So, I'm back. After spending half of my 2009 in Hong Kong. The longest ever trip I've been to oversea. What I've got? I lost contact with most of my friends. My handphone endured the longest silence in its history of telecommunication. Sometimes, I even try to check whether it is actually working. Looking back, I did experienced a lot of things there. Most of it is life experience. I've been stuck in Malaysia for the whole of my 25 years. The person I see, talk and deal is from within my circle. My previous trip to Brunei and UK does not give me much chance to get in touch with the people from that country.
Being day in day out with my Hong Kong colleague every day and night (yup at night too), I learn and see different things. Hong Kong in some cases look like the one I used to watch in TV drama series. But the people are of different case. See, you won't find Chan Ho Nam and Hung Hing group loitering around the street with their machetes. The same goes with all the gun fighting and car chasing of what you see in Jackie Chan's movie.
I was told Hong Kong is a man made tourism attraction. Most of the hot spots here are man made wonders. I've been to this Ting Kau bridge often mistakenly referred as the Tsing Ma bridge. However, I think Ting Kau bridge is much more beautiful than the others when they light it at night.
With the population density so high, there are a lot of people waiting in line to get jobs. It's not tough looking for job here though. Just that you can't be choosy. That is why you see everyone is carrying out their duty diligently. When even the one sweeping the road is so hardworking, you will see streets and public amenities are being well taken care of. Good maintenance is the word.
During my stay here, I had actually switched 4 accommodations. One in Ting Kau then to Kwai Chung then to Ting Kau and then to Tsuen Wan. Long story. In short, all because of money. My second last hotel was in Royal View. Blessed with the acclaimed "royal" view, I don't develop any fond with this place actually. Just imagine I put you in a castle way far into the jungle. You can view the sun set and rise behind those mountainous terrain. I give you a giant bed, gold plated toilet and even a Olympics size swimming pool (I exaggerated) only to find that you have no kitchen! No kitchen means no food. Because of this, you have to forage into the jungle every evening to get the stock you need. The fact that you have refrigerator is good for you to store your catch. But when you turn around only to find that they don't provide you any heat generating machine like microwave or oven. *@#!! Making a bonfire will only land yourself with a visit from Wong Hei (the actor from the famous drama series Burning Flame). Yup, that's what happened to us from the previous hotel we stayed. Not to scare you, they were on the verge of using axe to hack off our door, only for my last minute intervention of opening the door. With me rubbing my eye and asked,
"Any problem sir in the middle of the night like this?"
I tasted the famous food around. Their so-called Lin Heung Lau that boasts those old days dim sum shop atmosphere. Yeah, I found the atmosphere is there especially when all the waiters that serve you are of the generation before you. As for the food, I would say some are nice and some are not into your taste bud mainly because we are not exposed to it when we were young. I found it very amusing the way the people here wash their utensils. One cup of tea is served for us to drink. But the culture here is that most people use it to wash their chopstick, bowl, spoon and even plate. Yup plate too. You just have to be skillful to do it.
I enjoy the famous egg tarts there. I must admit it is of different class from the one in Malaysia. Here they use lard in most of their food preparation. When it comes to taste, who cares how healthy is spelt. To them well Chinese to be more precise, any animals in the world with their back facing the sky is edible. When I say edible, that includes every organs inside too. Private parts included. Therefore, I always believe we can easily win Fear Factor challenge.
I even experienced the hassle to queue up outside restaurant just to get your number. Talk about how grand some normal restaurant can be. In Malaysia, you just go in and stand beside one table with the whole family nearly into the completion of their dinner. Putting a pity-looking face you stare at the mother on the table who sheepishly trying to sip the tea. The daring one with a face as thick as concrete might sits on an empty seat besides the poor amah who is trying to dig the chicken meat stuck behind her teeth. When the whole family leave the table, you raise your arm yelling to your other battalion to signal that you had successfully conquer one territory. In Hong Kong, you just need to take your number and sit at the waiting lounge.
A friend of mine once warn me to be careful with the cunning people there. I was quite scared at first. But when I was there, yeah I do see some cunning people but that does not paint the whole picture there. In every society, there are bad people for sure. May it be in Hong Kong and in Malaysia too. That depends on your luck. I met some nice people too when I was there.
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