I went to an island for a dive and left the camera on the beach. I asked the boat operator if we could go back to look for it, after knowing the fuel cost and the possibility of finding the camera would be slim, after raining all night I estimated it must have been swept away.
I planned on leaving to south Philippines and took a bus for about 4 hours north to go to Sandakan. A little town on the north east tip of Sabah, Malaysia, it’s close to the Philippines and I could take a boat. After arriving in Sandakan, I heard of a big typhoon that was hitting the Philippines and because of Eid Al-Fitr (when Muslims celebrate the end of Ramadan – the month of fasting), I was told I have to wait few days for the boat to leave. Finally I decided to just go to Hong Kong and from there get a visa to go to mainland China. I took the bus again to the east to Kota Kinabalu, which is a bigger city compared to the other one, and I was able to find more stores and bought another camera.
Arriving in Hong Kong
This is my second visit to Hong Kong and the main purpose to come to Hong Kong is to get a visa to mainland China. Since I didn’t apply for a visa in Canada, the only other place to get a visa to mainland china is in Hong Kong.
The modernity and organization easily noticed when arriving in Hong Kong, but more than anything else, the one thing I kept asking myself, how they could fit 7 million people on this little space. Hong Kong with all its islands is only 1000 square kilometer, it’s very small, it consists of many islands and the main island name is Hong Kong. With all the limited space they have, they were able to maintain vast green spaces, in fact only 25% of the whole area is developed, it has also to due with the landscape being mostly steep mountains. You don’t see a building less than 30 stories high and very few built on the mountains. Anytime you ask someone whether a local or an expat about Hong Kong they will always say that there are too many people. The view of the city is fabulous especially when you go up to the Victoria peak or from across the pearl river in Kowloon peninsula. The transportation system is one of the most efficient in the world; I read that almost 90% of the population use public transportation, the highest in the world. There are many western expats who work and live in Hong Kong, mainly in financial markets. When I compare Singapore which is another neat and organized city to Hong Kong, I still prefer Hong Kong more. I find the city has more character with the beautiful mountains, the neon’s billboard and the rich Chinese culture.
