Word: kong
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Their youthfulness as a society, sense of separateness from the rest of China, colonial history and disappointment at administrations that have failed to protect many structures of historical significance from the relentless march of development means that the people of Hong Kong are some of the most probing in the world when it comes to questions of cultural and personal identity. Issues of belonging are a theme of local art and letters to the point of tiresomeness, and barely a month goes by without an exhibition (or poetry reading or play) referencing some vanished heritage or collective memory...
...this context, it is not surprising to see one of Hong Kong's foremost designers, Douglas Young, presenting his private collection of locally made 20th century consumer objects as museum-worthy artifacts. Located in Kowloon, the G.O.D. Street Culture Museum - named after Young's lifestyle and fashion brand - is not only a repository of items that have inspired Young's consummately Hong Kong sense of aesthetics, but an indication of what the city's people will preserve when so many of the larger conservation battles have been lost. Great Victorian edifices have been torn down and entire districts razed...
...Another sail took us to Koh Kong Island, a lush national forest where recreational exploration is forbidden. We dropped anchor off a deserted white-sand beach and hopped overboard into the clear, warm sea. The water was probably 70° and not more than 5 ft. deep, with gentle waves that glimmered in the late-afternoon sun. Then, sated and relaxed, we motored home...
...just past our crash. A few of them hoisted our bike into the truck bed, tied it down and piled in after it. Keirn and I climbed into the cab with the driver, who turned out to be the proprietress of one of the nicer guesthouses in town, Koh Kong Guest House (Street 1, Koh Kong; +855-16-654-171); she took us to a pharmacy before dropping us off at our hotel...
...Which is what we did for the rest of our trip. From Koh Kong, we moved on to Sihanoukville, a 3-hr. drive southeast. Sihanoukville, named after a former king, is billed as Vietnam's up-and-coming high-end resort town, but for now, it is more accurately described as a beach town for backpackers. Hostels are abundant here, and there are a couple of nice hotels where you can get rooms for $5 to $400, depending on your budget. We got the last room, a private bungalow, at the one real resort in town, the Sokha Beach Resort...