Much to my surprise, it appears I have not gained weight since my last post. This completely disapproves the old wives’ tale of “you are what you eat”. At this point I should be a bowl of rice or noodles if that were true. I cannot stress enough that the almost absurd quantity of restaurants is my paradise. With such low cost to eat, I find myself saying “eh, I bet you I could squeeze in another bowl of noodles or two”. As that phrase was coming out of my mouth a few days ago walking down a popular food street, I stopped dead in my tracks. I noticed a tall cage that was meant for the one animal that can send me from 0 to 100 at the snap of a fingers. My fear of this animal makes me feel a little more like Indiana Jones. That’s right. Snakes.
Apparently, the restaurant doesn’t mess around with their “Snake Soup”. From a FAR distance away, it looked roughly 6 feet in length and as thick as an average person’s wrist. I’m not sure who was more startled, me from seeing the snake, or my friends from hearing the shriek come out of me. Usually I slowly pass restaurants so I can attempt to imagine what kind of amazing things are happening in the kitchen. Not this time. I got in the starting line position like I was ready for a track race, did the arm stretch like Michael Phelps, and SPRINTED by the snake’s cage faster than you can say “CRIKEY”.
I can’t even begin to describe the amount of noodles I had to ingest in order to recover from that traumatic experience ;). Maybe I just used it as an excuse to get food at midnight after already eating two dinners.
I use an example like that to show such differences in the norms at home vs. across the big pond. Hong Kong is arguably as advanced if not more than America. Thus, there are times where it feels as though I am right at home. However, there are extreme exceptions to this that fall on both ends of the economic spectrum. A difference of two blocks can mean walking in what feels like a third world country, to passing Gucci, Rolex, and Versace retailers. Despite such social class differences, it’s so refreshing to see all the smiles on the faces of those that seem less fortunate. How interesting is that? Going back to the old wives’ tale theme, “money can’t buy you happiness” is on full display in Hong Kong. It’s so common to see someone in a three-piece suit walking up to their $150,000 car with a smug or angry look on their face. Turning your head, you can see someone grinning ear-to-ear showing what little teeth they still have left. That smile shines brighter than the flashing lights of the city. Really puts things into perspective.
Until next time,
Jake