Image changed to a
Thursday night this month. Since Aaron was visiting I wanted to bring him out to check out Volar and to see the type of chill events that happen in Hong Kong during the not so regular clubbing nights. I made an appointment with Diana as well to meet her friend Samson who's also a designer/photography student. I figured the more people the better and I brought up the idea of going with Michelle when she called and she told me she would email for the guestlist.
I met up with Samson and Diana early to have dinner in Causeway Bay. Aaron was also having dinner with Tiffany and her friends around that time. I got to talk with Samson about the type of work that he does and what he's interested in shooting and we went to meet up with Michelle and her friend Ken in Central.
After everyone got together we tried to get into Volar for Image night. I say "tried" because we ran into a problem with Michelle's guest list. Some how Ken managed to get in, but we think he took someone else's spot on the list (there's an actual entry that only said "Ken" with no surname) and Michelle was left stranded outside. Diana had friends in the area so she took off on her own to find her friends first, which is something she typically does and then comes back hoping to get into Volar expecting me to deal with all the hassels. I got lucky because Christine and Amy showed up with two invitations that I could use, one to get Diana into the event (apparently the guest list for her expired when she got back to the lineup) and one to get Michelle in. Michelle was eating at Tsui Wah at that time since she couldn't get in, by the time she made it back to Volar the show had just started which kept me from getting back outside.
By show I mean the little fashion show / competition they started having at Image events. The theme this month was beach wear. The girls were sporting Roxy down the catwalk and the boys Quicksilver. I hope everyone had a good time. I usually enjoy these events they're always so interesting. I'm not bored of them quite yet.
Labels: Clubbing, Fashion Show, Friends, Hong Kong
Swimming and Misc Activities
Kennis called me up on Monday to meet up for dinner. I haven't seen her in a while, this usually happens where she remembers me for whatever reason and calls me up to meet up. We ate down in Causeway Bay and decided to go for drinks in Mong Kok. She was looking for some alcohol, but I wasn't. Eventually we ended up at Pokka Cafe right infront of Langham Place. On our way there we ran into Wendy, which was perfect timing since I was SMSing her about places I can go to drink alcohol in Mong Kok. She provided us with a nice membership number for Pokka Cafe which gave us a nice 20% off.
If anyone asks me what do I usually do, I never know what to say to them. I don't have a usual. Slowly I've been building up a few things that I consider usual activities, though even these aren't exactly regular. In the past, Saturdays I play badminton, and I go clubbing, whilst Sundays I play tennis with the Japanese group. The new addition to my "usual" schedule is now swimming every Wednesday. This is all thanks to Joyce who started our little group. It has been a healthy activity though, I have to say my legs were a bit sore the first two times I was attempting to do laps in the pool. Regulars in the group include Joyce, Sabrina, Daniel, and myself. The previous week we ran into Hiroko and her co-workers in Jordan after swimming. This week I figured we could have lunch together just to make the group more interesting. I like to mix groups together, but sometimes the language barrier makes it difficult for everyone to enjoy each other's company. Luckily we're silly enough where everyone has fun anyways.
Labels: Friends, Hong Kong, Sports
On
Sunday I went with Cheryl on a junk boat trip with Monique, Ricky, Jennifer, and Simon. Unlike the other boats we typically go on, this one seemed slightly bigger and had indoor showers and extra rooms in its interior. The boat isn't why I labelled this trip massive, it was the amount of people that attended. I counted about 38 people in our group onboard this trip. I haven't been part of such a large junk boat trip before.
Nothing special to report except that I had a great time. We were lying around the boat sun tanning, beautiful girls all around us, guys running around with their water guns, plenty of food and drinks, a row boat, wake boarding, banana boat, and a home made kite made out of a plastic bag. My
picture gallery pretty much tells you how much fun we had. I met a lot of people, and I've forgotten a lot of names. I love junk boat trips. Pictures from Jen and Cheryl are
here.
Labels: Friends, Hong Kong, Sports
Simon and his cousin Craig are visiting in Hong Kong. So of course I met up with them to do a bit of shopping and to show them around. I promised to meet up with Kenji (しぎやさん) and his girl friend Yaya for lunch and since they attend English classes on Wednesday I met up with them afterwards for high tea, again at Cova Ristorante in Causeway Bay. It turns out that the spouse of the owner is actually Japanese. Someone whom Kenji knows, too bad that person wasn't there when we went. Most of them took the $100 tea-time set, but I opted to go with the buffet set with Simon. I could've eaten and eaten, but everyone was already giving me strange looks at the amount that I've consumed so I thought it would be best if I just stopped.
Friday night we went to meet up with Cheryl, Monique, Ricky, Sue, Joyce, Monique's sister Jennifer, and Jennifer's boyfriend Simon. We had this little South African group forming (Since Monique, Jen, and Simon where from there). We partied the night away at Sugar then walked over to Prive where we had a bit of a problem getting in with everyone, so half of the people waited outside.
We ended the night at Tsui Wah in Central.
