Honkers Stonkers!
Just been on a short break to Hong Kong which was wonderful. As we had been working in Hong Kong before coming to Bangkok, there was more than a hint of nostalgia to the trip. We ate & shopped our way through the island. Or at least I did as poor Fatt had to work. The highlights were:
- seeing the crowds of Hong Kongers in Victoria Park with their candles as they mulled over the 16th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. In 1989, I was a teenager hooked on the news reports: watching the earnest students demonstrating for democracy, tanks rolling along on Chang an Avenue, Kate Adie with bullets flying left and right of her...and this year, I didn't even realise we had hit the anniversary until I was actually there. It's sad how apathetic and de-politicised I have become. But good to see that Hong Kongers at the moment still have the freedom to express their sentiments on the Massacre.
- weather: it was blissfully cooler than Bangkok. Even though all the Hong Kongers were complaining about it being a humid summer. We were laughing!
- Star Ferry: I went back and forth on the rapidly disappearing Harbour a number of times, watching the hawks hovering.
- shopping: I still wear t-shirts I bought from Giordano 5 years ago. Unlike Thai stuff which immediately goes out of shape after one wash, the Hong Kong cheapo clothes are usually of excellent quality. There's also a big market for 'dry technology' sports clothes at uber-cheapo prices. Something much needed in Bangkok.
- eating: Cantonese, Sichuan, northern Chinese...and best of all dim sum. We queued up at Maxims City Hall for delicious dim sum, bothering the trolley pushers into opening up everything they had so we could pick and choose. The chicken feet were the best. Also went to a resto called Hutong - the place to take visitors apparently. Floor-to-ceiling views of Hong Kong island certainly distracts enough from the food. Just as well as 'overpriced' is the general consensus here. On Fatt's side, he made sure he patronised the penny sweet shop and the 'double boiled milk' dessert shop as many times as possible.
- seeing our old apartment block, visitng the neighbourhood, watching the black long-haired cats in the pet shop window, and scoffing at Zitis, our local pizza takeaway / cafe. Zitis was only open for a few months before we had to leave. Our very last meal was brunch there before we departed on the plane for Bangkok. It was good to see them so busy as the earnest chaps doing the cooking certainly deserve all the business they can get.
There weren't any low lights to the visit. It rained, but so what? Hong Kong still buzzes. And listening to my ex-colleagues relate their 14 hour working days made me appreciate my life here all the more. But oh, to be a tai tai in Hong Kong!
- seeing the crowds of Hong Kongers in Victoria Park with their candles as they mulled over the 16th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. In 1989, I was a teenager hooked on the news reports: watching the earnest students demonstrating for democracy, tanks rolling along on Chang an Avenue, Kate Adie with bullets flying left and right of her...and this year, I didn't even realise we had hit the anniversary until I was actually there. It's sad how apathetic and de-politicised I have become. But good to see that Hong Kongers at the moment still have the freedom to express their sentiments on the Massacre.
- weather: it was blissfully cooler than Bangkok. Even though all the Hong Kongers were complaining about it being a humid summer. We were laughing!
- Star Ferry: I went back and forth on the rapidly disappearing Harbour a number of times, watching the hawks hovering.
- shopping: I still wear t-shirts I bought from Giordano 5 years ago. Unlike Thai stuff which immediately goes out of shape after one wash, the Hong Kong cheapo clothes are usually of excellent quality. There's also a big market for 'dry technology' sports clothes at uber-cheapo prices. Something much needed in Bangkok.
- eating: Cantonese, Sichuan, northern Chinese...and best of all dim sum. We queued up at Maxims City Hall for delicious dim sum, bothering the trolley pushers into opening up everything they had so we could pick and choose. The chicken feet were the best. Also went to a resto called Hutong - the place to take visitors apparently. Floor-to-ceiling views of Hong Kong island certainly distracts enough from the food. Just as well as 'overpriced' is the general consensus here. On Fatt's side, he made sure he patronised the penny sweet shop and the 'double boiled milk' dessert shop as many times as possible.
- seeing our old apartment block, visitng the neighbourhood, watching the black long-haired cats in the pet shop window, and scoffing at Zitis, our local pizza takeaway / cafe. Zitis was only open for a few months before we had to leave. Our very last meal was brunch there before we departed on the plane for Bangkok. It was good to see them so busy as the earnest chaps doing the cooking certainly deserve all the business they can get.
There weren't any low lights to the visit. It rained, but so what? Hong Kong still buzzes. And listening to my ex-colleagues relate their 14 hour working days made me appreciate my life here all the more. But oh, to be a tai tai in Hong Kong!
posted by sylv at 5:43 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home