The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It just sounds exotic. Not sure why, but the island city in the South China Sea has always beckoned for a visit. I finally relented this past weekend and set forth for what I would like to call, "China Light".
My co-conspirators, or The Hong Kong Triad, as I will dub our little group, met up on Friday evening in the city. I have known Tim (Janke) and Dawn since I was a wide-eyed and fresh-faced college grad just starting at Deloitte. By the time I had commenced work with the firm they were already seasoned Deloitte veterans. Thus, it was Tim and Dawn, along with many others, who taught me how to survive the rough and tumble world of dispute consulting. Truth be told, that pretty much entailed developing a taste for beer and an obsession with airline and hotel rewards programs.
Anyhow, Janke has been living and working in Hong Kong for the past few years, so he would be the host and guide for the weekend. His place near centrally-located Lan Kwai Fong was the perfect stepping off point to explore everything the city had to offer. Moreover, his child-at-heart approach to the Hong Kong social scene made our proximity to the HK nightlife even more helpful.
So what did we do? Apart from hanging out with Hong Kong's Finest? Oh, stuff and things. We spent a lot of time walking around Central Hong Kong and in the hills above the city. While on our jaunts, Janke shared with us colorful tales about the history of many of the buildings and some of the urban legends surrounding HK. While he prefaced each of these stories by explaining that they were gathered piecemeal from other people, I was able to later Wikipedia them to ensure their validity. On a side note, some people don’t trust Wikipedia. However, anything that contains obscure information such as the fact that Dolf Lundgren, or Ivan Drago for you Rocky IV fans, was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and studied at MIT before interrupting his studies to become a lightly acclaimed actor, must be trusted in all respects. Regardless, apart from walking miles around the city we also ate great food, had good drinks, and enjoyed some of the festivities marking the 10th anniversary of the HK handover to China.
A few other things to note:
1.) Asian budget airlines were not made for anyone taller than 5’6”. Four hours of near-fetal position travel is not nearly as fun as it sounds.
2.) My admin Jamie and I bought lottery tickets today. Well, I gave her the numbers and she bought the tickets. In exchange for running mathematically vigorous exercises that included regressions, derivatives, integrals, and picking numbers based on second cousins’ birthdays, I will receive 10% of the overall winnings…$500,000 Singaporean for those of you who are counting. If we win everyone is coming to Singapore. Wish us luck.
3.) I am sick right now. I don’t think it is SARS, but I will keep you posted. Conventional wisdom would blame it on my lack of sleep, extensive travel, and overall unhealthiness while in Hong Kong. However, I believe it is one of those rare air condition-induced colds. I honestly believe that going from 60 to 90 degrees and vice versa multiple times per day must have long-term adverse health effects.
