Kongers 1 - Stong Kong

originally posted on 1/3/07

I took a last-minute Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong last week. Like anybody ever booking a flight ever under any circumstances, I chose Cathay, which is based in Hong Kong, because they had the cheapest ticket. Much to my shock, Cathay had pretty good food, movies that I actually wanted to see. (I chose "An Inconvenient Truth on the outbound, and "Little Miss Sunshine" on the return). Plus, free top-shelf booze. So, I liked Hong Kong right away, and I was still 30,000 feet somewhere over the Yellow (or in Korea, West) Sea.

I landed, with really no direction at all due to my total lack of preparation on this trip, short of "Tsim Sha Tsui – apts" and "Lan Kwai Fong/Wan Chai – beer" written in my notebook by my buddy Dave. So, I headed for Tsim Sha Tsui. Upon exiting the subway station there, I see the Peninsula Hotel, The Sheraton and Towers, the Grand Inter Continental. Fuck am I in the wrong place, I thought, maybe Dave had meant Lan Kwai Fong as the hotel area. I came to Hong Kong to spend money (ironically, my separation from my old job had left me abnormally rich since I got paid on my last day rather than January 10. Also, this was the second time in 2006 that I found myself in a foreign land with money paid to me for vacation time after I had ceased working for said company. Maybe 2006 is Number 2 overall.) but I didn't want to throw down Peninsula/top hotel in the world money.

So, I ambled around Tsim Sha Tsui, looking for a web café so that I could finally begin researching the trip that I was already on. More than anything, I just wanted to dump my bag and my coat (it was pretty much 72 degrees and sunny every day I was in Hong Kong, and I was still dressed for the frigid (though not Chicago frigid) Seoul winter. I saw a bookstore called "Traveler's Home," so I figures I couldn't go wrong there. I bought myself a second hand British-edition Lonely Planet (at least, I assume British, because the book would freely use the word "shit" without edits, but would * out the "a" and the "n" in he word "wanker") and strolled down to Delaney's Pub, which I had seen before. I ordered a Guinness and a Kilkeny, the former of which can pretty much only be found in Seoul in bottles or for $15 plus on draught, the latter of which does not exist in Seoul. While drinking, I read up on local accommodations, and discovered that I was in fact in the right place. Only one block from where I sat (and less than two from The Peninsula) loomed the Chunking Mansions and Mirador Mansions, two enormous, crumbling, ghetto-as fuck apartment buildings that make Cabrini-Green, architecturally at least, look like, well, The Peninsula. The Garden Hostel at the Mirador got high marks – clean, social, and rooms with private showers (and there were also dorm bunks for $8 a night American, but come on, I'm twenty fucking eight years old, I can't go that earthy anymore) so after my beer, I was off.

The room was about what I expected – tiny, a few roaches here and there, hot water lasting 30 seconds or so, but also, $25 a night or so in a killer location, so, perfect. The "Mansions" complexes themselves are a whole story in and of themselves, and one that I'm not going to go into now, it's really a whole other blog. I will say this – it's the type of place where you can get a top-notch fake Rolex, which I actually couldn't resist, since it's been a lifelong dream of mine to own a fake Rolex. I honestly don't think I'd get anywhere near the enjoyment in owning a real one than I do in finally obtaining a fake one.

I headed down to the Star Ferry on my first night after dinner to take the famous trip across Hong Kong Harbor to the central city. Cost for the ferry, by the way, in a city where "cheap" beers run five bones – a quarter. As I crossed the harbor and looked at central Hong Kong's stunning skyline, I immediately thought of my buddy Stong, who spent time here in, like, the mid 80's or something, when he was an undergrad. And, of course, his famous statement that the Kansas City skyline is the best in the world, surpassing Chicago and New York. He's been to fucking Hong Kong too! Which might, possibly, have a skyline as nice as the Chi's. I wasn't downtown long, way too tired from the flight, and headed back on the ferry after a beer, stopping by a 7-11 to see if they sold single cans so I could have a cheap one before an early bedtime. What I saw almost caused me to scream in delight. Apparently, the "Stong Kong" era had left a lasting impression on the city. At this 7-11, they sold single cans – of Pabst Blue Ribbon. For under a dollar. Proper pints of Guinness and Kilkeny and cans of PBR. I don't know which made me happier. And, I haven't even talked about the food yet, though I will next time. For now, I had to get to bed early, so I could get up early, because I decided the next day – I was going to Disneyland.



Stay tuned for thrilling, swashbuckling adventures through Lan Kwai Fong, The Peninsula, and of course Disneyland.