Oy everyone, it's been a while since that last rant of a post i made. Right now I'm in Tokyo, but ill start by commenting on my short trip to Hong Kong.
Ill let it be known first that while i was planning this whole trip, i only really focused on south east asia as far as planning goes. I assumed that once i got to china there would be no planning, all I had to do was make it to HK by Aug 14th. Luckily that held true and i didnt have to plan a thing, and i arrived in HK with a few days to see the city and meet up with some friends (Vivien, her sister Ellen, and Mansi). Hong Kong is very... special(?), on the ground level of Kowloon there are the ubiquitous neon lights which define the city strung out over every major road, intersection as well as the small alleyways that give the city the feel that defines the asian street-stall way of life. However as you peer skyward, the gleaming windows of the countless skyscrapers tell you otherwise; the city is rich, not only in money, but also in culture. It has managed to gain wealth without sacrificing much culture which is quite a special feat in my opinion.
The MTR and the octopus card system is near flawless... the price might stack up if you use it often, but man it WORKS SO WELL. Take a lesson from a city that knows how to plan and manage itself Montreal, or else you'll soon fade into a city that 'was'. Thanks to Vivien and her sister and her cousin Coleen(?) for meeting with me on the first night, i was pretty lost and amazed at seeing a big city again. It was really nice having more than a few days to just roam the city as you want, but I have to say, most large cities really don't have much to offer. See a few skyscrapers, go to the harbour, eat some seafood, and that pretty much does it. Which reminds me: the view in Hong Kong is SPECTACULAR, especially by the harbour at night. The lights, the buildings, aghh everything is perfect (except the blazing hot weather). I also met up with jetlagged mansi and her friend Raymond, and we strolled about seeing the major sights once more, and had some sushi. (Even low quality sushi out here is better than sushi back home).
And then i left for Tokyo. Tokyo is huge, the kind of huge that only really applies to city with a metropolitan population of over 20million. You really dont get an idea of how big 20million is until you stand on the roof of a tall building in one of these cities. When i saw the cityscape from the observation window, my jaw dropped. It's literally a sea of buildings, likely similar to what you would see in Sao Paolo, and several times bigger than NYC. Tokyo is essentially Manhattan spread over brooklyn, queens, the bronx, and all other neighbouring land. And then theres Shibuya. Shibuya is.... shibuya, theres really no other way to describe it. The JR Hachiko exit is ALWAYS full of people (side story, Hachiko is a dog that came to the station everyday to see its master. When the master died, the dog did not forget and still came back to the same spot everyday until it died to wait for its master), you'll never see a piece of sidewalk without someone occupying it. The crossing is another thing too (apparently made famous to the western world by the movie Lost in Translation), all lights at the intersection go red as thousands of people stampede to get from one side to the other. I took a video, but honestly the feeling of being in that crowd is only a minute part of the experience at Shibuya. Another experience in itself is sitting at the 2nd level starbucks at the corner of shibuya, squeezing into one of the window seats, and just watching all the people cross. It might sound strange, but everyone does it, foreigners and locals alike, and trust me when i say it's really awe inspiring to see that many people and that much energy in one spot, in any city on the planet.
Ill probably only post once more after I hike Mount Fuji before coming home. To think theres less than a week before I'm back in Montreal. Almost makes me feel sad to have to go home now.
long flight back...
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