Rusty and Britney's Asian Adventure — Part II

It’s always a pleasure to show off a place you love to someone who doesn’t know it yet, and it’s an even greater pleasure when that person happens to be one of your best friends. So for weeks now, I’ve known that this past weekend in Hong Kong, with guest stars Rusty and Britney, was going to stand out as one of my all time favorites in the Pearl of the Orient. It did not disappoint, and though it was short, it was sweet for certain, a nonstop onslaught of everything that has endeared Hong Kong to me over the past three plus years. Food, friends, history, and nightlife, the mesmerizing combination of tradition and modernity, the side by side juxtaposition of East meets West—all of these things contributed to the weekend, and it’s safe to say that the memories we created there over the past few days will linger as some of my most cherished Hong Kong recollections.  

My flight left Singapore at 6:05am on Friday, meaning I had to make my way to Changi Airport around 4:30am. I slept for most of the flight, jumping off and practically running through the arrivals hall to hop on the Airport Express train that would bring me into the heart of the city. You see, Rusty and Britney had actually arrived in Hong Kong the night before, and I had passed off my apartment keys to them in Singapore the previous weekend, so we all planned to meet there when I arrived.

The twenty-four minute train journey felt like it took hours. I positioned myself at the train doors so I could bolt to the taxi queue and grab the first cab, and thankfully there was no line so I was immediately en route to Happy Valley. I can honestly say that I can’t recall ever being more anxious to finally arrive at my front door.

Around 10:45am I was there, and Rusty and Britney were getting ready for the day. I know it had only been about a week-and-a-half since our adventure in Singapore, but something felt so magical about seeing them in Hong Kong, and I can scarcely call to mind a time when I was more excited or energetic. To boot, my French friend Nathan was also staying in my apartment, and it had been about two years since the last time I saw him. Nathan was one of my first friends in Hong Kong back in the early days of my time in the city, and he was passing through town and had asked if he could stay with me. Since we have plenty of space, having an extra houseguest was no problem. In fact, the timing was perfect, and I’m so glad he got to meet Rusty and Britney and spend some good time with us. (Britney couldn't remember his name and kept calling him Ferdinand. She kept saying, "He looks like a Ferdinand, doesn't he?")

We took a taxi to Wan Chai for lunch at my old standard, Crystal Jade. Sarah and Courtney were both sitting in the booth when we arrived, ready to feast on all of our favorite dishes. I love going to Crystal Jade in a big group because you can order tons of varied items and sample pretty much everything. In the end, we wound up ordering three helpings of the signature xiao long bao, my personal favorite dan dan la mian, chicken with cashew nuts, wu xi mushroom and crabmeat pastries and scores of other dishes, washing it all down with Tsing Tao, the most popular Chinese beer.

Something I enjoy most about having friends from home in town is when I get to introduce them to my friends from here. And although the food was delicious as usual that afternoon, I think the one aspect of the lunch I will remember most fondly is how well everybody got along, and how interesting our discussions were, with contributions from Nathan from France, Courtney from Canada, Sarah from England, and a trio of Americans, two of whom had been in Hong Kong for less than twenty-four hours! 

Sarah had to head back to work after lunch, but the rest of us were free to explore. We took a few minutes to wander around Wan Chai, my old neighborhood and without doubt one of the most vivid and colorful parts of town. There’s a side street just off Lockhart Road teaming with all sorts of market life, fish and shrimp flipping about, butchers cutting meat while cigarettes dangle from their mouths, pig's feet, horse tails, bowls of slimy eels, cages filled with toads and turtles and of course, dozens of other animal parts that simply can't be labeled. It’s a bit gritty, a bit dirty, and—um—I absolutely love it. It’s something we definitely don’t have in spick-and-span Singapore, and I revel in it when I’m back in town. Courtney and Nathan seemed to push ahead—they have both spent a lot of time here and these things are no longer novel to them. Britney and, especially, Rusty both took their sweet time, stopping often in front of the various shops, curious about the gallimaufry of living creatures on sale all around them.

