Cultural Chameleon, even at 176 and blonde

Over the Christmas holiday I went on my 8th cruise, but surprisingly my first Caribbean or Princess cruise (pictures). Aside from some mechanical and weather issues, we had a great cruise, as always. However, I believe, and most of my family would agree, this is more accurately attributed to the time spent with family rather than to the cruise itself.

Princess Cruise line
We found Princess to be a pleasant cruising experience, though not on par with Celebrity. Below is a list of pros and cons we have for Princess and a few points of comparison. However, as my mom and I learned on Carnival, 1 ship and 1 cruise can be very different from another on the same line, therefore, take our assessment with a grain of salt.

To start with, perhaps the first bad experience we had was during the boarding process when we had to run 200-yards in the pouring rain through 6-inches of water from the terminal to the gangway. Wet t-shirt picture? Those are my favorite! Why don’t they enclose or at least cover the path from the terminal to the gangway?

+ for Princess

• More closet space & all the hangars came off the rod
• Closet door didn’t bang other doors
• The theatre was excellent with sufficient slant so we could see, seats were comfortable and they had pull out trays for drinks
• We were not hassled for cocktails in the theatre
• Good fire drill – held in lounge – with sufficient explanation- didn’t have to go out on deck
• Large selections of books in library
• “Safe” easier to access
• Better pizza
• Excellent steak in gourmet dining room
• No long buffet lines at breakfast

- for Princess

• No DVD’s or cassette players in room – no clock in room
• Charge for ice cream
• No pasta bar
• Pool party was mainly for selling $6.95 cocktails
• Those with drink cards should not have to pay for soda on Princess Cays Island
• Can’t order room service on TV
• No presentation of desserts on tray
• Very slow service in gourmet dining room
• Should be able to view your account on TV screen prior to getting statement
• No trays for breakfast and no one to carry dishes – lack of coffee servers
• Need new movies as same ones shown multiple times
• Very small ($50) compensation for being 5 hrs late getting into Jamaica

• Food was generally better on Celebrity (especially French fries and ice cream)
• In general employees are better trained on Celebrity than Princess
• Evening shows are much better on Celebrity than Princess

Overall, we’d say Celebrity is a nicer, more elegant, upscale cruise line than Princess, and certainly more so than Carnival. Even so, there have never been less than 400 kids on any Celebrity cruise we’ve been on.

My guess is we’ll stick with Celebrity whenever possible, except when we start pushing out to more exotic destinations to which Celebrity does not sail. I’m personally advocating for Royal Caribbean the next family cruise. And I’m really hoping to take a cruise myself on one of Conde Nast Reader’s Choice cruise lines: SeaDream Yacht Club, Seabourne, Crystal, Silversea, or Regent Seven Seas.

Weather/Clothes/Packing
I thought I was the only one taking my first winter trip to the Caribbean, but I’ve found out, I’m not, and I’ve gotten questions on what to wear and what to pack. First of all, weather.com. Just check the weather, both the predictions for your trip and the averages. Most likely, you’re going to be wearing cool summer clothes, even swimsuits all day long. It’s a tropical climate, even in the winter, so you might spend your days laying on the beach or snorkelling the reefs. Pack accordingly, this includes a rain jacket. However, at dinner the restaurant won’t let you forget you left winter back at home. They crank on the air-conditioner clearly forgetting ladies are wearing sleeveless tops and dresses in accordance with the tropical locale. Bring a pashmina or a cardigan for your shoulders. Don’t forget the cruise line’s evening dress codes.

Activities
Well, it’s the Caribbean, so any tropical, outdoor things you can imagine:

• Beach, swimming
• Snorkeling, Scuba diving
• Zip lines
• Horseback riding
• Shopping, exploring the town and markets
• Cultural/historical tours
• Waterfall climbing (Jamaica)
• Drinking margaritas, eating Mexican food (Margaritaville)

I was surprised how pleasant of a destination the Caribbean was overall, and especially Cozumel. I expected the places to be overrun with cruise passengers and just a total pain (Jamaica was a bit of a problem). But the air temperature was nice, the places were reasonably developed, and the crowds weren’t bothersome (but maybe I’m just used to it after living in China). The Caribbean was not nearly as hot as beaches in Thailand or Malaysia, which dissuaded me from going swimming (the water was actually chilly) but was nicer for looking around or lying on the beach. I guess it makes sense that the Caribbean is the most popular cruise destination for Americans and one of the most popular vacation destinations as well.

