LKFun!

I think I've mentioned before that Lan Kwai Fong, or LKF, is the area on Hong Kong island where mostly Westerners go to drink and party the weekend away. Yesterday, after spending the afternoon pre-sightseeing, I met up with a bunch of the UST kids (and Steve) for drinks and dancing. But before that...

I left UST around 3:00 for Central. I wanted to "pre-sightsee" before my parents get here in two weeks. They only have a few days to see a lot of the things it has taken me over a month to see, so I want to narrow down the list of must-see stops. The first was going to one of the International Finance buildings (IFC2) on Hong Kong Island. All of the travel books mention they have a nice 55th story viewing area that's open to the public on weekdays. Jen and I tried going a few weeks ago, but didn't realize they would be closed on Saturdays. Since they close before 6pm, I went there first. I walked up to the main concierge desk and asked how to get to the viewing area. They sent me downstairs and around the corner to another desk. When I got to that desk, they directed me to another hallway. After the third concierge desk, I finally got a visitors pass to get to the elevators. It didn't seem crowded, so I was really excited. When I got to the top, they directed me to the set of windows on the right. I walked into the "visitors room" which was more like a museum exhibit on Hong Kong finance that happened to have windows... on the 55th floor. I looked out the windows for about 5 minutes, and that's about it. The worst part was that the viewing area was directed at the island and not at the harbor or the Kowloon side. When I tried to walk to the other side of the floor (past the visitors' elevators), they immediately stopped me and said that wasn't allowed. I tried to play it off like I was simply going to the ladies' room, but they said I needed to use another facility. Bah humbug. Visiting the IFC2 was a waste of time. Check! Pre-sightseeing mission accomplished. Mom and George, I'm not taking you there.

After that, I walked through some more ritzy shopping areas to catch the Peak Tram to Victoria Peak. On my way, I walked through an interesting sculpture plaza. What's interesting is that Hong Kong doesn't seem too big on art. Anyway, it was also the first time I'd seen fat people in Hong Kong.

Well, turns out the Peak Tram wasn't operating. We piled on a bus and drove up instead. How the bus navigated the narrow winding street toward the top of Victoria Peak is beyond me. I planned this part really well though. There's a big debate (when I say 'big' I just mean 'trivial') about whether it's better to see the skyline of Hong Kong during the day or night. So my big decision-- go before sunset, have a cocktail while it's getting dark, and see the skyline at night. Genius! The Hong Kong Tourism Board should hire me. The nice thing about Victoria Peak is that there's a mini-mall up there now. There's a Park 'N' Shop (groceries?), Starbucks (of course), Bubba Gump Shrimp Restaurant (what?), souvenir shops and plenty of restaurants. One of the restaurants on every best-picks list is Cafe Deco because of the great views and good food, albeit not cheap. It's widely known that you need a reservation for dinner. I got there and when I explained I was just going to order a glass of wine and maybe an appetizer, the hostess seated me at a table with a reserved sign. She said, "This table isn't booked until 7:30. You can sit here." It was a perfect view right next to the floor-to-ceiling windows. I had nearly an hour to myself to watch the sun go down, drink wine and have a small appetizer of olives and Mediterranean dips. Mom and George, if we can go back, it'd be a nice treat!

Note: In the center of this picture you can see the IFC building lit up extending just above another building in the foreground. You can imagine how nice it should have been to get a good view of the city. Too bad it wasn't.

After dinner, I made my way back to Central to relax, walk around and shop until everyone got to LKF. I got there a little early, so I walked up and down the main drag to people-watch. I waited at an intersection and watched this hilarious Asian man promote his restaurant, Good Luck Thai (also supposed to be amazing). His method of advertising was to cause big scenes in the street. For example, he noticed that a European man was hitting on two Asian girls. The man asked them to pose for a somewhat seductive picture and afterward suggested that they meet up later that night. As soon as the girls nodded (the ok-but-yeah-right kind of nod) and walked away, the Good Luck Thai guy ran up behind the European and shouted, "Hey man! That's my daughter! Don't talk to her like that!" He proceeded to make the guy stumble for words before he exclaimed, "Ohhhh just kiiiiddding. You hungry? Come eat Thai food!!" and handed him a menu. It was hysterical! He got everyone's attention, but I don't think anyone went inside.

After maneuvering through the crowds (see picture below), I finally met up with the UST exchange students at Club 9. The cover was supposed to be $120HK with "free" drinks until 1am, but for some reason last night it was $180HK ($23US). Despite that it turned out to be a great night. But maybe that's because it was 11:45 and everyone was trying to down their money's worth of drinks before 1am. We didn't get home until 4:15 and by that time, I was so exhausted. Kat, I give you props for surviving the club scene in Spain, because even 4am is waaaayyy past my bedtime.


If going to LKF is that much fun every time, I'd go more often!