There were a few moments of nervousness last Sunday while I was following the news of the devastation caused by Super Typhoon Mangkhut as it cut through Hong Kong island. A flight out of Singapore to the island normally takes just 3 hrs 15 minutes, and we were scheduled to fly out of Changi just a few hours after the Typhoon was expected to head further in-land into China.
We’d already mentally prepared for possible re-timings of our flight – and Changi Airport Terminal 4 is as good a place as any to be waiting. But even on this, we were disappointed: our flight was indeed re-timed by almost 90 minutes we were supposed to depart at 9:50AM – and ended up doing so only at around 11:10AM. But the re-timing – apparently because of congestion above Hong Kong – was announced just when all passengers had already boarded, and the pilot didn’t deplane us.
The flight itself was uneventful for the most part. But landing was a little rough from strong winds in Mangkhut’s aftermath – eliciting some audible gasps from passengers when the plane bumped its way down the runway.
Hats off to the first responders on Hong Kong island. While there was a lot of signs that the typhoon had only just cleared the island, what with the number of fallen trees and debris we saw – the roads themselves were for the most part cleared of major obstruction, though there were spots where traffic slowed to a crawl because of lane closures.
In a sense, looking out for post-Mangkhut signs were the only matters of interest I had this trip. Oh, the conference I was there for was great, keynotes were informative and conference hospitality and organization pretty good. It was a myriad of little things that at times left me annoyed, and other times resolved that it would take quite a bit to get me to come back to this island in the near future.
So, in no particular order of relevance: here’s a list of notes and comments I made this trip.
Wikipedia notes that Hong Kong International Airport has the world’s largest passenger terminal, and they weren’t kidding. It’s so wide that the airport literally has its own full-sized subway train to ferry passengers from one end of the terminal to the other. The airport has long arcades though the outlet variety itself seems somewhat limited compared to Changi’s routine over-the-top showcasing of Singapore multiculturalism.
Customs clearance was very quick at Arrivals. But upon luggage pick-up and just when we were approaching the exit out to the common area, a couple of Chinese nationals behind us fished out their phones to take pictures. Maybe because the experience of traveling by plane was all very novel for them? In seconds, they were jumped on by airport security who demanded they hand over their phones for inspection.
Our first stop out of Arrivals were local data SIM card providers. There are a few right to the immediate left out into the common Arrivals area. Passports are not needed, though the counter I picked mine up from was also cash-only payment. HKD 68 for 1.5GB data over five days. The cards were not pre-activated, so some configuration was necessary.
Excepting the first day when we landed where the weather was fiercely overcast accompanied by light rain, the other days were sunny, hot, and humid with a noticeable smog in the air. And we were already in a part of the island which was relatively industry and residential-light.
We took quite a few cabs from point to point, including transfers between airport and hotel. The drivers we had invariably seemed in deep thought and pretty much kept to themselves without any attempts to engage their passengers in banter. Excepting the first driver we had in the transfer to hotel: who largely mumbled to himself and indicated annoyance at the slow-moving traffic when we neared Sha Tin city center.
On the second day, we were in a cab returning to the hotel after the day’s events – when a wayward tree branch from roadside debris caused by the typhoon gets kicked up and hit the windscreen with force.
Me and my SG colleague: instinctively duck for cover
HK Driver: *yawn*
LOL. Incredible that the windscreen didn’t crack. The tree branch remained on the carhood for the rest of the ride – and only got removed when we reached the hotel.
While at the host institution for preliminaries before the actual conference began, a student approached me and asked a question in Cantonese. Specifically, the conference reception was occupying a fairly large area and students were not allowed in, so she asked if it was alright that she went through the barrier to get to her locker. Amused, I replied – in English as I can’t speak a word of the dialect – that I was not from her campus, but sure – go ahead as it shouldn’t be a big deal. The poor girl was a little taken aback that I wasn’t from her campus, apologized profusely, scooted off to the locker, and apologized some more on the way back haha.
I didn’t really check-out the street shopping areas this trip. But from what I saw in their shops in the malls I checked out, electronic gadgets at least didn’t seem cheaper in Hong Kong. I didn’t bring along a list of items to compare prices, but a casual check on handphone prices between Singapore and Hong Kong – e.g. for the Huawei Nova 3i and very new Galaxy Note 9 – showed that prices were essentially roughly the same. Ditto for Lego sets too. I was especially trying to hunt down models that are not distributed in Singapore – for example the Honor 8X Max and Honor Note 10 phablets – but they were nowhere to be found.
Lots of people also wax lyrical about street food in Hong Kong and also the cuisine at large. Maybe I didn’t get enough exposure, but I didn’t find the street food in HK better in quality or wider in range than what Singapore offers, and a couple of items were even less palatable for my tastebuds even. For example, barbequed pork I tried in two different places were extremely salty and nothing like the very slightly sweet versions we get in Singapore. And in Singapore, it’s at least easy to find a variety of food types that cut across races. In HK, most of what I encountered was some variation of Chinese food types or a fusion interpretation of it. By Day 3, I was pining for Roti Prata, or some form of Nasi Briyani.
Lots of ink have been spilled elsewhere about how rude Hong Kongers can be. The faculty staff I interacted with over the conference were all pleasant and engaging to banter with. But the service staff I met were a completely different matter. I’ve already posted about the service in the hotel, and I wonder if a reputed hotel chain like Hyatt can’t get its staff to at least be more warm and courteous to guests, how much more so for their own service sectors? Outside the Hyatt, a ‘thank you’ I offered each time was met with a cold blank stare at every restaurant I ate at over the five days. No returned smile, acknowledgement, or a ‘You’re welcome’. Waiters squeeze past you and any companion beside you without so much of an ‘Excuse me’, set the dishes down heavily, and turn away. Heck. Even the Chinese service staff I talked to during my trip to China were at least friendlier – they replied “没事!” (literal translation: ‘Nothing’ (to it) for our Ang Mo bud) whenever I expressed appreciation.
Still. I didn’t stay on the island long enough to have a convicted opinion about this, but I don’t think they’re rude. Rather, people in the service sector at least just all seem to be in a big hurry that maybe they don’t have time for niceties to each other.
All said, I was in the city for business/work and not really to sink or soak in the sights/smells/food, and Hong Kong has a lot to offer for sight-seeing and children/family-centered vacation activities.
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