A Description of the Indescribable

I'm not sure how to tell you all about Hong Kong, probably why I've been a little more silent. I'll try to touch on a few key points.

Terrain

There is Hong Kong island and there is a mainland portion of Hong Kong. However, unlike many places close to the water in warmer climes, the islands are all mountainous. Even more so, there is a lot of green space that hasn't been touched. The city is densely packed, but there is still a lot. I tried the metro today, and I could get around, so the city is definitely doable without a car.

Space

I don't know how to communicate this one. Everyone deals with a lot less space. I may have told you about the dry cleaners that is basically set up in a hole-in-the-wall and does all of its business right there. I don't know how they manage, but all the clothes that you give come back to you in 24 hours too.

Cars and Driving

Everyone is on the left (this being a former British colony). That has been normal for those of us in SE Asia, where everyone except Vietnam was on the left, but has been different for those people in China. However, people drive FAST here. The taxis, the expensive cars, even the trolly's far faster than most cities I've been to. The cool thing is, there are three traffic lanes in most part of the city that would generally only constitute two lanes in an American city, and, somehow, people all manage to stay in their lanes. I don't know how they do it going as fast as they do, but they do.

Shopping Malls and Shopping

The malls here are huge, and there are stores everywhere. I don't know how some of these places survive and I don't even know where to get statistics to get a sense of what I want to know about this place. The malls are big, but they are also like mazes and you just have to walk around them with a big smile and big eyes. It can be overwhelming. You can find pretty much anything here, and the prices are a little less expensive than in the United States.

Tipping

You don't tip here, at least not in most places. Some places will automatically add some gratuity. Truthfully, I like Singapore. Tipping is not expected in Singapore, but you can add a dollar or three if you think service is good. That way, it's not expected and a person really is rewarded for the good job that they do, and that job is rewarded based on their performance, not based on the ticket items of your meal. In places where they don't tip, you generally don't get any service, but in places like America, you are often obligated to tip and the waiter or waitress often has their wages deducted because of expected tipping.

American tipping also has the side problem of some people trying to upsale you to something you may not want, dis-incentivizing people from going out because you have to do math or bother with calculating tip (not a problem for me, but a complaint I've heard from time to time).

Generally, I like the idea of tipping, but it would be good if it really were tipping, and not some just you paying out the wages of the waiter or waitress and being expected to do it except in cases of really bad service. To tell the truth, my mind is not totally made up on this, but I rather liked the Singaporean model.