Sometimes jet lag can be your friend.
The heady blur of the last, more or less sleepless 36 hours has seen us put every one of them to good use as we have managed to catch up with some of Sabrina’s relations, rediscover childhood haunts, meet a long lost friend, explore the state of the ‘factory bargains’ scene and eat as much and as often as possible. It feels like we’ve just participated in an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s show “The Layover”. Injurious to the health certainly, but what fun!
It’s early morning on Kowloon’s waterfront Tsam Sha Tsui promenade and the only other people out are a couple of aged fisherman and the park’s gardening and cleaning crew.
Grabbing a coffee I sit across from a dozing cleaner on one of the benches and look out across Victoria Harbour to the island’s skyline as the city begins to stir. In three hours we will be back on a plane but for now I’ve a few minutes for a rewind.
It was already late afternoon when we arrived in Kowloon the day before yesterday. We’d picked a hotel as close as possible to Kimberley Rd where Sabrina spent her early childhood and wouldn’t you know it (a miracle in this constantly re-inventing metropolis), it’s still there along with the Lawn Bowls Club that was her father’s passion. As we explore, Sabrina recalls her whole family regularly visiting there for french toast and golden syrup after church on Sundays.
Still, there’s little time for sweet reminiscing as we are meeting up with a long lost friend in the clubby depths of ‘The Captain’s Bar’ at the Old Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Central. It’s about as old fashioned (albeit in a good way) as you’ll find here and holds fond memories for us as it’s the first place we stayed in Hong Kong as a couple. Quickly shedding our comfy in flight garb for something smarter we rendezvous briefly with our daughter who has her own 36 hour whirlwind of eating and socialising planned.
Sabrina’s friend insists we start the evening with a round of warm, vodka-fuelled ‘Bull Shots’ which are the bar’s speciality, (so that’s the soup course taken care of) and taking control she guides us a few doors down to the Peking Gun restaurant for cholesterol rich Crab Sauce with puffed rice, followed by Roast Duck Cantonese style with the crispy skin removed and served on the side. It’s all delicious but merely the evening’s opening act and it’s not until much later after a blizzard of bars and nighttime snacking that we head back to Kowloon on the venerable (and apparently soon to be closed down) Star Ferry, in a haze of diesel fumes and night time humidity, marvelling at how narrow the Victoria harbour crossing is these days, due to constant land reclamation projects.
All the better for being almost completely unplanned, next day seemed to unroll like a long red carpet, starting with further adventures on Hong Kong’s excellent public transportation system. First the MTR to visit her uncle and aunt for coffee on High Street in Shueng Wan, then a narrow double decker ‘ding ding’ tram to Central for a favourite noodle soup of Sabrina’s and finally a bus to Aberdeen on the South coast to re-connect with our hostess from last night.
Shanghai Noodle soup with Pork and Salted Mustard Greens: Serves Three
This noodle soup takes me straight back to my childhood as I used to order it whenever my parents took us out for an impromptu midnight snack after they’d spent the evening playing Bingo or Mahjongg.
1 packet (1 lb) Shanghai fine noodles
1 container (about 10 oz) salted mustard greens
1 whole Pork Tenderloin, cut into 2″x 1/4″ strips
1 1/2 quarts chicken stock
2 cloves garlic, minced
Fill a large pot with water and bring to the boil. While the water is coming to the boil prepare the topping. In a large wok or a large fry pan heat 2 tablespoons of oil and stir fry the pork with the garlic, add the mustard greens without any of the liquid they come packed with. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes; make a slurry with 1/2 teaspoon of corn starch, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of water. Pour it over the pork and vegetable and stir-fry until the sauce is thick.
Add all the noodles to the boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes, drain and divide into three bowls, fill each bowl with very hot chicken stock, then top with the pork mixture and serve.
Sabrina’s particular wish for our brief stay has been to re-visit the factory outlets where we used to pick up amazing bargains a decade or so ago. Back then it was similar to LA’s Garment District where on the last Friday of every month there’s a free for all bunfight with stacks of loose clothing in huge cardboard boxes on the factory floor and racks of random fashion pieces available at wholesale on a strict cash only basis, but today’s expedition was more like a trip to Beverly Hills Rodeo Drive with beautifully curated displays from Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Prada et al at nosebleed retail. Sadly, all things must pass.
Grabbing a cab to Causeway Bay past the floodlights and full grandstands of Happy Valley racecourse, our friend gets us back on track with a visit to ToTT’s bar on the 34th floor of the Excelsior hotel for cocktails with a harbour view, then bewilderingly for a staggeringly good foot massage at a salon in Shuen Wang, followed by more drinks and a late dinner at Temple St Night Market.
At this point we are willing victims for anything and everything, so we fish for still wriggling crustaceans, draw up a plastic stool and wait for them to be stir fried in chilis to crispy deliciousness.
All sense of time having long since been lost, I remember us staggering back to the hotel in a cab after a restorative Homemade Grass Jelly and Red Bean Soup. Just a regular Wednesday night in Hong Kong, and no doubt our gracious and insatiably energetic hostess will be back in her office as normal in the morning.
If I have one regret from this whole experience it’s that we were staying in one of the most beautiful, stylish (and pricey) hotels we have ever experienced on our travels, and we barely saw it!
What a fantastic flying visit in Hong Kong style. The best way to see it. You should have put a few nets on at Happy Valley on the way through. I just hope the MC don’t change HK into a dreary grey banking centre.
Great intro from Marco and fascinating to learn more about Sabrina's past. The headline suggested Marco had taken some intoxicating, possibly illegal, substances during the trip - but I think he is far too sensible for that.