Hong Kong, China
(part 2)
January 9th, 2016
After finishing my previous blog, I left my hostel and went on the hunt for some good noodles. I found an awesome locals’ restaurant and got a bowl with pork, chives, and a delicious floating soft-boiled egg. As previously mentioned, I had planned on going to bed early, however I was wrong again. On the way back to my room, I heard a dozen people partying on the roof, so I popped in to see what was going on. A bunch of American and Canadian kids were playing dice and drinking these little bottles of green liquor with snakes on them. These little fuckers cost less than a dollar, and are supposed to taste like some type of melon liquor. It was easily one of the foulest things I’ve ever tasted. The joke was that for each bottle of snake juice that you drank, you became 1% snake. I drank 6 bottles. Therefore, I am now 6% snake.
I went to bed around 1 am, however my sleep cycles are still massively messed up, and woke up at 4 am unable to sleep any longer. So I grabbed a coffee and headed out to Victoria Peak, the mountain top that Sung, Rich and I had climbed earlier in the week, but hadn’t been able to see shit because of the fog. I left my dorm and climbed aboard one of the old, wooden double-decker trams that have been traversing Hong Kong island for over a century. For 2 HKD, these are an awesome way to take in the sights.
I arrived at the base of the peak and took a train to the top. Surprisingly, I was one of the only ones on it. This one goes up the mountain, and at some points, you are pinned back into your seat because of how steep the ascent is.
I arrived at the peak and was thrilled to see a gorgeous morning unfolding below me. Finally I had earned those views! Even though there was still a bit of hazy fog and the visibility wasn’t perfect, the sight was truly marvelous. I spent the morning walking all over the mountain top, and was blown away at the mansions all over the place. Think of Palm Beach stuck on top of a mountain in the middle of China. Some of them were as big as castles! There is some serious money in this city.
It was about 10 am and I decided to head back down into the city. I took the tram back down and was surprised to see several hundred people in line for the same tram that I had just taken. Thank god I had gotten here early! I headed off for Hong Kong park, which is their version of Central Park. I had already explored the park earlier in the week, but had forgotten to mention it in my previous post. This is probably my favorite part of the city; a verdant oasis among the insane urban jungle. It’s positively gorgeous, with waterfalls, lakes, forests, a walk-through bird aviary, observation decks, and locals practicing tai chi everywhere. It was the perfect place to suffer through another hangover in for several hours.
I arrived back at the hostel and met up with Bas and Rich to head out to lunch. We went into a bustling market with locals chowing down cheap meals. I ordered the roasted duck with rice and a giant Tiger beer. SO GOOD! After lunch, we were all exhausted and sore from those shit hostel beds, so we sought out one of the local spas for some cheap massages. Unfortunately, the one next to our hostel ended up being the dodgiest establishment I’ve ever seen. The massage room looked like scene out of the movie Saw. Dirt and grime covered all the walls, and I’m pretty sure there was a healthy dose of blood as well. Whatever… screw it. I was in too much pain to give a shit at the point, and honestly, the massage wasn’t half bad!
I showered up and headed back across the city to meet up with Chris, an American businessman that went to high school with a few of my Florida friends. He’s been out in HK for several years for work, and Steven assured me this guy would be a blast to party with. I met him at his apartment and we immediately started downing beers and this hellacious Chinese liquor called Moutai. It’s essentially fermented tires. Each box comes with its own little shot glasses that hold like a thimble full of liquid. I was confused as to why it was such a small amount, until I took a shot and almost died.
Chris has tons of friends all over town, and knows a bunch of bar and club owners. We headed out to an Italian restaurant his buddy owns, and devoured some of the best pizza this side of Italy! We were joined by his two friends, a gorgeous model from Australia and a badass Canadian mercenary for hire in Afghanistan. Pretty much the coolest dinner mates ever. Bas met up with us, and we set off for a cocktail bar in Lan Kwai Fong, the party district I had patronized a few nights ago with Meko. This is one of those bars where they use house-made liquors, herbs, exotic fruits, and all kinds of yummy ingredients to make their drinks. The bartender named Kit had me floored; he was mixing up shots and drinks that I would have never been able to create in a million years. One of them took him 20 minutes to make: it was an absinthe-based shot that he smoked with some local tree bark, chilled with liquid nitrogen, and served up with sugar-coated lemons that he caramelized with a blow torch. He’s easily one of the best bartenders I’ve ever met, and we left this place with a massive buzz.
We headed off for the club across the street, another establishment where Chris was friends with the owners. As we were walking up the hill, I heard someone scream out my name. I couldn’t believe it… my buddy Joe from the states, who I had been unsuccessfully trying to meet up with all week, had somehow spotted me among the sea of Chinese partiers! He moved here from Malaysia recently for work, and I had really wanted to grab beers with him and his girlfriend while I was still in town. I was so happy to see him, especially since the last time I saw him, he was vomiting all over a bar in Jacksonville, cursing me because I was so good at chugging beers! He joined our party, and we rolled up to the club. This place was super exclusive, and had some enormous bouncers guarding the elevator up to the entrance. But once they saw Chris, we just slipped right in, no questions asked.
This establishment was absolute bananas. We were rubbing shoulders with several Chinese billionaires and a dozen or so models from all over the world. Not to mention, there were bottles of booze everywhere for you to make your own cocktails with. We were downing vodka at a furious pace, dancing with the go-go girls on stage. At some point however, I lost Chris and his crew, but it was time to head home anyway. I was bummed I couldn’t thank him for taking me out and showing me an awesome night in Lan Kwai Fong, but I will be sure to get him back next time he’s in Florida!
Bas and I were absolutely smashed when we stumbled out of the club. We both realized we were famished, so we grabbed some noodles and headed back to the hostel. It was around 6 am, and I had to leave in an hour to catch my flight to Bangkok. I gave him a manly hug and vowed to party again later next week in Thailand once he arrives. I threw together my pack and grabbed the metro to the airport.
I’m now on my AirAsia flight to Bangkok…. with a certain sense of foreboding. Somehow I’m fairly certain this city will be even more insane than Hong Kong, especially since I’m meeting up with Samson and Jess today. I’m on zero sleep (again), completely fueled on coffee and cough drops. I cannot emphasize how much I loved Hong Kong though. The city is like an onion, so many different layers, and the deeper you dig, the more you love it. It’s the kind of place where you sit down for a rice dish with a bus driver on one side of you, and a billionaire CEO on the other. I am so glad I started my journey here, and can’t wait to return someday! Thank you to Rich, Bas, and Sung for the crazy nights in the hostel, and to Meko and Chris for showing me around your amazing city.
Thailand… let’s do this!
-Batty
