Nothing prepared me for the intensity of Hong Kong; neither the tour books and advice guides nor the first-person accounts of friends and associates who had lived or visited here before me.
Hong Kong's immensity is what struck me first: Yes, its size is much less compared to the island borough of Manhattan, but they maximize the use of space with towering apartments and corporate offices which fight for space with bustling markets, small, yet serene public parks and smaller structures from the previous two centuries that bear the scars of unrelenting tropical weather and pollution.
Skyscrapers are the predominant structures in the Kong (a fun nickname one of my co-workers, an Aussie named Andrew, calls it) and they are impressive.
Despite it's modernity, the city relies on the vigorous work of its populace to keep this 21st Century financial center working. I've heard tales of how during the long, hot and humid summers the pollution, dust and grit in the air sticks to your sweat, soiling both you and your clothes. Still, with ashtrays on top of almost every public garbage can, an army of street cleaners, men and women, work the city, sweeping up trash and emptying the trash cans.
I have no idea who SuperGoo is, but goddamnit, if this poster is anything to go by, she's FIERCE!
OK, maybe not as fierce as the poster for her 3-CD, 4-DVD set ...
Since space is at a premium, innovative solutions to storage problems are everywhere. This is a hardware store on Finnie Street, just around the corner from my office at CNNGo in the Quarry Bay area of the city. I just thought it looked really cool and there seemed to be a sense of fun.
I'd been warned my Bob's immunologist to get a variety of shots -- typhoid, Hep A, etc. -- before jumping on the plane, but Kim the GM of the site said we didn't need them. However, I would recommend a week's worth of Cipro for "intestinal distress". The issues is that while Hong Kong is a modern cosmopolitan city, a lot of the animals and produce come from mainland China and you really need to be aware that things are not as developed as they are in the US or the EU. Still, there are farmer's markets everywhere and if you're into cooking like Bob and I are, it's just amazing.
The fish are so fresh, the split them open and spread them out for people to see. Oddly enough, they don't gut them, they present the stomachs and internal organs, also, be prepared to see hearts still beating despite the fact the animal has been cleaved in two.
I'm infatuated by the impact the West, specifically the US, has on the popular culture. In a savvy case of marketing, McDonald's offers a double-patty pork burger. The Chinese, and particularly Hong Kong, have a love affair with pork that's impressive:
Also, it's interesting how Indie rock and Rap's "thug life" have been interpreted:
Love the sneer of the guy on top. That bad boy's a gangsta!
While China asserts itself on the world stage, there is a sense of national pride about how the country has weathered the financial crisis of the last year, still luxury goods of the West predominate the market, with Central Hong Kong's shopping district being wall-to-wall high-end stores like Dunhill of London, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, etc., with Giselle Bundchen, George Clooney, Sophie Mareau and Jude Law peering out of the shop and gallery windows.
Still, every now and then a local product and endorsement catches your eye, like my new favorite mens' shampoo:
It's Jackie Chan approved!
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