If you hadn’t noticed, I write about Hong Kong a lot in my posts.  For me, Hong Kong is so vibrant and alive; you can just feel the energy. At the same time, it has this other, beautiful nature side that includes beaches and hiking.  Now where I live is nice.  But it’s like comparing Manhattan to Hoboken.  There is a joke that goes something like this:

Why are New Yorkers always depressed?  Because the light at the end of the tunnel is New Jersey.

I might be a tad dramatic, but you get the idea. Well, things changed for me today and Jersey ain’t looking so bad.

Today I visited a place called the OTC to go to a farmers market.  Of course getting there was a bit of an adventure… as a quick side note; on the ride home, our taxi driver almost killed a man walking in the street, that is not an exaggeration.  So this framers market really could have been a hit or miss, but it turned out to be this artist enclave, full of little cafes and restaurants surrounded by chic shops and brick walkways. There was a band playing some great music and the arts and crafts were original and creative.  In short, it was awesome!

Then, we visited a museum whereupon I met a Chinese man named Huan.  Well, it turns out that he is one of the organizers of the current exhibit.  This exhibition is focused on World War II and the cooperation of between US and Chinese forces to defeat Japan.  The really great part about meeting Huan was his passion for this project.  He was adamant that people be aware of the sacrifices that American soldiers made.

It turns out that his grandfather was a Chinese general who fought along side US troops.  About 23,000 photographs were scanned at the National Archives in Washington to make this exhibit possible. I ended getting a bit of a backstage tour; I think he saw that I was genuinely interested in what he had to say.  Also, around the exhibit are these piles of dirt, which sounds silly, but they designed it this way because the fighting was over land, hence the dirt. It was inspiring. Well, the official opening is next week and it’s will be open for one month!

We ended our time there at this funky little restaurant bar.  I can’t wait to go back.

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