China Musings

We just got back from your first Hong Kong (HK) trip together. After living in GZ for three years, Alison finally got the right papers that allow her to travel to HK. We decided to take a weekend trip for our 3rd anniversary.

Hong Kong was a lot of fun. We stayed in a nice little hotel at the top of the hill in Tsim Sha Tsui. HK really is a shoppers paradise. We spent our first evening walking along the streets of TST, stopping in random stores and gawking at all the things to buy. I have been to HK several times now, but most of the time I am in a big hurry, and rush through without noticing anything. This time I was able to really see what there was to offer, and I was impressed with the variety.

We had dinner at my favorite Indian Restaurant, Branto’s, on Lock Road. I have been to this place almost every time I am in HK, and I am always happy with the quality of the food. It is pure vegitarian food, but eating like this makes it easy to forget about meat.

The next day we had a great 5 course French meal, the food was not the best I’ve had, but it was a very pleasant place and the service through 5 courses was a treat. There is something to be said about taking your time with a meal, it really lets you appreciate the food. So often I simply wolf down my food, I forget how nice it is to relax and let the meal happen at its own pace.

Then we took the ferry over to the Honk Kong Island side of the straight. I love the Star Ferry, and Alison appreciated the view of the HK skyline. One we got the Central, the finanacial district of HK, we were met with a onslaught of Tagalog. Apparently, Sunday is the traditional day off for all the Filipino Domestic helpers that live and work in HK. On Sunday, they gravitate to Central and hang out in the parks, the walkways - anywhere there is shade - to hang out with their friends, do each other’s hair, and eat each other’s food. I didn’t realize how many ex-patriate Filipnos were living in HK. They literally took over Central.

We ended up in IFC Mall, one of HK newer shopping extravaganzas. Surprisingly, I was able to find a fancy designer shop with clothes on sale that we could actually afford, sort of. There was a steel drum jazz band playing, tons of shops and tons of people, delicious smells coming from the bakeries and restaurants; I could certianly get used to shopping like that.

Finally we headed to Wan Chai, where we could hop on a bus back home to GZ. It was a really ncie weekend, and I hope we have more time to make similar trips in the future. I also hope next time we can actually offord to buy something!