Warning: Contains Mostly Pottery!
I could, however, take lots of photos in the ceramics wing, so this post is dedicated to my potter friends. Enjoy - these are some beautiful pots from the last two thousand years.
Warning: Contains Mostly Pottery!For our last Sunday afternoon in Hong Kong (can we just talk about how quickly the time has flown by?!), we ventured down up into the New Territories, the northernmost section of Hong Kong, to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. The museum hosts a lot more "current" exhibits than the history museum we visited a few weeks ago. Today, we saw three current exhibitions: one on the animation of Studio Ghibli (awesome!), one on Chairs from around the world and through history (strangely fascinating!), and one on Bruce Lee (Kung Fu!). Unfortunately, photos were not allowed in any of those - though we did snap some photos in the lobby outside the hall.
I could, however, take lots of photos in the ceramics wing, so this post is dedicated to my potter friends. Enjoy - these are some beautiful pots from the last two thousand years. Friday was another half-day for me, so after a quick lunch at a Greek restaurant in Soho that Tom has been wanting to try, we tied on our hiking shoes and headed over to Discovery Bay to do the hike I had done a few weeks ago over the mountain to Mui Wo. It was much better with a hiking buddy. I had forgotten what a great panorama of the city and islands is available at the top - can't think of a better way to spend my last Friday in Hong Kong!
After the hike, we ended in the village of Mui Wo. It was early, just barely 5 o'clock, but we managed to find a fresh seafood restaurant that was ready to serve and had some really great scallops, clams, and sweet and sour pork. All in all, a phenomenal Friday. And now, off to Macau for Saturday!
Last weekend, after Hong Kong bounced back from the would-be ravages of the dreadful Typhoon Ramussan, Tom and I went with two of my Charlottesville coworkers to visit Ocean Park, the other large amusement park here in Hong Kong. It's very similar to Sea World, but with more rides than I remember there being at Sea World. Also more topiaries. A lot more topiaries. It was a fun day, full of lots of bizarre animals, and lots of more familiar ones too. Oh, and we got picked out of a crowd of more than a thousand people and shown on the jumbotron for the Dolphin Show. And experienced a small mob trying to get off the mountain to the lower section of the park (seriously, run to the next gate, you'll definitely get down faster that way). Eventful day.
After our park day was over, we took a taxi back to Lan Kwai Fong, a neighborhood just a few streets over from our apartments and hotel, where a craft beer festival was taking place. Lots of good drinks and food, especially from a Scottish brewery called Brew Dog. Typhoon Rammasun has brought a lot of rain and wind to Hong Kong, even though it passed well south of the city, so I was stuck taking photos with my iPhone today.
Today, after a yummy Japanese lunch with two of my Hong Kong colleagues, we scrambled over to see a much smaller exhibit of the papier-mâché pandas. Then after work, we dodged raindrops and went with a few of my US colleagues to check out a special 75th Anniversary of Batman exhibit at Times Square Hong Kong (a large shopping mall, completely unlike Times Square in New York), then across the harbor to Kowloon for post-work drinks at the Ozone bar, on the 118th floor of the ICC (International Commerce Center). Ozone is the highest bar in the world, and was super swanky, but lots of fun. I have to say, the bathroom is probably one of the top places I've ever peed (pun kind of intended). Thursday, Tom and I went out for Dim Sum with some coworkers. Dim Sum is a traditional Cantonese style of eating, similar to Spanish Tapas: small plates shared between everyone, with lots of tea to wash everything down. We also discovered that I'm an "old man" because I like black tea (pu'er tea), which apparently only old people drink here in Hong Kong.
After dinner tonight, we went up to PMQ, a design collective with a host of trendy shops, to check out the current exhibition 1600 Pandas, a world touring exhibit partnering with the WWF to raise awareness of the number of pandas currently living in the wild. Though the papier-mâché pandas popped up around town in a variety of locations over the last few weeks, they're now currently living at PMQ, at least until the beginning of next week.
After checking out the crowded exhibit - including Hug Hug Panda, a special selfie taking area (I'm not kidding, that's what the signage said) - we walked around some of the shops. My favorite was Flow+ Living, a small ceramics shop featuring the work of Hong Kong artist, Yokky Wong, and run as a co-partnership with two of her students. One of her students, Heidi Choi (who makes whimsical handbuilt sculptures of children doing yoga), interrupted me after several minutes of my perusing the ceramics (read: picking up multiple pieces, closing my eyes, and reading them with my hands) to ask, knowingly, if I was a potter. I responded yes and we spent about 15 minutes talking about art and ceramics in Hong Kong (the limitations: space and high rent) and each of our work. It was a breath of fresh air to this heart, aching to touch clay after a long absence. I purchased one of Yokky's lovely Lotus tea bowls, and can't wait to bring it home. Sunday afternoon, we took the bus over to the southern side of Hong Kong Island to a village called Stanley. Stanley is home to one of the more popular street markets - the one that all the locals told us to go to to buy our souvenirs - and is also home to a large ex-patriot population. It's a picturesque community cradling a beautiful bay, and was a great way to spend the afternoon. And yes, we bought some souvenirs (and gifts!).
