HK Day One
I awoke to an overcast, yet visibly bright day.
It's cool to arrive somewhere that you've either never been, or have not been in a long time, under the dark cover of night, then have everything unveiled to you the next morning. Such was the case, as I haven't been to HK in six and a half years. Aside from some visibly new developments, things haven't really changed that much.
Hong Kong is such a fast-moving city that it doesn't even let people sit down for free. The whole metropolis is one giant shopping mall - without a single bench or chair for its shoppers. That's because if you're sitting down, you're not shopping. If you're not shopping, you're a liability to Hong Kong's economy and therefore, you are a piece of shit. You can try to sit on the floor of a shopping mall if you're desperate for a break, but eventually, a security guard will come and tell you to fuck off because of the piece of fly-orbited excrement that you are. The only way you can legitimately sit down in a HK shopping facility is if you're at a restaurant, an overpriced cafe, or the toilet. Wait, forget the latter, as they still use kneecap-popping squat toilets.
That being said, if you're an avid world shopper who detests places with cultural and historical value because they take up space that would otherwise have been a shopping center, then you'll wonder if your plane had just crashed and you've landed in heaven instead.
Thus, I spent the first day Hong Kong going to Cityplaza mall in Tai Koo with my aunt, one subway station (or 15 min. walk) away. I didn't have anything to buy in particular, since nearly everything on my shopping list needs to be acquired in Japan - most are for me and the others in my iaido club. So today was just basically looking around.
Like any shopping mall, there usually is some themed event going on that distracts people from realizing that the crap that they are buying is exactly the same as that day the year before. This time, the theme was Japan and its cherry blossoms. Interested in seeing how HK people interpret Japan (since most of them want to be Japanese anyway - I'm sure I'll elaborate later), I checked out their plaza stage event schedule. There were several traditional dances and koto drum performances listed, but what caught my eye was a sumo demonstration going on tomorrow. I'm definitely going to check that out!
I hope it's the real thing instead of some tournament with those stupid and tacky padded and velcro-fastened vinyl suits, complete with culturally inaccurate hair helmets, that you rent for a birthday party or for crushing your neighbor's pets.
Other than that, the only thing of note in the mall was a freakin' skate rink - something Canadians probably only see at West Edmonton Mall. The people skating there were actually really good, and it's nice to see them dedicated to something other than figuring out ways to financially drain themselves. There were also these badass shirts that I saw at a department store, but those could wait until I come back from Japan after acquiring the more important things on my list.
I met with my aunt at our designated meeting point, and she took me for a quick lunch at some fast food joint. Other than unadulterated shopping with abandon, there is another aspect of Hong Kong which can't be beat - the fast food. Their idea of fast food is probably our idea of a five star meal. Of course, there's always the artery-clogging Western chains like McDick's and KFC that managed to expand their franchises into the rest of the world, regardless of differences in culture and market. But as McDs' are open 24/7, they serve as much as a place to crash and await the reopening of the transit system after a late night out (in which case we call those people "McRefugees"), as they serve as a place to wreak havoc on your circulatory system.
Café de Coral, Maxim, and Fairwood are the three major HK fast food chains that serve really good food. In fact, I'd say the quality of the food is no worse than the food you'd get at a good sit-down-dining restaurant. Only the packaging looks unappealing, but it's necessary to efficiently serve such an overwhelming volume of customers; you would usually find your baked pork chop on rice in a foil container, not unlike the kind you get for take-out Chinese food. But if you're like me, who gives a rat's ass if the food is good and won't make you sick or die? (Incidentally, if you've ever seen the back of the kitchen of any Chinese restaurant, you'll wonder if you've just received a rat's ass...in your food.)
Dinner was much more festive, as my aunt and uncle took me for a birthday meal at a high end restaurant, with its complement of aquarium-size fish tanks where the customers can witness the freshness and vivacity of the sea animals condemned for consumption. Although the crabs and lobsters were pretty big, but the pièce de résistance is a giant bass that's bigger than most of the tables there - the poor thing would have to be eaten in stages. For being taken to such a meal, I promised my uncle I'd take him somewhere if he ever came to Vancouver on one of his business trips. It was a lavish meal, and the way the Chinese prepare seafood is one of the most euphoric of culinary experiences and is unforgettable.
Provided that you forget about the back kitchen as aforementioned.
