March is Hong Kong Month

After a seemingly excruciating day of classes last Thursday, I was ready to get some nice dinner/drinks. Luckily, Mike told me that we would be meeting Winter, and a couple other friends we knew who had jobs in Central every day, at the Sky Bar, atop one of the many malls in Mong Kok. Honestly, it sounds cooler than it is.  But, it is indoors, on the 15^th floor of a mall with night views of Mong Kok and a ceiling with a fake, painted sky – a bit tacky. Either way, the 2-for-1 bottle of wine special helped make the night quite fun, even though I had to head back around 10 for a Skype call for an internship (which went well).

A Glorious Friday

Friday was my first official day of the “March is Hong Kong Month” event in my life.  While I had planned to wake up “early” on Wednesday to take advantage of free museum admissions in HK and get back in time for my 2:30 class, it was dreary out, and I couldn’t get myself out of bed.  Well, Friday, I met up with my friend from Newark Airport, Will who goes to Hong Kong Baptist University.  We met up in TST for some walking around in the beautiful weather – circa 75, high humidity but with a nice breeze.  And, for the first time in a few weeks, I saw the sun – not clear blue skies, but at least the sun was out for a few minutes here and there.  A great way to start the weekend. 

(Note that our beautiful days include heavy cloud coverage - still nice views from campus)

(Just chillin at the bus stop)

First stop was the Chongking Mansion, which is not a mansion in any regard, but an indoor market full of shops and restaurants mostly run by Indians, Pakistanis and East Africans (who apparently have extreme difficulties getting employed).  Anyway, they sell everything under the sun there, especially watches and tailored suits.  This reminds me that I will need to get myself a suit before I leave.  I need some help on this though – color? pinstripe?, but I’ll leave that for later.  Then, we strolled by the promenade enjoying the beautiful skyline, and then took the Star Ferry over to Central for an afternoon bite.

(This skyline really doesn't get old)

(IFC)

(Will reppin' Staten Island)

(HK Cultural Center - one of many new and beautiful museums in TST)

(KCR Clocktower - KCR was bought out by MTR, who now runs the subway. This used to be the site of one of the major rail stations - its like 200 feet tall)

(From the Star Ferry)

(Apparently, there's a rule that no building can be higher than The Peak - of course they are currently building one in TST to be at that height)

(Too foggy to go up today)

Now a word about food thus far.  While I’ve been enjoying eating Chinese food – my noodles, rice, meat, overly steamed vegetables, I’ve started to have a greater craving for Western food.  I was talking to Bo about this (Bo, Kent’s friend from China who I met in Shenzhen), and he mentioned that he too finds this craving when he is in America for university.  Just that when he eats American food, it’s not as tasty, delicious or fulfilling as Chinese food is to him.  I feel the same way.  It’s not that I don’t like eating noodle soup with beef and vegetables, it’s just that it’s not as good as when I come back and later at night eat a bowl of cereal of a PBJ.

Anyway, that was a long side-note to get you to the pride and glory of my Friday, the Gourmet Hamburger Union. Now, I’ve had a couple burgers since my arrival in January, mostly at McDonald’s, and they just aren’t that good.  So, when Will told me there was an Australian-run hamburger restaurant, I was overjoyed.  We went there and sat down at the barstools looking out the window at the Central Escalator as we enjoyed a half-pound delight of the finest, free-range, grass-fed New Zealand beef patty, with some caramelized onions, bleu cheese and fresh tomatoes.  Oh the heavens! Such a glorious, joyful experience.  I will certainly return.

(Welcome to Central)

(They like construction a lot here...reminds me of WashU)

(Longest escalator in the world - check it out)

(Don't miss the German shepherd ad on the bottom there)

(Just like America!)

(Heaven on Earth)

(On a smaller scale from Mainland, they keep lots of people employed by constantly wiping down tables, elevator buttons, and cleaning the streets)

(Yup, there's an infinity pool)

(New Asia campus)

The Other Side of Hong Kong

Saturday I had planned to go on a hike with friends Isabelle and Floor (travel mate for Cambodia) in the nearby town of Tai Po. We knew the name of the place, but not how to get there.  A train, bus, helpful Chinese family, and a taxi later, we made it up to where the trail began.  An embarrassing part was riding up these hills in a taxi while there were people walking- we thought it was already the trail, but it turned out not to be, so that was good.

(We went on to see the Sha Lo Tung Village)

(So beautiful, even though it wasn't sunny)

The whole interesting part of this, aside from nature being beautiful and relaxing, is the dichotomy of this area.  A mere few miles away lies one of the most busy, metropolitan, and densely populated cities in the world.  But just a few short MTR stops away and you get into the New Territories, and the many hills, mountains, and lush greenery that come with it.  I can totally see how amazing it must be to be able to have a long week of work and then just skip off to this beautiful area for a day.  Along the way, we saw a lot of families, and groups of friends who were taking the day, or also camping overnight.  That would definitely be a cool thing to try, but maybe later.

(Our best guess was that these were grave sites)

(Hooray for cameras!)

(The tiny village - I still can't believe that just outside of the city there are people living like this)

(Floor (left) and Isabelle (right))

(I found my doggie! - except with a heinous haircut)

(So peaceful)

(Little resting area with BBQ's)

(One side of dam)

(Other side of dam)

(And you had thought there would be no flowers...silly!)

(I've never seen anything like this one before)

Saturday night, I went out with Mike, Isabelle, Floor and some new people, to the Sushi One in TST.  My goal is to try them all, which I am quickly approaching (I think there’s two more left).  Another spectacular array of sushi, handrolls, drinks, and all for under $15 US per person. I don’t know how I’m going to get used to regular prices in the US again, it’s just too good out here. Then, after stuffing ourselves beyond recognition, we went next store for some drinks at Ned Kelly’s, a Western-style bar that has live jazz every night for 4 hours.  Sounds good right? It was… for the most part.  There was just something very strange about a jazz band of Chinese men (you don’t normally think of Chinese people playing wind instruments or singing, mostly strings) singing some good ol’ Louis Armstrong.  It just sounded insanely different.  Having said that, the band itself was really good, and by having my back face them, I was able to enjoy it a lot – live music is just great wherever you are.

Sunday, the weather got supremely cold, like 50, and I didn’t really leave the dorm – watched a few movies and lots of 30 Rock. This ends the first weekend of Hong Kong March – hope you enjoyed!