I slept through most of the day today, recovering after a string of sleepless days playing tour guide for one of my best friends, Joe, who's been in town since Wednesday. He had a business trip to Tokyo, and was able to insert a side-trip to Hong Kong into his itinerary. Joe was in my orientation group back in 2005 when we started at Villanova, along with Shea and Jen, and we've all been good friends ever since. You may remember, I was a member of his wedding party when he married Nadia back in 2012, and I've been working on convincing him to come visit me here since pretty much day one.
In March, Joe and Nadia welcomed their first child, an adorable baby boy named George, and I thought it might be a couple of years before he'd be able to visit, now that fatherhood was upon him. But luckily this trip made it possible for him to have a three day Hong Kong adventure. Ideally, of course, I would have wanted more time to show him around, and also for him to be able to visit with his wife and son, but I'll take what I can get. It was an absolute blast having him here, and I'm already excited for his next visit.
Joe arrived around 10:30pm on Wednesday evening. I had put off tidying the apartment until the last moment, but between getting off work at 5pm and having to head to the Airport Express station in Central, I thought I had ample time to get it ready. Of course, Hong Kong always throws surprises at you. One of my favorite Wan Chai bars shut down several months ago, and although rebranded, it was re-opening that evening. To celebrate, they offered free food and drinks, and put on a dazzling lion dance. Decisions, decisions! What was I to choose? Cleaning the flat, or free beer? Let's just say, my place wasn't quite looking its best when Joe did arrive later that night, but I arrived at the station just in time to meet his train.
The taxi queues were pretty long at that time, and since Joe had only one relatively small bag, I thought a tram would be an appropriate mode of transport to take us back to Happy Valley. It's a great introduction to Hong Kong, especially at that hour, with little traffic on the streets.
As we were just about to reach my front door, we saw my new flatmate Max walking Fredric.
Max is a very cool Frenchman. He's been living in Mexico City for the past four years, but he recently decided he wanted a change. He chose to base himself in Hong Kong while he searches for a job in the region. He may have already found one in South Korea, but he's continuing to look around in Hong Kong and Singapore over the next few weeks. And while doing so, he's rented the small room that Lisa use to occupy.
I've been keeping a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge for the past two months in anticipation of Joe's arrival, and we promptly popped it open and enjoyed some rooftop bubbles to welcome Joe to Hong Kong. And then it was off to Wan Chai for a fun night out hopping to a trio of my favorite watering holes.
As you can probably guess, spending Thursday at my desk did not exactly make for the best day ever. Still, Joe and I managed to squeeze in a phenomenal lunch at a dai pai dong near the office called Ball Kee. It's just two woks and a few ramshackle tables and stools set up on a staircase connecting Queen's Road and Wellington Street. But it's one of my favorite Hong Kong restaurants, owing to tasty local dishes and an unbeatable ambiance.
Joe spent the afternoon getting a suit fitting at Sam's Tailor in TST, followed by a visit to the Hong Kong Museum of History. I struggled through the remaining hours at work, and was disappointed I couldn't spend the day with my visitor. But I consoled myself with the fact that I had Friday off the following day to play tour guide for Joe.
At 5pm, I met Joe outside my office, and we hopped on the 10 bus to Wan Chai, where we hit up Stone Nullah Tavern's insane "beat the clock" happy hour deal. Although we missed HKD 1 drinks, we were in time for the HKD 2 slot. After several gin and tonics, we made the move to another nearby bar, Tai Long Fung, before riding the Hopewell Center's glass elevator. And then it was time for dinner at Crystal Jade. In order to be up and at 'em in the morning, we cut our night short, taking a tram home and just relaxing with Fredric at the apartment.
The weather didn't look much better when we woke up on Friday, so we each took an umbrella with us for the day's adventures. Rain or no rain, with only a couple of days to see the sights of the city, I was determined to show Joe as much as possible.
A few steps away from my apartment, there's an old school Hong Kong cafe called Cheung Hing Coffee Shop, where I often go for pineapple buns and milk tea. It's got booths, tiled floors and scrumptious local delicacies, and people even come to Happy Valley just to eat there. So I was glad to share the place with Joe.
Walking to the tram, we passed by another Happy Valley establishment, the similarly-named Cheung Sing Cafe. I have a rule that if I walk by and there are napoleons on display in the side-walk fronting display case, I have to get one. They are just so good. As luck would have it, the popular snacks were sitting there waiting for us!
We hopped off the tram in Wan Chai, and wandered all around for the next several hours, making our way through Admiralty into Central, all the while passing temples, markets, parks, Saint John's Cathedral and all sorts of curious stores. We even rode the Central-Midlevels Escalator before heading down into Sheung Wan for lunch.
My Friday lunch spot was Man Mo Cafe, which I've only ever visited for dinner before. It's an expensive place, but worth every penny. The fois grad xiao long bao and burger buns are among my favorite foods anywhere. And at lunch time, there's a set of phenomenal value.
