The trams that run up and down from East to West across central Hong Kong date back more than a hundred years. The tram's nickname is Ding Ding, so called after its distinctive bell ring. The tram ride is quite jolly - you hop on at the back, and when get to your destination, you slip 2 HK$s into the cash box or pay by the touch of an Octopus card under the stern gaze of the driver. This must be the best value item in an at times painfully expensive town. The waist-high doors straighten out to close the open rear platform and gives a sense of old-fashioned security, but bus drivers seem to open doors quite casually in between stops for people to get on and off. EU health and safety regulations? Never heard of them. So it was with precarious pleasure that I hopped on, knowing that I was 'transgressing' faraway rules. Apart from the incessant traffic noise, the zebra crossings in Central have three sound signals, one for go or the green pedestrian light, and another two for the amber and red signs. This additional sound level is oddly irritating in the already overloaded sensory street environment, but it raises the alertness level.
People who use the tram are everyday workers, unlike the bling-bling wearers inside the shopping malls. On Saturday evening, we attempted to live up to this advertisement of our apartment block on our way to the American Chamber of Commerce's Ball. Desperately out of practice, we consulted You Tube for a waltz demonstration.....that was sadly not needed! A local TV series of Strictly Come Dancing could change all that?
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