Claire and I are getting to know Sai Ying Pun better, the name
of the area we will be living in soon. We keep making comparisons with SYP
being to HK what Brixton was to London when we moved there:
- A leftfield choice for ‘people like us’
- Rougher and readier than normal expat areas
- Somewhere we find ourselves in a tiny minority
- Has its own distinct charms and unexpected+cheap eateries and bars;
- Surprisingly close to the centre, with glimpses of the city’s big buildings flashing between tower blocks.
- Somewhere I struggle to be understood by the locals to begin with (see 12.11 – though I can do 1-10, “hello, my name is” now)
However, I cannot stretch the comparison to the cornershop. If 7-11 is the Tesco Metro equivalent, the pictured is the 24-hour shop equivalent. That shop could be divided into 3 ‘departments’: booze+fags, chocolate+crisps, household items for the desperate.
The HK shop has three very different departments: fresh fish (that live in little tanks below this display before being chopped up on the street), fresh veg, fresh meat. Plus, where the only foot hazard in Brixton was the occasional vomiteer in search of late-night alcohol, the HK shop is a different kettle of fish – we had fishwater lobbed on our feet as we walked past it yesterday.
Nonetheless, the veg does look tasty close up. Once we master our ‘how to buy stuff in Cantonese’ lessons the week after next, we may even get to test out that theory...
- A leftfield choice for ‘people like us’
- Rougher and readier than normal expat areas
- Somewhere we find ourselves in a tiny minority
- Has its own distinct charms and unexpected+cheap eateries and bars;
- Surprisingly close to the centre, with glimpses of the city’s big buildings flashing between tower blocks.
- Somewhere I struggle to be understood by the locals to begin with (see 12.11 – though I can do 1-10, “hello, my name is” now)
However, I cannot stretch the comparison to the cornershop. If 7-11 is the Tesco Metro equivalent, the pictured is the 24-hour shop equivalent. That shop could be divided into 3 ‘departments’: booze+fags, chocolate+crisps, household items for the desperate.
The HK shop has three very different departments: fresh fish (that live in little tanks below this display before being chopped up on the street), fresh veg, fresh meat. Plus, where the only foot hazard in Brixton was the occasional vomiteer in search of late-night alcohol, the HK shop is a different kettle of fish – we had fishwater lobbed on our feet as we walked past it yesterday.
Nonetheless, the veg does look tasty close up. Once we master our ‘how to buy stuff in Cantonese’ lessons the week after next, we may even get to test out that theory...
No comments:
Post a Comment