I was suppose to meet up again with Simon Saturday night, but it turns out he fell asleep and his phone was out of power. I was kind of pissed actually. I was waiting around with a bag of magazines for Simon, to bring back to Canada for Jason, with Cheryl and Sue. Since I was out anyways I gave Josieba a call and went to DI to meet up with him. We ran into Ralph and Marell. I haven't seen them in ages so it was great that we could chill and chat. Afterwards I headed off to Volar with Josieba to finish off the night. Bon Voyage Simon, I guess I'll try to meet up with you in Canada.
Labels: Clubbing, Friends, Hong Kong
We've been waiting for some nice weather to show up. Even though I know sun tanning is a terribly unhealthy habit, I'm also envious of the artifical "healthy look" that results from a tan. Typically when I take pictures with other people I always look like I've been ill for a while and I'm just coming out into the sun for the first time in years. Well maybe not that white but you get the picture.
I called Fred up and we met down at Diamond Hill Station around 10:30 on Tuesday. We met up with Cheryl's friend William and headed over to Sai Kung together. The whole group of them were really late. We waited forever for them. We finally got onto a boat and went over to some island with a tiny crowded beach. I couldn't believe the amount of people there. We rented an umbrella and some mats to lay on the ground.
We spent the better half of the day on that beach playing around in the water. I swam out to the floating platforms off the shore and started diving off of them into the water. Some unknown kid started challenging me to dives. He was fearless. He kept saying "you jump, I jump!" We did forward flips, we went backwards, over other people, and he even went sideways (I skipped that one since it just looked like you would hurt yourself).
I met a bunch of people that day and managed to give myself a sun burn. We bought some spray at Sasa to help sooth the itchiness, but I know I'm going to peel since I was tanning afternoon between 12-3. We had dessert at a cafe in TST that one of the other people worked at.
Labels: Friends, Hong Kong
Recently I've been hanging around a lot with Cherie's friends, Joyce, Cheryl, Carol, and Sue. Joyce goes swimming every Wednesday so I've decided to join because it is a great way to stay healthy. Plus since my gym membership expired I need to get some sort of physical activity.
Saturday we went out to celebrate Joyce's birthday. I met up first with Cheryl to have dinner with her friends Monique and Ricky. Both very friendly people. They invited me out on a boat trip which I'm always up for. I got to entertain them with my horrible Chinese.
We had dinner at a new Hakka restaurant down on Hollywood road in Central. One of the owners/managers, Hoover, recommended several dishes and they were all very good.
After dinner we headed over to Sugar for another girl's birthday party. This is where I met Kennis. I'm always surprised how common this name actually is.
After Sugar we went to
Club No.9 to meet up with Joyce. I got to meet her Australian friend Daniel and Daniel's friend. I also ran into John and we just kind of hung out together. We were in awe at Dan's friend who shamelessly went around picking up girls.
Joyce was already a little tipsy after
Club No.9, but we ended up going back to Sugar, then
Privé, and finally over to Volar. Hope you had fun Joyce. I certainly enjoyed my night.
Oh, and I finally made it to tennis again. It has been a long time.
Labels: Clubbing, Friends, Hong Kong
Since Stephanie came to Hong Kong it put me on a roller coaster of fun hanging around with a group of Canadians that I really feel comfortable with. I'm pretty thankful that I was able to meet and get close to these people. Stephanie, Peggy, Kevin, and Bryan. We spent probably 4 days together every week for the past month, so it is very natural that we form a kind of bond.
Bryan came into Mong Kok to have a final lunch with Wendy and I before I went into work. I'm going to miss our picture taking, tennis, and going out on boat trips together. I would say I'm going to miss getting Kevin drunk, but he was trying to save him. Another Canadian going back home.
I picked up a big Hello Kitty shopping bag the other day when I bought my Braun electric razor at Broadway in Mong Kok. I was brining it down to the agency when I saw Amy and Karen dragging luggage across the street. I didn't get the "hello" I expected, I got a "perfect timing hurry up and pick this up". The luggage, it turns out, belongs to a sweet girl by the name of
Alexandra A. I don't know what these girls pack, but it actually was fairly heavy.
That night Cherie invited me out to see a movie with her. A quick search online turns up the name "
Single blog". A kind of Chinese Desperate House Wives movie. The fully clothed sex scenes will keep you awake, but there really isn't much of a story for guys to get into.
Afterwards we headed down to Lan Kwai Fong to meet up with Cherie's friends Germaine, Carol, Cheryl, Sue, and Joyce for Hei Hei's last night before they close down for renovation. I know Wendy was down there already with her co-workers so we headed down as well. Hei Hei was actually fairly busy that night.
