The great trash paradox.

Plenty to update on, but instead of updating on that, I'll do a pictureless quip about something that nags at me.

Part of the appeal of Hong Kong to outsiders, citizens, and come-and-goers alike is the pleasing, yet perplexing phenomenon with its trash and litter circulation: in most parts of town, from the financial districts to the shopping malls, there is no litter. Period. Anywhere. Nothing blows in the wind, nothing hides under tables; nobody even considers littering or even putting their gum under a desk. Given the sheer bulk of people living all in one clumped region, literally one top of one another, you'd think the propensity to accidentally leave a newspaper somewhere for the wind's grasp would happen now and then, or even the more American view where paper cups and Coke cans can be found on the street occasionally.

Nothing.

But here's the thing: everything you obtain, whether at a street stall, 7-Eleven, or a gadget store, comes with some kind of litterable paraphernalia.

Yet I can't find a trash can anywhere in this city.

They aren't every block adjacent to the roads. They aren't conveniently grouped together for the average person to walk over and deposit their stuff. Heck, at most fast food eateries and canteens, it's the practice to leave all utensils (chopsticks, cups, trays, napkins, anything) as they are at the table. And just leave. You leave the trash there on the table. Somehow, a mystical force grabs to it, tosses it into a vortex destined for the great unknown, and you never see or hear about that trash again.

But where do they put it? Why can't I find a trash can to throw away the paper wrapping for my egg puff dessert or the disposable chopsticks with my lunch meal or the attached receipt for my Octopus card deposit? Where do these people go to make the trash go away? It's common knowledge here than any kind of littering is a $1500 fine, no questions asked or appeals won. But still. There's a lot of trash to be disposed, and no place to dispose it. How are all of these people avoiding certain monetary fines by not having a canister at every street corner?

It makes me scratch my head a little too hard sometimes.