Hong Kong state of mind..

We have been living in Hong Kong for little over three years now, and our time here has been, in parts, fun and frustrating, exhilarating and exasperating, solitary and social. We lead very busy and full lives here, getting more and more attuned to the beat of this unique city with each passing day. How well we've fit into this life here comes as a bit of surprise to us because the decision to move here in December 2007 was a very difficult one. We had been living and working in Tokyo and were completely enamored by its charm, its people and its culture. We had also been traveling quite extensively in Japan and loving everything we saw. Hong Kong, on the other hand, had always come up short in comparison during the few brief visits we made here. The weather was always awful, dark clouds with pretty low visibility, road and lanes always crammed with shops, hawkers and shoppers alike, and apart from its fabulous skyline (it still takes my breath away sometimes!), very little spectacle to awe visitors. So with a very resentful heart and not without a few tantrums at work, we shifted base here, and for the longest time, just focused on the negatives. Apart from the aforementioned 'flaws' which continued to niggle at us, we would grumble about how rude the taxi drivers were, how people would rush into MTRs before passengers inside could get out, how there was no country associated with this tiny SAR and how in six months, we would be done with everything new and exciting Hong Kong has to offer.

Well, its been three years and counting, and I am happy to say we are still in Hong Kong and actually at peace with it. Sure, I can see dull, dark clouds out of my window as I type this now but I have seen sun-lit days too when the harbor goes aquamarine; shops, hawkers and shoppers still throng many narrow streets but I now know of quite a few streets where they don't; mainland China is the country associated with this SAR and contrary to my misjudged perceptions, it is an explorer's delight; I also know that taxi drivers are not really being rude, its just a matter of intonation! And what do I say of the presumption that we will be done with the place in six months - we are still exploring and still getting surprised, maybe not always pleasantly, but good outweighs the bad and there is always something else to look forward to after each experience that didn't end so well. And then there are positives we had never even thought about. Hong Kong is a major travel hub in Asia so its quite easy for us to travel out of the country and also to get back in touch with so many friends and relatives who keep dropping by either in transit, for work or just for fun. Hong Kong is not a major culture center but the performing arts scene is reasonably vibrant - we tend to attend more live concerts/musicals/plays in a year in Hong Kong than we did in all our time in Tokyo. Public transport is quite comprehensive and safe and has been a faithful accomplice whenever I've headed out to an unfamiliar part of town armed with just my phone and an Octopus card. I think I can go on and on about what I now appreciate about Hong Kong, but I am pretty sure you get the point already. 

Almost every place in the world has its set of pros and cons, and only when you appreciate the former and tolerate the latter do you fall in love with it. I have been in love twice, and I think I am well on my way to falling in love third time over. The transformation has been gradual - it wasn't love at first sight like it was with Seattle, nor a short and intense courtship like Tokyo, but more of an arranged marriage that with time has matured into a deeper commitment. I think I first got an inkling of this in fall of 2009 when, after a long trip to some of my favorite places in the US, our flight (Cathay of course, we need our miles!) landed at HKIA and both of us went, that was a great trip but feels so good to be back home!