A very pleasant and enjoyable trip. Yay for family, Western food, and sun!

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More than 2 weeks ago, when I exchanged my overcoat for a swimsuit and headed off to my Christmas cruise around the Western Caribbean, I thought it’d be easy to be away from my computer for a week. In fact, I was looking forward to being unplugged, disconnected, turned-off, and away from my computer for that 7 days. During that week the closest I got to an internet-connected computer was using my Pocket PC as an MP3 player (since mine’s getting repaired in Beijing). However, five days into my cruise, I was itching to use a computer and get on the internet. I began to worry that I may no longer have a job or that my business wouldn’t survive a week of my absence, or that I’d otherwise be missing important emails, and I missed writing my blog.

Seven years ago, when I took my first cruise, I didn’t even have my own email address. Needless to say, then, I didn’t feel at a loss without an internet computer. While on the airplanes and on the cruise, I was reading “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. In this much more traditional form entertainment and information, he talks about the rise of the internet and the easy access anyone can have to information and other people 24/7/365. He explains that it was a combination of factors working together in the last 10 to 12 years that really made the internet a universal presence. Given that I don’t normally consider myself an early adopter, it makes sense that 7 years ago, I wouldn’t have had my own email address, yet now, I can’t even be away from my computer and the internet for 5 days without my nerves getting the better of me.

Well fortunately, when I was able to get on the internet again (free wireless via my pocket PC at the Fort Lauderdale Airport), I hadn’t missed anything too important. What a relief! But it really makes me wonder, if I at only 22 years-old and therefore not yet a senior manager at a global corporation who is being relied on to make major decisions everyday can’t even stand to be out of touch for a week, how do global executives ever get to take a vacation? Do they opt for vacation places where, like my dad, they can be in constant contact via phone and email with the office so they won’t miss anything important? Or are they more like me, who tries to take a break from the ever-connected world but can barely stand their vacation because they worry about what they’re missing? Or can those execs choose a remote island in the South Pacific and totally disconnect from the world for their vacation without any worries or fears of what might happen in their absence?

If vacations are becoming increasingly punctuated and filled with getting in touch with the office or at least worrying about work, are we really ‘getting-away’? Is it considered a vacation anymore if you check-in with your office 5 times a day? As we lead increasingly stressed lives and take less and less real vacation, either there’s going to be a greater need for doctors to deal with our associated health problems, or there’s a serious market opportunity for businesses that can provide full–but quick–relaxation for the overstressed business exec. (Perhaps that explains the proliferation of spas in recent years.)

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For the past week, I played tour guide to my mom and grandparents as they were visiting Shanghai <-pictures . I had the pleasure of introducing this dynamic city to them. It has been about 20 years since they were last here so they definitely needed to know about places to go around Shanghai.

During the days and evenings I was able to spend with them, I chose the restaurants. Here is the list of Shanghai restaurants we ate at together and a few of my comments. I'd also welcome their comments as well.

Di Shui Dong -- Hunan (Chinese) food -- cheap -- Maoming & Changle (& other locations) -- this is one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in Shanghai because I like spicy food, they have an English menu w/ pictures, and the food is good and affordable.

Venetto -- Italian -- upper moderate -- Henan & Yan'an -- this place serves good Venetian Italian food and is conveniently located near the Westin hotel. It's too expensive for everyday, but when you're in the mood for good Italian, its a nice treat.

