The Land of the Loudness

I was in Hong Kong about a month ago for work. I been to Hong Kong twice; once for work and the other time was with a close girl friend (I watched "In Time" recently, and now has this thing about writing "girlfriend"). It had been a long time since I visit Hong Kong; eight, nine years? There is a reason for the long hiatus. 

The first trip was for work, when I was in my early twenties. I was young, and I hated it when people talk louder than necessary. I still do. And my! The Hong Kong people were really loud then! That was before the transfer of Hong Kong's sovereignty from UK back to China, or that was just about to happen. People in Hong Kong was still using Cantonese as the main language, mandarin was virtually unheard in any corner. I went during the summer, and by the second day, I lost my voice completely due to the hot weather. Trying to self medicate, I went to Watson, or a shop that seemed like Watson for some cough syrup. When I tried to pay, I was scolded by the cashier because I could not reply and, to make matter worse, I could not understand Cantonese. That was really bad. The only saving grace of the trip was the colleagues in Hong Kong were real nice people. I was so glad to be back in Singapore! 

The second trip was much better but still the loudness of the people was not something that I would want to endure on a holiday. I always like the softies, haha!

So I was kind of curious for this trip since it had been some time since the 1997 handover. I was interested to find out how Hong Kong had evolved since then. I heard plenty about Hong Kong during my finance work; Singapore and Hong Kong have always vie for the number one financial hub in Asia. 

Work was around the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre, and it was a really short trip, just two nights. Besides the convention centre, the hotel, and Causeway Bay (our hotel was about 10, 15 minutes walk to Causeway Bay), we did not really venture that far. 

Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre

I have to say the people are a lot more versatile in languages; I heard a lot more Chinese and English being used. People seems to be a tad more patient; I really wish I could say a lot more. A startling experience at a cafe where we had our dinner on the last night. After we were seated, we spent a couple of minutes looking at menu, the waitress came over to take order. We asked for a couple more minutes, she walked off without saying anything, and came back in about 20 seconds to take the order! I was totally amazed! Talk about efficiency!

Stuff are expensive; be it food, clothes, and even titbits. Dinner for three pax at a normal cafe (Cha Chan Ting) was about SGD40+. We are talking about fried rice and noodles. Instead, restaurant seemed to be cheaper. Taxi seemed to be cheaper than Singapore too. There were simply too many people everywhere, anytime of the day. 

Hong Kong International Airport - Terminal 2

There is one place that I like - the airport. Lots of space, you can't feel the crowd. But once I cleared the immigration and came into the duty free shopping area, I was totally swamped again. There was even a rude Caucasian who used hand signs to tell me to move aside so that he could cross past me! 

Well, I am still not likely to pick Hong Kong as a vacation spot. There are simply too many people around to have a good time. I am hoping my next visit can change my view!