I am visiting Honk Kong after almost 18 years.Was here as a tourist with a friend on our way back from the US in January 1990 for three nights.This time it is to visit Our elder son Abhiram and daughter-in-law Anuja who have lived here for about 9 months, after migrating from Washington DC.

Hong Kong has changed a lot. First the new airport in Lantau Island- very modern and much bigger, as compared to the airport on the main HK island where I landed last.
Also, the island looks cleaner,and better organised in terms of the public commute systems. Many new skyscrapers now adorn the central parts known as the commercial centre.
Btw, HK was a British Colony when I came last and now it is a Special Administrative Region( SAR) of China for the past one decade.It was bursting with business activity then, and continues to do so even today. There are fewer Britishers to be seen around though.Most of them left for home- not quite comfortable to continue to live in Communist HK, I guess.
The population is overwhelmingly Chinese with a noticeable floating population of tourists,and Business Executives from Mainland China,other parts of Asia, Europe and America. These Corporates are conspicuously seen strutting around in their formal or semi- formal attires, particularly around the Business District in Central HK.

The glitz and the glamour has been built around new Hog Kong with shining glass exteriors and the leading Fashion Designer brands flashing everywhere. There is very little of it's colonial past visible. Possibly by design, the new regime has tried to brush its "Western Imperialist" past under the new "progressive" carpet.

Dearth of English knowing people on the roads is a major handicap for tourists and visitors while dealing with Taxi drivers and shop keepers.This phenomenon, I wasn't able to figure out. Why the British who taught us Indians their mother tongue so assiduously failed to do so in HK? Was it an unwillingness on the part of the native Chinese to take to the language of the " uncivilized" occupiers of their mother land or lack of effort on the part of the rulers??

An overnight visit to Macau Island, an erstwhile Portugese colony and now like HK also an SAG of China has ben the high point of our visit. It was an hour's ride on a hovercraft from HK. There is more of Macau's colonial past to be seen, though much of it remains hidden behind the Las Vegas like gambling hotels, where a huge Chinese tourists flow, keeps trying their luck.The gambling instinct among the Chinese is quite pronouned, I am told. But the strict laws on the Mainland do not allow them to surface.

Real estate values and rentals in HK's central district surpass even Manhattan's. The lack of space in the main Island keep pushing prices up. Day to day expenses in Hk are much the same level as in NY, with less spent on the commutes beacause of cheaper taxi, bus and train fares .

A visit to the "Ladies Market" in Mong Kok and the adjoining Flower Market was a treat in terms of the variety of the merchandise at very affordable prices as compared to the shops in central district. But beware of the" enormous haggling" involved and the fairly aggressive salesmanship of the local ladies selling handcrafted items.

Well two more days of our very relaxed vacation in Hong Kong with our son and daughter in law trying their best to make it as memorable as possible so that we come back again and again - in a competitive mode with NY where our younger son and daughter in law live.

Bye and a very Happy belated Holi.