Kung Hei Fat Choi!
Today is Chinese New Year and for the first time, i'm experiencing it in Hong Kong. This is really novel for me since i'm living the holiday through the eyes of a local - albeit transplanted and artificial. While I haven't gone too the deep end and set up cherry blossom trees surrounded by mini-Mandarin trees in my living room, I did follow 2 of Keat's prescriptions for the holidays: Don't wear black and eat a lot of Mandarin Oranges. That wasn't very hard to do.
CNY for HK is like Holy Week of Manila. It's their really long holiday where people take the time off to rest, relax, visit relatives and basically just do nothing. According to newspaper reports, there's large traffic on the borders to the mainland because a lot of the Hongkies are off to rejoin their families in China. Because of that, HK is basically deserted the next 2 or 3 days.
That's the reason why I love it so much.
On regular days, HK is just teeming with people. Thousands of people just scurry about like ants, some going to work, some going to school, some going to shop, some going to eat, some tourists, some expats, some transplants and a lot of locals. On a rormal day, HK is a dizzying cacophony of sounds that people make: footsteps, idle chatter, rustling of plastic bags, and a lot more. Often, I welcome these sounds because they make me feel less homesick and occupy my mind and ears. But at times, it's just too much, that it makes me want to go home or hop on a ferry to Macau and just meditate at Hac Sa beach. (I do both quite often, actually.)
Today, I was greeted to a much quiter, much emptier HK. Nathan Road isn't full to the brim with people, just the occasional KMB bus scuttering around with passengers.
Today, I can walk along the street without dodging too many people, or bumping into some cart toting hawker carrying faux burberry scarfs to sell.
Today, I can go to a restaurant and not have to wait for a seat. It's great to see CPK with just a sprinkling of people for a change.
Mongkok, notoriously one of the most populated parts of Kowloon, is a picture of serenity and calm today. Most of the shops are closed, and the streets are semi-empty, save for the band of caucasian tourists who are probably wondering: "where did everybody go?" Because of this picture of peace, I was inspired to take a leisurely stroll around, and just take a long, hard look at the old edifices and all the Kung Hei Fat Choi posters scattered around the streets.
Of course, I also took a long, hard look at those 2 pairs of jeans that I promised myself I'd buy last night. And yes, I did buy them! New Antik Denims. Woohoo!
But I digress...
Since my first visit to HK when I was still a short, pudgy boy, I've always known this city as the City of Life. Like New York, it's a city that never sleeps. That's why it isn't surprising to see revelers at 3am along Causeway Bay, or people with shopping bags still traversing Austin Road at the break of dawn. For the longest time, this is the HK that I've known and loved.
Today, seeing Hong Kong as an emptier, more peaceful place, I have to admit that I think I love this even more.
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