Hong Kong Round-up

When I was unlocking my car at the station it seemed like only the day before I had been locking it. Needless to say my trip went by very fast and while I felt I was in a state of shock for most of it I managed to have a very good time. During the whole trip I couldn't stop comparing Hong Kong and Tokyo. While Tokyo is cleaner and safer, Hong Kong has many charms like it's history and location on the harbour. Hong Kong has a sleek modern feel that was as unexpected as it was interesting, but it's probably trumped by Tokyo's uber-coolness. I certianly have a preference for Aisan cities because I have left any desire to visit London and New York behind me. The side streets of Hong Kong didn't differ much from how one would imagine, with large signs of Chinese characters perch over the streets in a very intense way. This is in constrast to Japan where they simply plaster the sides of buildings with ads.



As an architecture-love I think the highlight of the trip was abosbing the Hong Kong cityscape from above, on historical Victoria Peak, and from below, on a boat tour of the harbour (or from any point along the harbour front for that matter). Amazing amazing people watching in Hong Kong too.



The above image was taken on the cable tram up to Victoria peak. It attempts to show how steep the incline is but the mind will remember it as steeper. Diffinately worth every penny. Directly below is a picture taken from the harbour crusie. Note that these apartments back right onto Victoria harbour. In the two following pictures I tried to capture interesting patterns. Visual patterns that stimulate the eye have always been a favorite of mine.




I did feel I had some culture shock. It's the truth when I say that it felt very strange to speak English to everyone I might meet. There is an extra step for everything in Japan that was absent in Hong Kong. Instead of - as one would assume - feeling relived, I think it felt more like a stumble. On reflection, I don't know why this was the case. Something to ponder.





Arriving back in Japan I was happy to see the visual clutter that accompanies the far east as the image below suggests. Furthermore, Japanese service is now more appricated then ever.