No One Does Horse Racing Like HKCJ!

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Yesterday my host family and I went to the races for the entire day. Sure, it was the 15^thanniversary of the transfer of power back to China and there were celebrations and protests in Central, but it was also a great day for racing, and they had special events at the racetrack as well (in between EVERY race). These included presentations, salutes, a marching band, Cantonese singing, traditional dances, etc.



I’ve never been to a racetrack (for animals) before. And here I was at an internationally renowned track owned by the Hong Kong Jockey Club (which is also Hong Kong’s largest charity organization, donating 85%!o(MISSING)f its profits to local communities for projects such as gyms, schools, hostels, etc). The stands and the track have a gorgeous view of mountains -- we were not at Happy Valley (the other HKJC racetrack) but at Sha Tin, so there was much less city. Only a few high rises to one direction.



Also, because a typhoon had just gone through the area, the light was gorgeous and the humidity was relatively low.



We sat in a box, which was really a restaurant with lounge chairs and glass walls overseeing the race course. Every half hour or so, when a race was just about to start, everyone ran out on the balcony to watch. The food was incredible, an all-you-can-eat buffet. I can’t remember everything I had because there was such an amazing variety, but I do remember my favorite dessert: durian cake with custard frosting. I really wanted to try it because I’d heard that durian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian) is one of the most disgusting smelling/tasting fruits, but for some people it’s a delicacy (maybe it’s genetic whether you’d like it or not?). Well obviously it had been cooked because this was a mini cake, more like a mini muffin, and it was out of this world. Great flavor, sweet, kind of fruity like pineapple but not quite. The custard frosting (a light custard layer in between two cake pieces) was the perfect pairing for the cake, which was moist and dense. Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Makes my mouth water......



The horses are all gorgeous, of course. Not all of them are from Hong Kong, and for quite a few it was their first race here. Each one ran in one of 11 races throughout the day (but the jockeys raced several horses throughout the day, which I found surprising -- for some reason I thought jockeys worked with one horse at a time). I do have mixed feelings on the morality of horse racing... but being there for the experience sure was exciting!



I learned how to read the stats booklet, and guess which horses would finish in the top 3. On one race the family used my numbers to place a bet and we won HK $100 (about $13). My host mom (or mother-in-law, because I’m with Elizabeth’s family) used it to buy me a souvenir leather passport holder with the HKJC logo embossed in it. It sure is amazing how far USD will go here (no, a $48 meal here is not a massive dent in your American wallet)!



Speaking of ^meals, I found this: http://www.cnngo.com/hong-kong/none/40-things-eat-hong-kong-coronary-arrest-820489. Will need to print this out and see how many I can try before I leave!

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Comments

[nathanielgingras]

CORRECTION
Title should be "No One Does Horse Racing Like HKJC"