Day 1

Yesterday I went to Repulse Bay with Shuo and saw an entirely different side of Hong Kong. We took a heart-pumping ride on a double-decker bus along a windy mountain road (all still in Hong Kong, of course), to an area with beaches and markets and waterside cafes. In true Hong Kong style, above the beaches were skyscrapers and mountains - in huge contrast to the beach-place revelry. There were sunbathers (white people), budgy-smuggling/banana hammock-clad men covered in a thick white layer of sunblock (all asian), and families carrying umbrellas to shield them from the sun (all asian) - the contrast between the asians trying not to tan and the white people trying to burn to a crisp was fascinating.

We wandered around a market at Stanley and then got tapas and corona at a cafe over the water as we wre saranaded by an asian mariachi band singing Louis Armstrong music. The weather was perfect once we sat down, Shuo and I both pointed out at the same time how 'colonial' the atmosphere was with white ceiling fans going, with the humidity and sea breezes. We both thought it was odd though, that in a place that was colonized, the people would seek a trip down memory lane- when in real memory lane they were the ones who were colonized. I suppose everyone wants their turn at sipping a mojoto under a fan at the beach wearing a white linen suit and talking of cigars and your time at the racetrack.

Shuo and I then hopped from the beaches to the absolute opposite part of Hong Kong - downtown Kowloon with the neon signs, designer stores, and tons and tons of people. We had cantonese for dinner and then I headed back to my hotel.

On the way to the hotel, rather close to central hong kong, on a windy uphill road, we came upon an overturned taxi with a body hanging out the window. I think the body was the passenger. I used all of my energy not to barf right there in my car, and pedestrians and other drivers were standing there just staring, covering their mouths in horror. My driver slowed down and said something in cantonese that I didn't understand and then he just drove on. An ambulance came our direction a few minutes later, and all I could think about was how that ambulance wasn't going to do any good for anyone and someone wasn't going to be coming home tonight, or ever.

Even in one of the most civilized, developed cities in the world, you still see life and death right on the streets. I've never seen anything like this in America, not up close, since any time there has been a fatal car accident, the police have blocked it off. I don't ever want to see anything like it again. And once again, I am reminded never to take even a simple taxi ride for granted.

And when I arrived at the hotel safely last night, the gratitude for my safe journey was mixed with the overwhelming knowledge that someone within a couple miles of me right now, would be receiving a call that night their son/husband/brother would never be coming home.