The Little Things

Every year when I step out of the HK airport, I feel like I'm in a completely different world.  I never stopped to think about what it is that makes me feel so different here until now.

Most of Hong Kong is a mixture of smells from the sewers, body odor, street food, and exhaust from the traffic unless you get out of the city. But somehow, I still feel rather fond of this place every time the eau de Hong Kong hits my senses.

The humidity is ridiculous. Chips get soggy in an hour if you don't cover it well. When I went shopping the other day, all the clothes i touched were damp. And it takes forever to dry my hair.

It is also incredibly noisy here. There are WAY too many people. And Chinese people are WAY too loud. The language sounds harsh to begin with, and to make it worse, everybody feels a need to yell to their friends 4 inches away from their face. The cars are always honking because there is so much traffic and Chinese people are all about efficiency. Drive on over to my neighborhood (1.5 hours away) and all those noises are gone and replaced by yapping dogs, chirping birds, and bicycle bells. If only it wasn't 1.5 hours away.

There are skyscrapers and buildings everywhere! You can never see more than 20m away from yourself because there's probably a building in the way (or a double decker bus). We don't have enough land so the only way is up! In some areas of Hong Kong, some men seem to think that clothing is optional. It's not rare to see a topless man along with what looks like a pair of boxers (it's hard to tell because men prefer shorter shorts here). Of course, the men who opt for this fashion statement are not of the muscular, good looking, or clean variety. People also sell food on the side of the streets. The oil is reused over and over again. The food is just lying there, exposed to ....everything I described in the smells of HK. You can get everything from waffles to pig intestines. Who cares about hygiene when you have delicious guts to eat? :D

Here are some more pictures from my hometown.

The newest member of our family.

 Cute buns at the bakery. Tasted terrible.

Dimsum Lunch 

 The view at night is spectacular! It's hard to believe that a city of skyscrapers could be so beautiful.

Sushi on a conveyor belt. The colour of the plate determines the price. Grab what you want and stack your plates in front of you!

Oopsies.

Taxi galore!