This is the first time I've been able to see my blog since I left home. China is weird in that you can post to your blog all you want but you can't see it. Go figure. I guess it says something for the quality of writing that you can access xanga from China but Blogger....that's a negative.
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Right now I'm kicking around Hong Kong. I'm in the Chungking Mansions (actually read this link...it gives a decent description) on the 17th and top floor. Pray there is no fire. This place is a post apocalyptic nightmare. There are at least three seperate tenant blocks only easily accessible by elevator although you can use the stairs as I found out earlier today. Primarily the population consists of Africans, Indians, and Pakistani's who hassle you to go eat in their restaurant or if you need a cheap tailor as you come through the bottom floor's front doors. From that point on you realize you're inside an immense and living creature. The bottom floor is a honeycomb or stalls and shops that sell knockoff clothing, bollywood DVDs, food, bags, electronics, phonecards and anything else you can probably think off.
The smell of curry and cumin blasts over you from the numerous Pakistani and Indian restuarants that reside in C block. Jen and I got brave the first night we were here and tried one on the fourth floor. The inside was decorated with pictures of the Haj and we were the only customers ...not a really good sign. There were several pieces of art on the walls inscribed with illegible arabic script. The food was actually suprisingly good and cheap for Hong Kong. We had Rogan Josh and a chicken curry dish. I didn't get sick.
During peak times the two elevators that lead to the numerous hostels and guesthouses in A block are crowded with people pushing and fighting to get on board. To solve this they've hired a guard who regulates the elevators on the ground floor. If too many people get on the elevator alarm will sound and it won't move. This morning I took the stairwell and decided to never do it at night, or ever again for that matter. It makes no sense. You head down the stairway and every window is broken out. The floor looks like it hasn't been swept in years. As you approach the ground floor it gets worse. Only in the center of the staircase can you see the floor. Along the edges dirt has accumulated over the years. Wires, pipes and conduits ran exposed throughout the staircase. On the third floor the staircase ends and you follow small yellow laminated signs in Chinese and English that say "Exit to ground floor -->". You walk the length of the floor to another staircase and continue the downward journey. At the bottom you don't finish in the building but rather it spits you out into an alley next to a man selling bags and another washing off the pavement with a bucket of water in the early morning.
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Right now I'm kicking around Hong Kong. I'm in the Chungking Mansions (actually read this link...it gives a decent description) on the 17th and top floor. Pray there is no fire. This place is a post apocalyptic nightmare. There are at least three seperate tenant blocks only easily accessible by elevator although you can use the stairs as I found out earlier today. Primarily the population consists of Africans, Indians, and Pakistani's who hassle you to go eat in their restaurant or if you need a cheap tailor as you come through the bottom floor's front doors. From that point on you realize you're inside an immense and living creature. The bottom floor is a honeycomb or stalls and shops that sell knockoff clothing, bollywood DVDs, food, bags, electronics, phonecards and anything else you can probably think off.
The smell of curry and cumin blasts over you from the numerous Pakistani and Indian restuarants that reside in C block. Jen and I got brave the first night we were here and tried one on the fourth floor. The inside was decorated with pictures of the Haj and we were the only customers ...not a really good sign. There were several pieces of art on the walls inscribed with illegible arabic script. The food was actually suprisingly good and cheap for Hong Kong. We had Rogan Josh and a chicken curry dish. I didn't get sick.
During peak times the two elevators that lead to the numerous hostels and guesthouses in A block are crowded with people pushing and fighting to get on board. To solve this they've hired a guard who regulates the elevators on the ground floor. If too many people get on the elevator alarm will sound and it won't move. This morning I took the stairwell and decided to never do it at night, or ever again for that matter. It makes no sense. You head down the stairway and every window is broken out. The floor looks like it hasn't been swept in years. As you approach the ground floor it gets worse. Only in the center of the staircase can you see the floor. Along the edges dirt has accumulated over the years. Wires, pipes and conduits ran exposed throughout the staircase. On the third floor the staircase ends and you follow small yellow laminated signs in Chinese and English that say "Exit to ground floor -->". You walk the length of the floor to another staircase and continue the downward journey. At the bottom you don't finish in the building but rather it spits you out into an alley next to a man selling bags and another washing off the pavement with a bucket of water in the early morning.
