October 5, 2013

First Day in Hong Kong

After a very good sleep, I woke just a bit before dusk. I guess I couldn't wait to take a peek outside to see the view of Honk Kong from 48 floors up. There was a bit of an inversion layer hovering over Hong Kong Harbor and Kowloon across the water. I had a solid hour before my wakeup call, so after snapping a few pictures, I thought I'd crawl back under the covers until the sun came up.

I was up again with a ring from my wake up call and took another glance outside. The sun definitely added a lot of definition to the views.

I snapped some pictures and shot some video of the amazing views, checked in online to see if we had any pressing email, and then hit the most amazing walk-in shower in my room. Lined in marble with a rain down shower and a second hand held shower head, this was one of the nicest hotel showers I've ever had the pleasure of using. I really wanted to pack it up and take it home with me. I got dressed and shot out the door to the elevator to meet Darrell up one floor at Café Grey Deluxe for breakfast. The Upperhouse Hotel provided four major newspapers for guests on a marble bench in the elevator lobby. I grabbed the Hong Kong newspaper, because an article grabbed my eye, and made my way into the elevator. Darrell was already seated at a window table facing Hong Kong Harbor. The view was fantastic! Darrell chose the East breakfast with an assortment of Chinese foods, and I chose the Western breakfast to be different. Breakfast was good and my coffee rich and very, very welcome. First on our day's agenda was to make our way down to the 5 floor shopping area below the 4 hotel tower area we were in called Pacific Place to get some wine for the evening's dinner. We walked out of the Upperhouse onto the sidewalk where one immediately gets the idea that they are in a very unique city.

Across the street and over a few buildings, we found our way to the shopping area entrance and elevators. The quality level of the shops could instantly be seen from the very first glance of the shopping area. Website - www.pacificplace.com.hk

They love movies in Hong Kong A poster in Chinese of Ron Howard's "Rush"

Hong Kong might be just the place to buy an Apple iphone 5S ..... or not $$$!

We took the elevator to the lower parking level where the Great Food Hall is located.

We took a look around the food market and found our way to the wine and spirits section, which is a separate business within the Great Food Hall operated by Watson's Wine. Watsons is the largest wine - liquor specialty market in the region operating 20 stores. The Great Food Hall and Watson's were both well stocked in every department. We found a number of good things on the shelves in the way of specialty products. Here's a walk around look...

Darrell found some good Ynocente single vineyard fino sherry and some Chateau des Tours Brouilly which he felt would go wonderfully well with Chinese food. I'll be reporting how they fared during dinner later in the blog. Wine in hand, it was back to the hotel to get my gear and we were off to our second destination of the day. We had an appointment to meet Herme Lee, Associate Director of EC Square PR & Events and Calvin Hui, Co-Chairman & Director of Fine Art Asia, at the 2013 Fine Art Asia Fair being held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. We went to the lower level of Pacific Place and walked over to the Admiralty MTR Station to hop a quick train ride to the very next stop at Chai Wan Station. The Chai Wan Station is conveniently linked to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center by various walkways and overhead bridges, which are a very convenient way to get across the very busy main streets.

As we walked a bit beyond the MTR Station, we could see many elements of things very specific to Hong Kong and Asia, especially the use of bamboo in scaffolding.

We made it through the massively large foyer and up a number of escalator ascents to Hall 5BC where the Fine Art Asia Fair was being held. There were very artistic signs every where along the trek.

When we finally reached the hall we received our press passes and asked for Herme Lee, who came to greet us and escorted us into the Fair. She gave us an introduction to the Fair as we walked to find Calvin Hui. Herme first introduced us to Calvin, then we found a good spot to interview him.

Here is my video interview of Co-Chairman & Director of Fine Art Asia Calvin Hui, in the promotional video I made for Fine Art Asia.

After a few hours of taking in all of the amazing art, it was time to make our walk back to the MTR Station to catch a train back. We made a quick stop at our hotel, then made the short walk around Pacific Place to Hong Kong park. It was major change of scenery once to the entrance of Hong Kong Park. From below all of the concrete and steel skyscrapers, One would never expect to see such a lush park with large fountains and a good size pond in the middle of it all. A true oasis in such a big built up city. Just beside the pond sits the Lock Cha Tea House and the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware. The Flagstaff House was the former residence of the Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong until 1978. It was converted to become the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware in 1984. It is the first specialised museum in the world devoted to the collection, study and display of tea ware. In part of the very large former residence sits the Lock Cha Tea House, which is owned and operated my Darrell's dear friend and noted Hong Kong Tea Master, Wingchi Ip.

Website - www.lockcha.com/teahouse

We were greeted at the entrance by Wingchi, who led us to a table for some tea and vegetarian dim sum. The Tea House is beautifully designed and filled with everything to do with tea. It is a very serene place, with an atmosphere perfect for relaxing with tea and snacks, so we indulged in what the tea house had to offer.

After our tea and vegetarian dim sum, we went to the other side of the complex to visit the Flagstaff House Museum of tea ware. They did not allow photography or filming, but after making a special request, the security staff conferred with Wingchi and allowed me to take photos and shoot some video. The museum is housed on two floors. There are tea and teaware displays in the majority of the rooms on both floors.

We spent over an hour and a half viewing the displays and watching some of the video presentations. When we were through, we went back to the tea house. A small group of traditional Chinese musicians were playing for the guests.

We watched and listened for a bit then walked back over to our hotel to freshen up a little and grab the wine Darrell bought for dinner. We walked back down to the MTR station to catch a train to Kowloon. Kowloon is an area of Hong Kong across Victoria harbour from Hong Kong Island. The MTR runs under the harbor. We got off the train and walked to the Miramar Shopping Centre where the Hong Kong Old Restaurant is located. This was the famous Shanghai Hairy Crab season in China, so Wingchi wanted us to have some of the best available in Hong Kong. Shanghai Hairy Crab, Eriocheir sinensis, is a burrowing crab that spends most of its life in fresh water and return to estuaries and the sea to breed. They are also known as "mitten crabs" because the underside of their claws look like they have hairy mittens on. The most prized Shanghai Hairy Crab come from Yangcheng lake north east of Shanghai. Because of fraud, crabs from Yangcheng lake have a hologram stamped into their shell to prove authenticity. Yangcheng lake Shanghai Hairy Crab would be on our plates this evening! You'll see the "mittens" clearly in the following video.

They brought out sliced watermelon for dessert along with peach buns, which are a traditional birthday dessert. Wingchi's birthday was in two days, so he served as the birthday boy of the evening.

Dinner was absolutely delicious. The opening course of fried baby eels, the smoked eggs, Xiaolongbao soup dumplings with crab, and the Shanghai Hairy Crab were all stand out dishes. The Fino Sherry and French Brouilly, which Darrell brought along paired famously well with all of the dishes. Everyone loved the wines as much as the amazing meal. After dinner, it was a walk back to the MTR station then back to the hotel to turn in for the evening. What an amazing first day in Hong Kong it was!

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