Hong Kong Days 3 & 4: Janaki, Lan, and Billy Time.
December 12, 2015.
I had to work again very early Saturday morning (Friday morning in the states). This time difference is a joke. I don’t even know what day or time it is anymore. My eyes pop open at around 1AM Hong Kong time, and I have to work like a zombie trying to not make noise in the dark, while the whole rest of the country is sleeping. After I finished working, I received a WhatsApp from Lan asking if I could be ready soon to go hike the Peak. Let me point out that she was in her room a few steps away.
I immediately responded with exclamations. I needed some exercise. I hadn’t really worked out in a few months with my lack of a real schedule and the constant travel. All of the delicious Asian food was just sitting in my stomach, and I needed to feel like I deserved being a glutton.
Victoria Peak is known to have beautiful views and vantage points from all around the harbor. I love standing at the top of a mountain and overlooking a city. It makes you feel powerful and in control of your life. That sounds trite, but standing on top of a hill takes my breath away. The city seems so small, and your own mortality weighs on you. It reinvigorates your mind and your spirit. Try it next time.
Lan, Billy, and I geared up for our hike and on we went. I will point out that Billy and I both had similar North Face vests. (Lan, don't be jealous). Prior to the trip, I had purchased new hiking shoes (Salomans) and I was excited to give them a try. As many of my fellow hiking buddies can attest to, (they shall remain nameless), I typically wear no grip shoes on hikes in LA. I notoriously have fallen, slid down steep hills, and crawled on my hand and knees down steep treks in defeat. I used to think maybe hiking isn’t for me. But, nope, it was just the shoes.
Now, that I’ve seen pictures of me in my hiking shoes, I look incredibly nerdy. Hiking shoes just aren’t shaped for petite women. But sometimes, you have to prioritize safety over a flattering photo shoot. I always ask myself: why do some people look so athletic after a long run, and others look like they might have to be hospitalized? In this case I am definitely the latter. You will see this in pictures as my trip becomes more active, and my hair starts to assert its own personality.
I will come clean. We cheated and didn’t do the climb from the base. We had a Dim Sum date that we were trying to meet, and we decided to be lazy and haul a taxi up to the peak. However, we did run laps at the top of the peak. Lan misinformed us that it was a half mile or so around the top of the peak, but it ended up being a significant amount more than that. Perhaps, that served us right. The biggest disappoint was the weather. It was a foggy day in Hong Kong, and none of the vantage points turned out to be as spectacular as they typically are on a clear day. Fortune was on my side as the 8 hour hike I completed a few days later made up for it. (Stay tuned).
We decided to walk back down to the base, and I understood why we took a taxi to the peak. That walk uphill would have taken us over an hour. It was very steep, and I was happy that my Salomans were coming in handy. On our walk back to the Soho Place, we stopped at Lan's favorite salad/veggie store that was closing. Shockingly, they were giving out free meals on their last day. We didn’t just happen to stumble in. This was a calculated move by Lan. We all picked a combination of different veggie/salad dishes (i.e. couscous, salads, and veggies). LA friends think: Lemonade. It was all free. We vowed to save that later for dinner to fast a bit. (That story will come later).
If Lan was a superhero, I’d call her Super-Saver. She’s like the Points Guy, except with life.
We walked back to Lan and Billy’s place in Soho from the Peak to meet their friend who lives in the same building for Dim Sum lunch. You don’t even understand how excited I was. I heard from numerous people and one random old chatty lady in line for the bathroom in the airplane that Dim Sum in Hong Kong is out of this world.
I took many photos of our meal, so feel free to scroll through them and live vicariously through our meal. It doesn’t look as nearly as good as it tasted. So maybe, you’ll be questioning my pallet instead.
We ordered a plethora of dumplings, soup dumplings, some meatball dish, meat dishes, and to be honest, who knows. Other than the one person at the table that orders, does anyone really know what they are getting for Dim Sum? I just do a lot of pointing and nodding. Good thing I had my friends along. Whenever I looked confused, I would just point at everyone else at the table and smile. I’m pretty sure every waiter/waitress in Hong Kong might think that I’m strange.
The meal hit me with an axe to the stomach. I began to regret not being more ambitious and walking up the Peak. I don’t have room in my bag to buy new clothes. Stop eating all this delicious food, Janaki.
