Coming Out Of

People are coming out of Hong Kong's underground railway, known as the M(ass)T(ransit)R(ailway), and going back home. It has stations named after the stopover districts. Coming out of the specific distircts'history, some names are amusing if you read it literally. Take for example, Tsim Sha Tsui (Pointed Sandy Mouth), Yaumatei (Oily Sesame Place), Mongkok (Busy Corner), Shek Kip Mei (Stony Gorge End), Kowloon Tong (Nine Dragons Pool) and Tsing Yi (Green Clothing). The most successful experience the MTR keeps touting to the neighbouring countries, and rightly so, is the electronic instant payment method implemented jointly with all the major public transport. The payment is facilitated by the Octopus Card, which has extended its use to almost every aspect of life from buying newspapers on the street to paying fines in the public libraries. The Octupus Card has morphed into different forms from wrist watches to cellphone lanyard pendants. This may ring a bell to its counterpart in Britain, the Oyster Card. I am interested to know whether the idea of the Oyster actually came out of its Octupus cousin's.