I was not expecting it, but the thing I can say about Hong Kong is that it kind of makes New York look like a dump. It's so glittering and uniquely situated (it's basically all hill/small mountains so the city's expanse is mostly vertical), it can't help but look like "the future" in some hyper-stylized video game. The building across the street could potentially be 20 ft lower than yours, so there are lovely pockets of light and openness amidst the soaring buildings, which makes for a most impressive sight . I can also say that there is delicious dim sum everywhere. And cakes. So many delicious cakes. Oh, and of course great friends! We had a few very wonderful hosts who made our visit absolutely impeccable. A great way to close out the trip. Still in bit of withdrawal, honestly. Why can't life be like that every day?
.jpg)
These photos are stunning!! The nighttime ones, in particular, blow my mind!! Now I want to go to Hong Kong!
ReplyDeletexo,
Ali
Did u pah-tay in Lan-kwai-fong or DI--aka Dragon Eye? Go to IFC? Nom-a-geddon!?
ReplyDeletehaha I dunno if I'd call New York a dump. Hong Kong is like NYC on Hawaii. It's a beautiful island but there are it's "poor" sections of town and at night there are women on the street inviting business men to get "massages" which thankfully has mostly disappeared in Manhattan. When I visited, I was so surprised how Americanized Hong Kong was. No difficulty talking to natives and getting around, hardly felt like a tourist.
ReplyDeleteKimberlee, I would indeed call it a dump. In HK, even the "poor" sections are much cleaner and I found less desperation. I'm not sure what you mean to suggest with the "
Deletemassages" and how they make NYC superior? On it's face, doesn't bother me if this exists (although of course i do not condone abuse, mistreatment, etc of the workers). But i didn't see anything of that and outwardly it did not affect the livability of the city (which i believe it did here). And prostitution is still very prevalent in NYC, if disguised/more subtly now by necessity. My BF gets offers without fail when walking through midtown alone at night. I've been in many 'poor' areas of the world, and I have to say NYC does not fair that well in comparison, especially considering what an industrialized/wealthy country we live in.NYC is not perfect, even though there are many good things about it.
I also wouldn't say HK is Americanized, but Anglicized, obviously because it was an English colony for so long. That Chinese-Anglo mix also why I found it much more interesting. I don't visit places to feel like a "tourist", just go to see new places and ways of living, whether familiar, wholly unfamiliar, or something in between.
Welcome to HK!
ReplyDeleteOh, so you went to Sheung Wan. It's one of my favourite art/ vintage clothing hunting spots.
Did you manage to visit some of those really cute galleries?
I hope you'll have your next trip here sooner. :)
I loved the galleries! The art was very much inspiring and innovative. Can't wait for the next trip!
DeleteOh Preetma! the photos came out so well! all my memories are coming back! My dad lives in Soho and I was up and down that escalator all the time! So happy you enjoyed it so much and my god I know what it's like to have dim sum over exposure. So good and so bad!
ReplyDelete