Da Niang Shui Jiao -- Chinese (dumplings) -- very cheap -- on Huai Hai (multiple locations) -- one of my co-workers recommended this place to me; at the time I didn't realize I'd eaten at this place before. Not exactly the best place to take your parents since there's no English menu and you stand at the counter to order. But since we weren't very hungry, and it was nearby and very cheap, it made a for a good, light dinner. As dumplings are one of my favorite Chinese dishes, I'd certainly go again. (Just hope next time I can take a Chinese friend to read the menu to me.)

Element Fresh -- Health food -- lower to moderate -- Huai Hai & Xiangyang, Shanghai Center (& other locations) -- Started by an American, this place serves a mixture of health foods and Asian sets for lunch & dinner (tho they're open for breakfast, too) and has large American-size portions, which are reflected in its prices. My salad was excellent and definitely fresh; they also have an extensive juice/smoothie selection.

Shao Xing -- Chinese -- moderate -- near Shanghai Circus World -- this was a new dining experience for me: you are assigned a writer and then you and the writer walk around the viewing area of the restaurant. You point at plastic wrapped dishes you want ordered and she writes them down. When you're finished, you go back to your table and wait. I've often seen pictures, but actual food presentations (at a non-buffet) are quite unique. It would have been good but they were soooo slooooowwww. I told the server multiple times we had tickets to the 7:30pm show and she said she knew (why else would foreigners be in this part of town), but yet we didn't have time to eat our last dish and barely had time to wait for it to be boxed up.

Old Shanghai Station -- Chinese -- moderate to upper moderate -- Caoxi Bei Lu (just south of Xujiahui metro) -- for Chinese food, I'd say this place is not worth the money. The food was alright but the meat in the dishes was somewhat disappointing. I think the appeal of this restaurant is the higher class decor, service, wine selection, atmosphere, and history, not the food, in my opinion.

Ruijin Restaurant -- Chinese -- lower moderate -- Ruijn Hotel, on Maoming — Good Chinese food in a classy setting since the restaurant overlooks swan lake. With the reasonable prices and nice ambience, I’d certainly invite a group of friends here for dinner.

KABB — Western — moderate to upper moderate — Xintiandi — I really enjoyed the atmosphere at Kabb (probably because it’s in Xintiandi) but it certainly doesn’t fit my regular budget. Even during happy hour we still managed to rack up a tab. The pastas were somewhat plain, but the soups were quite good. My grandparents were just happy not to eat Chinese food again. I’d go again, maybe to try their Sunday brunch.

Le Royal Meridien, Le Bistro — Thanksgiving — moderate to upper– Nanjing Dong Lu — The Royal Meridien is still in its soft-opening, as such we probably ate the cheapest 5* hotel Thanksgiving dinner buffet available in Shanghai. The food was great and the spread extensive. But I have to admit, as a hotelier (can I call myself that yet?) it’s a good thing to know they’re still in the ‘soft-opening phase’ because they lost our reservation and seemed they had lost many other people’s as well (they did do a very good job of accommodating us tho); they didn’t get the stuffing on the buffet until about 1.5 hours into dinner; and many dishes were heard shattering to the ground.

All in all, I’d say we had some good meals while my family was in town, and we had a good mixture of Chinese and Western food.

I had asked for the weekend off so I could show my family around at the beginning of their stay to get them oriented in Shanghai. So on Saturday, we all went to:

South Bund Material & Spinning Market (ie, the tailors or fabric market), then to

QiPu Lu (selling clothing, shoes, accessories, bags, souvenirs, etc).

Then on Sunday, my friend Elva had helped me reserve a car and driver. We took an 8 hour trip out of Shanghai.

First we went to Zhouzhuang, perhaps the most famous and picturesque water-town or canal-town in the region. It was definitely very lovely despite the constant rain. I also enjoyed the crafts stalls where you could watch vendors making taffy, knitted shoes, and other crafts.

Later we came back to SongJiang, a suburb of Shanghai. We had an excellent, fantastically cheap Chinese lunch; all 7 of us ate for less than $12 total. Then we saw the oldest Mosque in Shanghai and actually quite a few Uighurs (Chinese Muslims from Xinjiang).

