Shek O
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
Our first day in Hong Kong was a blustery cool one. We headed for the south side of the island.
We first traipsed across the city to catch a bus for a town with the unlikely name of Shek O. The landscape rather than the village itself that was what turned out to be worth seeing. With rocky headlands pointing south into the sea, and the seemingly thin soil only supporting low scrubby vegetation, the area was like a warm version of British Columbia or perhaps Nova Scotia.
And warm it was. With strong sunlight and gentle wind, the long beaches and brightly-painted village lanes were quite a bit more comfortable than the city had been. Kenny liked the beach but not the actual surf. I don't know why he's put off by the waves but man he wants nothing to do with it. He was far happier to be up on some rocks pointing down at the waves and commenting.
One thing we noticed early on was that Shek O seemed to be a bit of an English-speakers destination. There were plenty of expat couples. And surprisingly few mixed couples (but perhaps I'm measuring that by Tokyo's standards).
As we climbed about on a long rocky finger that stabbed out eastward, we came across a succession of wedding photo shoots along the shore. The houses here were larger, and there were more fancy cars parked around the streets. Cars with custom license plates.
Living in Tokyo, I'd forgotten how annoying custom plates are. Seeing a Mercedes parked at the side of the street is nothing. Seeing a Mercedes with the license plate "B1G PETE" parked at the side of the street is an irritant.
We compounded that irritation by heading for the town of Stanley further to the west. We'd read that there was a market worth checking out, and "casual restaurants" for lunch.
It was a big disappointment.
The market turned out to be a rambling collection of tourist junk stalls, and the restaurants along the bay turned out to be a very pricey expat scene. Our lunch came to $US80!
The expat community in Hong Kong seems very different from that in Tokyo. I'd always felt that the Tokyo expat community was a bit insular and spoiled but now that I've seen the Hong Kong version I know better. The English-speaking foreigners here just don't mix with the locals, and we certainly didn't hear any of them speak a word of Chinese. There seemed to be a strong inclination to flash around a lot of money, too. Again, I'd noticed this in the Tokyo environment but here in HK it's really something else.
By comparison, the group around the dinner table tonight was almost entirely comprised of mixed couples. There were three Anglophone men with their Japanese wives/fiancees, and one Anglophone woman with her Japanese husband. Even the couples present without a Japanese component were mixed, with one set from the opposite ends of Europe (Hungary/Ireland) and the other being American/Chinese. The conversation, as ever, veered into Japanese depending on the mix of participants.
I suppose my antipathy toward the flashy expats here in HK is a form of reverse snobbery (if there is such a thing). I think I'd have a hard time living in such an insular community, though.