The Hong Kong I met was not the overcrowded, food heaven that visitors to Hong Kong have always told me about. I met Hong Kong in its mildest weather with endless mountain landscapes that accompanied the skyscrapers. It was during Christmas season--my favourite season--so the streets were filled with Christmas lights and traditional carols.
My favourite moments besides spending time with N were: seeing the harbour view at last in person (not counting my non-existent memory as a one-year old), riding the star ferry, seeing red taxis on the roads, and taking the tram. I had long nurtured a liking for these things through tvb dramas, movies, bloggers, instagrammers, and books, and they did not disappoint. For the same reason, I had loved London and New York--big cities with stories that have been told by many; and here I was, creating my own story in the city.
If I liked the things above because of my prior familiarity with them, I loved other things because they came as surprises along the way as I had not expected or knew them. Toilets were well-stocked with toilet paper and cleaned regularly, MTRs were frequent and on time, queues were observed, and everything was efficient. And I could not but wonder who made the decisions for the colours for all the buildings there?
But the most unexpected of all--and this stole my heart--was the mountains. Yes, the mountains again. Back when I was living in Chicago, my heart literally soared when mountain landscapes started appearing on our choir tour road trip to the east coast. That was when I knew that my heart would always long for the beauty of landscapes with mountains. The majesty of it, "lift thine eyes to the mountains", and the sheer sight of mountains that puts me back in place knowing that the world is so much bigger than my self-centredness always awe me. Also, I cannot wait to go hiking in these mountain trails in the future!
It was fascinating to see how they built so much of their buildings and structures into the mountainous slopes. Not a corner was wasted. Besides buildings, trees were in abundance too. For every tree they cut down for a building project, two have to be planted.
There were waterfront parks and promenades in many places for leisure. Bookshops (e.g. Eslite, Kubricks) and creative lifestyle stores (around Aberdeen) were well-stocked and pretty to browse in. I had a good experience posting cards at the post office; it was surprisingly cheap and fast. The flower market had most of the pretty flowers and leaves that I dream of: ranunculus, hydrangeas, eucalyptus leaves, and other varieties I only know by sight and not by name.
The only thing that was glaringly expensive was the food. Since I always want meals eaten out being of good quality and matching the value, I could not enjoy my food as much if I knew they were so expensive. I know this is Hong Kong and living standards differ, but I still did not enjoy paying so much for eating out. That being said, I really enjoyed the
good food/coffee that I had in Factory 99, Elephant Grounds, the Cupping Room, and Mihachi Tsukiji (the Japanese restaurant we went to on Nick's birthday). Those were delicious.
Before going to Hong Kong, my dad prayed for me that I would have an enjoyable trip there and that God would bless my time there and God was really gracious to me.
On Nick's birthday morning and my first morning in Hong Kong, we went to Kennedy Town, where his dad and grandparents used to live back in the days. It was a working day so there were not many people around and since this area is a bit out of the way from the city centre, we were able to enjoy leisurely walks there and take in the views.
Recycled soda cans compressed into a cube