After that we took a brief trip to Britain…that’s right, Thames town. The recently built housing complex is modeled after British towns, right down to the cobblestone streets and pubs. Very interesting. I would like to see the German and Italian towns too, if/when they’re built. It’s too bad the weather was soo poor and there weren’t many people living there yet.

On Monday, we went to the Shanghai Circus World and saw Era: The Intersection of Time. The performance was amazing, so well done, and with stunts that would make even the most seasoned attendee hold their breath.

We also had massages at Dragonfly, a very nice, reasonably priced, clean, comfortable, franchised company. We all enjoyed the secure atmosphere and relaxing massage.

On Thanksgiving Day we also went to the Peace Hotel and the Bund, despite the rain. It’s beautiful area even in the rain and reminded me even more of Hong Kong in the rain. After that we went to the Art Museum, in Renmin Park (just across from the JW Marriott). Although over 70-year olds got in free, I think we’d all agree the museum wasn’t worth the money. There was nothing by way of English descriptions and the rowdy school children distracted any sense of calm and pondering that might have gone on at an art museum. After that we walked west along Nanjing West Road looking at shops and outdoor markets (again in the rain).

I believe they had an excellent trip to Shanghai, but because of the rain, they missed Yu Yuan Garden. Also, as I was waiting for visitors to come before going to Lujiazui and we ran out of time, I still have not seen the Pearl Tower or JinMao Tower up close or admired the view from their heights. Having drinks at the bar in the Grand Hyatt in the top of JinMao tower is definitely on my list though. But due to the price, drinks there and at Face Bar require a special occasion…my birthday maybe? or whoever comes next to visit…

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As the UK, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, and most of the US (except HI, AZ, & parts of IN) prepare to set their clocks back 1 hour this Sunday, I’m wondering why China doesn’t. The sun rises here in Shanghai around 6am, which is fine. However, it is already dark by the time I get home from work around 5:30pm. This is annoying because it means I can’t go running after I get home. It seems very strange to me. I think they should also do Daylight Savings like the rest of the world so that the sun rises closer to 7am and sets around 6pm. This also seems to fit better with the nature of the people. For the most part, the Chinese are not early risers. Most of us are sleeping until long after the sun rises and therefore we are burning daylight (a sad thing). To be clear, generally the work day starts at 9am, not 8am, so there’s no reason not to have the sun rise a little later and also set a little later so that the workers can go home around sunset rather than in darkness. I think this would also help delay the constant construction that goes on outside my window at 4-5am. Perhaps the reason the government doesn’t support setting our clocks back 1 hours is because they don’t want to make it any worse for western China.

That’s right. A surprising fact is that ALL of China is on 1 Time Zone! That means when its 6am in Shanghai, it’s also 6am in Inner Mongolia and Tibet and Xinjiang, etc! Therefore, if China were to have us set our clocks back 1 hour, though it would be appropriate in Shanghai, it would exacerbate the situation in western China. When I first heard this, I thought this was very curious. And I felt so bad for the people in western China who’d have to go to work in pitch black (essentially the middle of the night), but then someone told me that’s not the case. They just do everything on a different time schedule. For example, they go to work at noon and finish at 9pm and that is considered normal there. This situation is especially strange for travelers when they cross one of the borders of western China, such as India, Mongolia, or Kazakhstan, as they jump approximately 6 hours / time zones. You’ve got to wonder why the Chinese government does this. Is this an attempt to unify the country? I would think it would just cause resentment. Or is it just simply the need of the Chinese government to be authoritarian?

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Well I got up very early this morning and so don’t feel like writing much tonight and think I’d only get myself in trouble if I made too many comments on the USC-Mayor of L.A. Breakfast Meeting I went to at the Portman Ritz-Carlton this morning. So on to other randomness…
Tonight I was reading some other blogs about China and came across an interesting situation. From fiLi’s blog on Lonely Planet:

tourists going to travel in China with the latest Lonely Planet book were asked to hand in their very expensive book at the border-crossing due to its ‘political nature’ showing maps of China which color Taiwan in a different color suggesting that Taiwan is not a part of China.

