Monday, December 21, 2009

Good morning, Tsim Sha Tsui

It is very rare to see the entrance to the Cross-Harbour Tunnel at Hung Hom so deserted. This is Sunday morning at 7 AM, afterall. Even as I take the photograph, however, the traffic is already picking up. The taxis keep coming, the double decker buses start piling up at the bus stop, ... I give up waiting to take another photo like this.

The church on Chatham Road has already opened. Two old ladies arrive quietly while I am taking the photograph. It is so peaceful around here I want to sit for a while. But I also want to see how other parts of Tsim Sha Tsui is doing.

Just around the corner, a young lady walking out of an alley seems lost. She is speaking into the phone, “I don’t know where I am! But I can see this Golden Flower noodle shop. ... You know where I am? Great! Please come to pick me up.” Then she walks back into the alley. I don’t know how she can be here without knowing what place it is. But she does not look scared. So there is probably no foul play and nothing to worry about.

The chance juxtaposition of the young and old makes up a microcosm of life for some of us. We keep looking for excitement but are really lost when we are young. Only after many years of struggles do we finally learn to appreciate peace and quiet. However, by then we do not have many years left to enjoy it.

A sweeper is cleaning up the street. They seem to be almost done. Judging from the amount of garbage in the dumpster, it must have been a big mess last evening. Just like any other evening here, I suppose.

I hear a noise that sounds like glass bottles crashing. I follow the sound. And I find a team trying to dump small mountains of beer bottles into the garbage truck.

A couple of blocks down, another team is hosing down the sidewalk on Nathan Road.

This is the way that Tsim Sha Tsui wakes up. More on it later.


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