Healthy Hong Kong

I'm back! After almost three weeks away on a business trip, I'm back in Hong Kong to start my 7th week exploring this city.

The time away has been good on many levels - connecting with colleagues and working with people in person again has been motivating on a professional level, seeing a close friend again after being away from friends since I arrived in Hong Kong was so refreshing I almost cried, and staying in a hotel surrounded by trees and birds and not hearing a constant drone of city noise was soothing. But no situation is perfect and I was ready to return to normal life on Wednesday evening. Things I missed about Hong Kong was the flexibility of using the MTR to get to work and not relying on taxi's, having access to shops and restaurants 24/7, a kitchen again to prepare my own food, and not living out of a suitcase. So I guess the usual experience for a business trip :-)

I have noticed the weather has got a little cooler, and the days a little shorter. Also with it I see the HK government have put up health awareness posters perhaps as prevention for any upcoming flu season. Fortunately they were also translated in English so I could understand:

Maintain Cough Manners

Washing Hands well

And my favourite - Use Antibiotics Smartly.  

On the topic of health, I have noticed that people smoke more frequently in Hong Kong than in Malaysia. Anyone who has been out with me will know how sensitive I am to smoke and that I will move seats in a restaurant several times to avoid it, even having left half way through my meal in France once because the people next to us were constantly smoking. If there is any topic that will get me fired up, it is the discussion of banning smoking everywhere in public.  So let's see more of these posters to ' Enjoy a smoke free environment'  please because in my humble opinion people smoke too much in Hong Kong.

Lastly, just a quick thought: How long IS the Angry Birds craze going to last? Today I saw this new display for limited edition merchandise. Surely everyone has conquered it and is ready to move on? I'm amazed at how marketing can drag things out, almost as bad as the USA election media coverage.