Later that evening, Lan and I decided to hang out prior to meeting Billy later with his friends. Our agenda was Causeway Bay to check out the shopping. As we began our stroll (okay, okay, maybe a block) to Causeway, we quickly changed our minds and opted for a glass of wine at some random bar/restaurant that we stumbled upon. It was happy hour. How could we say no? We ordered one glass of wine each. When our waitress presented our glass, we realized that a glass = a half bottle. Those were some heavy pours. Somehow, after catching up and laughing, the bartender, just started pouring stuff into our glass without us even ordering. We were confused, but we just looked at each other and couldn’t pass up a free glass (or in this case ½ bottle).
After all of that wine, and laughing hysterically about God knows what, we were completely foaming at the mouths, and decided to gorge ourselves at a burger place. We ordered a burger, some Asian spiced French fries, and another dish. I’m pretty sure Korean Fried Chicken. I can’t remember. All I remember is eating a lot of heavy food, and heading back to Soho Apartment to take a nap.
Remember when we mentioned that we would meet up with Billy and his friends later? That didn't happen. We ended the Saturday night with full bellies and no social outing. We may or may not have ended the night at 8PM. On second thought, it was earlier. (Tap on pictures for slide show).
December 13, 2015
Because we had ended the night so early, I woke up Sunday morning with a vigor. Lan and I planned again on hitting the shops at Causeway Bay, but I decided that I wanted to get a Brazilian blowout. Ladies, I don’t need to explain thick wavy hair and humidity. It’s essentially a disaster. Half of the time, I pull my hair in a bun or don’t even look in the mirror after a few hours outside. Lan was able to find me a relatively cheap hair salon in Hong Kong and after two and a half hours, my hair felt like silk. Professional services in Asia are so much cheaper than the states, they pay more attention to detail, and you are not expected to tip (you throw in a few dollars, just to be nice).
I hit a point of hunger within an hour of my hair treatment, so Lan and Billy graciously brought me some couscous and veggies and a coffee. After my hair police makeover, I met them for lunch at a relatively new Indian Restaurant buffet, (Bombay Dreams). The food was an Indian novel that I remembered so vividly. I was experiencing Jumpa Lahiri's words firsthand. The food had a life of its own and expressed our culture with the simplicity of scents. Imagine rice, watermelon, and tandoori. I was floating through a novel I had once read, but feeling the local flavors at my tongue.
After we ate our way through another workout day, we decided to walk to Causeway Bay. I know this name has come up many of times, but perhaps there was a reason we were stalling.
Oh yeah, there was.
We had good intentions, but it was a Sunday and we decided to play around at the Hong Kong Park. After frolicking through the park, we finally took the initiative and hopped onto the Metro to Causeway. At the Metro Station, we stumbled across a McDonald's with build your own burgers and salads. It was vastly different from the drive through windows and dull interiors of most McDonald's in the US. This space was modern and innovative. Imagine McDonald's meets a new, hip Café. We marveled at it from afar, and grotesquely considered ordering from there just for the heck of it, but we were stuffed from the Indian food, and wisely decided to move on. Whatever, you can package it anyway you want. But McDonald's, is McDonald's. We couldn’t get over the wrapping paper though; it was really pretty.
When we arrived at Causeway and stepped onto the street, I panicked. I absolutely hate crowds of people. I hate crowded concerts, and detest pushing, yelling, shoving, and barging into personal space. It was an experience to say the least. Because it was right before Christmas, Causeway Bay was even more packed. The Christmas decorations sparkled, shined, and sang in the background while the mass exodus of shoppers, locals, and tourists stampeded the streets. I felt like I was at a Circus, with the fluorescent lights, holiday music, and the endless array of shops ranging from high end bags, jewelry, and shoes to cell phone cases.
We quickly jumped into a few stores and tried to find side streets to walk down. I didn’t make any purchases, because the big lines weren’t worth the wait. Additionally, I had to keep in mind that anything I purchased, I would have to carry with me for another month. I resolved to do shopping (if any) towards the end of my trip. (I did forget to mention that I purchase two pairs of shoes from a local shoes store a few days earlier with Lan. Don’t worry, Lan, the Super-Saver came in handy with some discounts. A trade for a trade became a shoe for a shoe.
After the afternoon in Causeway, we decided to taxi back to Soho. We were finished with the crowds. We trudged back to the apartment in sheer exhaust and decided to eat the free vegetables that we had scored the day before. I fell asleep at 9:00PM. Crowds are draining and I still had adventures ahead. I look forward to my trek to the deserted beaches and to pave a footprint among those who climb a hill and connect with their mortality.
