Another day passes by and someone I know just left for Hong Kong this morning too. I present another Up and Down to Hong Kong. Clearly I have nothing else to do. As for the iSeeVines layout, if I don’t finish it this weekend, it’ll be completed when I get home in June.

Up

Busy Streets (by brianholsclaw)

Maybe I lived in Vancouver for too long, and suburbs mean zero people in the streets, but Hong Kong has that ingrained feeling of busy everywhere you go (or at least along the MTR line). The later the evening/night, the more people come out onto the streets – even on weekdays.

Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok (both also on the MTR line) are usually the two of the busiest places in terms of shopping and just general hanging out. If you walk down Nathan Road (which connects the two districts? cities?) together, you’ll hit all the main shops and eateries. The walk takes maybe 2 hours or 3, so make sure you have plenty of time since this is meant for a leisure walk, not needing to get somewhere on time. I’m definitely looking forward to this part of the trip. Somehow we always end up at a McDonalds… and its awesome ice cream.

Down

Smog (from Magalie L'Abbé)

The downside to all the people and skyscraper is the smog that covers Hong Kong ever so often (more often than not). Even on a sunny cloudless day, the harbour between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui has a light covering of gaseous thing. While it is not fatal, to those who have respiratory problems are advised not to go outside during the peak hours. And the sightline is awful, especially when you go up to the Peak and look down. All you see if a thick smog while it’s still sunny.

In 7 days, I will be heading to Hong Kong for a bit less than a month as part of family vacation. The last time I went back was 3 years ago, after my first year of university. 3 years later, I feel like I’m in an entire different place in my life. So heading to Hong Kong has its ups and downs, keeping in mind that I’m only there for a month, not living there permenantly! Every time I go back, things change a lot, but in my experience, these things I’m writing here don’t. Maybe my trip will prove me wrong.

So I bring you a countdown to the Ups and Downs of Hong Kong every day until next Tuesday. In no way is the countdown ordered by yays and nays, just whatever popped up in my head first, but since today is the first day, these two are probably pretty significant.

Up

Bubble Tea & Food (from lchangfang)

Cheap food! Despite the availability of all these snack foods in Vancouver, it seems like every time I buy something to eat, I get ripped off. Yes, I know that the living standard is so much higher compared to Hong Kong – if you’re earning more, you’ll spend more on the same foods. Considering I’m spending the same money on cheaper food. It’s cheaper in the end.

I chose a picture of bubble tea because while you eat all the food, you need something to wash it down. The price range of bubble tea goes from $2.50 for standard milk tea to $5.00 of mixed drinks (+ tax). Looking at the picture, it’s $4.00 HKD, which puts  the drink is currently below $1.00 – even if the drink is smaller, buying two will still be cheaper! Then there’s all the fastfood places, egg puff things and fishballs. Flipping through Flickr finding a picture made me all hungry for any kind of food.

The downside of this is that I end up spending way too much on food. At least I’m eating more for less!

Down

Hole in the Ground (from kahunapulej)

While there is an up, there is a down. Since the ‘up’ contains food, the ‘down’ has to come out somewhere. Unlike most of the washrooms in Canada and United States, the ones in Hong Kong are not that nice at all. If you’re not a squatter, at least you can stick stacks and layers of toilet paper. Well, there is another style of toilets – hole in the ground!

I tried to pick the least disgusting picture because even I got sick from looking at it. Best tip: hold your breath, do your thing, and go go go. And hold it in until you go to a shopping centre. I know it has gotten better in shopping centres and restaurants. But in smaller food places and the older areas, they haven’t upgraded their toilet systems in decades. So, hole in the ground it is! Not to mention half the time the washrooms are dark and creepy, with ‘liquids’ all over the ground. But I’ll stop there.

So there’s my day one of counting down to Hong Kong. I think those two are probably my biggest ‘up’ and ‘down’, so yes I guess this list is ordered from most important to lesser important.