Is Hong Kong populated by Zombies?
Yes, you know what Zombies are....the undead humans who stumble blindly (yet determindely) toward the living, intent on grappling with them, and perhaps taking a chunk of flesh from them!
When I first arrived in HK a few months ago I thought I was imagining this phenomenon. But after a few weeks of zombie dodging I felt compelled to compare notes with my fellow 'nouveau arriveés'.
Each of them had similiar stories to relate - how walking through HKIA on arrival was like dodging sleep walkers on a mission. How this later turned into a realisation that the 'sleepwalkers' were in fact wide awake, but zombified!
No matter how puny or undernourished they might appear, no matter what age or gender, the zombie walker never alters course. Even when confronted with an ankle destroying luggage trolley they hold their ground.
Even if you are a 6ft Germanic rugby playing fitness freak - they plough on, in a dead straight line across your path. Or on head on collision course. Dodging them is futile. They suddenly halt in front of you, to snort the night air, deftly sidestepping your attempts to circumnavigate them.
This is obstructionism with a deadly will.
And its not only the airport - they infest every mall and street in the city.
Zombie dodging soon becomes tiresome.
In the end my Germanic friend found a winning formula.
When confronted with a zombie walker, he loudly and flamboyantly hawks up a loogie. This seems to snap them out of their catatonic reverie, and they flee like vampires before the dawning light.
SARS triumphs all Evils.
Aside from that, Hong Kong ain't bad.
So far.
Cheers.