Eleventh Heaven

It’s been a weird week and, it hardly needs to be said, a weird year. But regardless of what’s happened or is happening, I always try to make the most of this crazy adventure we call life. And whenever November rolls around, I know it’s time for reflection, with two major milestones that make their annual appearance. At the start of the month, on the ninth, I commemorate the anniversary of my arrival in Hong Kong, and at the end, on the twenty-fourth, I celebrate yet another inevitable birthday.  

Yesterday being the ninth, I just couldn’t resist the opportunity to organize a group dinner to mark the (can you believe it?) eleventh—ELEVENTH!—anniversary of that day now more than a decade in the past when that twenty-two year old hopped off a plan and started his new life.

My life is awesome, COVID be damned. True, 2020 has seen a tone down in international travel and there were brief spurts where our social life here in Hong Kong were pretty drastically curtailed. But we’ve had it lucky. Lockdowns and sheltering in place aren’t something we’ve had to endure, and there’s a part of me that feels that I’ve actually missed out on the atrocious 2020 that so many people have been forced to endure.

I’ve never failed to observe my Hong Kong anniversary in some way, whether it be the mammoth free-flow brunches I organized for my fifth and tenth festivities, or the simpler dinners I’ve scrapped together pretty much every other year. Making this anniversary a bit more special was the fact that it fell on a Monday, which also happened to be the day of the week on that first day, way back in 2009!

So a few weeks ago, I decided it would be good to gather five friends together (six including myself, which is the current cap the Hong Kong government has imposed on restaurant gatherings) for revelry at the notorious Tung Po.

I think I must have written about Tung Po before. Basically, this super friendly local guy named Robbie started a restaurant in a wet market in North Point, serving killer food but also not forgetting that atmosphere can be an equally strong contributor to a good meal. He blasts the music—and takes request from the crowd—all while moonwalking and doing splits for his constantly-entertained clientele. I’ve visited around five times over the years, and, owing to some new friends I met at the Mid-Autumn camping extravaganza last month who are new to Hong Kong, I decided to push forward with planning the eleventh anniversary party in this popular venue.

A little part of me wondered whether this was madness. I’ve only ever stopped by Tung Po on weekends previously. Perhaps, I reckoned, a Monday night visit would lead to boredom, with empty tables and a subdued atmosphere. But, boy, I needn’t had worried! The place was in full swing, and the videos and photographs of the night will help remind me for years to come that this anniversary—on a Monday night in the midst of a global pandemic—was one of the best yet!

Stay tuned for details of my upcoming birthday and Thanksgiving adventures! But in the meantime, know that yours truly has passed the eleven year marker with a rousing success of a party, and the sprint to 2021 has commenced!