Hong Kong Highlights

I've moved on from Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) by way of Bangkok.  However, before I leave China and its territories in my wake, I wanted to share with you some of the most interesting and strange things I saw along the way in Hong Kong.

Pedestrian Traffic

As a former British colony, traffic drives on the left side of the road in Hong Kong.  That in itself is not unusual.  I guess because of this traffic pattern, when you go down into the subway you are generally instructed to walk on the left-hand side of the tunnel or stairway as demonstrated in these photos.  However, once you get above ground, everyone walks on the right-hand side of the sidewalk.  The left-hand side pedestrian traffic pattern isn't even universal in the subway stations as I've seen other stations where passengers were directed to walk on the right.  To me this is all very unnecessarily confusing.  There are already enough people in Hong Kong to make it nearly impossible not to walk smack dab right into someone as you walk everyday down the street.

Bamboo Scaffolding

To me this is just baffling.  Instead of strong steel scaffolding, many buildings under construction will be surrounded with scaffolding made entirely by hand out of bamboo.  I saw the first example of this near my hostel in Mong Kok and thought it was just an isolated incidence.  However, when I was riding the tram with Eric on Hong Kong Island, he kept pointing out more examples of this strange building practice.  I mean I suppose bamboo is a strong wood, but it can't possibly be stronger than metal.  The fact that Eric pointed it out already indicates that it is quite an unusual method.  When I asked him how it could possibly be strong enough to sustain so much weight, he admitted that there had been a few accidents when it was especially windy.


Outdoor Sex Shops

As I was leaving the seafaring temple in Hong Kong I passed a few vendor stalls that were either being set up or taken down for the day.  I wasn't quite able to tell.  Either way, it was still broad daylight at about 5:00 in the afternoon.  One of the stands I passed is the one that is pictured above.  Yes, you are seeing that correctly.  It is an outdoor sex shop selling sex toys that any random child couldn't walk by at any time.  I really just can't even...


Obama Teaches English

This last sign for an English language school is just something funny that made me laugh.  I'm not sure which came first, the name or the president.  Either way, I'm sure it's quite a successful marketing technique.

In other news, happy birthday (yesterday) to my dad!  Hope it was great!  Love you.