A City a story” photo weekly contest #30 BRIDGE

Hello there, how's it going everyone? Submerging for a whole week, I had a hideaway in Bangkok myself. My previous self travel was about 9 years ago flying to Italy. This Bangkok hideaway means so much to me and I had countless fun and memorable moments there.

Talking about bridges, what bridges mean to you? To me, bridges are designed and constructed to connect people together and getting people closer. Without bridges, people may take longer time to commute at best or they may not reach each other at worst.

Bridges crisscross over Hong Kong, any length or size, you name it.

Bridge on the Kowloon peninsula side, about to enter a cross-harbour tunnel.

Bridge on the Hong Kong island side

Bridge on the Hong Kong island side

Bridge on the Hong Kong island side

I met two taiwanese ladies there, one of them have been working in Hong Kong for nearly 5 years. Both of us agreed that Hong Kong is packed and has more-than-enough infrastructure literally connecting people together. A metaphor that can explain: It is always a breeze that one can reach another person who is within a stone's throw. Having said that, both of us couldn't agree more that the real distance among people can be quite long. Why a local Hong Kong man, an expat currently working in Hong Kong (a taiwanese lady) and another taiwanese lady all felt strange about that? Perhaps, Hong Kong people might have felt betrayed or might have lost trust towards each other? Keeping a distance from colleuges, friends, acquaintances or even strangers might have been ideal for them in the most dense city of the world?

Then, we talked about our experiences in Bangkok. Observing the city through our outsiders eyes, we felt people there seem to be simple and friendly. What's more, we had an impression that giggles and smiles seem to be always in the air. People in Bangkok may not need to keep a distance from each other? People there may not think or may be more down-to-earth?

Bridge over River Chao Phraya

Bridge over River Chao Phraya

Footbridge at the Sanphan Taksin BTS station

Bridge over River Chao Phraya

Bridge over River Chao Phraya

Why those differences? HK may have more bridges than Bangkok does; Bangkok seems to be filled with more happiness? The amount or level of infrastructure, in terms of bridge connections, may not be correlate with the amount or level of happiness. Bridges in Hong Kong may fail to connect people together and getting people closer.

People in Hong Kong may keep to keep a distance for self protection or may think and act too sophisticatedly? People in Bangkok may be more down-to-earth?

What are your thoughts? Share with me. ;-)

Photos and text are original.