No translation needed

Okay, so one of the things I've been wondering after my HK debacle is whether I really DO like to travel, since I did after all put it as part of my various dating (boy am I starting to dislike that word) profiles. My main memories of HK do seem to consist of being frustrated, tired, unable to communicate, and lost. (Come to think of it, there's probably a reason why mom mom never was fond of southern Chinese folk, and mutual incomprehension is hardly likely to generate warm feelings on either side.) But looking at my friend's honeymoon photos from Italy convinced me (as if I needed further evidence) that I am thoroughly Western in my outlook and mentality since I felt much more "at home" looking at those shots than when I look at photos of China, HK, or Taiwan. (It also makes me want to revisit Italy, but that's a dream for another day -- and another exchange rate.)

Part of what I suspect made the difference between my time in HK and my vacations in China -- or any other country -- is that during vacation, I generally had very little structured time (rigidly scheduling multiple activities in an unfamiliar country where you don't speak the language is just a recipe for stress, in my view). So on vacation, it didn't matter if I got lost, or spent a while prowling through back streets (one of my favorite pastimes in Prague and Ireland), whereas if I was late in HK (usually because I was LOST) then I knew someone was waiting for me at the office, or at a meeting, or for dinner, etc. That puts a whole new spin on things.

It's sort of like the difference between an episode of The Amazing Race and an episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, or between travelling with Veronica Lodge vs. Jughead. (By the way, I've always wondered what it's like to try to wrangle the incorrigible Mr. Bourdain for location shooting, and his director's blog entry, The One Thing You Don't Do, is hilariously enlightening.)

All of these ideas made me think of the importance of signage. Miami International Airport, for instance, has the WORST SIGNAGE EVER.

To demonstrate what I mean, imagine a normal street sign. Got it? Okay, now BEND that sign into a semicircle. With me so far? And NOW, put arrows on that street sign telling you where gate 52 is. Does that arrow actually point to the right? Or do they mean straight ahead? And who the f*ck thought curved directional signs was a good idea anyway?!

Have you EVER seen curved streets signs? I mean do THESE signs curve?? Granted, these signs are already a bit mind-boggling. Heh.

(By the way, you can click on any photo in my blog -- and probably anyone else's on blogspot.com -- and they will enlarge in a pop-up window.)

And the middle icon in the beach warning sign below from Cheung Chau really needs no captioning, does it? (You can read the bilingual explanations if you want to though.

Footnote re: Cheung Chau --
even though the signs were (relatively) straightforward, and there were many "You are HERE" maps everywhere, my companions and I still became hopelessly lost.

For example, this tourist map from a local resort -- as with many tourist maps -- is pretty useless: pretty, but useless. Whereas this hiking map seems more useful, but still left us lost.

(Additional sub-digression:
That is why the annual Hong Kong Directory is sold all over the city, and is about as big as the entire Rough Guide or Lonely Planet book for Hong Kong & Macau. The heavy guns are brought out for THAT resource, with maps which look like this and building name indexes, etc. ...but it usually still left me lost, as streets changed names and directions without warning, due to the terrain. I only wish I had bought the Hong Kong Public Transport Atlas early in my stay, to help save me from unexpected tours of HK while on a bus!)

But back to Cheung Chau (in case you forgot the original point of this rant) --
This confusion resulted in my locally-born & raised companions having many Cantonese conversations in which I did not participate. (Have mentioned that wandering around lost really sucks if you don't speak the local language? I did? Oh well. Just thought I'd mention it again.)

Of course there are some some which are supremely succinct (even lifelike!), and I will end today's post on that note.