Hong Kong

I almost wish I had chosen Hong Kong Polytechnic University instead of Nagoya University. Everything that I wished I could find in Japan is all there in Hong Kong. Even my visit to Tokyo was disappointing, especially compared to descriptions I've read such as Lonely Planet's "a city you must see to believe". Japan certainly has its points of beauty, and perhaps I'd find more to my liking on roads less traveled. However, there's just too much superficiality to Japanese metropolis life. Perhaps self-introduction drinking games just aren't my thing. Not to mention $45 USD haircuts.

Hong Kong has it all. Open markets, classy malls, traditional cuisine, western food chains, architectural marvels, natural resorts, a wonderful mass transit system, residential convenience stores, a bustling night life filled with foreigners, and millions and millions of lively people. This place has a vibrancy you can taste... or is that the pollution?

Five of us went to Hong Kong and tended to stay together quite nicely until we began to feel rushed in finding souvenirs. At that point it became impossible to stay together. It seemed we all found a little bit of what we were looking for. Full television series could be found on DVD for around $25~50 USD. Soundtracks on CD for around $3. We went shopping for movies, music, clothes, backpacks, jewelry, etc. 24K gold is extremely popular in Hong Kong, compared to 14K trends in the US. We went yam cha (drank tea with dim sims, etc.), found a seemingly authentic Vietnamese restaurant where nobody could speak Vietnamese (compared to places in US where people speak Chinese but don't even attempt authentic food), and even got in a Pizza Hut the last night there. Pizza Hut costs 3 times as much in Japan, so I was feeling a little homesick for it, even though I hardly ever ate it in America.

As for the fruits of my labor learning Cantonese, I only got in a few essentials. Most of what I did learn was either useless or screwed up. At one point I pointed at a CD and asked "Where is this?" I also called the waitress at Pizza Hut "Dead sister!" which might explain the poor service later that evening. At the airport on the way home we found the only Burger King left in Hong Kong, and I was thrilled to get a thumbs up indicating my Cantonese was finally understood.

I might stop by again in March when I visit some friends in mainland China, but aside from the possibility of a semester of graduate study at H.K.Polytech.U., I don't see myself spending much time there in the future.