The streets of the market wind their way to stately Queen’s Road, where we entered the cylindrical Hopewell Center for a ride on the Willy Wonka-esque glass elevators I’ve written about before. Although we weren’t properly dressed to grab a drink at the swanky spinning bar at the top of the building, the elevator ride is incredible enough by itself and totally worth a detour when you’re in this part of town.

After a quick stop at HSBC to change over some money, we were in a taxi on the way to Stanley. Driving past the beaches and villages on the southern side of the island kept bringing back old memories for me. The five of us were crammed into a single taxi, and some traffic due to roadwork slowed down the normally brisk journey, but eventually we made it to Stanley’s signature market.

After some souvenir shopping, we grabbed an early drink at waterfront bar Smuggler’s Inn, its walls covered in currency from all over the world. We even had a celebratory round of shots before walking along Stanley’s eatery-lined seaside promenade to Blake Pier and Murray House, two reminders of Hong Kong’s colonial past.

Blake Pier was the old docking point for when royalty and other important personages arrived from Mother Britain, and Murray House is a beautiful Victorian building that once housed British officers during the olden days. Both structures once stood in the heart of the city, but modernization almost saw them destroyed. Luckily preservationists fought hard and though both have been relocated from their original locations, they have been preserved so that future generations have a tangible glimpse into Hong Kong’s colorful past.

We took a quick peek into a nearby temple dedicated to Tin Hau, the goddess of the sea, and then grabbed another cab to the Jumbo Floating Restaurant in Aberdeen Harbor. The weather was far from ideal, but the rain held out and we were able to enjoy a rooftop cocktail on the Top Deck. We practically had the place to ourselves, with a view over the countless boats in the marina and the amusement park rides of Ocean Park. I’ve always loved the Jumbo, so I’m glad we found the time to slip it into our day. Courtney and I even split some oysters while sipping on our Jumbo margaritas as the skies darkened and night fell

I really wanted to squeeze in A Symphony of Light, even though it was slightly foggy out. So we dropped Nathan off at the flat, grabbed a slice of pizza from Paisano’s in Wan Chai and made our way to Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai to try our luck with the nightly laser light show. It’s best on a crystal clear night, as forty buildings on both sides of the harbor shoot off a colorful light-and-sound show. Unfortunately, visibility was diminished, but I’m still glad I got to show Britney and Rusty one of the city’s signature tourist attractions.

Back home, we started to get ready for a night out on the town. After some drinks on the roof, off we went to Lan Kwai Fong. There’s a lot I miss about Hong Kong now that I live down in Singapore, and it would be impossible to choose the single thing I miss most. However, partying in Lan Kwai would surely at least make my short list.

Our first stop was Al’s Diner, the uber-popular watering hole famous for its Jello shots and sing-along tunes. After a few drinks there, we took a little tour around the best of LKF’s bars, stopping at our fair share of hotspots. My favorite moment of the night was probably forcing Rusty to drink a Flaming Lamborghini, an intimidating favorite local cocktail that every visitor is obliged to consume. The bartender lights the concoction on fire as you sip it through a straw, and fearless Rusty made me proud, though he did spit a little bit back on the bar at the end because, as he said, “it tasted like melted plastic.”

We enjoyed another drink in the heart of “Club Seven,” local slang for the area in front of any 7-Eleven, where cost-conscious crowds gather to imbibe on cheaper drinks than those sold at the nearby bars. Lan Kwai’s “Club Seven” is probably the city’s best. Situated on a pedestrian-only corner, it is an atmospheric place to chill out and grab a quick beer.

Courtney and Nathan then made their way to Drop, but since that’s not really my scene, we parted ways, and I took Rusty and Britney to Wan Chai, Hong Kong’s other hub of nocturnal revelry. Jäger bombs in my old local bar Typhoon, the live bands of Escape and Dusk Till Dawn, early morning kebabs at Ebenezer’s… It’s no wonder the sun was coming up when we finally caught a taxi home. But what a perfect Hong Kong night out!

Saturday was the one day I had set aside to show my visitors the core of Hong Kong Island, where I’ve spent the bulk of my time over the past years. We took the rickety old tram from Happy Valley through Wan Chai, Admiralty and then Central. About halfway through our ride, it started to rain pretty heavily, but through some generous twist of fate, the rain stopped just as we neared our disembarkation point.

