Karen’s Hong Kong

9 December 2005 by Karen Fawcett 566

Driving up to the Conrad was a bit like going home again. However, the public areas (there’s a tea of all tea served in the lobby) and some floors have been remodeled. All will be redone in the coming year. The hotel prides itself on excellent service and does not let its guests down. We settled in and then took a walk on Hollywood Road, famous for antiques – real and probably faux. Whichever, we were sorry we hadn’t purchased more when Victor’s consulting work had us spending a lot of time in Her Majesty’s Hong Kong. Prices had since sky-rocketed and everything we lusted for was well out of our means. The US has nothing quite like Hong Kong: smooth-running, super-efficient subways, pedestrian overpasses to avoid traffic jams, covered moving sidewalks and escalators everywhere, cars zipping along via in-town highways and clover leaves – an amazing sense of being in the city of tomorrow. And oh yes, great food and shopping, glitzy hotels, etc. HK is and isn’t China. It was an English territory until 1997, when it was turned over to China. The UK honored its promise to cast HK loose, much as it did for India 50 years earlier. In HK’s case it was absorbed by China, but with semi-independent status – at least for now. Democracy is flourishing in HK, as does business and tourism. Talk about small world. I had sent ‘Born to Shop’ Suzy Gershman an email mentioning where we were. Turns out she also was in Hong Kong, leading a group shopping tour. Within seconds, there was a return email. Thirty minutes later; Suzy and I were having coffee at the Peninsula, the most elegant hotel in the Kowloon section of Hong Kong. The Peninsula is a legend in itself. Built 75 years ago, it’s the most historic hotel in Hong Kong. The Peninsula’s extensive renovations a few years ago managed to update its facilities and furnishings, while preserving the Colonial elegance that made it a favorite with discerning people coming to Hong Kong for business or pleasure. While Suzy and I went and shopped until we dropped, Victor attended a dim sum class. He’s always loved Chinese food and frequently pulls out a wok and cleaver. For his report on the class, and on the lunch with Suzy that followed, see his dim sum article. Hong Kong is a more than small world. It turns out that other friends of ours from Provence were there. George and Johanne own Al Forno, a much-admired restaurant in Providence, RI, and a favorite of Patricia Wells, the International Herald Tribune’s restaurant critic and author. The four of us had a fantastic seafood dinner and staggered out into the night, convinced that Hong Kong is the ideal Asian playground.. We just missed making contact with another friend, Rudy Maxa (The Savvy Traveler), a member of Bonjour Paris’s advisory board. We found after we left Hong Kong that he had been filming in HK when we were there. Unfortunately, we didn’t bump into him. But it goes to show what a really small world this has become for foodies/shoppers/Asia lovers. As much as we loved Hong Kong, it’s definitely the gateway to mainline China. People who travel there are in for so many surprises. No matter what you see and feel today, it’ll have changed before your next trip. Be sure to learn Mandarin.

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The US has nothing quite like Hong Kong: smooth-running, super-efficient subways, pedestrian overpasses to avoid traffic jams, covered moving sidewalks and escalators everywhere, cars zipping along via in-town highways and clover leaves – an amazing sense of being in the city of tomorrow. And oh yes, great food and shopping, glitzy hotels, etc.

HK is and isn’t China. It was an English territory until 1997, when it was turned over to China. The UK honored its promise to cast HK loose, much as it did for India 50 years earlier. In HK’s case it was absorbed by China, but with semi-independent status – at least for now. Democracy is flourishing in HK, as does business and tourism.

Talk about small world. I had sent ‘Born to Shop’ Suzy Gershman an email mentioning where we were. Turns out she also was in Hong Kong, leading a group shopping tour.

Within seconds, there was a return email. Thirty minutes later; Suzy and I were having coffee at the Peninsula, the most elegant hotel in the Kowloon section of Hong Kong. The Peninsula is a legend in itself. Built 75 years ago, it’s the most historic hotel in Hong Kong. The Peninsula’s extensive renovations a few years ago managed to update its facilities and furnishings, while preserving the Colonial elegance that made it a favorite with discerning people coming to Hong Kong for business or pleasure.

While Suzy and I went and shopped until we dropped, Victor attended a dim sum class. He’s always loved Chinese food and frequently pulls out a wok and cleaver. For his report on the class, and on the lunch with Suzy that followed, see his dim sum article.

Hong Kong is a more than small world. It turns out that other friends of ours from Provence were there. George and Johanne own Al Forno, a much-admired restaurant in Providence, RI, and a favorite of Patricia Wells, the International Herald Tribune’s restaurant critic and author. The four of us had a fantastic seafood dinner and staggered out into the night, convinced that Hong Kong is the ideal Asian playground..

We just missed making contact with another friend, Rudy Maxa (The Savvy Traveler), a member of Bonjour Paris’s advisory board. We found after we left Hong Kong that he had been filming in HK when we were there. Unfortunately, we didn’t bump into him. But it goes to show what a really small world this has become for foodies/shoppers/Asia lovers.

As much as we loved Hong Kong, it’s definitely the gateway to mainline China. People who travel there are in for so many surprises. No matter what you see and feel today, it’ll have changed before your next trip. Be sure to learn Mandarin.