Another Asia I

its often amazing the differences to be had in a country with one supposed national identity..sometimes it seems as though a country can be so schizphrenic in charcter..

the 1st thing strikin mi bout Hong Kong was the close proximity(to use a chim word; juxtaposition) of clean, hygenic airport facilities to unhygenic, garbage-strewn five foot ways along the main roads..its like the locals could not care-less..

then there's the strange fact dat there are actualli bus-stops at the beginning of expressways..i'm serious, at the top of of a super-steep slope where the expressway began, the bus i was on actually stopped to pick up passengers at a make-shift bus-stop..huh..i tot to miself...people actualli live at the beginning of an expressway 3 storeys above ground? how else do they get to the top of such a steep slope?

then there's the CBD or zong wan which has ultra-modern sky-scrapers and where major financial institutions are located, such as Standard Chartered, Citibank, Bank of China and of course, the very Hong Kong HSBC...but in the Eastern part of the CBD, there are stalls upon stalls of dried seafood sellers and in another part, there is the last traditional Hong Kong Tea House or Cha Guan in HK which serves excellent food with horrible hygene and environmental standards...

on my final day, day 6, i saw Hong Kong Disneyland on my way to e airport..its probably the most mis-fit lookin structure in Hong Kong and prob anywhere in e world..while i support globalisation to open up borders and make frens..i think Disneyland is a sideshow attraction dat does neither..its like a big, sprawling, bloody ugly piece o' crap in e shape of mickey mouse's head fell onto HK from Outer Space..its so incredibly foreign and incongruous in HK's landscape and so oviously a mere money-makin gimmick...an insult to sacred land use laws and urban plannin man..

the final buildin i saw which left mi in some awe was the majestic Cathay Pacific HQ an d flagship Office...has all sorts of facilities i heard..even short overnite beddin and showers for pilots and senior aircrew...an intelligently designed buildin with solar panels for heatin and other well-planned components..imagine havin a mega-SIA hub in Changi area man..dat would realli do this lil' red dot proud...but i must say, Cathay Pacific has the most disgustin airline food i've ever tasted..even my army camp food tastes better lor...and i've tasted the food on all major airlines such as Qantas, SIA, BA except Emirates..well, in between days 2 to 6 I also made a short trip to China to visit my Uncle on ma Dad's side o e family..man, dats another story for another day...