chungking express

this film made me go straight to the chungking mansions when i first arrived in hong kong 5 years ago or so. the building has the whole world in it. i tried a few different rooms on my stays there. some were about 2 meters wide and i couldn't even open my arms inside them. i felt sticky from the humidity and i remember how the skin hit the walls too close to the body. i had the best indian food of my life there. and going to a different floor i tried exquisite ethiopian food for the first time. different floors and different blocks of the mansions offer cuisine from every part of the world and the smells in the air are like being inside a globe full of spices from everywhere mixed with the happiness of people coming from all corners of the world to find these tastes there. there was never a quiet moment in any of the times i stayed there. the elevator is busy at all times of the day and night. and i love the mansions in daytime... but it's at night that the full tower of babel effect comes to live :) this is one of those spots in the world that make you reconsider the geographies that we bring to life. i think you can find anything you really need in the chungking mansions. except for love, maybe. or you can, with an expiry date