The moment we touched down at Lantau Island, the excitement mounted. All my days of watching Hong Kong dramas are finally realized – now I get to experience all the places you hear and see on TV = Wan Chai, Mongkok, Causeway Bay, Kowloon, Lan Kwai Fong, etc. Hong Kong (so far) is an exciting place.

Its less regimented than Singapore – there’s mess and chaos amidst their unbelievable planning and structure in buildings, roads, transportation; its far more realistic and competitive than Malaysia – people in the service industry greet you because you have to, not because they mean it; its also rather less trendy than the weird fashion sense you see on TV, those of which the HK singers and actors don on.

I somewhat feel at home but also not. I can fully understand Cantonese when they speak but cant as much articulate fully in Cantonese back to them without them detecting that I am not a local. Where I stay in Causeway Bay, you hear Bahasa being spoken very widely from all the Indonesian maids who works here. Interesting!

Every corner, there seem to be 1 million people buzzing around, talking, walking, and pushing. No one takes notice of other people but themselves. When we met with my colleague’s friend who has been working here, I was quite surprised the way he handled himself at a local restaurant. He was blunt, quite rude and very upfront – not a very Malaysian behavior. He rationalized that the Hong Kongnites (apparently, they hate to be referred to as Hong Kies) are quite pushy and aggressive people. The only way to get around them is to be like them. (Hence the saying, if you cant beat them, join them)

Slowly as my day passes by here, I start to see more and more of my fantasy being merged into a realistic, competitive, rude picture. It’s not picture perfect for sure but at least now its more real than Hong Kong dramas of glamour and fun.