Abroad, Travel

Wrapping Up in Hong Kong

Starting the day right with mass at the Rosary Church along Chatham Road.

Our third day in Hong Kong was kind of like being in Manila—we even had a pleasant encounter with a kababayan. The first order of business was mass, since it was a Sunday. Thankfully, the day actually dawned dry and fairly sunny, giving us the chance to walk to Rosary Church along Chatham Road, around ten minutes from our hotel. The church is rather small (compared to the churches here in our thoroughly Catholicized country), but apparently it has a history, being the oldest Catholic church in Kowloon (this I learned from its Wikipedia entry, which has among other things the mass schedules—which allowed us to make sure we caught the English mass, though the Cantonese version would have been interesting). As expected, there were lots of Pinoys all around—we could’ve been hearing mass in Subic or Baguio, for all we knew.

The Charlie Brown Cafe—only in Hong Kong! Strange, huh? But cute nonetheless…

After church, we started to walk back down the road, in search for a place to eat. Chatham Road seemed like a more residential street, with blocks of old apartments lining the road and green parks on the other side, although there were a number of hotels and bakeries, and more shops along the intersecting streets that led off to Nathan Road. It was along one of these streets (Cameron Road) that we spied the Charlie Brown Café, a cute restaurant that served Western dishes amidst thoroughly Snoopified interiors.

Poor Charlie Brown… loved for being a loser! Aw…

For breakfast, we had pancakes…

…sausages and egg…

…and an egg sandwich.

Their breakfast fare was rather basic (the set meals were from $26HKD to $30HKD / P156 – P180 and came with coffee), but they did have a wide selection of pastries and merchandise—all bearing the faces of Charlie and the gang, right down to the more obscure characters like Franklin (hah! Bet you don’t know which one he is, hehe… I didn’t!).

Charlie Brown—store mascot and maître d’.

Talk about branding… here’s their coffee…

…tons of merchandise, including mugs of all sizes…

…a chocolate cake…

…even the fire exit door’s look through panel was in the shape of his head! Good grief!!!

Snoopy comics in Chinese, anyone?

During breakfast, we plotted the rest of our day: I wanted to try an authentic Chinese reflexology foot massage and go to Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong (mostly to go to Page One, because I hadn’t found anything significant in the Times Square and Harbor City branches, heehee). We headed over to Nathan Road from the café, keeping an eye out for any non-seedy-looking massage places, and stopping along a few more European stations along the way.

Looking for a foot massage… and we saw the sign!

More flowery stuff leading up to the massage parlor proper.

It passed the non-sleazy requirement… in fact, it was rather nice.

Soon enough we came across the Top Comfort Foot Massage parlor, alerted by its huge pink flowered sign. It was nice and quiet (and empty—and very wholesome looking) when we went to investigate (up a flight of carpeted stairs decorated with more of the pink flowers), and the 50 minute foot massage only cost $218HKD (P1,308, expensive compared to our foot massages here, but better than some of the $300HKD up massages we saw along the way), so we were soon out of our shoes and soaking our feet (which were naturally quite tired from walking around the day before) in their massage chairs-cum-foot spa basins.

A nice hot soak.

Authentic Chinese reflexology… just like they have back home, hehe.

The whole process was remarkably like the foot reflexology treatment at Mandarine—first a relaxing soak and scrub in very hot water (they had choices for the scrub—something whitening, energizing, and relaxing; we all chose lavender to de-stress), then the actual foot massage (which included the legs and thighs as well), and a cup of hot tea afterwards. The difference was that the therapists here weren’t coordinated like the are in Mandarine (you could tell from the plopping sounds), but were pretty much left to their own devices, probably working on the areas that needed the most attention. The interiors were well-decorated, with lots of wood and burgundy fabrics, so the ambiance was fine, except for the regular rumbling of buses as they zoomed by outside.

Perfume samples for sale… smart, but very sneaky!

It is a good idea, though… and you get to buy lots of different scents… even long-defunct ones!

Refreshed and rejuvenated (and with much nicer-smelling feet), we hit the streets again, popping into the usual Giordano shops, but not buying anything (the Giordano concept store has J. Crew-ish work wear, but the nicer clothes and bags—at least the ones I wanted to buy—cost around $1,000HKD / P6,000. Way too expensive for Giordano). We found a couple of drugstores selling sample sizes of perfume, the kind you get for free or in gift packs at Duty Free. One store had an entire selection of perfumes, complete with testers, so you could sniff around to choose a brand, then dig through the bargain bin to find a small version for around $20HKD to $70HKD (P120 to P408)—a commitment free way to try perfume (or buy stuff for pasalubong). Sure, these things are really supposed to be free, but you’ve got to admire how enterprising these people can get.

