Hong Kong was great. The city is a lot more like New York than Osaka or Tokyo. Lots of ethnicities – Chinese, Indians, Indonesians, Arabs, Europeans… very different from Japan, and very refreshing! There are lots of different types of people, doing different things, always busy.
I was surprised by how safe and hassle free was the city. Even in the tourist swarms in Kowloon around Chungking Mansions, guys would approach me as I walked by and ask “Young man, need a tailor? Copy watch? Hash?” BUT I would just walk by and there was no hassle.
In Hong Kong, businessmen don’t all wear identical black suits. Also the construction workers don’t wear uniforms! Some guys building a house worked with their shirts off. Students wear uniforms just like in Japan, with more intricate, English-style school badges. I saw a fair number of sheiks in turbans, women in saris, and also young people in Japanese fashion.
There is a lot of Japanese culture everywhere. Someone told me that although Chinese people hate Japanese people (just like the Japanese hate the Chinese), they DO love their culture. So I saw a lot of Japanese restaurants, Japanese magazines and Japanese-inspired fashion, and Japanese entertainment. I like this very much because we really don’t see it so much in America. Oh, oh, some kids were cosplaying!! Hey Noel check it out!
In Hong Kong, especially in the Central business district, there are a LOT more white guys than in Japan! And they work in real jobs in big buildings, and they speak English but not so much Chinese. Also worth noting is that there are more BIG and HANDSOME white guys than in Japan (i.e. much bigger and more handsome than me). I’m serious! I attract attention in Japan but in HK I am just another nerd (same as America).
My hostel was bare-bones but it was good. A single room cost 30 bucks a night. The room had a single-sized bed, and space enough to stand and shift your luggage around, but that’s it. I was on the 10th floor in a joint in Mong Kok. The front door was right next to a very stinky street-food place. After a week of this, I found the smell just awful. The taste was okay though.
One more thing – Repulse Bay is a great beach with WARM water! I haven’t been in ocean water so warm in many years! It took like an hour, and $2 in subway & bus fare, to get down there. I’ll set aside more beach time on the next trip.
I’ll tell you some stories another time, and I’ll show you some more pictures.
