My Love Affair

I am drawn to the neon
Like a moth to the light
I am swallowed by the noises
Like the Titanic in the Atlantic
I am taken by the people
Of this land of 7 million.

With her
myriad of colours and flurry of activity;
the clutter of her streets and the maze of her buildings.
This land of 8 dragons, long lost cousin of the ninth.*

Her people,
Plastic specs and streetfashion wear
Seemingly single-minded
From apparel to attitude.
But of unbroken spirit. And grit. And doggedness.

These uncertain times
Between Tung and Tsang
Ominous(?) clouds of change from the north...
What lies in store for the
Land of Mickey Mouse and sharks' fin?**
Will her past 150 years
be a reflection of the next?


*Writer's note: Apparently the reason Kowloon is called Kowloon is cos this emperor came to HK, saw 8 peaks, and decided they were 8 'dragons'. He then promptly named the place Kowloon (he being the 9th dragon). but here the ninth dragon refers to China.

**Sidenote: Disneyland WILL be serving sharks fin, despite protests from environmentalists. In this tussle between (archaic) custom and modern day environmental issues, I say Help save the millions of sharks that are killed each year! (though i must confess i have eaten sharks fin before. but i try to not do so any more.)

Hong Kong

(rudimentary knowledge of cantonese is required)

Siwei, Shaan, Ruxin and I
Bound for Hong Kong from May 6 to 9.
Four bleary eyed faces catching the 6am flight
(Side warning to all: UA's space IS rather tight.)

Of canto we knew about as much as 你好,
多謝，mm該，and 便D好無?
So struggle we did, Lost In Translation
Thank goodness for our guides, Lik Man and Anson.

买东西，吃东西，we did aplenty,
From 女人街　to 罗湖 'twas a consumerism frenzy
The streets were overflowing, the buildings exploding
Such that even for dinner it took us an hour in the queuing.

It poured into a yellow storm warning on Monday
So we camped out as Espirit--could have stayed there til Tuesday
Then it came to an end, this short 4 day sojourn
And head back for Singapore they did--Siwei, Ruxin, Shaan and Her Bird.

Writer's Note:...
To RX, Shaan & Siwei: yo, had a great time on this trip, glad we did it! :) if u guys have photos pls share! I've posted some up, email me for the link. Shaan, hope your bird made it back safe and sound. ;)
To anyone else who might we reading this: This poem's rather short and I don't think it's very good but ah well, I wrote it for the fun of it I suppose and as a sort of keepsake for the trip. Anyways, hope at least it was vaguely entertaining. heh. ;)