Changing money at a tiny Western Union stall…

…and finding cheery kababayan Lourdes!

The highlight of our day was having money changed at a teeny tiny shop squeezed next to the 7-11 at the corner of Kimberly and Carnavon Streets. The space for the money changer was only about 2 or 3 meters wide, and it was less than a meter deep—smaller than some cabinets, really. As we took our money, my sister remarked, “Buti hindi sya naca-clautrophobia dyan,” (translation: “It’s a good thing she doesn’t get claustrophobic in there.”) to which the cheerful lady behind the glass replied, “Aba! Oo nga no, ang sikip sikip dito!” (loose translation: “You bet! It’s really tight in here!”) The lady, who introduced herself as Lourdes, proceeded to tell us how much the rent was for that little cabinet: the shocking amount of $30,000HKD, or P180,000 for less than 8 square meters (and you folks renting in Makati think you have it bad!). Still, business must be pretty good, since we got our best rates ever from her. So if you ever find yourself in that part of Hong Kong, drop by and say hi to our kababayan—and get a good exchange rate, too!

Fun, cheap shirts at Uniqlo.

Shopping at Muji.

It’s like a grocery store, with drinks…

…and a department store, with house ware. Forget Anonymous, this is like SM!

Our next stop was the Miramar Shopping Center—apparently the biggest shopping mall along Nathan Road—where we went to Uniqlo, a Japanese clothing store (think of it as a Japanese Bench, with lots of really cool and cheap shirts), and Muji, another Japanese store selling just about everything (think of it as a Japanese Anonymous, only hundreds of times larger). The Muji branch wasn’t too big, but it did have clothing, school and office supplies, and home ware (apparently the other branches sell furniture too).

Knutsford Steps…

…for trendy shops, bars, and restos.

The steps of Knutsford Steps.

The Starbucks at Knutsford Steps is the most un-Starbucks looking branch I’ve ever seen.

Lunch was at Knutsford Steps, part of the complex that felt like somewhere in Europe—Portugal or Spain, maybe—and nothing at all like Hong Kong. Apparently this place is the new hot spot for dining and entertainment on the Kowloon side; there are lots of international bars and restaurants, as well as specialty stores and boutiques.

Mai Thai serves very good nouveau Thai cuisine.

A quintessential Thai meal—green chicken curry and pandan chicken.

Some piping hot lemongrass tea.

The chicken curry was garnished with gold leaf… maybe that’s why it was expensive!

Tender, juicy chicken pandan… yum!

We ate at Mai Thai, a small open restaurant (which is to say, it had no walls, but it was indoors) serving nouveau Thai cuisine. We ordered a Green Chicken Curry (which had gold leaf garnish, go figure; $85HKD / P510), the Pandanus Chicken (chicken wrapped in pandan leaves, what else?; $52HKD / P312), Rice with Shrimp Paste (bagoong rice; $60HKD / P360), and Minced Pork Rice (a baked rice dish that tasted a little like arroz a la cubana; $65HKD / P390).

Remember that “hot” in Thai cooking means “really hot,” so get a lot of rice.

The Minced Pork Rice goes particularly well with spicy food, since it’s kind of sweet.

Everything was spectacularly good, especially the curry, which had some kind of crunchy aratiles-like pod instead of peas, and the chicken pandan, which was clean, tender, and had no litid at all—a feat for this kind of dish, which is usually made with thigh meat. Thus fortified, we ducked into the subway after a pleasant walk down tree-lined Nathan Road, on our way to Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong.

A pleasant walk along Nathan Road (which I always think of as Nathan Lane, heehee).

What a mall!

The art installations around the mall are a fun distraction from shopping.

Festival Walk is a huge mall (yes, another one) further inland on the Kowloon side. To get there, we took the train from TST (the red, or Tsuen Wan line), transferred to the green or Kwun Tong line at Mong Kok, and disembarked at the Kowloon Tong station, which leads directly into the mall. Since it’s a mall and populated with the usual stores, there’s not much to tell here—except that we spotted HP’s version of the UMPC (ultra mobile personal computer, much like Asus’ Eee; this model was the 2133), which unlike other UMPCs has 120GB of hard disk space and 1GB of RAM, a steal at only $3,999HKD (P23,994). I was so, so, sooooo tempted to buy it—only I didn’t have the money, hehehe.

