No Shoes In The Flat!

Shoes Unlike Japan, where removing one's shoes when entering the home is customary, Hong Kong has numerous reasons for engaging in the habit.

The city has become much cleaner since I arrived, yet several common hazards exist onto which one could trod during any given day.

Keeping your eyes open will help you avoid most of them, and the list is disgusting — but then so is tracking even one of these into your living space:

Food

Sometimes leftovers, other times part of a meal, plenty of grub falls to the ground, complete with sauce. Curried fish balls top the list.

Public Washrooms

I can't speak for the women's side, but men are pigs. Not all facilities have cleaning staff on hand to mop the floor.

Vomit

Most often splashed beside public garbage bins, it can also be found in doorways and at building corners.

Snot

Impossible to see, but you know it's there. Watching someone pick and flick is evidence enough.

Dog Poop

Despite the HK$1,500 fine, some folks fail to clean up after Rover does his business.

Gum

Judging by the flattened, black globs on the sidewalks, discarded gum is epidemic.

Phlegm

Again, hefty fine be damned, people still spit wherever they please.

Cockroaches

Crushed and smeared by someone else's shoe.

Pigeon Poop

Enough said.