Labels: Clubbing, Friends
Jesse's brother came to us in Hong Kong about 10 months ago. He's not leaving to return to Canada. Getting people together hasn't been easy so we decided to hold his farewell early. We got a group together on
the 8th to have dinner at the Outback Steak House in Causeway Bay. Surprisingly we had a lot of problems pulling off this farewell dinner. Half of the list of invitees managed to pull out at the last minute, and our karaoke plans abruptly changed when the star of the night declared he was thrilled about singing that night. So no matter how much you plan in Hong Kong, ultimately it doesn't matter sometimes. I felt bad because I had promised some people there would be karaoke. Bryan, Benny, and Kit came out anyways to chill with us at Henry House's "Shelter" lounge. Jamie's heading off to Taiwan for about a week before coming back for his final nights in Hong Kong. Bon Voyage!
In other news, I'm envious of one of my friends for taking the first steps towards something bigger. Cherie opened up her store,
Lollipop, on the 10th. We managed to fill the hallway outside of her shop with people. Enough that the neighbouring shops complained a couple of times. Good luck to her and best wishes. If you have time visit her shop at Time Plus plaza (near the Esprit by Time Square) on the 2nd floor. You can see the shop through the 2nd floor window.
Labels: Friends, Hong Kong
Peggy's gone, which is sad, but we've got Kevin's birthday to look forward to. I went to meet up with them early afternoon to play tennis in the rain with Kevin. Bryan was a bit sick, but still played anyways. Bryan accidentally deleted the pictures from Ocean Park so I brought some software along to help recover the pictures from his camera. I headed home first to shower and get changed and met them in Lan Kwai Fong afterwards. I invited Wendy along to party with us and met up with her first at the station.
Our first stop was a Russian bar in LKF called
Balalaika, which is apparently a Russian instrument. This place is interesting because it has an ice bar inside. Basically a big freezer you can hang around in to drink. Everyone usually just take pictures.
I bought a deck of cards on my way over and we brought out the game "
Kings". This is a fairly fun drinking game, even for me a non-drinker. Since the rules can be very complicated we kept them fairly simple at first. Any more complicated and we would've ended up spending a lot on drinks. Rocky and Calvin made sure that everyone was ganging up on Kevin, the birthday boy, and his cousins were frantically trying to save him.
We stayed there until it was last call in the restaurant and then headed over to another bar. Kevin was pretty wasted, it was pretty funny. I'll always remember him saying "I'm only 30% drunk" and "When I'm drunk I like to start fights,
not with those white guys, they're too big". Benny "accidentally" spilled a drink to buy time for Kevin between drinks, getting my cards all wet.
Bryan updated me afterwards about the ride home. Apparently they were pretty lucky they grabbed some bags to bring with them on the taxi ride home. He was throwing up in the car. Afterwards they had to carry him, he's a fairly big fellow, into their apartment where he managed to fall on Benny, making him go down hard on his knees.
Happy birthday Kev! Good memories of Hong Kong.Labels: Birthdays, Friends, Hong Kong
After nearly a month have constantly hanging out, our time is running out. Peggy's on her way back home soon, which means Kevin and Bryan aren't that far behind. It has just been the greatest hanging with everyone in Hong Kong. No matter where you are, the friends you have beside you really make a difference.
Though after nearly a month in Hong Kong we've run out of things to do during the day. Everyone is shopped out. We've done almost all the tourist sites. We've gone on junk boat trips, out wake boarding, a bit of hiking at the big Buddha. I called around all morning asking my friends for suggestions. Pam suggested bike riding and walking around
Lantau island. Angie gave me some great suggestions which I ended up following.
High Tea. I've been in Hong Kong so long and yet I still haven't tried high tea yet. For a bunch of friends who just wanted to spend some more time together it was the perfect place to chill and relax while experiencing a very British tradition. We debated on several locations but eventually settled on going to a place that wasn't too pricey; Cova Ristorante (Cafe Cova?) in Causeway Bay.
The atmosphere was nice, as was the tea and cakes. They had a buffet, but we opted just to each have the high tea sets. The only flaw I saw was the servants. When we asked for "a high tea set for each" they totally got confused. When we spoke in Chinese they replied in English (probably dictated by their internal policy) so rather than risk being viewed as a group of mainlanders I think just sticking to English was better. There was a shallow dish laid out in front of us filled with water and some yellow flowers. I asked a waiter what it was, thinking that he would elegantly relay some information about the arrangement or the flowers (it is a classy environment after all). He responded "flowers, under water".
Peggy got a little sick from biting into beef and we went shopping at City Plaza afterwards (Tai Koo). Peggy was looking for a polo for her doctor and we ended up at one of my favourite shops;
Lacoste. I had my eye on this white sports polo there for a while and decided to buy it while we were there. It turns out everyone ended up buying things and we managed to get the bill up to $2950. Just $50 shy of the VIP membership card. Of course I wanted the membership card so we looked for something cheap we could buy. I ended up getting a pair of Lacoste socks for $160 (then minus the extra 10% off from the VIP membership). If you have a Hang Seng credit card you automatically get 10% regular priced items, but with the VIP card you get an additional 5% off sale items. Which worked out great for everyone else. I think all you need is the VIP card number and the person's name. So for those people who also like Lacoste and know me wtie down No.
Labels: Friends, Hong Kong