This report on the ban of the LP China books was further confirmed on Marc van der Chijs’s blog:

Ever tried to buy a Lonely Planet guide for China in China? Forget it…China it is not allowed to sell the Lonely Planet guides for China, Beijing and Tibet.

In my opinion, it’s rather annoying and extremely ridiculous, but not altogether surprising, especially considering some of the other things blocked/banned by the Chinese government. For example, WordPress.org (where I got this blogging software) is presumably blocked by the Chinese government, as is en.wikipedia.org, amnesty.org (this one’s certainly not surprising), and technorati.com (don’t understand this one). In addition, Shanghaiist discussed the AP article about blocking the Jay-Z concert:

China’s Culture Ministry has nixed a concert this month by rap artist Jay-Z at Shanghai’s Hongkou Stadium, citing a need to protect local hip-hop fans from nasty lyrics

I’m going to have to agree with Shanghaiist on this one, did the Culture Ministry approve the Black Eyed Peas concert? Did they attend the concert? Maybe so…maybe that’s why the Jay-Z concert was banned. I have to admit, both Irene and I were shocked with how racy the Black Eyed Peas concert was! So sad Jay-Z’s not coming. Oh well. Just don’t take my Lonely Planet!

From an Asian Wall Street Journal article about development and the economy in China:

If Shanghai were a country, it would be among the 40 largest economies in the world. Its economic output last year of $114B was bigger than the Philippines or the Czech Republic. Shenzhen, Southern China, has an economy much larger than Vietnam’s.

Of course, these comparisons are impressive when looked at out of context, but when you consider Shanghai has 17million people, compared to the Czech Republic’s 10million, you’d expect the economic output of Shanghai to be greater in order for the per capita output to be on par. The Philippines, on the other hand, is just disappointing. With 89million people and the densest city in the world, Manila (yes, I was surprised it beat HK, too), its no wonder Filipinos are becoming the world’s new service workers. Vietnam, too, is in a disappointing situation like the Philippines with its 84million people. Though I don’t know how many people are in Shenzhen, I’d guarantee far less than that. So it seems that those 2 countries can and should improve their per capita economic output. In this case, perhaps China can be the model. As my mom mentioned in her comment on my previous post, indeed, the Chinese government’s focus has been on economic development. And based on this information it seems the govt has been very successful at developing the economy and attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). (Of course, I could devote multiple blog posts to this topic alone). 84 and 89 million are both certainly less than 1.3 billion, but I’d still guess there’s a market in those countries if only companies would be willing to invest (Intel already does) and those govts would provide the right incentives and mechanisms to aid their own development. Again, perhaps both Vietnam and the Philippines can look to China as a guide.

As Ceci has proudly informed me multiple times (based on her chats w/ the jewelry makers at the Pearl City), 90% of all Freshwater Pearls are in China. I keep looking at this figure and trying to come up with a way to make money off of it, say, exporting either raw pearls or finished pieces of jewelry, but it seems, someone has already beaten me to the punch. Damn those enterprising Chinese…grrr.

Though I’m not sure if the statistic is correct, I believe the Mayor of Los Angeles said that 43% of all the US’s ocean-based cargo goes through the ports of Long Beach & Los Angeles. His goal is to increase this to 70%. I was extremely skeptical of this for many reasons, but at the most basic, because the logistics of it would never work! In my opinion, in order for that to work, the US would have to seriously reduce its ocean-based international trade, which with its increasing dependence on China, India, Vietnam and others for cheap imports is never going to happen. As we increase ocean-based int’l trade, logistically those 2 ports are never going to be able to handle it all, so increasingly ships will be diverted to Oregon and other places around the Pacific as well as the Gulf of Mexico (for ships coming from other places). Well, no more comments on this as I really didn’t want to comment on the mayor’s speech.

