August 26, 2004

greener pastures on the other side? maybe not ...

As mentioned before, the weekend trip to HK was definitely an "exhausting but fulfilling" experience, as I have quoted before to Rus and Merv as well. Upon looking back, the trip seems to centre mostly around eating, shopping, sight-seeing and clubbing, and yes retail therapy really do work! And as a cosmopolitan Asian city, HK definitely feels a lot like good ole Singapore, maybe busier, more hectic, more mature, more competitive and fashion-wise, definitely more flamboyant.

Flamboyance or brashness, I feel, is really a fine line away from nastiness. Of course this is in my opinion only. Which is why, it was quite difficult for me to find anything I like in the local brand. Then again, I'm not a very experimental person too. In fact, WH even chided me for being too safe in my choice of wardrobe, which basically consists of number shirts, muscle tees, casual berms and distressed low cut jeans. Even when buying shoes or accessories, the sporty look seems to be de rigeur for me. Maybe its time I break out of this cycle ...

Another thing that made me mull over for abit is how busy the typical Hong Kong-er is. On a Sunday night at about 11pm, this particular salon we passed by at Central was still packed with women dyeing and/or perming their coiffs. I can assure you that it's not because there's a happy hour for setting your hair after 10 in HK, but it's really because these people are just too damned busy in the day, even on a Sunday. Typically, young people there also take up an additional job on top of their main one. This means that after they get off work at 6, they would grab a quick meal and rush off to their second job. And we all thought, it was all glitz and glamour in the "Pearl of the Orient", where stars and starlets can be made and broken within days.

That is not all, living space is really a luxury over there, as can be evidenced by the throngs of people literally covering every inch of Mongkok on a Sunday. Property prices there are still one of the world's most exorbitant, not to mention their standards of living are considerably higher than here. A coffee in a bookshop we went to charges almost $8 for a pop of latte, and the cafe in mind here is not even remotely as sensational looking as the new TCC we have at Orchard and RP. So yeah seriously, was a bit dissapointed since I have always fantasised about moving over to HK to live and work there for a couple of years, if things get abit stifling here.

Oh and as for night life there, and I do mean the alternative kind, we really have so much more going for us here in this island. Over there, the bars and clubs are small and dinghy to the point of claustrophobia inducing, the music sucks (seriously) and we've definitely seen better crowds EVERYWHERE. Well, it was explained to us that most of the "good crowds" don't come out to party in HK but goes overseas for their clubbing fix instead. Anyhow, their only saving grace is that their alcohol are way stronger than ours. Rus and I were tipsy by our second drinks which is something that has definitely never happened before over here .. LOL.

The foods were awesome though; both quality and variety. So there you have it, 3 little piggies from Singapore, gorging ourselves silly on HK cuisine for 4 days in a row ..hmm sounds like a little rhyme ...

All in all, I had great fun and great company .. although I'm sure it would be more enjoyable had the weather been more friendly to us. Looking forward to the next one already ...

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