Sometimes, I feel that the best way to travel is not to plan too much and just let nature takes it course. That seems to be how I travel these days. I may do a little research for some ideas of what the places of interests are, but not plan a timetable to be at a certain place at a certain time, because then it defeats the purpose of having a holiday as well. Though I may not get to every place of interest, I can take my time to enjoy the place instead of having to rush from point A to B. It allows me to experience the sense of "being" and "in that moment".
Being the "jet-setter" that I am, a nickname that I procured during the past two months because of my closely scheduled holidays, I had no expectations of what I was going to experience in HK. I had a few friends that I wanted to meet and spend time with, and there were a few places of interest to visit, but nothing inked. All I had booked was the hotel and brought was what I printed out of the interactive itinerary from the official HK website, and an instruction sheet on how to get to the hotel from the airport.
I had been told of the wonders of the city but work had been so busy and I had projects and a function to plan right before, so there was no preparation I could do. I was planning to just wander around the streets and do nothing too much. I ever contemplated shortening the trip, but I was aware on my first day that I had too much to visit ... very quickly.
The hotel was much lovelier than I expected, and the first breakfast of fish porridge was a real welcome to this busy city. I stayed on Nathan Road, and it is considered old and dirty looking, but it was love at the first sight for me. After my trip in Europe, I had learned to appreciate history and I enjoyed wandering the streets of old HK. I wanted to eat at all the "dirty" places instead of the glitzy restaurants because they offered so much more local flavour, which was quickly diminishing in many parts of the civilised world.
I enjoyed looking at the old trade and the way that the HK people went about in their lives, especially the older people. HK is possibly one of those places where I see more shirtless men working in hard labour than any other places I had visited. It was probably due to the humidity which was rather high during my visit there. I also experienced the rainy days which I did not enjoy because I ended up walking in wet socks and shoes as a result.
One of the best decisions I made on my second day was to visit the HK Museum of History. There was a special exhibition celebrating 60 years of liberation in Chinese history which I particularly enjoyed. I remember now I was rather interested in history when I was in secondary school but when I moved onto the final two years of my secondary school education, we were forced to take Geography and Literature in my class, instead of History and Literature, which I would have much preferred.
This trip invigorated my interest in Chinese history and I spent about two hours reading through the revolutions, atrocities, tragedies, mistakes, and all the happenings in its rich history. Incidentally, I also decided to go against my previous beliefs that it is better to travel myself than go on a guided tour, and that day marked a new turning point in my trip.
The tour was extremely informative and the tour guide, being very charming and jovial, injected humour within many historical facts to keep us all interested. There was so much to learn and it was great that she was able to laugh at herself and applauded us at the end for being the first group that she took that did not fall asleep when she started talking history.
I shared many of these stories with my three HK friends, Anthony, Jerry and Tina, who remarked that I probably visited more places of interest in HK than they did. For starters, they were not even aware of the HK Museum of History, but it is not uncommon at all for the residents of a city to not patronise these places of interest because it is considered too touristy. I just hope that they will consider visiting it after my recommendation.
I visited many other places of interest like the HK Art Museum (which was interesting but not as good as the History Museum), the Kam Tin Walled Village (where male chauvinism still rules!?!), and the Lok Ma Chau Lookout (where one can see Shenzhen on a clear day, but not on ours). Others included a cable car trip to the big Buddha statue and the nearby monastery for a deluxe vegetarian meal, Wong Tai Xin temple, Temple St (where the night markets are), Lan Kwai (FongHK Night Sight), and the Dr Sun Yat Sen Mausoleum. Many thanks to Anthony, I also visited the Peak (day and night), Repulse Bay. The other place that left a deep impression on me was Mongkok where I found HK's love for Jpop is still alive and vibrant and it is such a joy immersing myself in Jpop heaven. I also watched the glorious display of fireworks on China's 60th celebration through Anthony's colleague's office window, a special private view from the 30 something storey, all by myself.
Much of the credit of this joyful trip has to go to my dearest friends Anthony and Jerry who were so generous in spending so much time with me. Without them meeting me almost every day (Anthony met me very day), this trip wouldn't have been half as enjoyable or as fruitful. It was so nice knowing the two of you and I certainly hope that I will be able to return both your kindness some day. Thank you so much.
There were other friends that I would have liked to meet, but I guess it was not meant to be. I never regretted a moment or felt any loss because it was just so nice getting to really know the two of you better. It's ironical that our obsession for Akina would reap such fruits of labour in our older years. I strongly believe that our friendship will last the test of distance and time. As Danny says, Akina may not always be a nice person, but her fans are. I can't agree more. Akina had brought so many of us from all around the world, and mostly everyone is such a joy to know.
The biggest discovery of this trip, besides getting to know my dearest friends so much better, is my rekindled interest in history. I was in the first batch of Singaporeans to learn Singaporean history instead of Chinese history in school, as part of the Education Revolution in the late 70s, to cultivate nationalism, and a Singaporean identity. I do not regret it because I think it is important to feel proud of one's national identity, but Singapore's history is young and less colourful than China and its counterparts. There is still time to learn and one is never too young to learn.
Ironically, during my last evening as I was packing my luggage to depart the next day, I ended up watching an Australian current affairs program about the "caged people" in HK. It portrayed how the economic crisis had affected the HK population and the widening of the income parity, resulting in many impoverished people living in cages in HK. The unsanitary and inhumane living conditions saddened me dearly and made me feel extremely lucky that I am living in such comfortable conditions. It made me realise that I need to practise more kindness and generosity towards people in more need than I, and to focus less on myself.
The program also featured a mother and daughter though not living in a cage, is in a room that is almost as big as most people's toilets or kitchen. They have a double deck bed, TV, small table and stool all in one room, and the mother is weeping while being interviewed about how frustrated she is every day when she returns home from the two jobs that she has to work, to be able to keep this barely humane lifestyle going. She and her 8 year old daughter had moved from China, so that her daughter would be able to get a better education in HK. She says that her toilet back in China is bigger than the room that they now reside in, and she hopes that she will be allocated a public housing unit soon.
The social workers group have highlighted their case in the program because they are concerned for the little girl's mental well being, but they did say that there are about 100,000 cases (caged people) waiting for the allocation of public housing as well. The little girl has a few digestive biscuits for breakfast, goes to school and then comes home to watch TV while waiting for her Mum to come back from her second job, where she earns A$4 an hour at a local 7-Eleven store. Their room is next to the toilet and bathroom which is used by over 20 people who live on the same floor as they do. Her husband and son are back in China, and it is only her love for her daughter and her desire for her to have a better education and life that she is putting up with this lifestyle. It is truly heart-breaking, especially to know that there is such poverty in a developed and prosperous city like HK. It is not difficult to feel vulnerable and weep for such people. We do not need tragedies like natural disasters to remind us that life is fragile and there are always people in greater need than us.
The true definition of masculinity lies not in invincibility and power. It lies in human kindness, mutual respect and love above all. It is not an exercise of emasculation to cry or feel vulnerable. It helps make us feel love for others and empathise. All great human behavioural characteristics.
All in all, it has been such an enriching experience and I am thankful for everything. Such deep awakenings and discoveries that has left me hungry. I am sharing this so that we can all be a lot more aware of the happenings around us, and not to take our lives for granted. If we can practise a little more, donate a little more, give a little more, love a little more, then we can possibly make this world a better place for all.
