A small Bering Air plane that crashed with 10 people on board in Alaska has been located, authorities have said.
20.01.2025 - 00:57 / insider.com
When I told my family I was planning a trip to Hong Kong, they responded, "Why? Isn't Hong Kong similar to Singapore?"
In some ways, they are right. Hong Kong and Singapore — where I grew up — are often compared to one another. Both cities have high population densities, serve as global financial hubs, and are known for being expensive.
But on a four-day solo trip there in January, I was surprised to see how different the cities were.
On my first night, I settled into a cozy beef noodle restaurant and was mid-slurp when a middle-aged man sat across from me at my table. Without even a glance in my direction, he ordered his dish and tucked in.
Although initially confused, I learned that table sharing, known as dap toi, is a dining norm in the city. The practice isn't meant to be intrusive, nor is it an invitation to make conversation. It simply arises from the lack of space and the need for efficiency.
It makes sense. Hong Kong, a city slightly smaller than Rome, has a population of around 7.5 million, per its mid-2024 census. Yet, government data from 2018 showed that only about 24% of land area is built-up. The result is a densely populated city where space is a luxury.
Hong Kong is not a city for the soft-spoken. I learned the hard way that you must speak up to get what you want — on minibuses, at least. Also known as public light buses, minibuses provide an efficient mode of transportation to areas that Hong Kong's standard buses may not easily reach.
On route to the start of a hiking trail to Braemer Hill Peak, a spot to catch sunset views of the city, I took a minibus to avoid the 1-mile climb up. When the minibus reached my stop, however, it simply zoomed past and traveled back down.
As it turned out, not all minibuses have "stop" buttons that I was familiar with. Instead, passengers alert the bus driver when they want to get off by saying "yau lok," which means to stop the bus in Cantonese. It was, not surprisingly, a daunting task for an introvert.
On that day, I resigned myself to walking back up the hill and avoided minibuses for the rest of the trip.
If there's one thing that fueled my desire to visit Hong Kong, it's the food. The city is a foodie's dream, with 79 Michelin-starred restaurants in 2024. Local cafés, or cha chaan tengs, and open-air food stalls, or dai pai dongs, are also mainstays of the food scene.
I was eager to try Hong Kong-style French toast. Unlike French toast in the US — typically pan-fried and served with maple syrup — Hong Kong-style French toast is usually stuffed with peanut butter, deep-fried, then topped with condensed milk. The dish was introduced to Hong Kong during British colonial times and evolved to adapt to local tastes and ingredients.
When I attempted to
A small Bering Air plane that crashed with 10 people on board in Alaska has been located, authorities have said.
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