy weather. Luckily, it cleared off a bit and we managed a few decent shots of the spectacular city view. Remarkably, there were also some scattered apartments and housings high up, along the ridges of the peak. I wonder how much it would cost to stay in an address named Victoria Peak.

*Cannot see a shit

Before we left, we spent some good quality time monkeying with Lee Kuan Yew in the wax museum. That was before we realized that our contemptuous behaviour might be under surveillance.

The remainder of the time are pretty much spent on shopping and eating. We actually devoted almost half a day in mainland China. Shenzhen is the first Chinese city that adopted the then experimental “open door”policy which have turned out to be very successful. One could view its impressive backdrops of sky high buildings, an sparkling indication of its phenomenal rate of development. Consider that Shenzhen was still a rural region of agricultural farmland as late as 1970s.

*Shenzhen

Anyhow, there is this shopping mall just past the immigration center, where one could get knockoffs at pretty low prices. That is assuming that one has the ability to bargain at a certain level of technique. Nonetheless, the nature of the hagglings are conducted at a light-hearted and fun manner. Incredibly, even after an intense session of negotiation, we still get the lingering feeling that we’re being ripped off. The highlight was however the 1hr foot massage for 25 HK dollars. That’s about SGD $5 dollars.

The entire trip was rounded off with more walking, shopping and eating, spaning the area from Mongkok down to Tsim Shai Tsui. We visited the red light district, came across legal proprietary mahjong dens, ate surprisingly cheaper Macdonalds and visited their own “Queensway” and “Sim Lim Square”. All of which can be found within close vicinity of downtown Kowloon. I could see how the dynamics of Hongkong’s sociocultural attitudes are basically integrated within the city itself. The city of HK is much like a entity that breeds diversities, compelling and attracting people to find work, food, social belonging and fulfill principal needs. It’s a place which epitomises true city living - from the traditional and unsophisticated, to the adaptive and ultra-glamorous. If HK is to be described only for its shopping and eating, it would be a quite unfair understatement.