Let me start with an anecdote by a friend of mine from my hometown, whom I visited during my Middle East trip. He made a trip to Hong Kong for a certain exhibition as part of his business promo activities. In his inimitable style, he quipped: “I was looking to get hold of some people, but they were all running.. all of em! At last I was happy to see one guy who wasn’t running. No wonder! His chappal was torn!”
Well, his account epitomizes the vibrant life in this sprawling metropolis. Hong Kong is one of the most dynamic cities in the Asia Pacific, where East and the West coalesce. It preserves the quintessential Chinese culture, albeit living up to its billing as an international city. The agglomerate of a bunch of tiny islands, which form the Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region), has grown leaps and bounds in the past few decades to stamp its veritable status as Asia’s financial hub.
My first opportunity to get a flavor of this city was during the autumn of 2005. I was working in Tokyo back then. Myself and Pradeep ‘san’, my roommie, were feeling burnt out after months of grueling day in day out schedule in the office (well, didn’t I already say I was working in Japan!). After mulling over a few options, we zeroed-in on Hong Kong and took a break from the land of rising sun for 4 days. In fact, it was a time when we were keen to grace our passport with the immigration stamps of as many countries as possible – so, HK + Macau sounded a good proposition.
Blame it on where we started from, the initial feeling we had after landing in HK was far from inspiring. Japanese people are known for their extreme kind-heartedness and courteousness (I still keep saying the best in the world), whereas we found Chinese to be quite the opposite. This was a kinda “culture shock” for us, who had the Japanese way of bowing our head and uttering “Sumimasen” or “Arigato” deeply ingrained in us. Taking comfort in the adage “When in China, do as the Chinese do” in a literal sense, we spent the next 4 days there.
We started it off on a Friday night at Lan Kwai Fong, the downtown entertainment hub with a myriad of pubs and a huge throng of partygoers. The next couple of days were spent moving in and around HK, covering renowned tourist attractions like ‘The Peak’ (with a breathtaking panoramic view of the Victoria harbor), ‘The Big Budha’ bronze statue, Repulse Bay beach, Stanley, Tsing Ma bridge etc. The most notable was the ferry ride to Macau, the “Vegas of the east”, during a stormy and rainy “Typhoon Level 3” day which gave us ample scary moments. All in all, the trip was very refreshing to say the least.
While scrambling for our morning return flight to Tokyo on a rainy day and thanking the airline staff for letting me ensconce in a Business class seat despite me holding an economy class ticket, all I did not know was that I will be destined to return to this magnificent city a year later and spend a good 5+ years thereon!
(To be continued..)
