Hong Kong | (Not So) Silent Night

It’s Christmas’ Eve. The city is boiled up in high spirits to celebrate. As befit the tradition, the night-time street celebration and parties are preceded by the specious clam of the day. Shopping malls are packed with last-minute shoppers for gifts. As the city becomes lit up with the opalescent hues of the gold and silver glitters, locals and visitors, clad in Christmas colors and, sprawl the streets like ants. Banners that say “Be patient, follow the police’s instructions” are hung everywhere along both sides of the harbor, on promenades where at least half a million people congregate for entertainment rally and street celebration. Crowd management is a new term that is born of this Asia’s world city. Part of the Hong Kong experience is to elbow your way through crowded, serpentine streets, jostle through subway trains and get in line for literally everyday conduct of life.  I at all expense am staying home, cooking up an American-style feast for my family: Baked turkey stuffed with mushrooms, German potato salad with Japanese fish roes, baked honey ham, and pears pie.