Lifestyle from the Opposite Side of the World

Earlier this year my family and I travelled to Hong Kong. It had been a few years since we had travelled there, which meant that it was a fresh experience for me. There were many differences from the western lifestyle that surprised and shocked me but there were also many similarities that felt familiar and recognizable to me.

When we arrived, the first thing we did was have a meal together. When we were ordering the food, it felt normal as this is food that I usually eat. However, when the food arrived the portions were so much smaller than I was used to at home.

At first I thought that this wouldn’t make me nearly full enough and for the most part, I was right. But as I spent more time in Hong Kong, it became normal for me. When I think back about it there are two opinions that I have. My first opinion is that maybe consuming less food might maintain a healthier lifestyle for people; however, my second opinion is that you’re not getting your money’s worth when you are receiving a smaller portion. For me, I would prefer a happy medium where I have a good balance between the quantity of food and the price.

Not only are the portions smaller, but so are a lot of other things. For example, there are barely any houses in Hong Kong but instead many high-rises. Even things like shops and roads are relatively small. This makes sense because there is not a lot of land in Hong Kong but there is an enormous population. To adapt to this, they have basically shrunk common things.

I think that for the people of Hong Kong, they see this as something completely normal but for an outsider like me, it feels foreign and a little intimidating. But it leaves me wondering, do I really need a lot of space or would be more efficient to use less space?

Another difference that I noticed was the lifestyle of the people. I am used to stores and restaurants closing around 9:00 or 10:00 pm but I saw streets still full of people at 12:00 am. As a result, these shops and restaurants would open quite late during the day. This was extremely weird for me because I am used to waking up quite early in the morning. Once again, the first thing that comes to mind is whether this lifestyle is healthy. In my opinion, I think that sleeping early and waking up early is better than sleeping late and waking up late.

Something that fascinated me was the public transportation in Hong Kong. Compared to the subways we have, theirs is way more advanced. For example, they have many more lines, they run frequently, and the stations are better built. Since Hong Kong is a pretty small and dense city, they are able to take advantage of that and build a really intricate subway system that is very efficient and convenient for the people. With this in mind, I think to myself, why don’t we have something like this because it is certainly working for them.

I think that this trip to Hong Kong definitely made some strong impressions on me. As I have matured and experienced more things, I am able to appreciate the things I have and reflect on the different situations people are in.

I wish that more people could experience different conditions of life as it is a real eye-opener.