Eye of Modok

When I first got to Japan back in the eighties, I frequented Hong Kong for visa trips. Each trip brought new adventures, which serve as milestones in my life. Chung King Mansions was the hub to a whole new, somewhat nefarious lifestyle. I got my first dose of backpacking culture. I heard tales of lands afar, that I just had to visit. But, I had a life back in Japan that took priority.

The first thing you notice is the smell. A unique clash of strong scents, insense, spice and musk. Hmmmm, I smell Indian food! Plus thrown in a bit of grime. There was a certain dinginess to the place but it was relatively clean. Stalls all around where you can buy cheap clothes, electronics, bags… touristy kind of things. The real action took place upstairs, but you had to ride the world’s slowest elevator. This place could get pretty full, so lines could get long. That is, if there was a line. Sometimes, there was more like a mob. Imagine standing in line, waiting for the world’s slowest elevator to labor up and down14 floors, sweat dripping from the sweltering heat of the mid-afternoon. It can try your patience. Once you get on, you see these quaint buttons that light up faintly through the cutaway numbers and bell that dings on each floor. Pretty hi tech for whatever generation produced it.

The hostles upstairs were not bad. I generally got a small single room but on one occasion had to settle for a bunk. Once on the upper floors, there were travel agents that served as message hub and networking center. It was always infinitely cheaper to buy my ticket there than in Japan. For there more daring, you could also hear news of milk run opportunities, where you could go to Korean with a bunch of watches and come back with shoes or something and make $200 out of the deal. The rooms were small but not ridiculous (like the one I just stayed in) and often had decent airconditioning. I eventually learned it’s wise to test the airconditioner first.

This time, it was eleven years since my last visit, which was the last of a long chain. There was drastic change everywhere, tall building having sprouted all over, even in the New Terriotories. Chung King Mansions is largely unchanged. If anything, the Indian element is more embedded than ever. The crowd has changed though. It somehow seems to have gotten much seedier, though there were plenty of straitlaced travelers about. I’m glad I don’t have to stay there any more! Though, if I were to arrive here now in my twenties, I’m sure I would have.