Today is Tuesday, Jan 25th. This date marks four weeks here in Hong Kong, so I figured it was finally time to update the Lobster Nation. This is a long post, but only expect them once a month.
So far, things have gone great. Like all men who call themselves a “Heeger,” no city is safe from judgment until it has proven its ability to cook food. Hong Kong has passed with flying colors. I am addicted to Dim Sum and eat it as close to daily as possible. Traditional Cantonese food leaves much to be desired, but is easily neglected while consuming Hong Kong’s diverse selection of international cuisines.
Best meal so far: Crystal Jade: La Mian (Noodles) and Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings)
Hands down worst meal: The Star Seafood Floating Restaurant (NOTE: This was awful.)
I could write entire posts about the food here, but I figure few people other than my brother, or maybe JT or Will (if they even read this) would care. For now, I am still exploring into the Thai, Japanese and Indian offerings here and am anxiously awaiting my first journey to a “Traditional NY Deli” that I found late one night last week.
While it’s hard to believe that this trip began back in San Francisco some 28 days ago, it did. In a last minute display of almighty power, the upgrade gods at Star Alliance bumped me to business class for the 14-hour trek across the Pacific. It was there I met my now long lost friend Norm, who after 25 years of business in Hong Kong, felt the need to give me the entire low down on custom tailors in the city while subsequently flirting with every flight attendant. Many hours later, we had arrived.
In an earlier post on the Lobster, I touched on Chinese efficiency and modernity. Upon arrival in Hong Kong, my experiences stateside were instantly reinforced. Exit the plane, get through customs, grab your bag and 100 yards out, a brand new subway station whisks you away to the center of the city. Forget taxis, we blew by traffic as I watched cars mope along the highway. After the “Airport Express,” one of five different free hotel shuttles greeted us at our train stop, and 45 minutes after we left the airport, and only 90 minutes after getting off the plane, I was in my hotel room. It was clean, efficient, overwhelmingly organized, and completely centralized.
Those characteristics remind you of something? If you guessed a mall, you’re right.
A pattern began to form over our first month here in Hong Kong: malls are everywhere. Malls connect other malls. Our hotel is connected to a mall. On the other side of the hotel? You guessed it, a more than 20-story-tall mall. “The Peak,” one of Hong Kong’s main tourist attractions, is only accessible though a mall. Need to cross a street? In many cases, your only option is to use an overhead walkway that dumps you out into another mall. Need to take a ferry across the harbor? Enter and exit though a mall. Dinner? Head to a mall. Drugstore? Head to a mall. Not to beat a dead horse, but the Hong Kong subway station is underneath – and accessible only by walking through – the enormous IFC mall.
Growing up going to malls like Stanford Mall, Sawgrass and the Mall of America, I thought I had seen the best of the best. But hey, why study abroad if you can’t broaden your horizons? These malls are unbelievable. The presence of malls here in China has dwarfed my presumably versed mall background. Even more shocking, most of these malls (which all look as if they were built within the last 15 years) seem to have all of the same stores.
Per-capita, I’m willing to bet that more square feet are committed Gucci’s, Louis Vuitton’s, Prada’s, Coach’s, Armani’s and Versace’s in Hong Kong than anywhere else in the world. A newfound friend of mine here in Hong Kong explained: “There’s no sales tax here. So the billion-plus people who live in Mainland China and want these designer outfits come to Hong Kong to get them for cheaper.”
Makes sense, but it’s something you have to see to believe.
While malls have provided a look into the enormous spending power of the growing Chinese middle class, my two trips to Macau have added to this realization.
For all you westerners, Macau was Asia’s main shipping port until the colonization of Hong Kong. Now, it is Asia’s version of Las Vegas. One problem: it lacks Vegas’ nightlife. To help put this into perspective, Macau is best pictured as Vegas in the 1950’s with unlimited investment, no fear as to if the city will succeed, no Frank Sinatra and more or less no crime.
Hotels that (like the Malls) dwarf their American counterparts are springing up everywhere. Investors are building at a rate far larger than demand as they wait for an ASEAN middle class to boom. For instance, there are thousands of empty square feet in the middle of the brand-new Venetian’s main casino floor. It has never been used, except as a vast expanse to walk from the central blackjack tables to the severely over priced Morton’s Steakhouse in the back corner. Expect that space to fill up as more people flood to one of the only legal gambling zones for 1.6 billion people.
Which brings me back to the nightlife. While the casinos and hotels can communally charge comparable rates without proper demand, the astronomical prices of Vegas’ nightclubs can’t be replicated in Macau where there are fewer clients.
