Singapore instantly reminded me of Florida: the humid hug as you exit the airport, the trees, the houses and the vibe. And nobody wanted to take photos of me anymore. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little sorry about this. Restaurants now didn’t welcome “outside food and drink” (a pleasant surprise of SE Asia where almost everywhere was happy for you to use their toilets and facilities).
But it was also distinctly Asian: not quite as clean, shops open to the street, street cafes and lots of Asians. Hong Kong was different to all other destinations on my trip so far in that it was truly multicultural – part of what made it feel like London. Whilst it’s clearly not just locals, we’re back to the majority being of Asian descent.
It was a bit sad to leave HK:
But some great views from the plane:
It was dark by the time we were walking to our hotel, located in a non-touristy area. And with the night came the nightlife: gambling, prostitution. No photos, obviously. Stalls on the street hawking medicines were a first for the trip (it looked like Viagra and the like – even though this is not my area of expertise, it didn’t take a lot of imagination to guess what they were selling).
Tomorrow we start exploring, but we’ll go to the city centre for that 😉