Hong Kong, Day 2

Ah, the funness of getting a Visa. I spent my first, eh, 2 hours today waiting so I could hand over some papers (which took a grand total of 5 minutes, at that). I get to go back tomorrow to pick up a paper which will allow me to get my Visa when I fly into Taiwan (hopefully). We'll see how that goes when that comes around...

But it was kind of fun running into this Buddaist monk that I kept running into at the airport in Taiwan, and who was on my plane, and then again, running into him at the Visa office today. If I see him again, I might get a little paranoid.

So today was hot and humid. It took a lot out of me today - as around 6 pm I came back to the hostle, and minus a dinner run about an hour ago, I've been sitting in my bed watching an assortment of television programs I don't really understand.

I'm also not sure if I made a good decision by making this trip as long as I did. Don't get me wrong, Hong Kong is pretty cool. But it's also (according to some random survery) the 5th most expensive city in the world - behind Tokyo, Osaka, Moscow and Geneva.

Going back to yesterday's blog, I said it seems that there are most non-natives than Hong Kongians. Well according to the all mighty Wikipedia, 95% of Hong Kong residents are...native. Only 5% of the population is foreign born (which means not Mainland China/Native Hong Kong). But I did like this one sentence from the Wiki page: "The remaining 5% of the population is composed of non-ethnic Chinese forming a highly visible group despite their smaller numbers."

Which brings me into one of my "favorite" things to do: ignore touts.

"Hey buddy, do you need a shirt?" "Hey buddy, do you need a suit?" "Hey buddy, you want a replica of this watch?" And they follow you. And then start talking in their language (mostly Indians - so pick a dialect). I'm sure they don't say very nice things when they swich to speaking in their language.

The place on Nathan Street where I'm staying is called The New International Guest House, which is in the Chunking Mansion. And the Chunking Mansion is the epicenter of the "Hawking Club of Greater Hong Kong". I mean, I walk up 5 blocks or down towards the water 2 blocks, and all I'm gonna hear is "Hey buddy...", but if I get off Nathan Street on any parallel street, it's like I'm in a different world: one without "Hey buddy..."

It is kind of humorous though, and since I am staying at this place for 6 nights and I'm paying under $200 US, if I have to taser a few touts from time to time, so be it.

The Frank Turner concert is tomorrow, which is something I've been looking forward to for some time. I'm expecting it to be "ace", and have no reason to believe otherwise. Maybe I'll even get a picture with him this time.

Tomorrow will be my geek day. I'll try to hit up some of the museums (there are a lot in this area), then pick up my Visa paperwork, come back here, then head off to the concert.

Anyhow, until next time...