This fact is also a bit old, but I would guess it still holds true and perhaps is even more true now than when I first heard it:

More people are learning English in China than in Great Britain.

The mayor also commented on this issue today (though perhaps only because of my excellent question). He indicated that in his official visits around China, he went to middle schools where the children greeted him in not only their native tongue, but in 3 languages, namely Mandarin (a given), Cantonese, and ENGLISH! Let me just state the obvious: if a Chinese delegation went to any place in the US, they would not be greeted by school children in 3 languages! If they went to Alhambra/Monterey Park areas in CA, they would probably hear Mandarin & English. If they went to the old Chinatown in LA, they would likely hear Cantonese & English. If they went to a Mexican immigrant barrio in LA, San Diego, Phx, or any city in the southern US, they may hear Spanish & English. Well this situation plus the US students’ poor math and science skills reflect badly on our school system. If the US’s education system doesn’t improve dramatically, there may be a day very soon when the US plays second fiddle to China in nearly everything. Let’s just hope the US can hold onto its edge in R&D and innovation and let the Chinese continue to play copy-cat. (Yes, I know this goes counter to what I said in one of my longtime-ago Xanga posts, where I hoped the Chinese could improve in R&D to produce products and services that would make the world easier and more efficient and in doing so improve IPR protection in China. While I still believe this, at heart I am a true nationalist, ie patriotic American, and I wish the US peaceful success in the global community.)

Well, I hope I have provided you with enough random facts on China & Asia for now and so at the next cocktail party you can impress people with your useless knowledge. If you have any random facts regarding China, please add them to comments as I love to impress my friends at bars with the pointless things I know about China.

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Last night I left Singapore and flew to Hong Kong. I had a great trip to Singapore and Hong Kong is going well so far. However, in my trip to Singapore I learned a couple of important lessons.

Like most travelers, and particularly most backpackers, I tried to lighten my load and carry as little weight as possible. So when I was packing for Singapore and Hong Kong, I thought to myself, those are both modern clean countries and the food will be safe and healthy, so I don’t need to bring prescription pills for stomachaches or other similar afflictions. This assumption seems to make sense coming from Mainland China. However, for a day and half I was the most sick to my stomach I have ever been while traveling and have continued to be somewhat ill since then. You can bet I definitely wished I had brought those pills with me. So my first lesson is, it’s better to carry around a few extra items than to sacrifice a day of the trip to illness and to feel extremely sick. And, I guess also I shouldn’t make assumptions about quality of food and water because it is possible to get sick anywhere, anytime. So from now on I shall carry my extra medicine to ward off illnesses and other ailments.

My second lesson is about the importance of preserving and carrying along 2 very important documents associated with electronics, namely a purchase receipt and a warranty card. Panasonic, for example, has a 1-year global warranty where they’ll repair your equipment for free, whether it’s your fault or due to product malfunction, provided you can show them those documents. If all electronics companies have as valuable of repair-warranty policies as Panasonic, we may all start carrying those documents for our cameras, MP3 players, and other electronics with us while traveling. I learned my lesson to always keep the receipt and warranty card. Then I can scan them and at least have them easily accessible in electronic form, if not, in hard copy as well. And so maybe in the future I will save myself $200!

Unfortunately, these were painful (literally, in one case) lessons to learn, but if you don’t learn while traveling, what benefit is there? It’s like the commercial, ‘Live and Learn.’ In this case, I just hope you can take my advice and benefit from it since I have already learned the hard way.

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Having lived the majority of 2005 in Hong Kong for my exchange program and internship, I am very familiar with the city and grew rather attached to some aspects of it. Therefore, I am very happy to being going back to Hong Kong late next week.

