moving on up...

...not to the East Side, but "suburban" Pokfulam.

Until Monday, I lived in the Sai Wan, or Western District of Hong Kong Island, neighborhood with my grandfather. Sai Wan is a typical urban district in Hong Kong, with lots of tall apartment blocks. Street life is busy - and noisy - with lots of small shops and eateries catering to the local Chinese population. A few tourists take the tram or double-decker bus to visit the neighborhood, but English is not widely spoken. This aerial picture, while not specifically of Sai Wan, does capture the density of a typical urban neighborhood in Hong Kong.



When I told people of my move from Sai Wan to Pokfulam, the typical reaction was "Waah! You're going to be in the middle of nowhere! And it's going to be so quiet!" My new residence is only three kilometers from my last one, yet there is no street life to speak of: no restaurants, and only a 7-Eleven for shopping. Only a couple buses and no tram cars pass nearby. Yet does it really look like I'm living in the middle of nowhere?



As for being "so quiet"? Um, did I mention my new residence is a student dormitory? For some strange reason, there isn't much demand for dorm rooms in the summer. As a result, these rooms are available to rent - and at quite a discount. Maybe I'm showing my age here, but I had forgotten how loud 20 year-old college guys can be! Especially at 3 o'clock in the morning, when us older folk tend to be, um, sleeping...