In layman’s terms, this led to the cheapest bottle of Grey Goose ever purchase in a Hugh Hefner club (don’t fact check me on this). At HKD $1050, or about $120 USD we got a steal compared to Vegas’ $500 price tag for the French vodka. The club, which is tagged as one of Macau’s most exclusive, was difficult to get a table at, but the prices can’t be beat. If there is one thing Macau will need after they fill their hotels, it’s nightclubs. I’m accepting seed money now.
Back on Hong Kong Island, life has been good as well. My two roommates, Jason and Spencer are both freshman students and speak solid English. They are wonderful in helping me deal with the not so bilingual staff of my dorm. School is about 45 minutes out of the heart of town, and my dorm has an incredible view of a sound off the Eastern coast of the mainland peninsula. Classes are interesting, taught and English and only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. This has left me with the incredible chore of filling a 5-day weekend every week.
Getting around town is painless. Taxis are everywhere, but more impressive is their subway/light-rail system, the MTR. Fueled by a version of London’s Oyster cards, the MTR is dirt cheap with a student Octopus card (less than $1.00 USD for a 45 minute trip clear across town, and less than $.50 to get to the mall) and can get you almost anywhere in the city. It is a modern, clean and blazingly fast system.
Via the MTR and the Hong Kong bus system, I’ve seen many of Hong Kong’s main attractions. Trips to the Big Buddha of Lantau Island, the Peak, Stanley Market, Kowloon Park, the Avenue of the Stars, the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Victoria Harbor and other assorted sites/markets around the city have been easy and fun. There is still much to see, but I’ve exhausted the typical tourist spots, and am moving on to the underground and locals-only spots, much to the chagrin of my taste buds.
If this is all going so well, then I must be withholding something, right?
People won’t stop bumping into me. Since I can’t discern if they are local, mainlanders, or from a foreign country I’ll file these excessive contact creators as of Asian descent. There’s no creativity to their route decisions. When one path is obvious, they walk straight into me. I’ll be getting off an elevator and will have to fight my way out of the people coming in.
Where’s the etiquette here? I’m over whether or not it’s impolite, there’s simple efficiency in question here. I’ve stopped saying sorry as I find that most of the time, I’m hit as I try to get out of the way.
At first, I pushed aside my stereotypical assertions in an effort to be open-minded. Screw that, I’ve figured out why Asians are so commonly classified as bad drivers – and it took going half-way around the world to have it, literally, bump right into me.
The Chinese are a people who for thousands of years have been told what, where, when, why and how they were going to accomplish every task of daily life. Confucianism, dynastic rule, and more recently communism, has told this enormous population of people to focus on their family, and let the State figure out everything else. In an increasingly free society like China and the Asian region, this poses serious complications to communal creativity. Most prominently, this is reflected – and thoroughly scrutinized – in their educational system, but it permeates further.
The lack of creativity tarnishes the ability to see a larger vision and perspective. Ultimately, this kills the ability to create an individual path that is of the least resistance. It’s not impolite to bump someone, have no spatial awareness at all or completely neglect other cars on the road in this society. And frankly, you can’t blame the ordinary citizen because it is not their fault; they never have had to have this perception before. Fundamentally, the belief feels to this outsider like, “the State will find the path of least resistance for me, I’ll just move through the ooze towards my destination.”
It’s infuriating. However, it does feel good to have some sense that it doesn’t derive from a lack of compassion. Generally, a very large bump will be followed by a "sorry" or an acknowledgment of inconvenience. Yet for smaller impediments, it’s just a part of their culture. In an effort to fully assimilate and absorb this place I now call home, I’ve adopted this practice. Watch out.
Hong Kong is a beautiful city, albeit on most days it is socked in with smog. This not only blocks the sun, it also masks visitors from getting to fully absorb its massive architecture and natural beauty. I am still waiting for an actually clear day.
Alas, this city (and my class schedule) was always meant to enable me to have a home base for travel in a region I have never seen before. While one month flew by in what feels like seconds, I am ready to hit the road. Next month brings the Chinese New Year, trips to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Phuket and the Thai islands as well as the Full moon party and possibly a trip to Beijing and the Great Wall.
Stay tuned loyal Lobsters, there’s more “tales” to come...
So far, things have gone great. Like all men who call themselves a “Heeger,” no city is safe from judgment until it has proven its ability to cook food. Hong Kong has passed with flying colors. I am addicted to Dim Sum and eat it as close to daily as possible. Traditional Cantonese food leaves much to be desired, but is easily neglected while consuming Hong Kong’s diverse selection of international cuisines.