Fois gras xiao long bao!
Burgerbuns!
Afterwards, we explored the antique stalls surrounding the restaurant, made our way up to Hollywood Road and Po Hing Fong, and eventually came down through Hollywood Road Park, walking through Sheung Wan towards the Central Ferry Piers.
The weather was clearing up... It was still overcast but the clouds were lifting higher and higher. And the rain was behind us. In short, it was perfect timing to take the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbour to TST for Joe's second fitting at Sam's Tailor.
We cut through the Peninsula on our way up Nathan Road to Sam's, and after the fitting, we made a beeline for the ICC for a drink at Ozone, the world's highest bar. The view from Ozone is probably the best panorama of Hong Kong and Kowloon, with towers, hills and the outlying islands spread out as far as the eye can see.
After lingering over our drinks at Ozone, we hopped on the MTR back across to Hong Kong Island. There's a happy hour deal at a Spanish place called Boqueria, which gives you free flow Sangria and light tapas for two hours, and it's a great way to start a Friday evening in LKF. You get a head start on your drinks, plus a good food base in your stomach to sustain you for the rest of the night. I bumped into some friends unexpectedly, and then Max and my friend Christina, also a member of Villanova's Class of 2009, came by, so we made a nice little crew together.
Following happy hour, we all made the short trek from Boqueria to the Foreign Correspondent's Club. One of Hong Kong's classiest bars is ensconced inside, but because it's a private club, it's impossible to visit without a member. My friend Eleni, a former journalist, has been a member for years, and as she and her boyfriend Patrick are soon moving to Germany, they coordinated a farewell party at the club.
As if the evening hadn't been extraordinarily memorable already, Patrick got down on one knee and asked Eleni to be his bride in front of a huge crowd of their friends!
Villanova Class of 2009 Alumni in Hong Kong!
As if the evening hadn't been extraordinarily memorable already, Patrick got down on one knee and asked Eleni to be his bride in front of a huge crowd of their friends!
To cap off the evening, we set ourselves up at Al's Diner for the mandatory Jello shots while soaking up the craziness of LKF.
Finally, on Saturday, we awoke to good weather. The skies were not only clear, but blue, and the sun was shining!
Max joined us for dim sum in Aberdeen at the Jumbo Floating Restaurant. I've only ever visited for brunch or dinner, but this was my first time feasting on dim sum in the cavernous dining hall. Let's just say, I'll be back again soon! The dumplings were delicious, the location can't be beat, and even the price was extremely reasonable.
Pulling up to the Jumbo on the shuttle ferry
To make the meal completely unforgettable, we donned traditional Chinese costumes and posed for a photo in the middle of the restaurant!
Although Max went back to Happy Valley after dim sum, Joe and I headed up to Victoria Peak. I'd had my eye on the skies ever since Joe arrived, waiting for the proper moment to head up to the island's best vantage point. And I'm so glad we waited until Saturday. The view was as spectacular as it's ever been, and the circular walk was the perfect way to show it off.
I love walking down the Peak after a visit up there, following the steep paths from nature to the heart of the city. It's amazing just how quickly Hong Kong's towers are suddenly back at your fingertips, after having surveyed them from so high a perch.
I couldn't let Joe leave Hong Kong without a bowl of noodles at Dan Dan in Sheung Wan. Of all the restaurants I frequent, I think Dan Dan has to win the award for most visits. I must go at least twice a week. It's proximity to my office and the killer spicy peanut noodles make me a bona fide regular. And so after reaching Sheung Wan at the end of our walk down, we popped in for a bowl. Delicious as always.
Another trip on the Star Ferry deposited us in TST, where we had to visit Sam's one final time for Joe to pick up his suit and shirts. And owing to our timing, the skies darkened, giving Joe the unforgettable night view of the skyline during our return ferry trip back to Wan Chai.
We hopped in a taxi home, to drop off Joe's suit and change for the night. And then we hopped on the tram to Wan Chai for dinner at American Restaurant. I organized a group dinner, and ordered all the usual dishes, from Peking duck and Beggar's Chicken to more xiao long bao, fried rice, sizzling prawns and sweet and sour fish. Because of a mix-up with the pre-ordering of the chicken, they even threw in a free dessert of banana dumplings to finish the meal.
We had some drinks in Wan Chai before another tram ride to Lan Kwai Fong, where we visited Geronimo's Shot Bar, meeting up with my pal Ben and his crew celebrating his own farewell to Hong Kong.
It was an awesome night, and I loved that I got to introduce Joe to so many friends. Inevitably, though, he looked at his watch and said he'd have to go home to be ready to leave in a few hours. We took a cab home, set alarms, and promptly crashed.
Earlier today, I woke up just in time to say goodbye to Joe, as he headed to the Airport Express to catch his flight to Japan. It was far too short a stay but we sure did our best to squeeze in as much as possible. Have fun in Tokyo, buddy, and hope to have you, Nadia and George all come visit me again soon!
