Hong Kong Holiday Entry 1

One reason I majorly looked forward to my Hong Kong holiday was the chance to reunite with my LSE flatmate Phoebe. It was September 06 when we first met, and we instantly clicked because of our shared love for all kinds of food. And also because we discovered that we look good together in photos... might as well hang out together right?

First Gimmick with Flatmates: Borough Market, September 06 (NOTE: I was so thin then!)

A Hong Kong national who took her undergrad and postgrad studies in the UK, Phoebe gladly took us around her hometown. She brought us to Lantau Island for outlet shopping (they even had my fave Canadian store Roots, which apparently has factories in Taiwan).

Then we went to Discovery Bay for dinner. Discovery Bay has a Serendra-ish feel to it. It didn't feel like Hong Kong at all as it was so chill and peaceful, with a gentle seabreeze and, curiously, no neon lights lighting up the streets. Over Italian dinner, we got to see fireworks from nearby Disneyland as an added bonus.

On our last evening, Phoebe satisfied my craving for something exotic by bringing us to this traditional Chinese place (you know, the kind where people sitting in huge round tables talk loudly). We had mushrooms, prawns, scallops, pork knuckles, and some seaweed-looking dish. But the highlight has got to be the roast goose, which tastes almost exactly like duck, if a bit more tender.

Over dinner, real-Chinese Phoebe schooled fake-Chinese me to "proper" Chinese eating. As I got impatient that the fried rice hadn't arrived when all the meals had already been served, Phoebe explained that fried rice traditionally does come last: she explained that you typically only order fried rice if you're still not full from what you had intially ordered. What should come together with all the viands is plain rice, not fried rice. Another curious practice: I noticed that her left hand holds on to her soup spoon as her right hand holds her chopsticks: she positions the soup spoon to "catch" whatever might fall from her chopsticks or her mouth as she chews her goose, veggies, etc.

She then took me to her friend's birthday party in this (straight) bar at Causeway Bay. I don't know if it's a function of its straight-ness or its Hong Kong-ness or its Chinese-ness, but I found it super-cutesy rather than pa-cool compared to the bars that I know here in Manila: there's karaoke screens all around and cool neon lighting. And the crowd has a kawaii feel to them too.

Birthday Boy Kevin (middle) is my crushie

Drinking Game Action

Blending in with the Locals, though with On not Speaking Chinese drama

Each table has a few sets of dice and shakers for brainy drinking games, like "Lucky" or "Liar".

In the latter, you try to call your opponents' bluff as you try to top each other's bets as to the number of same-digit dice everyone has on the table. It's incredibly geeky and complicated that I ended up drinking more than anyone else. But curiously, the alcohol mix was prolly 80% juice and 20% vodka so I was able to navigate back to the hotel without making a single wrong turn.

Thanks for the hospitality, Phoebe! Next time, it's my turn to take you around!