On getting lost

People often say that the best way to explore and discover somewhere new is to go off and get yourself lost. I'd say that those people probably haven't tried getting lost in Hong Kong: it's literally impossible. There are directions everywhere, written in (almost) perfect English; there are signposts to stop you getting lost between the directions; the city is held together by an incredibly efficient transportation system, not to mention an abundance of the cheapest, safest taxis I have experienced in any capital city. All this is very well but means that the somewhat attractive problem of getting lost in Hong Kong has already been solved so it never takes very long to work out where you are, where you've come from and where you should be going.

My first attempt at getting lost was on my second day here. I got out of Sheung Wan MTR station and decided, quite delibertely, not to take my well- memorised -4- minute- route home, instead swinging a right and another right and a couple of lefts. I deliberated with the idea of buying some hot street food which looked a lot like tofu bits - but chickened out, deciding it was probably chicken anyway, and wandered on. I crossed a couple more roads until I saw the big green sign I didn't know I'd been waiting for: Vegetarian Food. In I walked, ordered myself a take away 'Budda's delight' box and accepted the little lady's offer of soya milk to- go. I helped myself to chopsticks as instructed and left, efficiently soon after entering, with my polystyrene box and polystyrene container, both wrapped in a tightly knotted warm plastic bag. Once outside, I chose a route that I thought would lead me homewards, but after about five minutes I came across a little square outside a big chunky building labelled Sheung Wan market. It didn't look like a bad option so I perched myself on a wall where other people were starting to gather and open similarly packed plastic polystyrene packages and pick away at the contents. An older gentlemen budged down a bit to give me more space, his face wrinkled as he observed my difficulty transporting slippery, mishapen bits of cabbage and mushroom from box to mouth. Personally, I think I did alright for my first PDCU (Public Display of Chopstick Usage).

When I got up to leave, I wasn't sure which way would take me home so I entertained that thought a little longer and climbed the steps towards the market, a three storey building in the centre of the square boasting meat and fish on Level 1, Vegetables and Fruits on Level 2 and Clothes on Level 3. Surely the perfect opportunity to get lost a little more? I took the escalator to the second floor where men and women sat behind displays of beautifully pruned bean sprouts in all shapes and sizes and bags and barrels of dried fish bits, which I have since decided must be used for stock and soups. I didn't intend to buy anything, I just wanted to get tangled up in the noodles and shrooms for a while. But, as happens in HK, even the market was tidily arranged- and after a well directed circuit of the stalls, I ended up back where I had started, sooner than i'd hoped. I decided it was time to brave the crowded streets again and attempt to get home. As I descended the stairs I noticed an already familiar MTR station sign facing me from across the road and I realised I must have wandered down to the next MTR station. But any hope of an adventurous trail home, up steps and back down steep paths, was soon dashed by a sign post pointing to our street "Hollywood Road". The MTR station sign was simply indicating an alternative entrance to the very same station I had walked out of 2 hours earlier. The city planning in Hong Kong is so spot on that almost everywhere is reachable from underground as well as overground. Most train stations have at least 6 different exits which are connected by miles of safe, well lit subways with toilets and shops and constant signs and signposts leading pedestrians to the nearest exit/ main street/ tourist attraction above ground. Needless the say, I wasn't lost, not even nearly: I was exactly where I should have been and from there it took me exactly 4 minutes to walk the already well memorised route home, checking the signs all the way.

Just follow the signs...

MTR signs: they're everwhere

A fine sign