HK more

People in HK and I suppose in China too do not walk on the grass. In parks, there are paths, and everybody stays on the path. There aren't actually fences or anything to prevent one from going on the grass, but everybody is content to remain on the path anyway. One Chinese friend tells me this is because if people were to walk on the grass, it would quickly erode since it could not handle the sheer volume of people who would be walking on it. You know how people go an lie on the grass in Central Park? Don't have that anywhere as far as I can tell. I will keep looking.

I'm in Hong Kong. I slept almost 8 hours last night which is a record. My friend Carrie from Guangzhou was here from Saturday til Sunday night. I forced her to eat vegetarian food, we were up on a roof garden on Hong Kong island drinking a beer, and we went to Lamma Island for a walk yesterday. After the debacle of the previous hostel giving away my room, I dug up another room not too far away in a sort of newish area adjacent to Mong Kok which may or may not be considered part of it, called Tai Kok Tsui. Very local from what I can tell. Carrie and I had breakfast (well she ate and I watched) at a very simple hole-in-the-wall breakfast joint on the street nearby, but the food was more Hong Kong style than traditional Cantonese from what I can tell cause they had things like toast and cheese instead of more traditional Chinese fare. It reminded me of this old place called the Rainbow Cafe in Chinatown which had similar Hong Kong style cuisine which mixes Chinese with Western. Oh yeah, she also had spam which I learned how to say in Chinese and translates as the optimistic "lunch meat." So I'd found this place where Carrie stayed for one night and I stayed one additional night to avoid moving yet again which I will do today instead. I found a place back in Tsim Sha Tsui which is affordable and will be down there for the 4 more nights of decided to spend in HK. It is indeed more expensive here than it was 3 years ago and I'm ready to move on to Shanghai so I can actually speak more Chinese and also get more bang for my buck.

The plan is to go Friday to Guangzhou by train, spend the weekend there, then on Tuesday I booked a flight to Shanghai as well as a place to stay there for about a week. I have several old friends in Shanghai and I have never been to the city, so I'm excited for the visit there. I'm booked through the 23rd of May and haven't decided where I'd go next. It depends how much I enjoy Shanghai I suppose. The nearby city of Hangzhou is a strong possibility for at least a few days. Suzhou is also very close and possibly a day trip from what I have heard. From what I understand it is a city filled with canals and other traditional-style homes and so on, but that may also mean that it is pretty much just for tourists. As for other possibilities, still considering Beijing though I think next I must look into how I'm going to get to Singapore where I must definitely arrive by around June 10-12 or so and from where I will pick up my already-booked flight to Mumbai on June 17th. Between my last booked day in Shanghai and then, there are about 2.5-3 weeks. It sounds like a lot, but I'm trying to pace myself and not go to too many places. Moving around too much can quickly get tiring. I'm looking forward to Shanghai where I will stay in the same place for one week and can focus on work and seeing my friends without the additional hassle of moving places every few days. I will try to do something similar for the rest of the trip whenever possible.

And so things take shape.