May Daze

Happy Memorial Day from Hong Kong! 

Of course, our pint-sized former British colony clinging to the base of the Pearl River Delta doesn't mark Memorial Day like we do back home. But the end of May is still a beguiling time of year—and has decidedly summery connotations! It's not quite the unofficial start of the season it is in America, since the heat's been rising since late March. Nonetheless, I would still say it's the point at which summer shifts into high gear, as frequent junk parties, languorous beach visits and near-constant air conditioning once indoors all become the norm for the next few months.

The weather has been beautiful—just beautiful—for the last few weeks! Early morning weekday constitutionals with Fredric have teased me with gorgeous blue skies, knowing full well I'd be spending the bulk of my day in the office. Sunsets from various parts of town have colored the air with impossibly rich shades of orange and red. Tram rides, complete with cooling breezes, have whisked me along the streets I've known for coming on to nine years, bathing them in pure, clean light. A great time of the year is starting up again, and May itself is one of Hong Kong's finest months!

While today may not be commemorated here, May 1st is designated as a Hong Kong public holiday, called Labour Day. It's a similar concept to our own Labor Day in September—meant as a celebration to honor workers—and believe it or not, America is quite out of step with the rest of the world on that one. Over eighty other countries also celebrate their equivalent of Labor Day on the first day of May!

Labour Day was duly marked with both a barbecue lunch and a barbecue dinner on my roof. Yes, you read that right. After remaining grill-less for several years, my rooftop is again blessed with a barbie—a handsome, stainless steel, secondhand job, much slicker than the old charcoal version that kicked the bucket back in 2013. Hopefully the coming summer months are filled with burgers, ribs, corn, frankfurters and all other kinds of assorted goodies! Drop on up if you're hungry!

The catalyst behind the barbecue is my new flatmate Antoine, who has actually been living here for a few months now. Antoine is a bon vivant who truly enjoys making the most of life, and when he laid eyes on the rooftop, one of his first observations was that it needed a barbecue to maximize its potential.

In addition to the barbecue, Antoine's also been a driving force behind quite a few new rooftop plants, two new couches, a dining room table, a china cabinet and a particularly flashy Asian-style chest. I can't say bringing them all up the stairs was a particularly fun experience, but I must admit, my apartment has probably never looked better.

A few days after Labour Day came another notable box on the calendar, and one of my favorite days of the year: Cinco de Mayo. I don't actually recall being aware of the celebration during my childhood in New Jersey. I first started to really enjoy my Cinco de Mayos during my time at Villanova. But once I learned about its existence, I was hooked. I still love taking special advantage each year by eating as much Mexican food as I can get my hands on, usually for both lunch and dinner! 

This year, I rocked up to Agave in Wan Chai around noon for some chilaquiles and margaritas. My friend Yvonne joined me a bit later, and it was another memorable installment of the day. I think I've visited Agave on every single one of my Hong Kong Cinco de Mayos, so I'm glad I got the chance to drop in again. For my money, it's easily the top Mexican restaurant in town, serving what I consider to be Hong Kong's best nachos and, perhaps more importantly, its finest margarita. (Next year, Cinco de Mayo meets Sunday brunch! Stay tuned!)

I had to swap my regular dinnertime visit for mid-afternoon revelry because my colleague Pauline recently turned fifty, and chose that Saturday evening as the moment for her big celebration. It was great to gather with all my colleagues and Pauline's other friends in the clubhouse of her housing complex in Sham Tseng. The lesson of the day was that when you mix mid-afternoon margaritas with Pauline's celebratory champagne, you get a Sunday hangover of epic proportions. But one that is totally worthwhile!

I'm not sure if I've written about it before, but Hong Kong stages a special festival every spring called Le French May. In reality, Le French May starts in April and stretches well into the summer. (This year, the movie selection doesn't even start until June.) Still, I love that the place I've chosen to call home has such a vibrant French community, and Le French May is really when it puts its best foot forward. This year happens to be the festival's twenty-fifth anniversary! 

