The Silly and Surreal World of Hong Kong

We are firm believers in karma, especially the travel variety. After our hellish experience reentering Vietnam, we were due for an upswing. That boon came as we stood at the United Airlines desk at the Saigon airport, checking in for our flight to Hong Kong. After some confusion, which was made all the more mystifying by the early hour, the ticket agent presented us with boarding passes for Business First Class. Bleary-eyed though we were, this was not a development which we were keen to question. Skeptical but excited, we cut the massive check-in line, walked onto the plane, and were escorted upstairs to the second story of the 747. Our seats were absurdly luxurious, with TVs you could actually see, and seats that reclined fully into beds. Although it was only 5:30 in the morning when we boarded, we eagerly accepted the champagne and orange juice that was offered and toasted our upcoming anniversary with the deconstituted Mimosas. We were so excited about the seats that we didn't really sleep, but did manage to watch the first three episodes of the Entourage season that we missed. Better still, the flight attendants were lovely and at no time attempted to strike us. Sometimes it's the little things that bring you the greatest joy.

Post-noon drinking rules do not apply when you get free champagne in Business First Class. Our seats were so comfortable that we actually high-fived when the captain came on the loudspeaker and announced a delay due to mechanical problems.
Lauren relaxing in her seat/bed.

Hong Kong is really, really expensive. The high costs were particularly startling as we had just spent the previous three months in Southeast Asia, which is quite cheap. Our lodging was among the most expensive of our whole trip, yet the room was tiny and located on the fifth floor of the Chungking Mansions, which is a collection of incredibly sketchy buildings located in the Kowloon district of Hong Kong. The location was convenient, but the entry lobby was a sea of dodgy characters. The residents of Chungking Mansions were a veritable United Nations, but mostly nationalities that are seated towards the back of the General Assembly. There were Bengali curry pushers, Congolese in town to make money off conflict diamonds, Pakistani arms dealers, and other sordid sorts. It was hilarious.

Our arrival in Hong Kong coincided with the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament, which is a massive affair bringing in rugby fans from all over the world. My former Dartmouth crew teammate and good friend, Pete, came down from Beijing for the Sevens and we timed our trip to meet him in the city. From our first night (Thursday) on, it was full mayhem, as the rugby fans packed the streets of the Lan Kwai Fong bar district.

The jersey says it all.

Lan Kwai Fong was a sea of drunken rugby fans. We didn't actually make it to any rugby matches, as the tickets were very expensive, but we watched a lot of matches in the pub with other fans who also couldn't afford tickets, and partied with the crowds at night.
We had planned to take it easy on Thursday night, but as Pete and I both had two beers in hand at this juncture, it didn't quite end up as planned.

On Friday, we met Pete and some of his friends for a delicious dim sum lunch in the Central district located on Hong Kong Island proper. Then, we headed back to Kowloon to meet up with our friend Karin, who was arriving from Malaysia. We had met Karin in Hanoi and it just happened that she was planning on being in Hong Kong at the same time as us. Karin is a super cool Swiss girl, from the German-speaking region of Switzerland, so she and Lauren got to speak German, much to Lauren's delight. It is amazing how much use Lauren has gotten out of her proficiency with the German language. Not to mention that she has been profusely complimented by every German-speaker we have met.

After a light dinner, we boarded the metro bound for Central and the craziness of Lan Kwai Fong. Pete and his buddies had been at the evening's rugby and we rendezvoused for a night on the town, in the process meeting a lot of cool people from all different nationalities. Beer was flowing liberally and the atmosphere was pure merriment.

Karin and Lauren with glasses of beer almost as big as Lauren.
Nobody was having any fun.
The loving couple, caught in mid-conversation.
I don't think it is possible for smiles to get any bigger than Pete's and Lauren's in this picture.
With Pete being akin to my brother, it makes sense that he and Lauren have a brother-sister connection. Both have silly senses of humor and an aptitude for fun, which makes them a formidable duo with whom to hang.