The HP 2133… brilliant!

When it all sinks in, I’m heading back to Hong Kong to get one, if they don’t start releasing them here (or have they already?).

The site of my financial ruin… Page One.

The other major stop for me was at Page One, where I finally found a couple of (pseudo-techie) books I’ve been eyeing on Amazon for some time. Good thing I hardly had anything in my luggage: I ended up hauling three rather heavy books home.

Must be a slow day… there was hardly anyone on the train! Which is really kinda scary, if you think about it…

More reminders to take it easy.

Uuummm… bawal ang lechon sa MTR?

Finally, with our newly-massaged feet already aching again, we caught the East Rail line back to our hotel. The East Rail line is a provincial line that extends all the way into the New Territories and China; this ride felt a bit like being on the LRT2, minus the people—the train passed by lower apartment blocks and the scary, virtually empty stations at Mong Kok East and Hung Hom. It did stop almost in front of our hotel, though, which was very convenient—if we planned to go back to Festival Walk, at least now we knew we were just one ride away.

It was still kinda cloudy for the Symphony of Lights… but at least it was dry!

After an hour or so of rest, I headed down alone (everyone else looked too beat to walk over to Harbor City, which I planned to do) to catch the Symphony of Lights from the Avenue of Stars, which was right behind our hotel, and the exact route I was taking to Harbor City. The symphony, a nightly extravaganza of lights and sound (the latter broadcast behind the Hong Kong Cultural Center, a rather cheesy fanfare of carnie music and narration that you can skip, trust me; you’ll be fine if you watch it from your hotel or restaurant window instead), was eagerly being awaited by crowds lining the boardwalk. A lot of people had set up tripods and cameras—believe me, if you want to take decent photos, you will need to do the same—or were getting ready to pose for the photographers lining the avenue, selling prints for $10HKD (P60—not bad for a souvenir photo, if you think about it).

Taking photos of people taking photos…

If you want a good view, head up to the view deck.

I was probably the only person there taking pictures of other people. Since I was hurrying to catch the shops at Harbor City before they closed at 9, I took in the symphony while walking, which was fine, since I was afforded a good view across the harbor the whole time—plus, I didn’t really miss much by not paying too much attention: it was still cloudy from yesterday’s weather, and the spotlights and Batman-esque search beams projected from the buildings didn’t make much of an impact.

Freshness Burger!

A Freshness Burger and some Macha Tea.

Open wide!

I made it to Harbor City with time to spare, so I was able to shop a bit before the stores started closing. For dinner, I ate at Freshness Burger (finally! They had a poster along the subway escalator next to our hotel and I’d been meaning to try this since day 1), a Japanese burger restaurant similar to Sango! (According to Wikipedia, their first branch in Hong Kong was right behind the Museum of Art, but I didn’t see it; if it’s still open, it would’ve been that much closer to our hotel.) I had their Freshness Burger ($22HKD / P132) and an Iced Macha Latte (a green tea latte, $23 / P138). The Freshness Burger had exactly the same ingredients as Sango!’s Master Burger, and it was also good, though Sango!’s is better. Still, it was worth the walk.

The TST Clock Tower.

The Hong Kong Cultural Center is architecturally interesting—Greek-temple-meets-Gehry-meets-the-old-AS-bathrooms.

On the way back I had a more leisurely walk, with time to take photos of the Hong Kong Cultural Center, the TST Clock Tower, and the stars’, well, stars, along the Avenue of Stars (how confusing was that sentence?).

Take a walk along the Avenue of Stars…

…where you’ll find shops…

…stars…

…and stars you’ve never heard of before.

And Bruce Lee, of course. :)

Most of the names I walked by were totally unheard of—which makes sense, I suppose; after all, how many people outside the Philippines know (or care) who, say, John Lloyd is?—I guess these are popular local stars in Hong Kong. I finally came across someone big, Jackie Chan, though I couldn’t take a photo of his star because someone had beat me to it, and was lying on the ground next to the star having his picture taken (if you want to find Jackie Chan, he’s somewhere behind the Intercon). Chow Yun Fat was a few paces down, and Jet Li was close to our hotel. Then of course, there was Bruce Lee, with whom I was well acquainted, after having breakfast together the previous day.

And so that was my last full day in Hong Kong, though the next day, with our flight slated past 10 in the evening, would still have a lot (of waiting!—and a very good meal!) in store.

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