Even the Happy Valley races get in on the Gallic action, celebrating "Happy Wednesday French Night" over three successive mid-week race meetings. You can bet that I was present for all of them. The first week featured a French a capella group, the second a hip hop dance duo who were truly mesmerizing, and the final installment—in addition to some decidedly mediocre crunchy John Dory fingers with lemon caper mayonnaise—the accompaniment of a stellar French jazz band. 

There's only a few weeks of racing left before summer hiatus, so you better believe I'm taking full advantage! My luck, however, I'm sad to say, has been pretty dismal of late. 

Le French May is something I look forward to each year, but another recent event was of a rarer vintage: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding at Windsor Castle. We're lucky here in Hong Kong that the time difference put our viewing parties in the early evening, because my Stateside friends had to rise at an unholy hour (at least for a Saturday) in order to witness the pomp and splendor of something the British have mastered better than any other nation. 

If you were to survey Hong Kong's English expats and ask them to name their favorite home-style pub, chances are the most common answer would be The Globe, with its otherworldly selection of beers and ciders, authentic ambiance and first-rate food. It really feels beamed to SoHo from faraway Blighty. Of course, that's where I wound up to view the nuptials, especially since my beloved Yorkshire Pudding (the venue where I had watched the last royal wedding, when Prince William wed Kate Middleton) has since been replaced with an obscene Burger King.

It's refreshing when something so positive unites strangers around the world. When you think about it, tragedy is usually what brings people together. So that night, while I made new friends with the diverse crowd who had gathered to watch the romantic occasion unfold half-a-world away, I couldn't help but smile at the whole thing. 

Another public holiday—and thus another mid-week day off work—came in the form of Buddha's Birthday last Tuesday. I know I've written about it several times before, but when I whittle the list of all sixteen of Hong Kong's public holidays down to my handful of favorites, this—along with the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival—is on the podium. 

Fredric and I caught the 8:30am ferry to Cheung Chau from Pier Five, bright and early to beat the crowds who flock to the tiny island for its iconic Bun Festival. The sun was brighter than I can ever recall, and even the newspapers the next day said that the oppressive heat deterred many people from visiting. (Rest assured, it was still mobbed!) But watching the colorful procession of venerable statues, lion dancers, and—most memorably—the 'flying' townschildren wind their way through the streets is nothing short of breathtaking. 

The basketball courts abutting the main temple are transformed during the festival, with colossal thirty foot tall bun towers, overlooked by larger-than-life statues of three deities. Gongs and drums sound constantly, and smoke and incense fill the air. At one point, I even chanced upon a bakery supplying the festival's signature buns, and paused for a moment as the baker stamped each one with a lucky symbol.

It was a glorious day, as I've come to expect it to be. I got a ringside table at a local restaurant along the parade route and chowed down on tasty salt-and-pepper squid while quaffing my fair share of ice cold Tsing Taos under the scorching May skies. 

After I had my fill of the parade, I relocated to the island's north side, where a comely little café perched between two beaches beckons patrons with balmy winds and casual vibes. My phone had died at this point, but luckily I had a good book. And by the time I got home around 9pm, I was ready to call it one of Buddha's best birthday parties yet.

Even this past weekend was one to remember. I heard about a family-owned Egyptian restaurant called Aziza nestled in Kennedy Town, and enlisted Max and Céline to try it out with me. It was one of the best meals I've enjoyed in quite a long while, and it took me back to my magical Cairene sojourn last summer. Later that same day, a Sichuan feast in Causeway Bay merged into a big night out in Lan Kwai Fong, chock full of those unplanned encounters with old friends that makes any nocturnal adventure in Hong Kong such a special occasion.

So, yes, as May 2018 draws to a close, I think I can safely say that this summer is on track to be a real winner. I hope the rest of the season is as much fun as the past month! Somehow, I have a sneaking suspicion it will be!