Monday, September 18, 2006

Proponent of Good Aesthetics : Me

Back from Hongkong!
My 3rd time there, but tHe most fun and amazing overseas trip I ever had.
Shopped alot too. muhaha.
But what was most eye-opening is going to HK with a knowledge of architecture. Only then can one understand the difficulties, systems and everyday lifestyles of its people and what they have to face. It was totally different from my last HK trip in 2004, after O lvls and before I came to SP.

Things I love about HongKong, in relation to Singapore:

-THE SHOPPING! OMG OMG OMG!. It's almost reason enough to justify the 4 hour flight over there. lol. k. i sound like some overexcited teenage girl gushing about clothes. BUT REALLY LA. SINGAPORE SUCKS COMPARED TO HK FOR SHOPPING. The streets near to CBD (Causeway Bay) transform into a mecca for all things young and retail, with tightly packed shopping malls stuffed full of tempting shops or all sorts of cool apparel, clothes and accessories. Of course, most cater more to girls than guys, but the variety is still amazing. Prices are terribly high at some places, though. Other than Bugis or Heeren-style malls, night markets (Mong Kok) and glitzy, branded goods malls (HK Island's malls) represent the other two extreme ends of the retail therapy that almost seems to be a religion amongst the youth over there, who are obviously better dressed than the couldn't-care-less people in Singapore.

-Commuter Connectivity. Okay. time to get more architectural here. HK's skyscrapers often have malls for the first few floors, but unlike Singapore, practically every mall is connected to each other via walkways. HK's commuters can travel from home to work without their feet ever touching the actual ground level. This is a tempting vision of the future of cities: where the street level is not the ground level, and cities expand upwards, towering into the air. Imagine having a busy main street 80 storeys in the air! Not only does this increase human traffic to the malls, it also allows pedestrians to be kept safe from cars, pollution and the scary HK weather. (While I was there, Typhoon warning was at level 1 (pouring rain and terrible visibility, and an minor earthquake of 3.5 on the Richter scale also struck.)

-Public Transport. Although slightly expensive, public transport is fantastically efficient. MTR trains run under the city, providing quick access to every major part of hk. Public buses are regular, quick and far reaching. Trams provide extremely cheap, quick commutes through the CBD area. No real complains about public transport, except that it is often terribly crowded and require many transfers, meaning you cant have a good sleep on the way to school! (unless you live in the far-flung new towns)

-Spectacular Architecture. HK's skyscrapers are famous around the world. The recently completed International Financial Centre is HK's tallest, soon to be superceded by the International Commerce Centre. IM Pei's Bank of China tower and Norman Foster's HSBC building are instantly recognised landmarks in one of the densest cityscapes in the world. But other than spectacular office towers, 26 of the 50 world's tallest residential buildings all call HK their home. Their tallest RESIDENTIAL tower is 80 storeys high! In addition, its older, dilapidated Kowloon areas also provide a fascinating insight into one of the most densest and vibrant metropolises in the world.

Things I dislike about HongKong, in relation to Singapore:

-Urban Chaos. Hong Kong is a chaotic city. period. Brothels share the streets with herbal medicine shops. Older buildings look as if they were cobbled together in a day. A vagrant sleeps face down on the floor of a busy walkway, under the shadow of multi-million dollar towers of commerce, while MTR passengers push past you if you walk a little slower than them, as if you were a weaker rat in the race. Yes, HK is definitely a city worth studying and enjoying, but I would definitely not want to shorten my life a little more by living in such a mess of pollution, and this is how one learns to appreciate what Singapore has done for itself, in keeping pollution low and its streets clean and green. Yes, it may appear boring to Western tourists, many of whom love to oogle at the urban decay of Asian cities and feel superior about their own ultra-developed home country, but keep my home city clean, green and boring, not unsafe and messy, I say!

-Bad social graces. yeap. People chiong for MTR seats, push past you if you are walking a little slower, hustle and shove, spit everywhere, all the bad manners that remind me of an underdeveloped mainland Chinese city rather than the glitzy Asian capital of commerce. Get up from your seat and some woman rushes at it within the next split second. At least in Singapore, they WALK to their seats, and OFFER IT TO OLDER FOLKS. and dont SPIT THAT MUCH (heck, I saw spittle on the COVER of a DUSTBIN. obviously the person has poor aim and missed -_-).

-Pace of life. Relentless! People walk as if they were robots, mindless drones in a city driven by profits and business, everything is fast-paced, impatient and quick. yes, it is a great place of business, but if you are looking for some peace and quiet, don't go there.

-Cost of living. Everything is slightly more expensive than Singapore. A graduate fresh from university can only afford the monthly rental of a 500 sq ft flat, about the size of half the living room of the 5-room HDB flat I call home. Mac's and KFC cost about S$1 more than Singapore. Claypot rice from a seedy, streetside eatery that is neighbour to a brothel cost S$5. Clothing and apparels are most often about 10-20% more expensive than Singapore. A subway single trip ticket for 4 stations cost me about S$1.50. Overall, in 5 days of daily commute on the MTR and Bus with their equivalent of EZ Link, I spent S$40!

-Lack of nature. HK is a city of business, and it shows. The CBD is completely devoid of trees. Like Hyde Park of London or Central Park in New York, greenery is concentrated within small pockets in the middle of the city. However, these parks are very interesting and individually unique. For example, the public park in Kowloon has a beautifully landscaped pond full of pink flamingos, and the park on HK Island near the CBD neighbours the botanical gardens, the zoo and has an aviary. Also, city planning is set to inject much more greenery into HK, with huge, lengthy promenades full of trees all planned and under construction. Also, HK residents with a love of nature often take short hikes to the outlying nature reserves, like one of the university students I met over there, who goes hiking every weekend.

Cities I wanna visit next, in order of preference:

-Rome (Italy)
-Paris (France)
-London (England)
-New York (USA)
-Tokyo (Japan)
-Berlin (Germany)
-Reykjavik (Iceland)
-Dubai (UAE)
-Jerusalem (Israel)
-Seoul (South Korea)
-Barcelona (Spain)
-Madrid (Spain)
-Moscow (Russia)
-Prague (Czech Republic, 2nd visit)
-Vienna (Austria, 2nd visit)
-Cairo (Egypt)
-Vancouver (Canada)
-Pyongyang (North Korea)
-Shanghai (China)
-Lagos (Nigeria)

Major cities I have ever set foot in:

Malaysia:
Johor
Kuala Lumpur
Malacca

Thailand:
Chiang Mai

Australia:
Sydney
Brisbane

China:
Shenzhen
Beijing
Tianjin
Macau
Hong Kong

Taiwan:
Taipei

Europe:
Vienna
Amsterdam
Prague
Lucerne

Of these, the trips to Australia, Taiwan and Macau happened when I was still a little kiddo. So I don't remember much about them at all. Yeap. =)

Sigh. Haven't been to the US, or much of Europe, Russia or Japan. Wish I could...

jOhn thought at 3:15 PM