(An excerpt from an email to a friend)

I had a good time in HK. Everything is fine in HK. In fact things are much better in HK than in suburban Vancouver: there are brand-named stores everywhere located right next to MTR exits. Fashion accessories, stationeries, shoes and bags looked so awesome that I want to buy them all, if only money is not a limiting factor. The best thing is the price of vcds and dvds: ~$35HKD for one vcd; ~$50 dvd. I went mad the first time I stepped into the HMV in Causeway bay. Computer gadgets are also cheap in places like the Golden (?) shopping center at Cheng Sha Wan and Wanchai. Unlike Canada, there are quite a few choices of electronic stores in HK, and they compete with each other by giving away gifts and discounts. Browsing at these stores was like visiting art galleries. I had a good time and I am sure you will too, if you ever come over to HK.

Imagine how wonderful it will be if it only takes 3-hour drive from Richmond to HK? If I ever get home-sick, all I have to do is drive over to HK for the weekend. They will be no air-sickness, pricey tickets, special holidays, and most of all, the "I-am-living-abroad-in-a-suburban-place" feeling. But then it will lose the fun of living away from the homeland. Whether or not it was a good decision to immigrate, we all learned a bit and grew up a little from the experience.

Taking about vcds and dvds make me think about the Chinese translations of Western movie titles. Yes I totally agree with the weirdness of "SPIDERMAN" (in Chinese). It sounds like some horror movies like "flies". It seems that they liked to put words like "FIGHT", "CORPSE", "MURDER", "FUTURE", "DANGER" (in Chinese) when it comes to movie titles. So perhaps "spiderman" is only a mild case. (At least it wasn't "SPIDER-WICKED-MAN", "DANGEROUS-SPIDER-FIGHTING-FUTURISTIC-GREEN-MONSTER") Don't feel to bad la. :-)

If it isn't on the newspapers, I won't believe that HK is in economic recession. The shopping centers and Japanese department stores were crammed with people during weekends. Moreover, it looks like half of the HK populations are walking on the streets at YauMaTei-Mongkok-TsimShaTsui area on Sundays (and the other half are at Central). Shopping malls are giving away cheap air-tickets ($2800HKD) to Japan for shoppers spending over $3000. Credit card companies attract customers with gifts and special discounts at selected stores (such as sporting goods and electronic stores). There are line-ups at most of the restaurants on Sundays, and you always have to wait for seats at McDonald's and Cafe Corals during lunch/tea/dinner hours. Foods are cheaper than Vancouver too. The only compliant I have is that not all restaurants are smoking-inhibited, and that the cigarette smokes at Golden Shopping Center nearly made me faint. The mask is not too helpful regarding to cigarette smoke, unfortunately.

Not many people wearing masks during the past weeks. Yesterday I saw only two persons (an old lady and a kid) wearing their masks inside the MTR trains. It is such a relieve to see that SARS has finally gotten under control in HK, and hopefully it gets distinguished at places like Taiwan and Toronto in the near future. Some positive impacts about this virus are a. greater health-consciousness among HK people, and b. cleaner and sterile streets. The handles on escalators and the button-pad at elevators are cleaned every hour. Sterilized carpets and anti-bacterial lotions are everywhere. I enjoyed the cleanness quite a lot. Hey how's Vancouver people feeling about SARS? Are they still paranoid about people coming back from HK? Oh I will remember putting on my mask when I arrived at the airport. Don't know if I can put myself into strict quarantine as I need to get food from stores. I refuse to order pizza delivered for 10 days 'cuz it can do greater damage to my health (and well-being) than SARS.

Regarding to shopping, I was very satisfied with my "harvest". In spite of the weight-issue, I went ahead and bought over 60 novels and comic books. Books in simplified Chinese are generally cheaper than the traditional version, but I can't read simplified Chinese and thus have to stuck with the more pricey books. In fact books are luxury items: the ones that I bought ranged from $10 (comics from second-hand bookstores) to $320(art-illustrations). I agree with you that girls make frequent yet small purchases, while guys like to spend big money. However, I think it is not necessary true that women's $ is easy money: I think men and women have different views on what's worth to spend on and what's not, but then for similar purchasing power, they might end-up spending approximately the same.

Other then books, I spent money on clothes and foods. Foods are cheap nowadays in HK: I’ve seen $9HKD wonton noodles in Shum Tsang. Café Coral’s “white-cut-chicken” rice costs merely $22. I enjoyed their creamy-baked spaghetti/rice since childhood and they are still delicious. Fast food restaurant brought me up, and I took the opportunity to repeat my childhood experiences by tasting couple of my old-time favorites in each fast food chains. The yummy-ness and familiarity of these foods make me feel like I am a Hong Kong-ness eating at my homeland.

It seems that the food services in HK have improved their services over the years: servers at Café de Coral bring food over to the table for elderly people; check-outs at supermarkets greet customers with “good morning”, “welcome”, “thank you”, “please come again”(I was astonished with their greetings the first time). This is a good sign indicating that HK people have improved, and I’m proud of that. But the thing that makes me proud of being a HK-born Chinese is the invention of Octopus card. It was created 5 years (?) ago and wasn’t a new thing at all. Nonetheless, I haven’t seen anything like this in any other countries, not in Japan, never in US. It symbolizes the technology advancement and a structured transportation system.

Talking about HK people, I noticed that girls in HK are generally thin. I can easily spot girls much thinner than I am on the MTR train. Celebrities like Twins and other young girl idols are sorrowfully boney. Perhaps I need to shed some pounds in order to achieve the current HK beauty standard. Also there are many more fitness center and diet-product advertisements on magazines than the last time I went to HK. Guess if the health department officials don’t start doing something about it, problems ranged from anorexia to infertility will occur in future.

Let’s talk about something less serious: to my surprise, HK has in fact a lot of museums worth visiting: do you know there is a Museum of Medical Science in Central district? They had exhibition on the history of HK Psychological Institution while I visited, and I had fun browsing the ways they tied their patients onto their bed. Just like the movie “A Beautiful Mind”, patients did get electric shocks during treatments of their illnesses in the past. There were also displays on Chinese herbal medicines and needle therapy. I have been interested in biology and I actually had a lot of fun there. I’ve also visited the Museum of HK History and it was also very good. There is a Museum of Chinese Art right next to the Space Museum, which I never know until now. Besides the cultural gaps with the local HK people, I truly feel like a tourist by caring and actually enjoying these museum visits (except the wax museums at the Peak: outraged admission fee with nothing much to see).

Despite my praises on everything about HK, I find myself missing home in the suburban Richmond Canada. Perhaps I didn’t come back to HK to see my relatives and acquaintances as often as I should. Guess I’m just getting too used to being alone that I feel weird living with others.

I hope you don’t get too bored about my self-centered report on my HK trip. In any case, I hope you can find a cure on your air-sickness someday.