We rode the Central Mid-levels Escalator up into SoHo, making our way to Yorkshire Pudding, one of my favorite restaurants in this part of town. My friend Eleni was there to meet up for lunch, and we ordered a round of Bloody Marys before tucking into our main meal. (I’m convinced their version of the cocktail is the best I’ve ever had.) We started with the restaurant’s namesake appetizer, a scrumptious pastry-like dish best enjoyed with savory gravy. The girls then had salads while Rusty and I opted for all day breakfast selections, the perfect complement to our Bloody Marys. A delicious sticky toffee pudding capped off the meal, which I’ll submit as evidence that anybody who thinks British food is lacking is horribly misinformed.

While we were walking through SoHo afterwards, Bernadett came down to join our party, since we literally walked right by her apartment. As we continued to wander up and down side streets, we made a pit stop in my office so that Britney could try to change her flight home. You see, she had originally planned to visit both Shanghai and Beijing after her time in Hong Kong, but ultimately she had concluded that it would be best to fly home from Hong Kong on Monday.

Literally across the street from the office is the exotic Man Mo Temple, with its spiraling incense smoke, joss sticks, burning oil, effigies and offerings. Painted in hues of red and gold, the interior of the main hall of the temple is one of my favorite places in Sheung Wan, and I love how close my office is to the iconic structure. Down a flight of steps just in front of the temple is the quaint Cat Street Market. Antique stalls spill out into the tiny street, hawking all manner of curios, from watches and clocks to old photos and magazines. At one stall we even found an old Hong Kong identity booklet from the colonial days!

After strolling around some more of Sheung Wan’s streets, including Chop Street, Britney, Rusty and I ultimately had to head home. It was about to get dark, and I had invited friends over for some pre-dinner drinks on the rooftop.

While I was getting ready, Keleigh, Allison, Hope and Emily arrived. They are four Villanova freshmen currently participating in the new Global Citizen’s Program in Singapore. I met them all a couple of months ago at a panel discussion and networking session organized by the university, and we’ve kept in touch and met up in Singapore since. Of course, I am always full of wonderful things to say about Hong Kong, and when they mentioned potentially organizing a weekend there, I basically told them they had to see the city before leaving Asia. It was a nice fluke that the weekend they chose also happened to be the one when my friends were in town, and so I invited them to join us for the night.

I chose Wan Chai’s American Restaurant as our dinner spot, and I know I’ve written about the place quite a few times before. You can rest assured this particular meal lived up to the same high standard as all of its predecessors. Ten of us wound up joining for the meal, enjoying an unending supply of Tsing Tao augmented by Peking duck, sizzling prawns, beggar’s chicken, sizzling beef with spring onions and all the other culinary treats that the kitchen prepares so well. I’ve had so many memorable meals at this place, like when my mom came to visit, the time my Navy friends were in town, the second anniversary of my arrival in Hong Kong and of course my recent going away birthday dinner just before moving to Singapore. This makes a great addition to the roll, and I hope I get to enjoy many more meals dinners in the future.

It was a fun dinner.

Post-dinner we grabbed some 7-Eleven drinks and hopped on the tram to Lan Kwai Fong. With an even bigger group than the night before, including many other friends who met up with us over the course of the night, you can imagine how much fun we had. I was so happy Rusty and Britney got to meet even more of my Hong Kong friends, and as the night took us from bar to bar, and eventually from Lan Kwai back to Wan Chai, I felt like I was flying.

V for Villanova—Allison, Keleigh, Hope, me, Emily and Rusty

At Al's Diner, always one of my favorite LKF bars 

Sunday was set aside for a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland. You see, Britney is about as big a Disney fan as they come, and Hong Kong’s park was the last on the list that she needed to check off. Since she told me this a long time ago, I was able to book a table at Crystal Lotus for the character-themed dim sum, and we feasted on all the delectable little dumplings and buns shaped like Mickey, Chip 'n' Dale, Chicken Little and other Disney favorites.

