Weekend in Hong Kong

Hong Kong, without a doubt, is a fascinating city. It is clearly the most vertical city that I have ever seen, and probably in the world. The city started as a British port between Asia and Europe hundreds of years ago, and has blossomed into a HUGE metropolis on a very tiny island. One western local I met claimed that there are 17.5 people for every square foot of residential space on the island. This may sound ridiculous (..and it is), but once you see the city, you can believe it.
I spent a long weekend (four days / three nights) in Hong Kong, and spent most of the time with a friend who recently graduated from Kellogg and is currently living in Hong Kong working at McKinsey -- i.e. Kevin Chung. He was a truly fantastic host, and it allowed me to see all the highlights of the city, and the surrounding area in a very short time. The pictures below capture the adventure.

I arrived about 3 hours before Kevin at the hotel in the Midlands part of Hong Kong on Friday night. Midlands is a big expats area, with many great restaurants, so I went to check this out on my own. I immediately realized that prices were not quite what I was accustomed to in SE Asia -- I soon came to believe that it is the most expensive city in the world -- even more expensive than Tokyo! ...quite a change from the cheap $1-$2 meals I had been enjoying in Thailand / Phillipines.

This is a picture of the popular restaurant area.


Kevin and I met up around 10, and headed out on the town. After grabbing a quick beer in the expats area, we headed to the most popular bar street in town -- Lan Kwai Fong. It was packed this Friday night, so we didn't stay long -- we had some clubbing to do.


We headed to Club Nine first. It was a good scene, but definitely had the big city / big attitude type of feel -- quite a change from the gentle Thai smiles. Kevin, Chris, and I (all pictured below) enjoyed our time nonetheless. However, my travels and paryting had caught up with me a little, so we headed to bed relatively early...


...in preparation for a day on the golf course! We awoke early and headed over to the island of Macau, which is a separate Chinese territory (i.e. island) about 3 hour by boat to the west. Once controlled by the Portugese, Macau is now controlled by the Chinese government, and has
a number of nice golf courses, though most of them are private. Kevin has many contacts in the area however, so we played as guests of one of his Korean friends at Macau Country club. It was a quality course with some great views, though in usual Hong Kong area fashion, the haze or pollution (which I hear is created from the factories on nearby mainland China) never cleared to show the sun. Here is one of the first holes.


..and a view of another

..and here is the crew. I have to mention that I had my best nine holes of golf ever on the front nine, which is no small feat considering the amount of golf I have played in my life. Not having touched a golf ball in ~1 month, using rental clubs, and playing on a foreign course, I fired a -2 (33) with 7 pars and 2 birdies on the front nine. I couldn't believe how easy it was ...and of course a great time! However, my usual mistake-prone game returned on the back nine, and I fired a 41 to stumble home with a still very respectable 74. Kevin and his friend, who were both engaged in betting with me, were not happy -- HA!

A view of a hole and a nearby island in the background. There are over 700 islands in the region.

...and another view.

Here is Kevin's patented swing. I have to give him credit -- he had not touched a golf club up until a few years ago, and through his own perserverance, he has become a solid player. I think he ventured out more than any other student during his last spring at Kellogg. He fired in the mid-90's on this day.

...and his friend was at about the same level.

Tiger-esque? :) ...not quite :(

Here is the signature hole. From the back tees where we played, it is ~240 yards. I believe I hit a 5-iron, and was on the fringe, front-left. An amazing view as the ball attacks the green...

After playing, Kevin and I headed out to the city of Macau for a great meal, a Chinese-style massage (which also very nice:), and a tour of the nearby casinos.

Macau has recently opened it's doors to foreign investment, and many of the big name Casino owners have rolled in in recent years. The big story the weekend I was there -- "Macau passes Las Vegas in overall revenues" ..and from what I can tell they are just getting started. The Asian community loves to gamble! ...but unfortunately, there was not a Craps table in the entire city -- mainy blackjack, and baccarat (which I don't understand)

Wynn had just opened his casino, so this is where we spent our time. I was not impressed with the energy of the casino area however, as they do not allow drinks at the table, and the eye candy was sorely lacking -- only Asian men in the area. They clearly have a ways to go to match Vegas in this area.

After a great day in Macau, Kevin and I headed back to Hong Kong and to bed for the night. He had a wedding the next day, so I had the day free to explore around Hong Kong. I thought the buildings below were an impressive site, in the morning light ..or haze!

Hong Kong Park, which sits right in the middle of the city, is a peaceful getaway from the surrounding craziness. The few pictures below capture some of the views.

A beautiful lake sits right in the middle, and skyscrapers surround the entire thing.

..a nice waterfall

In my adventure to find an internet cafe (which HK has surprisingly few of), I ventured through some impressive mall / business areas.

Finally, my main destintation, the Peak Tram. Running since 1880, the Peak tram has carried passengers to the top of Hong Kong mountain for over 100 years.

Carrying 120 passengers and extending up at angles as great as 23 deg., the Peak tram is an impressive engineering feat.

The Peak tram arrives at Peak tower, which is seven stories high, and contains a viewing platform on top.

The escalators that run through Peak tower are dizzying...

...but once at the top, the view is nothing short of spectacular! Seeing the huge buildings and small amount of space that is actually used for residential living, you can now begin to understand the previously noted metric -- 17.5 people per sq. ft of residential space.

I was in full tourist mode that day -- backpack, Northface shirt, khaki shorts, Ipod...

...another, more direct view from above.

They have a 3km Peak trail that extends around the mountain and a nearby peak, so I decided to get some exercise. The next morning, I actually ran (.or more of a brisk hike) up the mountain, and ran around the trail. It was easily my best workout in SE Asia yet.

From the trail, you can see the backside of the island, home of Stanley market, which I never visited.

After walking around the trail, I walked down from the mountain, rather than taking the Peak tram. On the way, I saw this image, which I thought accurately reflected the dizzying ups, downs, and curves of the Hong Kong road system. This is one place I would never drive.

I met up with Kevin late in the afternoon, and we headed across the Chinese sea to Kowloon, which is on the mainland shared by China (though actual China does not begin until ~50km to the north). The prestigious civic center is captured on the bottom left.

Kevin (in his usual toughguy Asian pose) and some American tourist, who is fascinated with orange and blue for some odd reason.

..and another view across the harbor.

Kowloon has a slightly different feel than Hong Kong, as the roads are a little wider, and the buildings are little less immense. It feels a little like Manhattan.

Kevin and I stopped for a drink at a very nice bar before he had to fly out for work. I believe two beers cost ~150 HK $ -- i.e. $22! I'm glad he was paying, as he was gracious enough to do most of the weekend. ...like I said before, a great host!

I couldn't resist taking this shot ....of the urinals! This is easily the best view I have ever seen from a urinal

Coming back, the view of the city was colorful, to say the least.

On the trip back, I asked Kevin if he had a message for any of his friends back at Kellogg -- this was his response :)

On my last night in Bangkok, I headed back to Lan Kwai Fong, which was considerably less crowded on a Sunday night. I naturally found a nearby pool table, which was surprisingly hard to find in Hong Kong. I met a friendly French guy (no really!), and we watched France beat Ireland in Rugby as part of the annual 6 nations tourney.