Something I Now Appreciate that I Didn't Before

Went to do some shopping in Mongkok and Dong Men (mainland) in the weekend.  There were so many people and everyone was in a rush.  It was borderline chaotic.  I had to become a total jerk just to make my way through the crowd.  Tricks include: acting like a crab and jutting your elbows out, put your fists in front of your chest to prevent someone from shoving their bodies/accessories/other items onto your sensitive parts.  I would've grown some quills or needles if I could but this is all I could do...

There's an incredible work culture that propels people to get to work Monday-Friday.  It really doesn't help that everyone's financial burdens are piling up because of the currency rate.  The price of goods and services are going up rapidly, but pay is staying the same.  Inflation is bound to happen.  We must thank the US for this.  The hours are long (imagine a primary school teacher working until 7pm), work is tedious, and locals only get to relax on weekends.  People usually go to malls because they are air conditioned.  It's too hot to go anywhere else!  Malls are mostly empty on weekdays and crammed with people on weekends.  On Sundays, Filipino domestic workers get a break and hang around the busiest locations like Admiralty, Central, Shatin, and Tsim Sha Tsui. The approx. 6 million people swarming together makes me panic even though I'm not claustrophobic and I get a really bad acid burn in my stomach thinking about it.  I miss the large open spaces in Toronto where I can keep people at a 1m distance from me simply by stepping backwards. 

I find it really strange that  (generally speaking) nobody enjoys their work because it is not meaningful to them.  Most find it a drag and hope to score big bucks at the Jockey Club, which, by the way, funds a lot of education, art, and recreation-related projects in Hong Kong: Jockey Club Primary School ($92.74 million, HKIEd),  Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre ($94.4 million, Shek Kip Mei), Jockey Club Government Secondary School (Kowloon Tong), Jockey Club Auditorium ($66.26 million, HK Polytechnic University), Jockey Club Ti-I College ($84 million, Shatin) and Jockey Club Amphitheatre ($56 million, HK Academy for Performing Arts).  This is one of the only places I actually would say, "KEEP GAMBLING, FOLKS."

note: more info about Jockey Club here.