1) great (efficient, thorough, cheap and varied) public transportation. i have never had a driver’s license and never will, and having access to quick and cheap public transportation is essential to my quality of life. when i lived in north vancouver, five days a week i needed to get to school, and there was only one bus that took us there, and it came every 37 minutes.

2) when i am awake at 3am and know that sleep is another 90 minutes away, friends in canada will be able to talk with me

3) it costs less to fly from hong kong to bangkok or malaysia or shanghai than it does to fly from toronto to vancouver

4) dim sum, yum cha,,,whatever you call it, i love it.

5) kids wear uniforms

6) we don’t get shows like the OC; peer pressure is much lessened for teenagers.

7) you dont get clumps of kids grouped on street corners that make suggestive remarks when you pass.

8) this is a very safe city. i have always felt safe walking alone in the dark, i can leave my handbag and a baby in the shopping cart and dash over two aisles to pick up something i forgot.

9) domestic helpers

10) sebastian is learning his geography not according to city capitals or prime ministers and weather patterns, but instead each location is where his friend’s parents are from.

11) mango pudding

12) the fruit. cheap as chips and so delicious and available, all year round., starfruit, lychees (!) pineapple, durian (KIDDING), coconut

13) the flowers – franjipani in particular, although i did buy a pot of pansies the other day, in honour of my gran.

14) wet markets. i love outdoor wet markets, crowded walking areas, with various pudles you need to step around, the old scales they use to determine the cost of your purchases, the long eared, bright eyed cat (tail optional) that during the day you see curled in a corner, and at night keeps rats and mice away. i love wetmarkets.

15) walkers crisps and timtamms. beautiful british and aussie imports…

16) my friends. whether they’re bringing girl scout cookies back from north america, captain featherstone dolls for carys from australia, or phenergan from the uk to help the kids sleep on planes….or making me laugh or sharing with me, supporting me, watching after my kids after i chase one lone crawler on the playground, i love my friends.

17) that you can be at louis vuitton, chanel and balenciaga, and ten minutes later in a wet market. hong kong has no boundaries, the possibilities are endless

18) it is a clean city. much cleaner than most cities

19) the smell – hong kong has an undefinable scent. it is not the heavy humid scent of south eastern asia, it isn’t all pollution, or the flowers…hong kong exudes excitement.

20) the beauty of the rainforest canopies.

21) the animals. yes, i am talking snakes, spiders, bugs and others, but these are fascinating critters. my dad, pam and i once saw the most incredible fight between a spider and a wasp. the spider was trying to climb back to its web, and the wasp kept flying down and stinging it. amazing to watch.
snakes are incredible. they have the toughest hide imaginable. and really, how talented do you have to be to move around like that? they’ve got abs i can only dream of. and have you ever looked closely at some of the bugs? their ability to blend is incredible. preying mantis. incredible. watching them walk …i could do that forever. did you know a turtle can survive without its shell? and that terrapins are (apparently) different than turtles?

the crunch of the killed cockroach, admittedly, i can do without.

22) the chotchkes. hong kong is filled with stuff. buttons, figurines, bits and bobs, stuff from the cultural revolution, fake jade, real jade, pearls, ribbons, materials…some of it is utterly ugh, but others of it is really interesting. one of my favourite possessions is a ceramic figure of mao sitting in an armchair with a spittoon beside him.

23) cheap massages. okay, it is obvious they haven’t taken courses… and occasionally you get a masseur that talks on their mobile phone while walking on your back, but on the whole, $50 canadian for 90 minutes of massage makes me smile

24) the different districts. i love living in pokfulam, because of the space. but there  is something to be said for the less spacy other areas, wanchai…how it goes from restaurants to bathroom fixtures…happy valley, little tiny dress, etc and coffee shops, central, soho, lan kwai fong, tai koo, sai kung…each district has its own flavour.

25) banyan trees

26) the old kai tak airport. tomorrow i will post old pictures of that much loved hairpin turn airport.

i might add some more, and please, suggestions are welcome.