Hong Kong 2020

2020may01 • What was going to be a hectic trip with a flurry of events turned out to be 4 month long and counting.

For better or for worse, Covid-19 gave us a chance for some family time. Some long over due family time that we haven’t had in years. And there’s an indescribable joy to see family members slowly healing through disagreements and hardships.

Grandpa left us. It was a sudden and sad day. But he lived a full and happy life with his beloved wife and children around him, and I believe he’s leaving this world of pain and suffering for something better. He will be dearly missed.

Covid-19 struck Hong Kong somewhere in late January and the rest of the world sometime after. I was able to see firsthand, Hong Kong citizens taking upon themselves to wear masks and thus (potentially) limiting the spread. The government refused to close the border to Mainland China, a large source of the virus, causing uproar in the health community and one of Hong Kong’s largest medical staff strike took place. Just for a few days, when an outbreak happened, all the medical staff spontaneously went back to work on their own accord. And the government still would not take any actions. Much later, the government finally decided to close their travel borders to Korea and then the rest of the world, but still widely open to mainland China, who still had the highest infection rate at the time. There was a sudden panic buying and hoarding rice and toilet paper. And face mask, alcohol and hand sanitizers were so out of stock that people were lining up hours and paying obscene amounts for what used to be $30-40. Thankfully, that phase seems to be calming down a little, and masks are sometimes available around $300. Unfortunately, then there came the prohibition of group gatherings of 4 or above, theoretically to keep restaurants and businesses safe and operational, but it was also used as an “excuse” for the police to break down political opponents.

Unfortunately, on the other side of the world, Canada seemed to have slumped as restaurants were prohibited from hosting customers, and many chose to close during this time. Many retails and businesses that are now closed face many uncertainties whether they will ever open again even after Covid-19 passes over. The numbers of flight-related infections seem to have gone down, but there’s still limited flights going in and out, and prices and reliability are still iffy.

On a happier note, I did get more time to stay home and get started some projects that had been swirling in my mind for awhile. Maybe I’ll even finally get some done up and share?

Anyhow, that’s my “trip” so far. Sorry it’s not really a “travel“ anymore, but there’s many interesting corners in Hong Kong, which I’ll share if I come across them…