Hong Kong1 |

This is travel diary when I travel Hongkong ten years ago.

The two-story red bus, packed with tourists, is an open-air bus and goes through the cluttered streets of Hong Kong. I was sat on top of the bus and it felt like I was going to hit the advertising signs over-head, but I never did. It reminded me of a starry sky which I could never reach, even if it felt near.

The town of Hong Kong was like a toy box packed with toys, and the buildings were built as if bamboo shoots started to grow up after the rain. The place was so polluted that I couldn’t breathe easily. The breath which I inhaled was full of pollution, and the hot air of the people who came to and fro had made it feel stifling .

But this doesn’t mean that I didn’t like it – I still enjoyed it.

Tokyo is also a big city, however the air in Hong Kong is more dense and polluted. The sight of pedestrians starting to cross the intersection all at once when the signal becomes green coupled with the dry atmosphere caused me to feel like a businessman who travels across the world . This is in turn makes me feel like eating a snack with a fragrant coffee in my hand in an open-air café, where only a small gap in the sky can be seen in the room of the building. I felt like I was going to read English newspapers, which I don’t normally do.

In fact, the people of Hong Kong seemed to be different than the mainlanders I saw in Beijing. Hong Kong locals were not as noisy as the mainlanders as individuals, but when the got together they became louder.

In Hong Kong people didn’t use their car horn as much as Mainland China and Southeast Asia. In mainland China they seem to beep more aggressively, always in protest at someone or something.

The elevator of the hotel where I stayed was narrow enough to be full if I entered. It was old-fashioned and stifling, and made me want to refrain from using it, but it also made me feel like I was in a foreign country.

After the sightseeing I got off the two-story bus. There were cluttered office buildings in front of me and I saw a long and narrow building. In the corner there was a red sign where businessmen entered a very busy Chinese noodle shop where no one sat down. I entered the restaurant and asked for the Chinese noodles which seemed to be the most popular dish on the menu.

In the corner of the restaurant there was a shelf dedicated to a statue of a business god with a long beard on a bright red-decorated foundation. Below it there was a TV in which a Hong Kong woman announced the price of stock prices and exchange rates.

The Chinese noodles had a soft-boiled Chinese-style beef bone on it. The noodles were a little soft and it was very nice.

By the time I finished eating it would have been past noon.There was not a single businessman staying inside the restaurant and they went back to their respective offices and works. I was the only one who stayed there. The waiter of the restaurant began to wipe the table and clean up, so I became somewhat uncomfortable and quickly left the restaurant.

I could have gone to Victoria Peak by bus or taxi, but I wanted to take a cable car called the Red Car Peak Tram. The cable car station is close to the city centre and will probably take about 30 minutes. I felt it’s Ok to arrive there early, so I stopped a taxi and asked for a ride to the tram station.

Before the taxi arrived at the tram station it stopped in front. I wondered why? But then I immediately understood. There was a long line in front of the reception. The queue was several people wide and still quite long. I hesitated about the length of the queue.

The taxi driver asked “Do you want me to drive you to Victoria Peak?” I asked if I had enough time before sunset, because I wanted to ride the Peak Tram even if it took a long time, so I said, “No, I’ll take the peak tram.” I told him and paid the fee and lined up in the queue. After that, I finally got on the cable car after waiting in the queue for two hours.