Hong Kong Adventures

One of the many really cool parts about being based in India is how quickly I can get to countries around Asia. To take advantage of this I’m hoping to do lots of long weekend trips both within India and to other countries nearby. I work very closely with one of my coworkers in Hong Kong and so I figured it would be a good opportunity to travel there for a long weekend. I planned to work in the office for a few days and then spend the weekend exploring the city. I had read a couple of articles that recommended that late February / just after the Chinese New Year was a great time to visit Hong Kong. So  I checked with my coworker to make sure he’d be in the office and then booked my trip.

Very fortunately, there are lots of night flights out of Bangalore to all over Asia. This is great for me so I can work a full day, head to the airport and then be in a new city in the morning. Luckily I can sleep pretty much anywhere and hopefully soon I’ll be a pro at sleeping on planes. So that is what I did last Wednesday. I worked a full day in the office, got back to my apartment to take a few calls and then was off to the airport. I had a 1:30am flight and landed in Hong Kong around 9:30 Thursday morning. I made it through customs quickly and found an ATM to take out some cash, I had a bit of HKD left over from when I had a layover at the Hong Kong airport on my trip to Sydney back in 2008 but it was certainly not going to be enough money to get me through the weekend. I tried a few ATMs with my US account, but kept getting an error message (apparently my bank had a restriction on HK, I guess I should look into these things before I travel next time) but I was able to take some money out of my India bank account and I was on my way. The little research I had done on Hong Kong had highly recommended getting an octopus card, and I was so happy I did! It’s basically a vamped up metrocard. You can get all around the city with it and I think you could even use it to buy things at stores like 7/11. One of the awesome things about the city is how easy it is to get around. I hopped on the airport express and was in city center within 25 minutes. From there I could connect to a number of different train lines. I was heading right into the office and I knew it was on the Island MTR  Line, but that’s about as much as I knew. I got lost a few times but eventually I made it into the office. (I guess I should’ve done some more research on this also…I think I’m starting to see a pattern here) Thursday night I went out to dinner with my coworker to Din Tai Fung for some delicious dim sum and grabbed a couple beers. We work together on a daily basis over the phone/email so it was nice to spend some face time together.

Being that it was just after the Chinese New Year, there was lots of different activities going on in the city. It happened that Friday night was the AIG annual dinner in Hong Kong and I was lucky enough to be included. On Thursday I was talking with a bunch Brits in the office and they mentioned the dinner was “fancy dress” and you were supposed to dress up like a country other than where you come from. Well being the silly American that I am, I thought “fancy dress” meant like gowns and suits and such, ya know like I should’ve brought some traditional dress clothes from India. I had originally planned on wearing a dress to the office on Friday, but luckily I decided on pants in the end. Because apparently fancy dress means costumes and our group were dressing up as leprechauns! I don’t think my outfit would’ve worked so well with a blue dress. The dinner was really a great time and I got to experience so much culturally that I wouldn’t have just by exploring the city. It was a full 12 course meal with cow tongue, pigs feet, a number of seafood dishes and a whole bunch of other traditional things I can’t remember. It was a Friday in Lent, so I shouldn’t have been eating meat but I figured when would I have another opportunity like this so I decided to try a bit of everything! (Except the basic chicken dish, couldn’t really justify that one). There were about 250 people at the event and almost everyone was dressed up in “fancy dress” from all over the world.  I got the opportunity to meet the senior management team and a bunch of other colleagues from our office. They had a dj and a live band and we were all rocking the dance floor. By the end of the night we were even doing the limbo! A few of the things I was most surprised by were that they invite the retirees back each year to come to the party and that many of the employees don’t speak any English. Throughout the night there were different contests/games going on and the MCs hosted the party in both Cantonese and English. It was very different than a company party in the US, that’s for sure. After the official event ended a group of us left the hotel and went to one of the local bars to hang for a bit.

Friday night ended up being a bit later than I would’ve liked, so Saturday I didn’t get nearly as much done as I would’ve liked  (whoops). I had hoped to get up and do a hike which is supposed to have some fantastic views of the city and the weather would’ve been perfect for it! But unfortunately that didn’t happen. I did eventually drag myself out of bed and made my way up to Victoria’s Peak to check out the skyline from above. It was really cool and I have to say a true skyline is something I am missing about being in Bangalore. After that I made my way to Lan Kwai Fung for dinner. This is a popular nightlife area with bars and restaurants lining the streets. On Saturday nights they close the streets and everybody hangs out in the street drinking and mingling. I guess it is kind of like Broadway in Nashville or the French Quarter in New Orleans. I found a spot for dinner and hung around a bit and then made my way back to my hotel. I figured Sunday I’d get up early and do the hike I had planned on Saturday, but when I woke up on Sunday it was dark and stormy so I knew the hike wouldn’t be much fun / you wouldn’t be able to see much. I decided to sleep in a bit and then went to check out the breakfast place Flying Pan. I ordered a bacon, egg  and cheese and a milkshake! Not a breakfast I’ve been able to find in Bangalore so far, so it was perfect. After breakfast I walked around, took the Star Ferry to Kowloon and had some more dim sum for lunch. There was lots more I wish I could’ve fit in, but at that point it was time to head to the airport and get back to Bangalore. Hong Kong was definitely an awesome city and hopefully somewhere I will get back to again sometime soon!

Next up is Singapore next weekend!

View of the skyline from the Star Ferry

Decorations in one of the nearby parks

Lan Kwai Fung on Saturday night