I've been neglectful in posts specifically dedicated to delicious things I've eaten. Here's a wrap up of the photos from the last few weeks I've just pulled from my phone.
It's been a good food week.
Tonight a group of my coworkers - mainly those visiting from the US, but also including a few of our Hong Kong-based colleagues - returned to Lamma Island to devour what seemed like half the sea life of Victoria Harbor. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, other than to say that I completed a bucket list goal tonight by eating a Mantis Shrimp. On the ferry ride back, the sky was eerie. All the photos below are unaltered, straight from my iPhone with no filters. Yesterday, I took a half day from work and we went to Hong Kong Disneyland for the afternoon/evening. It's a rather small park by US-standards, very easily doable in half a day. We started out with a stroll down Main Street USA into Tomorrowland, made a brief foray into Fantasyland (all that pink was hard on the eyes!), then reveled in Toy Story Land, before a brief, but haunting trip into Mystic Point, a stop at the mine in Grizzly Gulch, and a lazy cruise in Adventureland.
For the most part, each of these sections had one main attraction, and a few smaller rides in some of them, so we didn't spend much time in each. Despite the hordes of visitors, we rarely spent more than 40 minutes in queue for a given ride and most moved quite quickly! The attention to detail in all areas of the park (but especially Toy Story land!) is exactly what you expect from Disney - every experience has been meticulously engineered down to the garbage cans. Highlights included: Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster (I beat Tom almost 2 points to one), It's A Small World, RC Coaster (a pirate ship style ride that Tom was proud he didn't throw up on), Mystic Manor (a rejiggering of the Haunted Mansion, so great!), Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Carts, and the Jungle River Cruise. And of course the nightly fireworks show, Disney in the Stars, was pretty spectacular. Last night, after work, we ventured into a neighborhood in Kowloon called Mong Kok, which is known for it's many street markets, including the very famous Temple Street Night Market. We started at the Flower Market, then walked through the Bird Garden and Market (where locals take their pet birds - in cages - on walks after tea), and Goldfish Market, then, after a rather disappointing dinner, to the Night Market, where you can purchase a whole host of knock-offs, illegal CDs/DVDs/Designer merchandise, and tchotchkes. So much commercialism (and junk!) but so much fun too! Bright lights, dense crowds, and pushy hawkers - and we managed not to spend a cent!
For most of the time since he arrived, Tom's been laid up with the same gastrointestinal bug that I had after I arrived. Since he's finally feeling better, we went out to eat tonight at a restaurant called Yardbird, which specializes in yakitori. Yakitori is Japanese style of cooking small pieces of chicken by skewering and grilling them over hot coals. It was a life changing dining experience, and one I absolutely recommend to anyone visiting Hong Kong. The meal was served family style - everything was shared - and it was a bit pricey, but worth it for one of the best dinners I've had in a really long time.
Thanks to my CHO coworkers Jeannie Wallace and Chris Read for recommending this spot. Tuesday was a public holiday here - the 17th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), when the British ceded Hong Kong back to China - so work was closed. We spent the morning walking up Hollywood Road, an area north of our apartment known for its antique shops and art galleries, to Man Mo Temple. The temple is over 150 years old, and is dedicated to the god of literature (Man) and the god of war (Mo) and is known for its huge and plentiful incense coils.
After wrapping up at the temple, we walked down a park off Hollywood Road, then to the Hong Kong Park and Zoo. The zoo was pretty disappointing, small and hard to see the few animals they had. After lunch, we headed to Lamma Island, a small island to the west of Hong Kong Island. It's has several beaches and has more of a small fishing village feel to it. We met up with one of my coworkers and had drinks by the beach. Thursday, we ventured into Kowloon for the first time for dinner. We traveled via Star Ferry, an iconic and short ferry ride (about 10-15 minutes) across the Victoria Harbor from Hong Kong Island. Kowloon s know for its many street markets and the nightly laser light show visible across the harbor. Friday, I took a summer half day, and we took the tram up to Victoria Peak for lunch and to see the city skyline. I also bought my first souvenir from a street vendor at the Peak, a pretty painting of a crowded street and bus. After lunch, we took the harrowing bus ride down the mountain - sat right at the front of the bus to watch as we narrowly missed about a 100 other buses and cars on the very narrow, windy roads down the mountain. One of my coworkers invited me and another coworker out to Discovery Bay for lunch. Discovery Bay is on Lantau island, and is more of a green community. There are very few cars or industry, and it helps keep the smog levels down. Much more of a resort feeling to it than the other parts of Hong Kong. It's only really accessible by ferry and bus. I took the ferry, since that's the easier option from where I'm living. It was pretty amazing how noticeable the difference in the smog levels immediately after getting off the ferry. The smog wasn't too bad in Central, but it was so clear at Discovery Bay, and looking across the channel toward Hong Kong island, the difference in air quality was really evident.
