Hong Kong 2017
I haven’t gotten around to finishing even half of my Europe 2017 retroactive posts, and here I am with another trip in my past to mull over. Yet gratitude is a common theme in my life, and I never want to squander this blessing by failing to recognizing it.
So, I understand that Time is writing history faster than we can record it, but why my life is happening faster than my mind can reflect on it is surely not Time’s fault. My life can hardly be considered fast-paced–and trust me I have an inkling of what fast-paced really is after visiting Hong Kong.
…And with that wonderful segue, I’ll elaborate on my Hong Kong and China trip for a bit before resuming with Europe/Scandinavia posts. (How do other people deal with reflection backlog anyway??)
This trip itself was such a gift. Literally, the plane tickets were a gift from the aforementioned bride to attend the special couple’s aforementioned wedding (it was a beautiful wedding). It was also literally “a gift that kept on giving” since I was showered with so many red pockets and gifts (my suitcase can testify). Not as literally, it was such a gift to be so abundantly cared for, mentored, encouraged, and inspired by so many people; the conversations we shared (as well as the ones I eavesdropped on when my Cantonese level did not allow me to participate) were such gems. Clearly, this was a trip about the people rather than the place. But in the spirit of respecting privacy and such, this post will be about the pictures not the prose.
Chronologically, two separate sub-trips to China were nestled within this trip and were book-ended by time in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is technically part of China as the second system in a One country, two systems kind of country… but I do not have qualifications to elaborate on this further other than to say that I will be splitting these “two systems” into two posts, starting with Hong Kong.
This was what it was like the day we left Toronto.
A tranquil morning in Canadaland.
It was 5:30AM, at the tail end of the season’s first snowstorm and we shoveled to free out escort to the airport…. yay for us because we are going to Hong Kong! –Goodbye, Suckers!!!*
*As karma would have it, we came back right in time for the record-breaking-“extreme cold”-warning-worthy temperatures. It was not cool. Freezing, in fact.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, this was our “commute”.
Enroute from Fo Tan to University
This pictures highlights so much about what I love here:
- Coming from a city that’s physically so flat it could be considered 2-dimensional, I was so inspired by buildings on steep slopes, the possibilities of underpasses and overpasses, and the general use of vertical space.
- Coming from a city where every green that is not evergreen has long expired, I am so attracted to the lush, exotic vegetation here.
- Coming from a city where urban and rural are separated by stretches of suburban, I am so amused that there are skyscrapers occupying the same frame as these random cabin-like houses and greenery (albeit a panorama frame) .
- Coming from a sheltered suburb where the only rolls that were rocked were honour rolls, there’s nothing I crave more the feeling of breaking the rules. You know, something that feels more dangerous than it is. Navigating around barking dogs on “Government Land”? Ooo ooo o0oOo I’m such a bad girl~
Barking dogs, you say? Of course, the dogs looks really serene in static images… but don’t be fooled:
They remind me of those seemingly-badass-but-actually-really-dorky hunting dogs in Up (2009) … or so I’d like to think.
some dweebs (tres)passing soil
Speaking of the pseudo-rebellious tendencies of a suburbian, we had the privilege of trespassing into a granny’s backyard and take soil from her plot of land… Ooo ooo o0oOo it’s trespassing and extractivism!
Pictured, is us transporting soil in plastic bags over the creek that separates the road from the granny’s land. Who could have guessed I would be WWOOFing Hong Kong!
I distinctly remember an incident in my childhood when I led my cousin who was visiting Toronto to the “project” my brother and I had going on in my grandparents’ backyard. We were digging a hole to China. My cousin was all on-board with this idea and together, we dug the deepest hole ever.
Asian McDonalds, let me take you homeee TT_TT
When my aunt found out, she was furious and lashed all sorts of colourful language out at my cousin. (I was spared because no one suspected that I would ever come up with such an outrageous idea.)
Fast forward 20 years, I am in China, digging a hole in a granny’s backyard. The consequence? When the granny found out, she gave us red pockets, apologized for not being able to help us dig up her yard, and told us where to find tools the next time we extract more soil. Talk about mixed messages!
Mixed messages aside, this was one of the most random, most sketchy, and most “local” things I got to do on the trip–I loved it!!
Also, my suggestion to have ice cream for lunch after this ordeal was approved. What’s not to love?
Speaking of Up (2009), our dear friend took us to a Pixar Exhibit in the Hong Kong Heritage Museum
It was so lovely to see all behind the scenes stuff that goes into these animations. In a better parallel universe, I would be doing physical simulations for Pixar right now.
Near the beginning of our trip, someone suggested that we do the Lion Rock Peak hike. Two days before we left, we did the hike!
Hiking in Hong Kong frequently features magnificent cityscapes. Moreover, we did this hike on our way between one family yum cha (read: dim sum) session and another family yum cha session … there was something so quintessentially “Hong Kong” about this day!
Moreover, not pictured, this hike also displayed a vast array of Hong Kong “wildlife”. Besides wild dogs, we saw wild monkeys and wild boars!
… Also wild pomello??? We found these on a trail between Fo Tan and Tai Po on our last day in Hong Kong.
I can’t believe they’re just hanging on the trees like this!!
In contrast to the hikes I did in the Alps last summer, these hikes were more about the company than the challenge. (It makes me wonder whether this was the reason that that group of English hikers I bumped into were laughing on the same path I was gawking at?)
If Hong Kong is the gift, the gift-wrap is Toronto.
Coming home made me more acutely aware of the love and care of my own family, mentors, and community that have always been there for me. In fact, I take them for granted because they have always been there for me.
Being loved and cared for by people all over the world truly animates me to search for work that–as Khalil Gibran says–“is love made visible“. I hope that someday I, too, may have the opportunity to care for others in ways that motivate them to care beyond themselves.