Friday night went really late, so most of Saturday was spent in the pub relaxing, watching rugby, and having a massive brunch. The Saturday of Sevens is traditionally the most insane day, with a full slate of rugby beginning early in the morning and lasting until the evening. Most of the crowd dons costumes, at least the fun-seeking portion of the crowd. Pete dressed up as a pig, with his English friend Jens in a cow costume, and his American friend Peter Wing completing the barnyard theme as a sheep. I didn't have a costume, but dressed in a silly fashion, while Lauren brought back her bunny costume from Halloween, which was a big hit. Saturday night lived up to its billing, and then some. Thursday night had been big, Friday night was completely crazy, and Saturday pushed the charts to a new level.

Bunny on the metro on the way to Lan Kwai Fong.
Bunny and Karin, all smiles.
This is one of my favorite pictures of the trip. Their looks are worth an entire weekend's worth of words.
The crazy quartet. Karin appears hungry for a bite of Bunny.
I'm not sure what was going on during the taking of this picture. Karin looks happy, I look furious, and Pete looks confused. Funny picture though.
Things started to devolve pretty rapidly by the end of the night.

I'm not going to lie: we were hurting bad on Sunday. I don't think we made it to sleep until 6 or 7 in the morning and most of the day was spent sleeping. We did manage to rally in time to get some food at the pub and catch the semifinals and finals of the tournament on TV. We met up with Pete and the gang in Lan Kwai Fong one last time for a chill evening and a beer or two. It was noticeably more tame on Sunday night, which suited everyone just fine.

Jens still had his cow hat out on Sunday night.
MOO!!!A cute little cow.

Monday, March 30 dawned as the one year anniversary of our marriage. It is beyond belief that we have already been husband and wife for a year. It has been the most amazing year of our life and we are still going strong. It may be hard to top such a ridiculous year, but we feel that we are up to the challenge. We had a blissfully relaxing day for our anniversary and finally set out to see more of the city than just the party spots. After brunch at a killer restaurant, we took the metro to Hong Kong Island and walked up to the Peak tram stop. The tram takes you on a really steep journey up to the Peak of Hong Kong Island, offering a great view of the entire island and the surrounding territory.

Believe it or not, this was the clearest weather we had for the five days we were in Hong Kong. Fortunately, we were able to see down to the business districts and also were surprised to discover that most of Hong Kong Island is actually lush greenery. Hong Kong Island is a pretty ludicrous place to put an urban financial center, as it is very hilly and well-forested.

From the Peak, we took about an hour's walk down to the city, fortuitously walking right into the Botanical Gardens and Zoological Park. There was a fabulous collection of animals; mostly primates, but also some cool birds and reptiles.

Lauren with the flamingos.

The last event of our Hong Kong tour was the sound and light show that takes place every night. From the Kowloon waterfront, we took in the sight of the illuminated skyline, as the lights of the buildings moved in patterns in time with the music. It was tacky but cool and it was a great way to end our time in Hong Kong and put a special cap on our anniversary. We stood watching the interplay of lights and sound and reflected on the first year together. Magical is the only word that can begin to capture our feelings on the year. Here's to many more years of bliss!

Lights, sounds, and smiles: the perfect anniversary present.

Hong Kong is a bizarre place and was made even more surreal for us by the influx of mad rugby fans for the Sevens. Technically, Hong Kong is a Special Autonomous Region of China. Sure, the Chinese influence is unmistakable, but Hong Kong doesn't feel or appear fully Chinese, as its history of British rule and its role as the financial center of Asia give it a decidedly Western flair. Of course, our visit to the city was mosty a social visit, and a short one at that, but it was the perfect amount of time to spend in the city and our social expectations were more than met. It was great to spend time with Karin again and to see Pete after more than a year. However, we were excited to move onto the Chinese mainland and continue our adventure.