HK Hankering For

I’ll let you in on a little secret about our Hong Kong trip: I was a little tentative about HK the first day we went around.

Don’t get me wrong, I eventually enjoyed my stay and had a blast celebrating the New Year’s Eve by the harbor and shopping the first two days of 2011. I actually want to go back sometime soon if only I’d win the lottery or someone is gracious enough to gift me with a free trip. With shopping allowance to boot please?

Looking back, I was able to determine the most plausible cause of my initial apprehensions. I expected a completely European vibe from a destination which seems more Asian cosmopolitan than Old World European. Unreasonable expectations cultivated by romanticizing my JTA European getaway. Good thing, my friends and our MTR and mall sprees helped me metro back to appreciate HK for what it offered. The rest, as they say, is a blissful and sometimes flamboyant four days.

Just like my Euro-glazed HK initial disappointment, we usually compare new things or experiences to something similar we have encountered before. Such comparison often leads to the un-appreciation of one or the other. When you compare, eventually, you’re bound find one inferior to the other. No two experiences can satisfy you as much as the other right? And though you’ve found the other as better, the fact that you have compared it has rendered it less magical than when you viewed it just on its own.

Thus, when we anticipate a new experience, relax your expectations, let the experience be and appreciate it for what it’s worth. Comparing it with any previous experience does no justice for both. Each experience is unique and beautiful on its own. We won’t be able to appreciate the totality of each experience if we keep on comparing it with previous ones.

Everyday will then be worth anticipating and appreciating if we let each day and each experience unravel its magic by itself.