Sign in or 
Share this
Listening
Listening
This was the first time in my life ever been to Lan Kwai Fong. To me, Lan Kwai Fong was a strange world. I didn’t drink, I didn’t dance and I didn’t speak good English. Therefore, I had never been to this place before and I didn’t know how to get there either. When I first came to this place, I felt very excited. There was full of people, most of them were foreigners with very different faces and clothing. But one similar thing which was not difficult to find was that they used English to communicate with each other. I heard dialogues in English while I passing by groups of foreigners. English seemed to be the official language of Lan Kwai Fong.
Lan Kwai Fong was located in Central District, which was near many company's offices. During office hours, Lan Kwai Fong was relatively more quiet than during happy hours. Yet, no matter what time it was, there was always foreigners there! This was also an area for young professionals and expatriates to relax and have fun. They were usually well-educated. So, they could manage both Cantonese and English. They were bilingual. They could speak in fluent English even when they were hanging out with friends. I could easily figure out local speaking in English. They all dressed formally in black, high heel shoes and holding famous brand handbags. Hanging out with friends in the bar was really a good choice for them to relax.
The Bars and restaurants were great too. Each of them was playing fascinating soundtracks and pop music. Most of the music or songs were western style or in English. I also saw a club that had a live band performance. The music created an exciting atmosphere for the customers to dance and drink in the bar. There were also people from different part of the world and I could hear many kinds of languages except English . They were Filipino, Pakistani, Nepalese, Indian and Thai, among of others.
When I was wandering around the street, it was not difficult to hear those south-east Asian languages. Usually, they gathered around and mumbled, but they never entered any one of the restaurants or bars. They just stood in the corner giving Lan Kwai Fong a mysterious color. At the end of the gradient, there were many Thai, Indian and Vietnamese restaurants. There were Indian promoters holding the menus and greeting new comers enthusiastically. They could speak several languages, if they saw a local Chinese, they would say “nei hou”; if they see Japanese, they say “konichiwa”. Although they were carrying a very strong accent, I could still understand what they said.
They were a good example showing that Lan Kwai Fong was a multi-cultural melting pot. Sometimes I wondered what language I should use when I wanted to order food in a restaurant. Actually, I found that I could use any language I liked. I interviewed a waitress in a Thai food restaurant. She said that there were people from different parts of the world. Japanese, Thai, Indian, American, European and Korean were the people she met the most in Lan Kwai Fong. So, English, Japanese, Cantonese, Korean could be heard easily.
However, she didn’t have to speak different kinds of languages, only English and Cantonese was enough for her to serve the customers. I examined the restaurant; I saw there was an Indian chef who was making the Indian pancakes and a Pakistan waiter getting the order of some English couples. When I was being fascinated by varied spoken languages in LKF, suddenly,sitting next to us, there was a local Chinese couple chatting in Cantonese. It felt like that the conversation brought my mind back .I was still in Hong Kong.
Having heard different kinds of languages in Lan Kwai Fong, I could say it is definitely a place proving that Hong Kong is an international city.
This was the first time in my life ever been to Lan Kwai Fong. To me, Lan Kwai Fong was a strange world. I didn’t drink, I didn’t dance and I didn’t speak good English. Therefore, I had never been to this place before and I didn’t know how to get there either. When I first came to this place, I felt very excited. There was full of people, most of them were foreigners with very different faces and clothing. But one similar thing which was not difficult to find was that they used English to communicate with each other. I heard dialogues in English while I passing by groups of foreigners. English seemed to be the official language of Lan Kwai Fong. Lan Kwai Fong was located in Central District, which was near many company's offices. During office hours, Lan Kwai Fong was relatively more quiet than during happy hours. Yet, no matter what time it was, there was always foreigners there! This was also an area for young professionals and expatriates to relax and have fun. They were usually well-educated. So, they could manage both Cantonese and English. They were bilingual. They could speak in fluent English even when they were hanging out with friends. I could easily figure out local speaking in English. They all dressed formally in black, high heel shoes and holding famous brand handbags. Hanging out with friends in the bar was really a good choice for them to relax.The Bars and restaurants were great too. Each of them was playing fascinating soundtracks and pop music. Most of the music or songs were western style or in English. I also saw a club that had a live band performance. The music created an exciting atmosphere for the customers to dance and drink in the bar. There were also people from different part of the world and I could hear many kinds of languages except English . They were Filipino, Pakistani, Nepalese, Indian and Thai, among of others. When I was wandering around the street, it was not difficult to hear those south-east Asian languages. Usually, they gathered around and mumbled, but they never entered any one of the restaurants or bars. They just stood in the corner giving Lan Kwai Fong a mysterious color. At the end of the gradient, there were many Thai, Indian and Vietnamese restaurants. There were Indian promoters holding the menus and greeting new comers enthusiastically. They could speak several languages, if they saw a local Chinese, they would say “nei hou”; if they see Japanese, they say “konichiwa”. Although they were carrying a very strong accent, I could still understand what they said.
They were a good example showing that Lan Kwai Fong was a multi-cultural melting pot. Sometimes I wondered what language I should use when I wanted to order food in a restaurant. Actually, I found that I could use any language I liked. I interviewed a waitress in a Thai food restaurant. She said that there were people from different parts of the world. Japanese, Thai, Indian, American, European and Korean were the people she met the most in Lan Kwai Fong. So, English, Japanese, Cantonese, Korean could be heard easily.However, she didn’t have to speak different kinds of languages, only English and Cantonese was enough for her to serve the customers. I examined the restaurant; I saw there was an Indian chef who was making the Indian pancakes and a Pakistan waiter getting the order of some English couples. When I was being fascinated by varied spoken languages in LKF, suddenly,sitting next to us, there was a local Chinese couple chatting in Cantonese. It felt like that the conversation brought my mind back .I was still in Hong Kong. Having heard different kinds of languages in Lan Kwai Fong, I could say it is definitely a place proving that Hong Kong is an international city.
EN2707 |
Latest page update: made by EN2707
, Nov 6 2009, 8:11 PM EST
(about this update
About This Update
Edited by EN2707
656 words added 6 images added view changes - complete history) |
|
Keyword tags:
None
More Info: links to this page
|
There are no threads for this page.
Be the first to start a new thread.
