Help! Help!!!!! Anyone?

I'm walking down the street to my apartment when I hear a woman screaming. At first I think its just some friends in the middle of an escalating argument. Her screams get progressively louder and more frantic. 

When I turn around, I see a man sprinting towards me with a bag clutched against his chest. Behind him is a woman screaming, "My passport is in there! My passport!!" Accompanying the woman is a male friend who continues to chase the robber when he turns a corner. I instinctively reach into my bag to call the police but realize that I left it at home. I ask two onlookers to call the police. I get empty stares in response. Thinking that they don't understand Mandarin Chinese, I then approach another bystander and ask him to call the police. He takes out his earpiece when I say, "Excuse me?" but then puts it back in and keeps walking down the street after he hears my request. I then ask my doorman to call the police. He asks me, "Yea, but where is the robber?" Hello?! He's running down some alley - I don't know where he is! Apparently, if you don't see the criminal, there is no point in calling the police. How is this mentality helpful?

Is it that hard to help a fellow human being when he or she is in need? Apparently, yes. There were about 15 bystanders who were staring at the robber and its two victims. No one bothered to lift a finger to call the cops. 

Trucker Hats

One of my friends, John, was visiting Hong Kong back in April when he asked me about the trucker hat phenomenon. Young teeny boppers in Hong Kong indeed are sporting bulky trucker hats - not on their heads - but on top of their heads. I thought it was an amusing trend and started to take photos of kids with these trucker hats. They look quite funny with these gigundo hats protruding out from the top of their heads. I think its a hip hop trend...the more I see it, the more I like it. I guess thats how mainstream mags brainwash you with trends and get you to make wild purchases!

Top 15 Reasons Why I Will Miss Hong Kong

 

In no particular order...

1. Fantastic food

2. Clothes and shoes that fit perfectly for petite Asians

3. First-world city with third-world prices for certain services (spas, massages, laundry) and food; you don't have to be a millionaire to be pampered 

4. People from all over the world live in Hong Kong

5. Beaches and numerous hiking trails are just a bus ride away

6. Shopping, shopping and more shopping

7. The subway system - the cars are meticulously clean and run quietly; you get cellphone service inside the cars; the subway station is air conditioned; there are glass doors that open and close when the trains come to prevent accidents (like London's Jubilee line) 

8. The airport - runs efficiently; there is a cheap and fast train to get into Hong Kong's CBD; you can check in your bags in Central before boarding the train to get to the airport

9. Built-in closets and bedframes in the apartments

10. Taxi fares are cheap because the city is so small

11. You can live in a Soho / Village-esque area in Hong Kong and pay Battery Park / Brooklyn-

esque rent

12. Hong Kong's location is great for traveling around the Asia-Pacific area; Bali and a host of other cities are just a few hours away which is great for weekend trips

13. Nightlife is very accessible and in a concentrated area, making bar- and club-hopping extremely easy

14. Salespeople in stores are generally very polite compared to London or New York

15. Last but not least, my newfound girl friends who have made Hong Kong fun, exciting, memorable and fabulous ^c^ 

Cute Hong Kong Sayings

Having lived about a year in Hong Kong, I still cannot understand Cantonese, except for the occasional word/phrase that sounds almost exactly like Mandarin, i.e. dun ee dun (wait a minute). (I won't be using proper pinyin spelling in this entry.) One of my friends reassured me that one day everything will just make sense. I hope that day comes soon. I DO know how to say the following in Canto: my address, hi, bye, good morning, have you eaten yet?, yes, no, over there, here, please, thank you (used when someone provides a service to you), thank you (used for all other situations), etc.

Because of its unique history, Cantonese in Hong Kong has adopted many English words. Even written Chinese in Hong Kong is different, because some words use characters for phonetic translation. My Chinese teacher, originally from Beijing, said that she couldn't understand the newspapers in Hong Kong because some of the characters didn't make sense. It took her awhile to be able to comprehend the mix of traditional Chinese + phonetic characters that sounded out English pronunciations. 

Some of my fave Cantonenglish words include:

BB (baby - my absolute fave)
Dik-sieee (taxi)

Haa-Lo (hello)

Baah-see (bus)

Buh-bai (bye - I still can't get used to grown men saying this since in the US its usually kids who say bye bye ^c^)

Aircon (air conditioning)

-La (phrase added to the end of sentences to add emphasis - I just love it!)