Best meal so far: Crystal Jade: La Mian (Noodles) and Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings)
Hands down worst meal: The Star Seafood Floating Restaurant (NOTE: This was awful.)
I could write entire posts about the food here, but I figure few people other than my brother, or maybe JT or Will (if they even read this) would care. For now, I am still exploring into the Thai, Japanese and Indian offerings here and am anxiously awaiting my first journey to a “Traditional NY Deli” that I found late one night last week.
While it’s hard to believe that this trip began back in San Francisco some 28 days ago, it did. In a last minute display of almighty power, the upgrade gods at Star Alliance bumped me to business class for the 14-hour trek across the Pacific. It was there I met my now long lost friend Norm, who after 25 years of business in Hong Kong, felt the need to give me the entire low down on custom tailors in the city while subsequently flirting with every flight attendant. Many hours later, we had arrived.
In an earlier post on the Lobster, I touched on Chinese efficiency and modernity. Upon arrival in Hong Kong, my experiences stateside were instantly reinforced. Exit the plane, get through customs, grab your bag and 100 yards out, a brand new subway station whisks you away to the center of the city. Forget taxis, we blew by traffic as I watched cars mope along the highway. After the “Airport Express,” one of five different free hotel shuttles greeted us at our train stop, and 45 minutes after we left the airport, and only 90 minutes after getting off the plane, I was in my hotel room. It was clean, efficient, overwhelmingly organized, and completely centralized.
Those characteristics remind you of something? If you guessed a mall, you’re right.
A pattern began to form over our first month here in Hong Kong: malls are everywhere. Malls connect other malls. Our hotel is connected to a mall. On the other side of the hotel? You guessed it, a more than 20-story-tall mall. “The Peak,” one of Hong Kong’s main tourist attractions, is only accessible though a mall. Need to cross a street? In many cases, your only option is to use an overhead walkway that dumps you out into another mall. Need to take a ferry across the harbor? Enter and exit though a mall. Dinner? Head to a mall. Drugstore? Head to a mall. Not to beat a dead horse, but the Hong Kong subway station is underneath – and accessible only by walking through – the enormous IFC mall.
Growing up going to malls like Stanford Mall, Sawgrass and the Mall of America, I thought I had seen the best of the best. But hey, why study abroad if you can’t broaden your horizons? These malls are unbelievable. The presence of malls here in China has dwarfed my presumably versed mall background. Even more shocking, most of these malls (which all look as if they were built within the last 15 years) seem to have all of the same stores.
Per-capita, I’m willing to bet that more square feet are committed Gucci’s, Louis Vuitton’s, Prada’s, Coach’s, Armani’s and Versace’s in Hong Kong than anywhere else in the world. A newfound friend of mine here in Hong Kong explained: “There’s no sales tax here. So the billion-plus people who live in Mainland China and want these designer outfits come to Hong Kong to get them for cheaper.”
Makes sense, but it’s something you have to see to believe.
While malls have provided a look into the enormous spending power of the growing Chinese middle class, my two trips to Macau have added to this realization.
For all you westerners, Macau was Asia’s main shipping port until the colonization of Hong Kong. Now, it is Asia’s version of Las Vegas. One problem: it lacks Vegas’ nightlife. To help put this into perspective, Macau is best pictured as Vegas in the 1950’s with unlimited investment, no fear as to if the city will succeed, no Frank Sinatra and more or less no crime.
Hotels that (like the Malls) dwarf their American counterparts are springing up everywhere. Investors are building at a rate far larger than demand as they wait for an ASEAN middle class to boom. For instance, there are thousands of empty square feet in the middle of the brand-new Venetian’s main casino floor. It has never been used, except as a vast expanse to walk from the central blackjack tables to the severely over priced Morton’s Steakhouse in the back corner. Expect that space to fill up as more people flood to one of the only legal gambling zones for 1.6 billion people.
Which brings me back to the nightlife. While the casinos and hotels can communally charge comparable rates without proper demand, the astronomical prices of Vegas’ nightclubs can’t be replicated in Macau where there are fewer clients.
In layman’s terms, this led to the cheapest bottle of Grey Goose ever purchase in a Hugh Hefner club (don’t fact check me on this). At HKD $1050, or about $120 USD we got a steal compared to Vegas’ $500 price tag for the French vodka. The club, which is tagged as one of Macau’s most exclusive, was difficult to get a table at, but the prices can’t be beat. If there is one thing Macau will need after they fill their hotels, it’s nightclubs. I’m accepting seed money now.
