Just Like A Woman

Hong Kong is one beauty of a place that literally makes me catch my breath each time I see it, specially the Hong Kong harbor and its skyline. (photo credit: dawvon, creative commons)

That's the way it is now, that's the way it was when I was still very young and I first encountered visuals of Hong Kong skyline in a coffee table book on traveling that one of my uncles owned.

That's no mean achievement considering 1) my age at the time, and 2) not really being the type then, to admire anything that was in a book, pretty picture or not.

That book had been on the coffee table for as long as I could remember.  And I had ignored it too, for as long as I could remember.  It's a different story now, though. I don't only like books with a passion, I actually don't get annoyed with the author or the publishers even if they don't include pictures in it. Yeah, lame attempt at humor # 1. So sue me. lol

Anyway, good thing that on one extremely rainy day when there was absolutely nothing to be done, my idle hands finally decided to get busy and pick up that book.

I still remember how it felt flipping the pages, bored out of my skull. Then suddenly, wham! I saw THE picture. The Hong Kong skyline. It made me stare and kept me staring for some time.  Up to now, I still can't figure out what it was, only that it was enough to make me promise to myself that when I grew up, I'd make it a point to see for myself the reality of the photograph. And that's why you're reading this post now.

Hong Kong, the "fragrant harbour" is made up of Hong Kong Island, the New Territories, Kowloon and the other offshore islands, the biggest of which is Lantau. I haven't had the pleasure of exploring the New Territories yet, but I have no doubt that it's just as stimulating as the rest of the parts of Hong Kong.

Sophisticated, but also open to exploring and roughing it up some. That's Hong Kong.

As a financial hub, Hong Kong  can rightly boast of playing host for several decades now to numerous local and international business biggies. I don't want to commercialize this blog, so I'm not going to mention names, but you can check out what I'm referring to by going here: some of Hong Kong's major players.

At the same time, Hong Kong has also managed to hang on to a distinct homegrown charm. Exotic Orientalia can be found almost everywhere. From statues and busts of dragon perched on their stone pedestals outside many buildings (photo credit: http://www.photoeverywhere.co.uk, creative commons), to small stalls and side-restaurants that offer some of the most delicious Chinese fare you could find, ranging from the spicy, to the sweet,  the savory and what I call as just plain delicious.

The sights and tastes of Hong Kong are just of the reasons why I love this adorable lady.

Yeah, I think of Hong Kong  as a woman. Why not?

It's beautiful, just like a breathtakingly lovely woman. As Hollywood actor, writer and director Alan Alda said:

"What is beauty, anyway? It's more than something pleasant looking. If it doesn't stop us in our tracks and make us unable to move for a moment, unable to put into words what's closing off the breath in our throats, then maybe it's pretty, but it probably isn't beauty."

- Alan Alda

Welcome to an opinion piece by David Garcia.

 Got something to say? Feel free to comment. :)

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