Travelogue - Hong Kong (August 2002)

When I recently learned that I would have a business
trip to Hong Kong, I was excited at the prospect of
returning to this amazing city. Though I had visited
the former British colony a couple of times before,
they had been short stays. Thus, I decided to
maximize my time on this trip through spending the
weekend following my business mtgs on Thurs/Fri.
Typhoon rains early in the week gave way to clear,
sunny skies by week's end. I've always been
fascinated by the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong.
Yes, New York might be the City that Never Sleeps, but
Hong Kong has got to be the City that Never Stops!

I stayed at the Royal Garden Hotel on the Kowloon
peninsula, just across the harbor from Hong Kong
Island. The business/financial center was a short
5-minute hop away via the frequent Star ferry. The
hotel was beautiful, and serves as our crew hotel for
Swiss flight staff on layover. The rooftop pool and
net-enclosed tennis court offer spectacular views of
surrounding Kowloon, and across to the skyline of Hong
Kong Island.

Thursday night, I joined some Swiss colleagues for
dinner at a small restaurant on neighboring Lamma
Island - a 45-minute boat ride from Central, located
southwest of Hong Kong Island. A freshly prepared
seafood meal of scallops, shrimp, lobster, etc. was a
feast for the eyes as well as the palate. En route
back to Central, we cruised through Aberdeen harbor,
surrounded by the famous Chinese Junk floating
restaurants.

On Friday afternoon, a buddy from work, Beat, arrived
to enjoy the weekend. We took a bus to Victoria peak,
which offered amazing views looking down on central
Hong Kong some 300 meters below. We descended on the
famous Victoria peak tram, encountering drops of 45
degrees and greater during the 10-minute cable train.
Afterwards, we returned to Kowloon and found an
off-the-beat restaurant. We turned out to be the only
"round-eyes" in the place during the entire evening
(i.e. it was a local joint not frequented by
tourists!) We started with a lobster sushi appetizer,
followed by mouth-watering dishes of broiled scallops
and lemon duck. Yum!

Early Saturday afternoon saw us sweating it out with
an hour-long rooftop tennis match at the hotel. Then
we went shopping in the commercial area of Causeway
Bay. An early evening dinner followed at a new
Japanese restaurant called Wasabi Sabi. The place had
the coolest decor - ultra hip and chic. Minimalist,
low lit black theme, enhanced by an underlit catwalk
platform entry to the dining area, highlighted by
halogen spot lights. Buddha Bar-like New Age music
provided cool background tones. Dinner was a
sumptuous offering of fresh salmon and tuna sushi,
grilled calamari and tempura shrimp, capped off by a
couple of shots of saki. Next, we ventured to the
night market in Kowloon's Mongkok district. Tourists
flocked through the make-shift stalls, searching for
bargains among the fake Rolexs, Louis Vuitton
knock-offs and inexpensive clothing.

Commenced Sunday with a wake-up swim. The rooftop
laps were just the thing to kick-off the day on a
bright note. We then headed back to Central (again on
the Star ferry) to catch a boat to neighboring Lantau
Island, home to the Po Lin Monastery and its famous
mountaintop Buddha statue - the largest such sitting
Buddha statue of its kind in the world. Lantau is
also home to the new Hong Kong International Airport
(an architecturally beautiful structure), which opened
some 5 years ago. Additional development is underway
on the island on the site of the world's newest
Disneyland, slated to open in phases, beginning in
2005. Took a quick 25-minute hydrofoil trip back to
Central, followed by a stop off at our newly-favorite
drink shop for a cool and refreshing Mango/Coconut
milk/Sago (tapioca-like mix) shake. Back to the hotel
for an afternoon workout and pool side repose.

After checking out of our hotel, we swung past the
famous Peninsula Hotel, consistently rated as one of
the finest hotels in the world. Enjoyed a drink at
the lobby bar, and then headed to Kowloon station for
our 20-minute express train ride back out to the
airport for our 1130pm departure to Zurich.
Unfortunately, the flight was severely overbooked, so
even my business pass ticket was not firm. Luckily,
my friend Beat's pilot's license yielded him a cockpit
jumpseat. I was re-accommodated on Monday morning
with a flight home on KLM via Amsterdam.

The latest trip to Hong Kong affirmed my earlier-held
notion - that Hong Kong is truly my favorite city in
Asia. The city of 7 million is alive and buzzing. It
is blessed with a beautiful harbor. The high peaks of
Hong Kong island are reminiscent of the natural beauty
to be found in Rio De Janeiro. One thing that
particularly impressed me during this visit was how
clean Hong Kong seemed. The streets and sidewalks
were, for the most part, litter-free. This stands out
in contrast to the dusty, dirty streets of other Asian
cities like Beijing, Bangkok and Bombay. Another
thing I've always admired about Hong Kong is the
city's myriad of transportation modes - from the
convenient, efficient airport express trains, to Star
Ferry, to the MTR metro system, to the old-fashioned
trams, to the hydrofoil and hydrojet services to/from
Macau. Hong Kong is a vibrant city that offers
business and pleasure travelers a wealth of things to
see and do. So, when you want to experience a taste
of Asia, head to Hong Kong!

Happy Travels!

Mark