Step One was getting out of the mall we called home and onto the streets of Hong Kong, where I found myself angling through crowds in a crazy dance. The city byways were not only packed with foot traffic, but every other intersection was in the throes of demolition. Detours routed pedestrians this way and that.
I jostled, bumped and careened through cars and trucks and hordes of people. It was a shock to step out of our quiet apartment, swoosh down inside a silent elevator and then — whoa — slam into a mass of humanity that made Manhattan seem tranquil.
Persevering, I came upon an alley with a row of small booths, each one stacked with knockoff designer handbags, sneakers and sunglasses.
Okay, just a little look-see. Studying the goods, I picked up a running shoe, tried on a pair of glasses, then got quite excited when I found a snappy four-dollar backpack in a booth piled with flowery luggage. Sold.
The damn thing lasted exactly two months and fell apart in my hands the day I flew home.
My Hong Kong browsing also took me through several Watsons drugstores, where I discovered inexpensive toiletries. I developed a real affection for these stores, but how many jars of skin cream or tubes of toothpaste did I really need?
Drop it. Drop the shopping thing.
The green-and-white Star Ferry slipped across Victoria Harbor, from Kowloon Peninsula to Hong Kong Island. After this breezy trip, I jumped on a bus that traveled a twisty route straight up to Victoria Peak, the highest mountain on Hong Kong Island. Because of the area's subtropical climate, the peak's hillsides are a mass of verdant jungle into which soaring apartment buildings are precariously built. Condominiums in this neighborhood sell in the millions of dollars, ranking Hong Kong real-estate prices third in the world, behind London and Monaco.
Hong Kong's population of nearly seven million is squeezed into about 425 square miles. Views from Victoria Peak to the harbor are spectacular. Hong Kong is the banking center of China and its ports serve a worldwide community in trade and commerce. This combination of factors has buyers lined up and prepared to shell out exorbitant amounts for homes aloft in the clouds.
On the bus ride up, I craned my neck to see cemeteries cut into the mountainside. Far below, on tiny green fields, I could see what looked like insects chasing an itsy-bitsy soccer ball. I don't suffer from vertigo, but at this dizzy height I breathed deeply and chose to trust the driver. What else could I do?
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