Every man for himself
19/04/2004
Hong Kong 19 Apr
Hong Kongers are so loud. I usually never feel any sense of Singapore being my home and the way I like it until I go on vacation. In the US, I really miss the food and the nearness of things. In Hong Kong, I miss the cleanliness, the quiet, the order of things.
The thing about Hong Kong is that the people are so self absorbed. The place feels as if no one cares about anything other than himself. Of course with all general statements like that always go down badly. I will admit that this is not always the case 100% of the time. But I’d put it at 80%, so that falls under the general statements rule.
You can tell from the (lack of) urban planning. Everything is everywhere, it’s as if things just happened that way, no one really bothered to allocate the areas to anything. The way the people stand in front of the MTR doors even though there are lines drawn and incessant instructions in 3 languages to let passengers alight first.
You can tell from the errant bootleg vcd and knockoff handbag sellers who proliferate the Ladies’ Market.
You can tell just by taking a deep breath.
Anywhere in Hong Kong, there are throngs of people, looking different, but walking the same. They bump and shove and knock into you without so much as a “woops, sorry”. They talk on their cellphones like no one else exists, and Nokia technology is so bad that they need to shout to be heard about the most mundane things – I want to go to the KTV lounge, this guy at the office is an asshole…
For all their smiley tourism campaigns, what they couldn’t change is the very heart of their people.
Today we went to breakfast with Pete at someplace near his hotel before heading to Muji. There was a large Muji store about 3 blocks away and Pete is in love with the store. I guess it’s very him, the colours, the stripes and checks and the earth tones. I bought the coolest tee shirt – it is squashed into a 3 inch cube.
Then in the afternoon, we sacrificed going to Sham Shui Po where Golden Arcade is in favour of Lantau Island, to visit the Bronze Buddha. I was a little grumpy by then, cos I was tired from the last 2 days, and I was hungry (I’m always hungry in Hong Kong). We took the MTR and walked to the Star Ferry Terminal, only to be told that we needed to head to another ferry terminal to catch the ferry to Central (on Hong Kong Island) and then switch to another ferry that would take us to Lantau Island. We then take a bus that would take us to the top of the Mountain. The trip there would take 2 hours, it was 3pm, the monastry closes at 5.30pm – it was going to be close.
The ferry rides were fun enough – it costs HK$21 per person one way to Mui Wo (the harbour on Lantau Island) it took about 45 mins. You can even use your Octopus card. The bus (No. 2) ride from Mui Wo to Po Lin Temple where the Bronze Buddha is cost us HK$16 per person (again you can use your Octopus card). That also took about 45 minutes. It would be a good idea to head to a Visitor Centre (there’s one at the Star Ferry Terminal) to get the ferry and bus schedules.
Anyway, the ride up to Po Lin temple is an eye opener. I guess it’s Hong Kong’s answer to the highway that leads to Yosemite (I forgot the number). It is a narrow one lane 2 way snaking path at the side of the mountain. Along the side of the roads you’ll see classic examples of Hong Kong nonchalance. Farms are messy and unkempt, as are the shrubs planted at the sides of certain portions, next to the scattered litter all the way up. There are parks and exercise areas and picnic areas, along with free-roaming cows that poo everywhere. There are ugly dilapidated 1970s residential buildings haphazardly mixed into the fray. Rusty roofs adorn makeshift containers which serve as offices for the Power/Water department. It’s like a throwback in time, or something you’d expect from a third world country. Certainly not Hong Kong, home of Asian entertainment, the Whampoa Group, Li Ka Shing and Tony Leung.
Yes, I am the hypercritical, anal whining complaining Singaporean. And proud of it.
So serene, so peaceful
I have to say this, though. Once I got to the top of the mountain, and trudged up the stairs to the top where the Bronze Buddha sat peacefully overlooking Hong Kong – everything melted into the background. It was as if I was in a different place, it was peaceful, even with all those annoying smoking mainland Chinese tourists. I felt hopeful. And in awe.
And I begin to think, maybe this is Hong Kong’s charm. It’s spikey and bruque on the outside, but at the very centre – in the heart of things – you’ll find your peace. I walk down the stairs with a different perspective. This, afterall, is what they are. Is it wrong? After all, for all that’s said and done, they’re a bustling metropolis, affluent and boasts some of the most successful entrepreneurs. Perhaps this is their state of being.
KF and I wander around while waiting for Bus No. 2 back to Mui Wo for dinner. We stumble into the grounds of a Taoist Temple. Two nuns are standing outside talking. More accurately, they were bitching. About someone else, but they were saying how they couldn’t stand so-and-so and what they did in unflattering terms. If you closed your eyes you could almost imagine that infernal bitching coming from 2 office workers.
And everything comes back into my mind, like a familiar stench. Yes, this is what they are, it’s not wrong. I just don’t enjoy it. I suppose I have a long way to go in attaining any form of enlightenment.
Today’s adventure in a nutshell:
- Breakfast with Pete
- Muji
- DVD shopping near Nathan Road where the creepy shophand walks over and tells me he thinks I look nice. Err, well thanks
- Lunch near the Hotel at Sun Wah Noodle Restaurant (24 hour!)
- Peninsular Hotel (where some asshole holding a hardcover book brushed my hand and bruised it)
- Trip to Lantau
- Dinner at Turkish Restaurant at Mui Wo near the ferry terminal where KF’s leg was dinner for an army of mosquitoes
- Back to Central, we head to Ladies’ Market for some last minute shopping for Mom and my aunt
- Mission accomplished, back at hotel
