Lights, Rocks n' Seafood: A weekend in Hong Kong

Day two was kicked off with a tipoff. Woke up and watched the Raptors game with some coffee (Vietnamese style with condensed milk to sweeten it!) before heading to James' teaching friends brunch. It was nice to meet all his crew if just a little awkward with not knowing everyone and celebrating the engagement of a couple I've never met before. But the food was great and it was nice to hear stories about teaching in Hong Kong (incase I get itchy feet in Toronto!). Capped the afternoon off with a glorious nap (damn you jet lag!) before heading to Kowloon and central for the night.

We had dinner at an area called TST (Tsim Sha Tsui) at a very yummy Thai Restaurant in a giant shopping centre full of designer boutiques and luxury watch shops (HKers are obsessed with luxury watches, I've never seen so many Rolex stores that close together before!). We met up with Krakers and his wife Isabella which was wonderful. Krakers had just come from a Chinese doctor (naturopath) and had a bag full of eastern medicine. He's really committed to the eastern lifestyle, with agreeing to twice a week acupuncture to cure his ailments. Pretty interesting stuff!

Then it was off to the HK light show (a musical light show on the Kowoon side of the HK harbour). Armed with beers and a good butt rest we enjoyed the show and the HK skyline view. This includes the tower made famous by "The Dark Knight". We took the Star Ferry across the water to central side and had some pier beers and crisps.

I am Batman

Now for the HK nightlife! We headed to a place called "Racks" at LKF (Lan Kwai Fong). Anthony Bourdain went here in an episode of "Layover". It had pool and beer pong tables set up. They even pour the beer into the cups for beer pong, what service. ;) A "few" beverages were consumed, an awesome trick shot was demonstrated by yours truly, a windy cab ride home and Zoe's delicious cheese pancakes concluded the night.

Waking up to jetlag and a hangover was not much fun. In fact, I ended up taking a melatonin to help me back to sleep. That shit is wonderful. Upon waking up to Zoe's delicious home baked scones (James Waller, you're a lucky man!), we headed out for an overcast day at the seaside. We took a minibus to Sai Kung pier where we had some pizza for lunch. We saw the wet market, where local fisherman display their daily catches on boats. Buyers come up, choose what they want and then the fishermen send up the food via ladders. 

Then we hopped on a boat tour. Thank goodness we had Zoe with us to explain what the Cantonese boat driver pointed out along route. It was pretty funny when we stopped the boat to look at "coral" and basically just seeing  the ocean.

Our boat arrived Kiu Tsui Chau Island (Sharp Island) / Kiu Tao, where they have the Hong Kong Geopark. Baaaaaaaasically, a beach and a buncha rocks. ;) Spent the rest of the afternoon reading on the beach and exploring the island before heading back for dinner. 

Geopark, Geopark!

We had seafood for dinner at an Anthony Bourdain recommended (a theme in this trip so far!) seafood restaurant at the Sai Kung pier. If you're fancy and rich, you can even order straight from their fresh fish and seafood in tanks beside the restaurant. With my two locals as guides though, we ordered a smorgasbord of seafood off the menu. 

Fresh seafood in Hong Kong

To fill our bellies, we ate: deep fried breaded squid (not a fan of this dish, too chewy), razor clams in a black bean sauce (delicious), scallops with garlic and glass noodles (too garlicy for me), and a crab stirfry with ginger and onions (my favourite). I am definitely eating outside of my comfort zone on this trip by trying everything "foodie" James suggests. That's the point of traveling though, to try, discover and fall in love with new things. Bring it on, Asia. I'm loving it so far.