A Bowl of Stupid

I’ve been in Hong Kong for almost a week now. It really is a remarkable city. Two of my friends from Bangkok told me after they visited here last year that Hong Kong island is a monument to humans’ engineering and technological prowess. There are massive skyscrapers stretching from Victoria Harbour all the way up the mountain-side to Victoria Peak.

For lack of a better comparison, it’s like Manhattan built onto the side of a mountain.

As with New York, the city never sleeps and the atmosphere is truly international. But Hong Kong is also truly Asian — you can see that by taking off down any small dingy side street where they’re butchering and selling meat and fish wholesale right out in the allyway.

My days have generally consisted of wandering the streets of the island and Kow Loon, bebopping about on the MTR train line, and just sorta taking it in. My nights have been spent getting pissed with one of my best mates from Miami, at whose place I’m staying.

And while that too has been fun, it’s also ridiculously expensive to party here. Add that with the fact that this particular weekend is the biggest of the year — the ‘Hong Kong Sevens’ rugby tournament is going on this weekend. It’s one of the biggest displays of drunken debauchery I’ve ever heard of, let alone been involved in (peripherally, at least). It was going on my first weekend here, and I’m still a bit overwhelmed by the sight of running water and 24 hour electricity. So despite all the fun I was having, by 4 a.m. in the morning the whole scene got to be a bit much for me.

Plus, ever since I got here, the weather really hasn’t been cooperating. It’s been brisk out (hovering at about 20 C / 68 F), with an omnipresent rain and mist. Add that to the multitude of neon lights and millions of people, and it feels a bit like I walked onto the set of Blade Runner.

It really is a spectacular city, and I recommend that anyone who has time, and significant cash reserves, visit at least once in their lifetime. I’m not sure how long I’m gonna stay for now, but I just saw that it’s raining again back in Bali for the next week — so it may be a while.

The mist is burning off a bit this morning, so I went for some coffee and took a nice 3 hour walk about town. A great Bon Iver song popped up on my iTunes, and although the lyrics themselves are a bit melancholy, the song made for a good soundtrack.

Bon Iver — Skinny Love