My first look outside my aunt's window
It's cool to arrive somewhere that you've either never been, or have not been in a long time, under the dark cover of night, then have everything unveiled to you the next morning. Such was the case, as I haven't been to HK in six and a half years. Aside from some visibly new developments, things haven't really changed that much.
Hong Kong is such a fast-moving city that it doesn't even let people sit down for free. The whole metropolis is one giant shopping mall - without a single bench or chair for its shoppers. That's because if you're sitting down, you're not shopping. If you're not shopping, you're a liability to Hong Kong's economy and therefore, you are a piece of shit. You can try to sit on the floor of a shopping mall if you're desperate for a break, but eventually, a security guard will come and tell you to fuck off because of the piece of fly-orbited excrement that you are. The only way you can legitimately sit down in a HK shopping facility is if you're at a restaurant, an overpriced cafe, or the toilet. Wait, forget the latter, as they still use kneecap-popping squat toilets.
That being said, if you're an avid world shopper who detests places with cultural and historical value because they take up space that would otherwise have been a shopping center, then you'll wonder if your plane had just crashed and you've landed in heaven instead.
Thus, I spent the first day Hong Kong going to Cityplaza mall in Tai Koo with my aunt, one subway station (or 15 min. walk) away. I didn't have anything to buy in particular, since nearly everything on my shopping list needs to be acquired in Japan - most are for me and the others in my iaido club. So today was just basically looking around.
Like any shopping mall, there usually is some themed event going on that distracts people from realizing that the crap that they are buying is exactly the same as that day the year before. This time, the theme was Japan and its cherry blossoms. Interested in seeing how HK people interpret Japan (since most of them want to be Japanese anyway - I'm sure I'll elaborate later), I checked out their plaza stage event schedule. There were several traditional dances and koto drum performances listed, but what caught my eye was a sumo demonstration going on tomorrow. I'm definitely going to check that out!
I hope it's the real thing instead of some tournament with those stupid and tacky padded and velcro-fastened vinyl suits, complete with culturally inaccurate hair helmets, that you rent for a birthday party or for crushing your neighbor's pets.
Other than that, the only thing of note in the mall was a freakin' skate rink - something Canadians probably only see at West Edmonton Mall. The people skating there were actually really good, and it's nice to see them dedicated to something other than figuring out ways to financially drain themselves. There were also these badass shirts that I saw at a department store, but those could wait until I come back from Japan after acquiring the more important things on my list.
I met with my aunt at our designated meeting point, and she took me for a quick lunch at some fast food joint. Other than unadulterated shopping with abandon, there is another aspect of Hong Kong which can't be beat - the fast food. Their idea of fast food is probably our idea of a five star meal. Of course, there's always the artery-clogging Western chains like McDick's and KFC that managed to expand their franchises into the rest of the world, regardless of differences in culture and market. But as McDs' are open 24/7, they serve as much as a place to crash and await the reopening of the transit system after a late night out (in which case we call those people "McRefugees"), as they serve as a place to wreak havoc on your circulatory system.
Café de Coral, Maxim, and Fairwood are the three major HK fast food chains that serve really good food. In fact, I'd say the quality of the food is no worse than the food you'd get at a good sit-down-dining restaurant. Only the packaging looks unappealing, but it's necessary to efficiently serve such an overwhelming volume of customers; you would usually find your baked pork chop on rice in a foil container, not unlike the kind you get for take-out Chinese food. But if you're like me, who gives a rat's ass if the food is good and won't make you sick or die? (Incidentally, if you've ever seen the back of the kitchen of any Chinese restaurant, you'll wonder if you've just received a rat's ass...in your food.)
Dinner was much more festive, as my aunt and uncle took me for a birthday meal at a high end restaurant, with its complement of aquarium-size fish tanks where the customers can witness the freshness and vivacity of the sea animals condemned for consumption. Although the crabs and lobsters were pretty big, but the pièce de résistance is a giant bass that's bigger than most of the tables there - the poor thing would have to be eaten in stages. For being taken to such a meal, I promised my uncle I'd take him somewhere if he ever came to Vancouver on one of his business trips. It was a lavish meal, and the way the Chinese prepare seafood is one of the most euphoric of culinary experiences and is unforgettable.
Provided that you forget about the back kitchen as aforementioned.
My first look outside my aunt's window
posted by Cosmic Ocean at 10:21 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home