Bye Bye Hong Kong!

Even though I am primarily traveling by myself and meeting up with friends and others along the way, I have had no shortage of friends. I met up with a lady from CS for coffee, a Dutchwoman walking up to the Tian Tan Buddha and two Canadians that just arrived in Hong Kong. It's somewhat strange meeting people who are not adjusted to Hong Kong or Taiwan's cultural norms. I remember being so shocked and annoyed at first, it's not that I get all of it, but it just doesn't 'shock' me as much anymore. My broken Mandarin has even helped me a little here in Hong Kong, most people speak English as well, but if it's a pretty brief request, it is  almost more likely to communicate with success using a bit of Chinese. 

Hong Kong is a very nice place to live and visit, albeit a bit more expensive than Taipei. Hong Kong definitely is a mixture of old colonial influence from the British and Chinese traditions. To me the culture is a cross being Taipei and Singapore, perhaps including the best aspects of each. I do, however, miss my night market food from Taiwan. 

I have eaten so much food here though. Things I maybe would not have order in Taipei. I was a little weirded out at first when I had to rip the heads off the prawns and peel them (shrimp don't look quite that scary). I am not used to putting alive shrimp in boiling hot pot water, and seeing them squirm on their wooden stakes helped calm my hunger. (I got over it though and ate one of the really fresh bright pink shrimps). But the one that tops the cake is durian ice cream. I saw this at the store and was incredibly curious. But alas, I did not want to try this by myself, so I coaxed the two Canadians I met into trying it with me. Durian is a bit like rotten garlic and onions, sweet, feet, and smells like something I should keep away from my mouth. Some people claim that it smells worse than garbage, and I would substantiate that claim. I had a moment where I thought I bought durian gum afterwards. For the first second that the gum was in my mouth, I started to taste durian. I hope I never ever eat durian again, it's worse than stinky tofu for sure. 

There is plenty of food in Hong Kong that is just plain delicious as well. Such as dim sum, dumplings, wonton soup, clay pot rice on Temple Street, seafood, and there is such a variety of restaurants that you could eat cuisine from anywhere in the world. There is a large Indian population (a by-product of British rule) and some have been here for nearly 5 or 6 generations. Most are of Tamil origin from the southern half of Indian. There are plenty of yummy Indian restaurants here (I love Indian food, but I have learned to ease into the spice).

Hong Kong in Pictures

   

The harbor right before the light show, looking at HK Island.

No mooring!!

Prawns. I am not sure I have ever eaten this before. I had to watch Larissa to understand how to tear the shell off. 

Old HK money. HK has its own currency, but no central bank. Each bank issues its own currency as a guarantee of value, and this has been done for a very long time.

Outside the Hong Kong Museum of History. I found a lot of similarities between Taiwan and HK. The geography and aboriginal history are very similar. The museum is located on Kowloon and focused more on the cultural aspects of HK's history. 

I'll post the rest of the pictures later!! Happy 4th of July again!

Livin' it Up Hong Konger Style

I made it to Hong Kong safely and after a bit of delay at the airport, I finally found my long lost friend Larissa from Italy. She was my roommate during my first exchange and has ended up here for work as a KPMG China tax consultant (very complicated and interesting). 

We had a nice first day getting reacquainted wandering about the city. I cannot believe that two years has passed since we last saw each other. We managed to catch up quickly, so strange that we meet again in Asia. When I left Italy I never pictured myself studying Chinese and ending up on a grand adventure through Asia. I was certain South America would be first (sorry Daniela). I feel like Hong Kong is a definite mix between Singapore and Taipei. There is a bit of modernness that Taipei does not have, but the same Chinese feel.

I have been getting lots of smiles from people here. I have the urge to speak Mandarin first, or the little that I do know. People don't expect it and I have been asking for phrases in Cantonese from Larissa. 

We saw the harbor light show at 8pm on Kowloon Island, the History Museum of Hong Kong, ate dumplings, Mong Kok street wandering and shopping, and basically just hearing tons of updates and reminiscing about old times. 

I am excited that the adventure has begun and I am just getting my bearings, but quickly. I'm not sure many are interested, but I finally ditched my dreadful travel bag (some remember me complaining about its awful design). I'll post pictures soon :). I hope everyone is well at home!