Night and Day

Some more sights in Central. I told you they have cool buildings.

And the famous outdoor escalator. It may seem silly, but when everything is on a hill, rush hour traffic (or the idiot parade, as I like to call it) is a nightmare, and it's 35 degrees Centigrade outside (95 F), this is not such a dumb idea.

I spent a little time in Kowloon on my first (brief) trip to Hong Kong, but I decided to come back to have a better look around. When I was here before, I had used my points to stay at a nice hotel, but this time, I walked a bit to check out what might be the most notorious landmark in all of Hong Kong.

This is Chungking Mansions, built in the early sixties for residential use. It now has apartments, hotels, shops, and eating establishments and is estimated to house 4,000 residents. It is the place to find the cheapest accomodation in Hong Kong, with good reason. It has a history of over-crowding, unsanitary conditions, fire safety hazards, murders, drug dealings, and all sorts of illegal activity, although it is supposedly safer now (to what extent, I don't know). I only ventured in a little way because it was not exactly pleasant. I will spare you the pictures of the inside, but let's just say that between the smell, the scant lighting, the poor maintenance, and the menacing stares, it was not a place I wished to spend much time. This is the side of Hong Kong that people rarely see. Kowloon is located across the harbor from Hong Kong island. (This view might look familiar, except this time it is not obscured by fog.)

... so I had to take the ferry home.

(Close up of my land reclamation project. Doesn't this look like a picture of toy trucks in a sandbox?)

On my way home, aboard the tram, someone asked me if I lived here. Without hesitating, I answered, "Yes." Whoops -- that wasn't the right answer. But fortunately, when she asked me how to find her stop in the next town, I knew the answer. I guess I really have been here long enough to say I live here.