Back on Hong Kong Island, life has been good as well. My two roommates, Jason and Spencer are both freshman students and speak solid English. They are wonderful in helping me deal with the not so bilingual staff of my dorm. School is about 45 minutes out of the heart of town, and my dorm has an incredible view of a sound off the Eastern coast of the mainland peninsula. Classes are interesting, taught and English and only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. This has left me with the incredible chore of filling a 5-day weekend every week.
Getting around town is painless. Taxis are everywhere, but more impressive is their subway/light-rail system, the MTR. Fueled by a version of London’s Oyster cards, the MTR is dirt cheap with a student Octopus card (less than $1.00 USD for a 45 minute trip clear across town, and less than $.50 to get to the mall) and can get you almost anywhere in the city. It is a modern, clean and blazingly fast system.
Via the MTR and the Hong Kong bus system, I’ve seen many of Hong Kong’s main attractions. Trips to the Big Buddha of Lantau Island, the Peak, Stanley Market, Kowloon Park, the Avenue of the Stars, the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Victoria Harbor and other assorted sites/markets around the city have been easy and fun. There is still much to see, but I’ve exhausted the typical tourist spots, and am moving on to the underground and locals-only spots, much to the chagrin of my taste buds.
If this is all going so well, then I must be withholding something, right?
People won’t stop bumping into me. Since I can’t discern if they are local, mainlanders, or from a foreign country I’ll file these excessive contact creators as of Asian descent. There’s no creativity to their route decisions. When one path is obvious, they walk straight into me. I’ll be getting off an elevator and will have to fight my way out of the people coming in.
Where’s the etiquette here? I’m over whether or not it’s impolite, there’s simple efficiency in question here. I’ve stopped saying sorry as I find that most of the time, I’m hit as I try to get out of the way.
At first, I pushed aside my stereotypical assertions in an effort to be open-minded. Screw that, I’ve figured out why Asians are so commonly classified as bad drivers – and it took going half-way around the world to have it, literally, bump right into me.
The Chinese are a people who for thousands of years have been told what, where, when, why and how they were going to accomplish every task of daily life. Confucianism, dynastic rule, and more recently communism, has told this enormous population of people to focus on their family, and let the State figure out everything else. In an increasingly free society like China and the Asian region, this poses serious complications to communal creativity. Most prominently, this is reflected – and thoroughly scrutinized – in their educational system, but it permeates further.
The lack of creativity tarnishes the ability to see a larger vision and perspective. Ultimately, this kills the ability to create an individual path that is of the least resistance. It’s not impolite to bump someone, have no spatial awareness at all or completely neglect other cars on the road in this society. And frankly, you can’t blame the ordinary citizen because it is not their fault; they never have had to have this perception before. Fundamentally, the belief feels to this outsider like, “the State will find the path of least resistance for me, I’ll just move through the ooze towards my destination.”
It’s infuriating. However, it does feel good to have some sense that it doesn’t derive from a lack of compassion. Generally, a very large bump will be followed by a "sorry" or an acknowledgment of inconvenience. Yet for smaller impediments, it’s just a part of their culture. In an effort to fully assimilate and absorb this place I now call home, I’ve adopted this practice. Watch out.
Hong Kong is a beautiful city, albeit on most days it is socked in with smog. This not only blocks the sun, it also masks visitors from getting to fully absorb its massive architecture and natural beauty. I am still waiting for an actually clear day.
Alas, this city (and my class schedule) was always meant to enable me to have a home base for travel in a region I have never seen before. While one month flew by in what feels like seconds, I am ready to hit the road. Next month brings the Chinese New Year, trips to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Phuket and the Thai islands as well as the Full moon party and possibly a trip to Beijing and the Great Wall.
Stay tuned loyal Lobsters, there’s more “tales” to come...
SOUP BALLS
ReplyDeleteHey, Robbie -- you should catch a boat out to Lama Island and have lunch there at the "Lama Hilton," a typical seafood joint on the water. It's one of those places with a wall of aquaria where you can point at your lunch and they scoop it out and cook it up for you. Really good noodles, too. And reasonable. A don't miss. Also a fine spot to quaff an afternoon's beers while watching the boats cruise by. Cheers, Andy Robin
ReplyDeleteALL NIGHT BEACH PARTY
ReplyDeletesup fam
ReplyDelete