After lunch, we entered the park itself, parading up Main Street and meandering from one themed land to the next. It was my ninth trip to Hong Kong Disneyland, and it still hasn’t gotten old for me. From Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters to Space Mountain, from It’s A Small World to Mickey’s Philharmagic, from the Festival of the Lion King to The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, I always love a day there. It was a perfectly clear night when the fireworks went off over Sleeping Beauty’s Castle at 9 o’clock, as myriad colors exploded to the strains of some of Disney’s most famous songs.

Britney was flying at 8am the following morning, and Rusty was right on her tail at 10am, meaning we had one last night in Hong Kong. There were so many things I still wanted to show them, and I knew from the beginning that I’d never have the time to take them to all my favorite spots. With time ticking down, we chose Victoria Peak as our post-Disney destination. To save time, we took a cab up to the summit, where Courtney was waiting for us. But stepping out of the taxi, we were faced with the frigid reality of Hong Kong’s highest locale. The Peak’s cool temperatures are its greatest blessing in the sweltering summer months, but on this windy April evening, the air literally felt freezing.

The forty-five minute circular walk that I’ve taken every previous visitor on was not an option that night, especially considering our attire of shorts, t-shirts and sandals. Instead we had to settle on the view from the observation deck atop the Peak Galleria, and even up there, we hardly stayed outside for fifteen minutes. Still, it was the clearest it had been all weekend, and the stellar view of the city below, complete with twinkling lights and the glass-like water of the harbor, made for a nice close to the day.

We took the historic Peak Tram down the mountain to Central before heading home with the intention of packing and chatting on our last night together. After all the exhausting non-stop action the weekend had thrown at us, though, we all were in bed within half an hour of arriving back at the flat.

Britney and Rusty’s early morning flights mandated even earlier wake up times, and we left the apartment just after 6am yesterday to get traveler number one checked in and en route to the airport on time. With about two hours to kill before Rusty needed to head to the airport himself, I decided to take him for a very authentic Chinese dim sum experience. It was pretty much the polar opposite of the previous day’s version at Disney with chinaware, white napkins and tablecloths.

At Lin Heung Tea House on Wellington Street, you have to seat yourself and chase after the trolleys, lifting up the tops of the bamboo baskets and pointing to what looks good. There’s no English menu and most of the staff only speaks Cantonese, but the food is delicious and it’s one of Hong Kong’s few remaining traditional dim sum establishments. I knew Rusty would appreciate the authenticity of the place, and I’m really glad we found the time to fit it in.

After the cheap but tasty meal, we roamed around some more, exploring the market streets of Central as Hong Kong awoke for the start of another work week. We walked up past the Graham Street Market and through Grand Millennium Plaza, down Hillier Street and along Bonham Strand. We even grabbed a strong coffee at Capo’s Espresso just off Queen’s Road West before chilling for a few moments on the roof of IFC mall. Of course the two hours just dissipated and before we knew it, Rusty too had to board the Airport Express and head back to California. I’ve been waiting for him to come visit since pretty much day one, and I couldn’t believe he was already leaving. There was so much I still wanted to show him, so many things I would have loved to have included on his and Britney’s Hong Kong itinerary, but I’ll never forget the two weekends I got with them in Asia.

I spent the rest of the day wandering around Hong Kong, grabbing lunch with friends, riding the tram, meeting up with a buddy for a quick catch up and stopping by Sonia’s parents’ office to spend some time with them. After packing my bag, Nathan and I headed to Red Bar on the roof of IFC mall, where Courtney met us for some farewell drinks.

I had felt inexplicably strange since Britney and Rusty's departure... and then it hit me that this was the first time I was leaving Hong Kong since first setting foot there in 2009 where I hadn’t already booked my return flight. For all I know, I might be back in a couple of weeks, but not having the ticket booked, not knowing for certain when the day will be, was a strange and emotional feeling. Luckily, Nathan and Courtney helped ease the pain, and I boarded the 8:20pm Airport Express last night, making it to Gate 23 in time for my 9:45pm flight.

Thanks Britney, Rusty and everybody else who made this weekend so great. It was truly unforgettable, one of the most special I’ve had since I moved out here, and I hope you’ll keep the memories as long as I will!