After wandering around taking photos for a few minutes, I met Macy and Cindy for lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant. A little more sightseeing, and the girls were off to shop, while I went on a hike to one of the neighboring towns. The hike was pretty short, about 4.25 miles and 750 feet in elevation gain, but with 90+ degree temperatures and high humidity, I was a sweaty mess by the end of it. The hike goes through an indigenous village and a Trappist Monastery, which was famous for its milk production several years ago before that part was relocated to a more reachable area, and also passes by a small temple, which I opted to detour to. It may have been extremely hot, but the views were incredibly, especially since it was such a clear day and the pollution levels were knocked down a bit by all the rain we've had recently. Upon reaching Mui Wo, the village on the other side of the mountain, I arrived at the ferry hall just as the boat to Central was ready to leave. Rather than waiting for the next boat and getting some dinner, I made a quick decision to jump on the ferry again, and head back to Central. I think I made the right decision, as the clear sky made for some pretty spectacular photos of Hong Kong island, which wouldn't have been possible if I'd have waited, since the sun was already setting by the time we landed. It's a dreary, stormy weekend here in Hong Kong, so I decided to lay low and continue recovering from the bout of gastroenteritis I picked up - it's a shame to be in such a great food city and be forced to subsist mainly on bread, oatmeal or congee (rice porridge), water and juice, but I'm on the mend after a visit to the doctor last week. During one of the rare breaks in the storm earlier this afternoon, I decided to get out of the apartment and wander the city - no real intentions of things to see, but just to wander and take some photos.
I spent part of the day at the IFC mall, a huge indoor mall full of most western luxury brands (Apple, Coach, Armani, Victoria's Secret, etc), but the majority of my time was spent on the Central-Mid-Levels Escalator. The Escalator is a series of raised walkways, people movers, and western-style escalators that connects two of the districts of Hong Kong Island. The moving portions largely go in one direction, and switch to accommodate the morning and evening rush hours. According to Wikipedia, it's the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world: over 2,600 ft long and covering over 440 ft in height. One of the neighborhoods it transverses on the way to the top is Soho, a fashionable dining and shopping district. You can get some great views of local streets from the Escalator, even when it's crowded with people - as most places often are in Hong Kong. One of my colleagues from the Charlottesville office was in town this weekend, so we teamed up to see some of the sights of Hong Kong. We ended up doing two very different tourist attactions - the Po Lin Monastery and Tian Tan Buddha at Ngong Ping Village, Lantau Island, and Victoria Peak, the highest mountain on Hong Kong Island. Po Lin Monastery and Tian Tan BuddhaWe left for Ngong Ping mid-morning and arrived with the crowds around lunchtime after a 30-40 minute cable car ride up the mountain. The Monastery is one of the largest in the region, home to many monks, although we did not see any during our visit. The buddha is one of the world's largest, sitting well over 100 ft tall. After a brisk climb up to his peak, we were rewarded with some hazy, though still spectacular, views of the island. Keep scrolling down after this set of photos...There are more below. Victoria PeakAfter lunch and a gelato break (high humidity plus 90+ degree temperatures made that a necessity), we traveled back down the mountain by cable car, and back to Central Hong Kong for a harrowing bus ride up to Victoria Peak. The Peak is home to several restaurants and shopping centers, and offers panoramic views of Central Hong Kong and Kowloon. After dinner at one of the Japanese restaurants in the Peak proper, we were rewarded for our long day with the nightly light show offered by the many skyscrapers of Hong Kong.
A group of my colleagues here in Hong Kong took me out this evening to experience a Chinese dining experience unlike any other I've had: Hot Pot Instinct. It was kind of a cross between fondue and hibachi - in the middle of the table was a large bowl of boiling broth (split into two flavors - spicy and salty). The wait staff brought a variety of delicious and exotic items for us to cook in the boiling hot pot. Highlights included: dried fish skin (tasted like pork rinds), frozen tofu, spam, a variety of dumplings, local beef, Chinese beef (those two are *very* different, according to my coworkers), stuffed flowers, fresh frog legs (still quivering!), chicken testicles, squid ink, and more. The frog legs, once I got over the fear that they'd kick me in the throat on the way down, were definitely one of my favorite items - and whatever people tell you, they don't taste like chicken! Butao Ramen http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=139599 This is quickly becoming my favorite meal in Hong Kong. It's the restaurants standard Ramen dish. I've gone and had it twice and it's so flavorful and filling. Need to be adventuresome and try the Black King (similar to the dish pictured, but full of Squid Ink). Wah Fung http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=3914&tc=sr1 Any restaurant that pours me a yunomi full of tea as soon as I sit down has an A+ in my book already. This was Guangdong-style BBQ pork and roasted goose. Flavorful and moist. This restaurant is basically across the street from my apartment, so I'm sure I'll be back. 1968 http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=85323 One of my coworkers took me here for lunch and suggested I get this sampler plate. Everything was delightful, but the spiced peanuts and curry were out of this world. Also the first time I've had a lightly deep-fried, hard-boiled egg. The restaurant itself was pretty swanky, with great typography and comfy couch-style benches on either side of the table to sit at instead of individual chairs. Sorry the photo is a little fuzzy. I only had my work iPhone and it's an older model. |