No, not another sequel by Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, am talking about the rush hour in HK, couples with the hot spells.
I know, we do have such rush hour back home but this ain't familiar territory, so it is kinda weird and fascinating to see the Hong Kongers rushing for the MTR. Not forgetting to mention stressful. They are forever so rushing for time, even going home, my god. I feel stressful as well although I am just a holiday maker. Even walking on the streets can be intimidating. They are rushing to beat the red lights, or catching the bus or mini bus. Oh yes, not forgetting the escalators. They can't even take their own sweet time to go up or down. One thing good here is that everyone, including me a foreigner, will keep to our right (yes, HK keeps to the right, weird), leaving the left side free for poeple who are rushing or do not have the patience to take a leisure ride on the escalator. This can never happen back home although there are signages telling us to do so.
However, I'm afraid the goodness stops right there only. While waiting for the trains' doors to open, they too like us, will crowd the entrance, thus, inconveniencing the passengers who are trying to push their way out. Argh....can be real irritating if you are trying to manouevre your way out. To be exact, you'll get push by the people behind you, during the rush hour.
It is summer in HK now, the heat is picking up after a short visit by Typhoon Prapipon (did I get the name right?). It was quite windy 2 days ago, just right after the typhoon. Not so windy today, so you can imagine the heat. I wonder does that contribute to the short temper of the Hong Kongers. They tend to raise their voice volume when they aren't too happy. It can get quite deafening for me coz I simply cannot take too loud a noise. Oh my goodness, I even witnessed a quarrel between the HK fellow citizens, a lady and a uncle, 2 days ago at TST's Esprit Outlet. The air-con was on full blown but the heat between them was building up. I was so taken aback, but the rest were like, it's part and parcel of their life.
Talking about full blown air-con, it is soooo ironical when the HK is trying to be environmental friendly, doing their part to save the earth, BUT, their air-cons are forever so
cooold. It is switched on full blast, even during their autumn / winter seasons. Unbelievable! How to conserve energy? I simply do not understand. Can you imgaine I need to bring along a cardigan with me whenever I step out of the hotel? It is soooo hot outside, but it is the contrast when you enter a building. Why doesn't Donald Tsang visit Japan to learn this idea of conserving energy, instead of going to Singapore to create such a big hooha over a bowl of
bak kut tek?
Well, expecting more heat spells for the next couple of days. So, I guess it will be good if I stay indoors, with my cardigan.
Mongkok, Hong Kongp/s. Got a birthday cake from the hotel just now when we went up to the Coffee Lounge for some drinks. Very sweet of them :).
These were some of the pictures I had taken last Wednesday in Mongkok, before the forecasted Typhoon Bopha. It was terribly hazy and humid. The air seemed quite calm before the thunderstorm which hit HK early the next morning.
tures, but you can try to imagine. The wind was working hard, blowing the rain to almost horizontal lines, lightning kept flashing and thunder clapped through the night. Quite an experience. It was what HK termed as the "T1" -- yellow signal. This was my second "yellow" thunder storm in HK. The first was in year 2001. It was not as bad as this one.
