These photos were taken during my wanderings around Hong Kong's Central, Wanchai, and Causeway Bay districts in December 2006.  While a bit rainy, the day was amazing.  The energy from walking around was palpable, comparable only to Manhattan.  What made it even more interesting was the mixture of the culturally unfamiliarity and familiar.  On the one hand signs in English everywhere made it all seem like home.  But at every turn you were reminded that this was very much a former outpost, from the preponderance of people who didn't speak English to the far more prevalent Chinese/Cantonese billboards and commercial signs.

Some interesting moments during the day included multiple encounters with fairly provocative cartoon billboards, one of which I photographed and included here.  In addition, the advertising for cell phones - or pretty much anything - was extremely aggressive and in-your-face.  Pretty interesting.  Overall though, I will remember the hectic energy of everyone hustling about, the sense of being overwhelmed by a mass of humanity, and the feeling of being left behind by the pace.  Really a fun day.