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Fun with HK
Entry 4 of 69 | show all | print this entry |
Day 1 - February 7th - Chinese New Year.
Hey, it's the year of the rat and I'm a rat (no not that kind of a rat!) and so I had to bring in the new year in a proper fashion. That meant last night at a club called Dusk til Dawn and a few beers. Beers is not the cheaper part of HK where in the clubs a drinkable Chinese Tsingtao will set you back around seven or eight bucks. The band played such classics as 'Sweet Home Alabama' (gag) and 'Dance with Me' (gag). It was fun partying and people watching, especially the old white guys surrounded by the gorgeous asian girls. What do they see in those guys anyway? Rezz from Boston and I grabbed a cab--only $10 but they charge you for the tunnel toll both ways--back to the dump at around three.
The day was one of sightseeing and people watching. New Year is a pretty big deal here. The day, not the eve. There was no countdown or any sort of obvious related revelry at the bar the night before. You'll see kids and older women wearing traditional kimonos (sp?) The streets were busy with people, not cars yet many shops were closed. The big parade would take place on my side of the harbour between 8 and 9:30 p.m. on Salisbury Street which runs parallel with Victoria Strait. Tickets for seated areas had been sold out for some time. Several of us from the hostel planned to head down at around 7 and grab a spot somewhere along the route. Ha, that's a good one! Despite many attempts, we couldn't get to within two blocks of Salisbury. So about six of us headed off to the Macau Noodle House to eat and maybe watch it on TV. Well, no parade on TV but I enjoyed a delicious bowl of fried noodles and spicy (that's SPICY) beef and a Heinekin for $10.
Later back at the Mirador, a party had started. There was probably around 20 or so backpackers in two groups sitting around the 'lobby' At around midnight. One of the employees' 10 year-old nefew showed up sporting a violin case. Kris, a musician and traveler from Auz asked if the kid would play us a song. You should have seen this kid's face light up. Next thing you know his aunt is on the phone and mom shows up about five minutes later with some sheet music. The place roared with applause when he finished. One of the German boys was celebrating his 22nd birthday. Kris's guitar came out and there was partying and singin on into the wee hours. One of the better party nights I must say.
Day 2 and 3.
The city pretty much shuts down the day after NY on Friday so walks through the Soho and Central districts proved fruitless. I headed over to catch the Peak Tram but was looking at a minimum hour wait in line and it was hazy anyway. I decided to try tomorrow. A little ways down the hill is the Bank of China building which offers free rides to the top for views but it was closed. The IFC centre, home of the tallest building in HK, the 90 story IFC 2 and a nice big mall, was hopping. The less than 50 cent return trip to HK Island on the ferry was good for views too. Tonight it would be the big firework show. The largest display of its kind for Chinese NY in all of China. We think it won't be as crazy as the parade. Wrong. By 7 p.m. some couple of hundred thousand people had amassed along the water front. We didn't do too badly with a spot on the corner of Salisbury and Nathan but the Art Gallery building blocked much of view. We could only see the higher up stuff. Pretty impressive but it fell short of my high expecactions. Afterwards it was several five dollar heinekins (How the hell do you spell it anyway?) with David from Manchester and Elaine from London and Bruno and Noami from Marseilles, France and an after party back at the Mansion.
Saturday the weather cleared up and the shops were open. I headed early, around 10, to the tram and was up on the next available ride. Stupendous views and stupid tourists abounded. I walked around the peak and back down around the Wan Chai and Causeway Bay areas of city until my legs were killing me. A nap wasn't in the cards. Still jet-lagging. I stumbled on some pretty cool seafood restaurants in the Temple Street market area and decided to try the spiced crab and heiniken special at a place called Temple Street Spicy Crab--about 20 bucks. It fell a bit short but the experience was worth it. I know it will be hard to believe but there was more drinking going on back at the Mansion, albiet it was a little more subdued. Time flies when you are chatting with people from all over the world and I was making a habit of going to bed later in order to slide in after the goddamn bed bugs feeding tme was over. Only a day and a bit left before my flight to BKK.
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