Having stayed on the two main islands, ‘Central’ and ‘Kowloon’ in Hong Kong, I could not help but wonder how diverse they both were in not just lifestyles but outlook as well.  In my opinion, Central, the main business district of Hong Kong exudes a sophisticated look whereas Kowloon has a charmingly festive nature to it.  ‘Central’ reminded me of the famous C.B.D. Connaught Place and Kowloon’ bore the look of a famous shopping area by the name of Karol Bagh, located at New Delhi in India, my permanent abode. Kowloon is the southern tip of the peninsula and faces Hong Kong island. Taking a ferry ride from one end to the other, I noticed the diversifying nature of the two islands. My visits to the Victoria Peak offering panaromic view of all of Hong Kong also cemented this hypothesis.  Central has the commercial office skyscrapers such as the architectural marvel 70-storeyed Bank of China building, IFC mall, The Ritz Carlton hotel and financial office complexes dotting the landscape.  Tall buildings having reflective glass facades are interlinked with well connected elevated walkways, which are meant for pedestrians.  The vehicular traffic is segregated neatly on the lower metallic road surface.  The Mid-Levels escalators are a continuous series of escalators connecting Central to Mid-Levels residential area which is high in density.  One can see people in formal office attire walking to their offices or maybe going to a deli to grab a bite during lunch hours.  Some might be sitting along the water fountain sculptures outside Exchange Square, just relaxing for a while.  Kowloon, however has a unique charm to it.  Just as one approaches the periphery, the looming structures of Central are forgotten and one can see the curving concrete walls of the Cultural Centre and two museums next to it.  There are always some people loitering around the Victoria harbour, looking towards the sea at the Avenue of Stars or maybe even trying their hands at angling.  The Sound and Light show, which occurs every night at 8 pm, should not be missed, especially when viewed  from the Cultural Centre, where music plays, so complimenting the smashing display.  It offers a scenic view to watch the Symphony of Lights wherein the tallest buildings of Central and Wan Chai district near it throw laser lights in perfect coordination with one another.

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Unlike Central where there is a well organized segregation of traffic, here one can see people walking on the sidewalks or crossing the roads even while traffic is in motion.  These are mostly shopaholics or merry makers dressed in colourful casual attire.  The smell of sea-food is just around every corner as there are abundant quick-food stores to grab a bite from.

The Mirador Mansion and Chung King Mansion on Nathan road offer Indian food items, so one can see quite a few Indians in the vicinity.  Most of the Indians residing in Hong Kong prefer to stay in Tsim Tsha Tsui in Kowloon.  The Kowloon mosque close to the Kowloon Park is quite a prominent landmark there.  The Harbour City mall, which is the largest mall in Hong Kong with more than 700 shops in it, has Grade-A quality serviced apartments, which are the Gateway apartments where I stayed mostly. 

I fell in love with this place as I met many women like me who were accompanying their working spouses and taking care of kids.  We called ourselves the ‘travelling spouses’.  My friends came from all parts of the world and we all had some common thoughts to share about Hong Kong, which culminated in it being extraordinarily appealing despite its size.

Let me bring to light my theory of the conflicting nature of the two islands by two cases in point. Lan Kwai Fong, an area in Central is nothing but flashy.  Just as one starts walking on the steep incline towards it , one can see overhead neon sign-boards of restaurants flashing from quite a distance.  The street carnival once in a year has the Mardi Gras parade in it too.  A DJ would be re-mixing retro music, a juggler would be entertaining people at a corner and a street would be dedicated just for toys for kids. 

However, a visit to Mong Kok in Kowloon would offer you flashiness of another kind.  A temporary market street in Mong Kok sells a wide range of apparel wear, toys, shoes, gift items all at good bargain prices.  It is a hot-spot with foreigners who want to pick a whole lot of things at a price which would not dig a hole in their pockets.  The Temple Street at Yau Mei Tei is a great place to shop during the late hours.  There is a lot of hustle-bustle ensuring safety for women.

When I started writing this article, the purpose was to highlight the conflicting nature of the two main islands within Hong Kong be it in lifestyles of people or simply the streetscape which has been either planned out well or maybe come about naturally.  However, during the course of putting my thoughts down on paper I realized that comparison between the two is a daunting task.  The two are so unique and charming in their own ways that one can just appreciate these two independent entities.  Be it the sophisticated elegant ambience of Central or the festive outburst of energy which Kowloon seems to have, they are both always on the move in their own directions.  They would never merge and that is how they would resplendently shine by being so diverse.

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