So this post is

All the Things I Love about Hong Kong
&
All the Things I’m Excited to Return to in Hong Kong

• Friends! I get to see many, many friends from university study abroad programs and college, as well as former colleagues. Can’t wait to see you guys again! Hope that you will show me your version of the city so I can see it from the eyes of a native.
• Transportation! Hong Kong has one of the cleanest, safest, and most efficient urban public transportation systems anywhere in the world. You won’t find any food, gum, or bums here. Gotta love the MTR, KCR, and the widely accepted Octopus Card.
• Esprit Outlet! That’s right girls. Hong Kong has the only Esprit outlet in the world (that I know of) and its very close to TST MTR station. Its only 1 block west of Nathan Road on Kowloon Peninsula. Its 2 stories and not only has clothes (girls & guys), but makeup, perfume, shoes, bags, etc. And the clothes are cheaper than the regular retail stores in China.
• Lan Kwai Fong! About 3 blocks of solid bars, restaurants, clubs, and people drinking on the streets. Need I say more? Models at Volar, getting hit on by a USC parent, drinking in front of club 7-11, watching your friends look for you and laughing that they can’t find you, getting hit by rubber balls, walking up narrow stairs in high heels, seeing random friends you didn’t even know were in HK, and at the end of the night a line of 50 taxis waiting to take you home safely. Great times at LKF!
• Chun King Mansions & Indian Food! An entire building of companies run by indians. This means some of the best, most reasonably priced Indian food outside of India. And you don’t just go for the food, you go for the experience. Imagine: 20 Indian men running up to you with menus and cards for their restaurants say ‘you hungry, miss?, you want Indian food, miss?, my restaurant’s the best, I give you good price, I give you a discount, try my resturant, miss.’ All the while a security guard tries to beat them back so you can make a decision which fabulous restaurant to eat at. Ah, then comes the best part, riding up a rickety elevator thinking ‘oh god, where is this man taking me?’ Then ending up in a authentically decorated, rich spiced-scented restaurant, with a table of Indian people just finishing their meal. By this you know its a good restuarant but because they are leaving you won’t be distracted from enjoying your gloriously rich chicken vindaloo or curry by their loud chattering. Indian food, here I come.
• Victoria Harbor! One of the most gorgeous and recognizable skylines anywhere in the world. With a light show at 8pm choreographed to music, the view of HK Island from the tip of Kowloon Peninsula is a show not to be missed. Bring your tripod because with a pitch black sky and some of the most colorful buildings you’ve ever seen, this is a photo opportunity not to be ruined by an unsteady hand. Though I’ve seen the light show a few times and seen the buildings’ lights tens of times from many different angles, I’m still seeking the perfect photo. What a romantic way to spend a balmy Hong Kong evening.
• Food! Hong Kong has some of the world’s best cuisine and most diverse collection of restaurants (can’t say their Mexican food is anything to rave about tho). Nonetheless, I have managed to select a few favorites.
• Pho Saigon! First time I had Vietnamese food and despite having tried it many locations since then, its still my favorite Vietnamese restaurant. Noodles, lemongrass chicken, drinks, dessert, they do it all well. And its a very good value, too. Authentic, home style, & the owner chatted with my Vietnamese friend in Vietnamese. Suitable for loud meals with friends or if you’re a single diner and don’t want a high-pressure solitary dining experience. 2 Locations: Hong Kong Island b/t WanChai MTR & Causeway Bay MTR, and Kowloon b/t Mongkok and the stop north of there. (Can’t remember the exact addresses but you can google it.)
• Hui Lau Shan! Mango drinks, mango drinks, and more mango drinks. So good. And even mango drinks with sago (little white tapioca). So good. Location: Various stands and shops throughout the city, including many in Causeway Bay and 1 in the Kowloon-Macau ferry terminal.
• Crystal Jade! One of my favorite Chinese restaurants because they have all my Chinese favorites: xiao long bao (soup filled dumplings), dan dan mian (peanut sauce noodles), spicy noodles, and many other wonderful choices that basically make up my favorite Chinese foods. Their desserts are even reasonably tasty for Chinese desserts. Many locations, including Causeway Bay subway station and Harbour Centre (TST).

Wow! This has really gotten me excited to return to Hong Kong! Yay! Anyway, I hope I’ve inspired you to check out some of the unique delights Hong Kong has to offer.

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