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Published: June 22nd 2007
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Hong Kong
David and Ana Our time in Hong Kong has come to an end. Living and working here left us a bit disoriented. Life in the Konger is fast-paced, high-rolling, and hyper-fashionable. It's a city of contradictions. Open-air street markets vs. Prada and Louis Vuitton. Glorious neon highrises vs. shanti-town floating houses in fishing villages. Blasting air-conditioned interiors vs. humid and hot exteriors. Five star uber-trendy restaurants vs. 10 dollar noodle houses. Avian bird flu paranoia vs. hawking and spit wads on every sidewalk. All you have to do is take a walk in any of the distinct HK neighborhoods and you'll see past, present, and future all rolled into one.
The biggest downer in Hong Kong...the air. Everyday we were reminded of how irresponsible mankind has been to our beautiful Earth as we inhaled consistently-high-rated-air-pollutant indexed air, and were barely able to view the mid-day sun through a haze of particulates.
Where we lived...Stanley. Stanley is on the South side of Hong Kong Island. The air is a bit more crisp, and green mountains are always visible. Stanley Market is a small urban cave of shops filled with Chinese goods. It's one of the tourist hot spots, so dodging crazed tourists
David makes a kill!
Discovery Bay Saturdays was a regular thing for us. Our apartment had a beautiful waterfront view that teased us with impossible dips in the ocean.
All and all, we give Hong Kong two thumbs up. Here's a list of the things we loved most:
BEACH VOLLEYBALL Dave and I are addicted to beach volleyball, and one thing Hong Kong is not short of is beaches! We had two regular games. On Fridays, we'd play at Repulse Bay Beach after school, mostly with a friendly HKIS crew. It was the perfect end to our work weeks...strange how the more beers you have, the better you get at diggin' up balls! On Saturdays, we had a more serious game at Discovery Bay. The people who played there were mostly of an International flavor, but a few were locals, all very good volleyball players. It was especially nice to develop a community outside of our schools.
FOOD Hong Kong has the best food! Dave and I had a weekly Tuesday night date where we would try a new restaurant in town. The Red Pepper in Causeway Bay has the most delicious shrimp in the world (at least we think so). They bring you
Chek Chau
small fishing island with great hiking trails a sizzling cast iron tray of jumbo shrimp swimming in garlic and chili. You have to hold your napkin up to not get splashed by the sauce and to prevent yourself from the coughing that will occur if you inhale the steam and chili too quickly. Other favorites that got repeat visits were Nha Trang, (best pho bo and Vietnamese salad rolls), Life Cafe (best vegetarian restaurant ever), Lucy's (romantic hole in the wall restaurant with divine desserts), and The Golden Orchid (best Thai outside of Thailand). Mum Chau's Sichuan Kitchen and Le Marron get best ambiance and place to have a big dinner party.
ISLAND HOPPIN' Lamma, Lantau, Po Toi, Chek Chau...all are sweet little islands that make ideal day trips. The islands are mostly fishing communities that give you a sense of the good ol' days. Hiking there is preferred to Hong Kong Island as there are not as many cars and people. The end of these days was always punctuated with a fresh seafood dinner.
MUSIC We quickly found that the live music in Hong Kong is not anything special. Most music is really cheesy cover bands or wanna be alternative-punk. Luckily, both Dave and
Mum Chau's SPICY sichuan dinner
Costa Rican friends reunite in Hong Kong! Dave, me, Rusty and Chris I found wonderful music outlets outside of the city-scene. Dave found Denny. Denny's unique 3-pick guitar style matched with Dave's tabla meshed into an amazing duo of folk sound. Both of them sang. They would practice regularly, and played a few parties as well. I took guitar lessons with our good friend Ben. He is the best teacher out there, and I feel like my guitar skills have improved immensely with his patience and dedication.
OCEAN PARK If you're gonna go to one of the two amusment parks in Hong Kong, please go to Ocean Park. Disney World HK is kind of a joke around here...why did they build this huge American theme park when Hong Kong already has Ocean Park??? Anyhow, the shark tank, aquarium, and jelly exhibits at Ocean Park are awe-inspiring. They also have cute cuddly pandas, birds, and reptiles. The rides are good if you're into that stuff. The park is right on the water and they have a super-mod space pod cable car system that takes you from the two main areas of the park, and lets you look out into the hazy South China Sea.
TEMPLES The 10,000 Buddhas Monastery is a
bit like a Buddhist wonderland. The journey to the monastery is lined with strange alien-esk monk statues and bamboo overgrowth. The monastery itself really does have over 10,000 Buddhas each housed in their own indented space in the wall. And then of course there is the Big Buddha on Lantau Island (Tian Tan Buddha statue), which is the largest seated bronze Buddha in the world. We took a cable car to the statue (which has since been shut down after one of the cars crashed down in mid-trip!). There are temples everywhere...smell the incense.
CUSTOM MADE CLOTHES Hong Kong has good tailors. Both of us got some super stylie suits made. The whole process of going in, picking out fabric, having some Cantonese-speaking tailor come and talk to you about cut and pin you here and there, coming back for a second and third fitting...it was pretty cool, and now we'll be ready for our next job interviews in a couple of years!
NIGHT LIFE The night life in Hong Kong is pumpin'! The expats and richies tend to hang out at the bars in Lan Kwai Fong and SoHo. It's pretty easy to forget you're in Hong
Jelly
Ocean parks sea jelly spectacular was the coolest Kong sometimes with all the 'guilos' (white ghosts) around. But nonetheless, bars and clubs are fun, and people know how to dress to impress and party hardy. Gecko was by far the coolest place to hang out. A small cave of a bar with excellent live Jazz on Wednesdays, and red light that makes everyone look sexy. When we were craving something a bit more gritty, we'd head down to Wan Chi (we called it raunchy wanchy). Here, you could find plenty of ladies who would be more than willing to go home with you, and lots of older men who were looking for a good time (yuk!). If you can get past the prostitution and sweaty cleavage, Wanchi was really the best place to get sweaty on the danceflo'.
JUNK BOAT TRIPS The misnomer 'junk boat' is given to beautiful 3-story boats that can be rented out for day trips around Hong Kong areas. You pay a set price and get super gourmet snacks, drinks, and lunch. One of the destinations is Sai Kung, which actually has blue, clean water and pristine white sand beaches! A must do in Hong Kong.
All of the above are fine
and dandy, but the winner of the NUMBER ONE BEST THING about our time in Hong Kong was our friends. Jason, Ben, Rusty, Chris, Dolly, Jeff, Denny, Wendy, Judi, Joe....we love and miss you!!!!
Farewell Hong Kong...
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Carolyn
non-member comment
Tailor recommendation?
Greetings! I'm going to have the opportunity to spend a few weeks in Hong Kong at the end of July/beginning of August. I stumbled on your travelblog, and have noted a few of the restaurants you mentioned. I was wondering if you could share the name of the tailor you used? There are so many advertisements floating around that reviews of places are a bit distorted. I'd love to get a name from someone who personally went! Many thanks, and safe travels to you!