I couldn't believe it has been 10 years since we last went to Hong Kong; the 3 of us - me, mia mamma and nonna. Esatamente 10 anni fa in luglio. This time round, it was to visit my sister who was based there for a year. We flew on budget air and touched down at the extremely crowded airport 4 hours later. I didn't remember it was so suffocatingly hot and crowded, although the new airport by the sea was much nicer than the old. Henry, the arranged cab driver (HK$270/ S$54), kept us amused with his HK-accented English as we drove 35mins to Hong Kong island from Kowloon.
He pointed out the tallest gleaming commercial towers as well as the cramped albeit poshy residential apartments with their tiny windows. HK is notoriously known for their lack of space so you can imagine the rows of erect buildings edging one another out in a vertically looming concrete palace built on slopes. When we got to her place, the friendly security guard let us in as he could tell that I was 'the younger sibling' (bonus points to him!), just that my sis was skinnier and darker.
Given the horror stories I heard about the claustrophobic living spaces in HK, I was imagining the worse but her modern nest was not too shabby, perched on the highest 24th floor with a prized location (8mins from Causeway Bay) and priceless view of Victoria Park, the city's skyline and harbour. She left a map and notes for us to orientate ourselves until 6pm at knock off time, so we immediately went downstairs at Wun Sha Street in search of lunch and found it at a Crystal Jade-ish restaurant, already packed with snobbish tai-tais and white-collar professionals.
We were quite taken that lunch cost HK$297 (S$60) for only 2 noodles, 2 dim sum and a plate of crunchy kailan vegetables but this was HK after all. The standard of living was supposedly higher than S'pore but I wasn't so sure about the quality of life based on how crowded and polluted the city is and how hard people work here. It had a certain frenziness to it that made my head spin and skin crawl. I think I might be developing an allergy to cities.
We rested till we got restless at 6pm when my sis returned to a home of warm embraces and familiar faces. My mom missed her pet terribly and couldn't stop fussing over her health and apartment. Hungry, we made our way to the famous Yung Kee restaurant
www.yungkee.com.hk in the Central district in a cab (taxis are aplenty and so cheap here!). Its shopfront was gleaming with glazed roasted bodies of geese and other meats - an advertisement in itself. Though it was packed on two levels, the hungry customers were promptly managed and everyone was happily seated and attended to swiftly.
Greedy us ordered the roasted meat platter (goosemeat, suckling pig and bbq char siew all soooo gooood!), winter melon soup, scallops with broccoli and dessert (HK$732/ S$146). My friend F had begged me to buy the century egg 'pei dan' as they were deemed the best she had tasted. I had never tried them so I thought, hell I'd give it a go even though my gran told me they're cured in horse piss. Hmm they didn't taste as bad as I imagined. In fact I quite liked the gelatinous texture. The rest of the meal was a blur as I inhaled fatty slivers of goose and pork till I almost exploded.
An evening passeggiata (stroll) was in order so we skipped to the nearby Lan Kwai Fung, infamous for its meat market of watering holes. It was still early at 9plus but already the bars were getting packed with Friday revellers eager to get pissed. We got to The Peak - HK's highest and most prestigious summit - in a cab and got a priceless view of the city's glittering skyline from above. As the cab found itself down the winding road, we also peeped into some of the most expensive properties in HK (as much as $25million) - home to celebrities who are shielded among the lofty clouds from the notorious papparazzi here.
I couldn't believe it has been 10 years since we last went to Hong Kong; the 3 of us - me, mia mamma and nonna. Esatamente 10 anni fa in luglio. This time round, it was to visit my sister who was based there for a year. We flew on budget air and touched down at the extremely crowded airport 4 hours later. I didn't remember it was so suffocatingly hot and crowded, although the new airport by the sea was much nicer than the old. Henry, the arranged cab driver (HK$270/ S$54), kept us amused with his HK-accented English as we drove 35mins to Hong Kong island from Kowloon. 
He pointed out the tallest gleaming commercial towers as well as the cramped albeit poshy residential apartments with their tiny windows. HK is notoriously known for their lack of space so you can imagine the rows of erect buildings edging one another out in a vertically looming concrete palace built on slopes. When we got to her place, the friendly security guard let us in as he could tell that I was 'the younger sibling' (bonus points to him!), just that my sis was skinnier and darker. 
Given the horror stories I heard about the claustrophobic living spaces in HK, I was imagining the worse but her modern nest was not too shabby, perched on the highest 24th floor with a prized location (8mins from Causeway Bay) and priceless view of Victoria Park, the city's skyline and harbour. She left a map and notes for us to orientate ourselves until 6pm at knock off time, so we immediately went downstairs at Wun Sha Street in search of lunch and found it at a Crystal Jade-ish restaurant, already packed with snobbish tai-tais and white-collar professionals. 
We were quite taken that lunch cost HK$297 (S$60) for only 2 noodles, 2 dim sum and a plate of crunchy kailan vegetables but this was HK after all. The standard of living was supposedly higher than S'pore but I wasn't so sure about the quality of life based on how crowded and polluted the city is and how hard people work here. It had a certain frenziness to it that made my head spin and skin crawl. I think I might be developing an allergy to cities. 
We rested till we got restless at 6pm when my sis returned to a home of warm embraces and familiar faces. My mom missed her pet terribly and couldn't stop fussing over her health and apartment. Hungry, we made our way to the famous Yung Kee restaurant www.yungkee.com.hk in the Central district in a cab (taxis are aplenty and so cheap here!). Its shopfront was gleaming with glazed roasted bodies of geese and other meats - an advertisement in itself. Though it was packed on two levels, the hungry customers were promptly managed and everyone was happily seated and attended to swiftly. 
Greedy us ordered the roasted meat platter (goosemeat, suckling pig and bbq char siew all soooo gooood!), winter melon soup, scallops with broccoli and dessert (HK$732/ S$146). My friend F had begged me to buy the century egg 'pei dan' as they were deemed the best she had tasted. I had never tried them so I thought, hell I'd give it a go even though my gran told me they're cured in horse piss. Hmm they didn't taste as bad as I imagined. In fact I quite liked the gelatinous texture. The rest of the meal was a blur as I inhaled fatty slivers of goose and pork till I almost exploded. 
An evening passeggiata (stroll) was in order so we skipped to the nearby Lan Kwai Fung, infamous for its meat market of watering holes. It was still early at 9plus but already the bars were getting packed with Friday revellers eager to get pissed. We got to The Peak - HK's highest and most prestigious summit - in a cab and got a priceless view of the city's glittering skyline from above. As the cab found itself down the winding road, we also peeped into some of the most expensive properties in HK (as much as $25million) - home to celebrities who are shielded among the lofty clouds from the notorious papparazzi here.
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