“Hong Kong is a 3D city”, said an HK veteran in our first
couple of days when walking around the bustling Wan Chai area. Initially, I was
nonplussed by this – what did he mean? The buildings are so much higher than elsewhere?
Something about its vibrancy? When he went on to explain, he meant neither of
these things, but I did not grasp his point until I went searching for a head
torch (hash #2 today, at night).
This photo shows 298 Hennessey Road. What did I see? An entranceway
to residential flats; a restaurant. Definitely not a massive electronics centre.
I had forgotten the 3D HK lesson: don’t forget to look up.
In the west, you get multi-levels shopping centres, but on the high street what
you see at eye level is what you get. In HK, space is at such a premium that normal
retail premises can span multiple businesses, tens of floors up from an
unassuming front door. A restaurant on ground level might be printers on floor
1, a beauty salon on floor 2, a masseuse on floor 3. You have to train your
eyes to look for it…I still don’t have the knack.
Eventually, I found an unsigned small opening right of the restaurant
that revealed floor after floor of tiny businesses in rabbit warrens of booths,
selling every conceivable electronic good. Including head torches.
So, purchase made, I’m off running with strangers, in
the dark, on unlit forest trails. With beer. What could go wrong?
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